My son is new to the hobby - which game to start him on?

[Philotomy Jurament]

My children are currently 12, 11, 9 and 8...For what it is worth, I suspect my twelve year old might like 4e but my 11 year old son, who is perhaps the most avid gamer of the four, is quite vocal in his disdain for aspects of the new edition.

Interesting. My children are 12b, 9g, 6g, and 3b. My sister-in-law lives 5 mins. away, and they have five children: 14b, 10g, 5b, 3b, and 2g. Out of that group, the kids 6 yrs. old and up have played an RPG, although for the 6 year old, it's more like "let's pretend" and very free-form.

The two older boys have played 3E, Arcana Unearthed, Castles & Crusades, AD&D (1e), Classic D&D (BECM), and Original D&D (white box). My son has also played Mutants & Masterminds and Call of Cthulhu (both of which he enjoyed).

My son prefers the older editions of D&D. Part of that is probably my influence and enthusiasm, but part of it is also the ease with which he can run his own games (there are not as many rules to worry about or get into arguments about); as I mentioned, above, he's running his own Labyrinth Lord game. My nephew (the 14 year old) has always preferred 3E, but has gradually been warming to OD&D; we had a recent session that he declared was the best D&D session he'd every played. Also, he mentioned that he's tried running 3E for friends, but the games usually bog down in rules-referencing (part of that is probably his personality, which is very detail-oriented and rules focused -- his father is like that, too).

The 10 and 9 year old girls have never really expressed a preference; they don't play as often as the boys do (although they're always invited to), and they play whatever I'm running without commenting on the rules, much. However, they got together and *created* their own D&D-based rules that was centered around faeries and talking animals. I thought that was really cool (and you can't get any more old school than making up your own game).

The last time we were in the FLGS (Fat Ogre Games, in the Woodlands), my son picked up the new Star Wars book and was looking through it. He didn't ask me to buy it, but he definitely looked interested.

 

[Nightchilde-2]

When my (now) 12-year old daughter first expressed an interest in playing a couple of years ago, I actually started her out with the D&D minis game and HeroClix.

From there, it was a pretty intuitive leap for her to go to 3.x, then Star Wars Saga, then World of Darkness and now to 4e.

Now, my 6-year old daughter is getting interested in the game, though I think she's more interested in playing with the minis and dice, so I might start her out soon with DDM and/or HeroClix.

My 8-month old, well, he's just interested in trying to eat dice and grab anything he can get his hands on.

 

[Zinovia]

My family game

I'm running a 4E game for the family and one friend of ours (who is great with kids). My kids are 13 and 10. The 13 year-old is very bright and took over playing the high-level cleric in the 3.x game when the original player moved away. He's had no problems with it, but then again, he's the type that gets in the 96th or greater percentile on all the standardized tests. He is mature for his age, and interacts well with adults.

My 10 year-old is a more typical kid. He has watched our 3.x campaign for years, and usually went out to play with his friends rather than watch. So this is his first experience playing in a paper & pencil RPG. So far he is doing well with his warlock and seems to enjoy the game. I don't think that would be as much the case with 3.5 or Pathfinder. He's the type who will get bored easily and wander off. We're doing Keep on the Shadowfell, and he's been roleplaying when interacting with the townspeople, as well as fully contributing in combat. I wouldn't assume that kids like combat more than the RP stuff - they may, but you never know. 4E has the advantage of making combat more fun at 1st level than older editions of D&D, and it encourages creative thinking and tactics.

So in my experience, 4E is easier to prep for and DM, and easier for kids to grok than 3.x or Pathfinder, but it does depend on your kid. Personally I *dread* picking spells for the 15th level cleric, and I've been playing 3.x for 6 or 7 years (and D&D + other RPG's for 25). I am stuck playing him now that my 13 year-old has found a Warhammer game with kids closer to his age (they are around 18-20, and we're friends with the parents of several of the kids) that conflicts with our game schedule.

