My kids are better role-players than me

[cavalier973]

ages 8, 6, and 4. I just finished a one-shot encounter with them, and was putting everything away when they asked to "play their own story." So, I'm listening from the next room, and heard one say "Ohhhh...I'm down." Then the other starts this speech to some NPC about how much this character is his friend and how she needs healing. After about every speech/action, they roll the d20 and call out the result. "What do you do now?" asks the 8 year-old...

In my game, I was having to corrall each of them back to the table at each new turn. I suck as a DM...

 

[jedavis]

They're at a creative age. RPing is just playing make-believe with an agreed-upon conflict resolution mechanic. Everything else is just a complication of that mechanic.

But I sympathize... my dad taught my brother and me to game. He's very hack 'n slash; he really likes the Goodman Games DCC motto / advert paragraph about no complicated plots or NPCs that aren't there to be killed. My brother and I were fine with this for a long time; fighting monsters and taking their stuff was fun, and then eventually powergaming was fun. But as the years passed, we read enough sources to realize that we were missing out, on plots and recurring villains and emotional attachment to NPCs, and our powergaming got a bit out of hand. So now we DM and keep the powercreep under control, and he plays, and we all have a good time (well, until I left for college; now we game when I'm home on break).

So play with them, not as a DM, but as an experienced player! Make suggestions in keeping with the traditional way of doing things ("Let's search the room to see if there are any traps." "Traps?" "Sure, dungeons always have traps." "Oh... *roll roll* Yep, you find a trap door in the floor that leads to ... "), and in doing so teach them the traditions without the rules, and without running the show. And enjoy the ride, because they may come up with some off-the-wall plots.

 

[cavalier973]

They said that they were successful in their quest; they turned all the bad guys into good guys.

 

[Mark CMG]

They said that they were successful in their quest; they turned all the bad guys into good guys.

. . . and took their stuff? Did they at least take their stuff?


There's a lesson for all of us in that resolution without necessarily destroying the enemy utterly.

 

[Starfox]

Expect this to continue. After all, they have your experience to draw on.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Robert Burton, in The Anatomy of Melancholy (1621-51), quotes Didacus Stella thus:

"I say with Didacus Stella, a dwarf standing on the shoulders of a giant may see farther than a giant himself."

 

[ExploderWizard]

To paraphrase an old Dragon comic:

Don't worry, a lot of parents have kids that are better roleplayers than they are.

 

[Umbran]

Of course they're better roleplayers than you are. Kids are generally burdened with fewer ego-saving inhibitions than adults. The are not yet afraid of looking silly or stupid.

Also, they are probably much less interested in playing with rules systems, and are more interested in playing a character or a story - so they keep more of their attention on the role.

 

[Fifth Element]

Also, they are probably much less interested in playing with rules systems, and are more interested in playing a character or a story - so they keep more of their attention on the role.

That's true. I played D&D with my kids for the first time a couple of weeks ago. My 6-year-old son decided he wanted to play a tough guy, and he took his role of protecting his older sister's and mother's characters very seriously, often reminding them in character "it's okay, if you get hurt I'll come and protect you." He's probably the best roleplayer in the family.

 

[Rel]

Yeah kids have got great imagination that is uninhibited by adult hangups, embarrassment or other barriers. I was talking with Pielorinho last weekend about him having run a game for his young cousins. When he asked them what they wanted their characters to be, they replied "Jesus" and "Godzilla" respectively.

I would pay cash money to watch that game.

 

[nedjer]

Took me years to get myself back to where they go instantly. Taken more years to learn how to encourage other players to return to the same place.

You've such an opportunity to let them never desert their imaginations in favour of rigid regulations.

That's not a dig at RPG rules/ guides. Quite the opposite as the expectation of flexibility and player choice within TRPGs, when presented as such, lets kids balance the imaginative alongside the structural as they get older.

Most boardgames, school competitions, competitive sports and school work will drag them, kicking and screaming, in one direction alone.