So to sum up, I'd recommend 4E for fantasy, or Star Wars Saga Edition if they want a Star Wars game. Try M&M for superheroes, although I haven't played that myself (only Champions). Those are all popular and new enough that they will continue to find players once they move beyond playing with the family.

 

[Calico_Jack73]

My son just turned 3 but when he gets old enough/shows an interest I've still got my red boxed set waiting for him. I think that the old D&D is still the way to go for teaching children. The only choice during character creation is Fighter, Cleric, Magic User, Thief, Dwarf, Elf, or Halfling. The class descriptions spell out which weapons and armor you can use. I also think that the intro solo adventure with Bargle is a great way to teach children the rules. Keep it simple... AD&D (1e & 2e), D&D 3E, and even D&D 4E are all a little too complex for a new 10 year old player. You could run the risk of overwhelming him and turning him off to it.

 

[Wicht]

If your 11 year old son is voicing disdain for 4e (or any such game for that matter), he is most likely mirroring your feelings, all things considered.

Um. No.

I tend to try not to overly criticize things, even if I don't personally prefer them. Andi I have been telling him that if he hasn't actually played the game he should try being a little less critical.

Though when asked, he did say my wife's opinion helped him shape his thoughts. She's not huge into D&D but she does play with us when I DM the kids and, when shown the new D&D character sheets a few months ago, her first reaction was that they seemed more like super heroes then regular characters. Which I found interesting as that was her absolute first exposure to the new rules and she has never even glanced at any of the messageboards. My son does somewhat mirror that opinion but is also very disdainful of many of the changes to some of the core ideas of the game (at 11 he is something of a traditionalist).

 

[Krensky]

Traveller with Ironman Creation... What?

Seriously, however... Back when I spent a lot of time running convention games, I used to run a Saturday morning Toon! game that always did well with kids. For 'serious' games, I think whatever system you know best is the best choice. If it wasn't out of print, I'd recomend d6 Star Wars.

4e, as much as I don't care for it is pretty straight forward. My current favorite, Spycraft 2.0, is... very crunchy and divergent from standard d20, and kids and a GM adjusting to a new and complex rule set generally don't mix.

I have not played it, nor do I own any books, but I've heard good things about Savage Worlds.

Does he have a particular favorite genre? If so a game well suited for that, even if it's out of print, might be a good choice.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

My 8-month old, well, he's just interested in trying to eat dice and grab anything he can get his hands on.

Maybe a game of All Flesh Stuff Must Be Eaten then?

Which I found interesting as that was her absolute first exposure to the new rules and she has never even glanced at any of the messageboards.

I am not surprised at all. Without any context (like monster statistics that go against those PC statistics), you might get all kinds of idea about a game system...

 

[taliesin15]

I don't know enough about 4e to say anything other than it simply doesn't interest me in any way whatsoever. So obviously I would recommend 3.0 or some other earlier system.

However, this is kind of beside the point. No matter what system you run, you'll have to tailor your own campaign or a third party module to what kinds of adventures seem suitable for him. All my campaigns nowadays are geared towards adults, with a lot of political intrigue, stuff that's probably too subtle beyond that for a 10 year old. In late adolescence, many games I DM'd and played had strong adult content, brothels, prostitutes, cross dressing assasins, frequent drug use, in other words, stuff not suitable for a ten year old. I've also had games with an element of gruesome violence even torture.

So you're definitely going to have to give some thought to these sorts of things. I'm assuming the other PCs are going to be other children his age?

 

[Nightchilde-2]

I have not played it, nor do I own any books, but I've heard good things about Savage Worlds.

Savage Worlds would probably be an awesome introduction, as it is quite simple to learn, but still a good game.

Maybe a game of All Stuff Must Be Eaten then?

Everything's better with zombies!

 

[buzz]

Happily my son is just about to turn ten and is showing some interest, so I'm thinking of trying to start a game for him and a couple of his friends.

The question is, what to run for him, and I'd appreciate a little input.

Mouse Guard

http://www.wizarduniverse.com/080108mouseguardrpg.html

Should be out soon.