New short game for some wee boys ages 7 - 9

[Manbearcat]

Hello all. I'm entering uncharted territory and I was wondering if those more versed could provide some input. I'm running a short game (probably 3 sessions) to teach a few pre-adolescent boys about our lovely hobby and to tutor one of them on the techniques and skill-set (and various philosophies) inherent to sound GMing. I have a gameplan and I've pared down the systems to 13th Age and Dungeon World (hence the poll).

I never actually played and was self-taught when it comes to GMing so I feel a bit awkward going at this with boys that were of my age group when I started. It was all a very organic process when I tackled GMing with just some books and no tutelage so trying to make it a more formalized teaching experience seems a bit daunting. However, I think I have some grip on how to go about teaching little folk how to GM. Nonetheless, some input would be greatly appreciated:

1 - If you have an opinion on which of these two systems for this age group, I would appreciate your vote and expanding on that.

2 - Thoughts on current, culturally relevant source material/tropes that are transparent, fun, and non-complex for boys of this age to grasp, engage with, and riff off of.

3 - Thoughts on GM-teaching techniques for a child of this age. I know that information saturation is bad. I know KISS. I'm looking for specifics here with respect to presentation and techniques for children of this age to best understand and assimilate GM tradecraft.

Thanks very much in advance.

 

[Kobold Stew]

As soon as my son (age 12 at the time) saw the rules for Dungeon World, he wanted to begin reffing it for younger kids. He had a group of non-RPers, aged 9-14, and they all loved it.

DW for the win.

advantages: it's all there on the sheet; the 7-9 rules are really good at inculcating success-with-a-cost (something I've had difficulties with with kids and FATE, for example); "it's not too complex, and so you have a lot of flexibility to decide what happens next depending on what the characters do" (his answer).

Very little prep is required, too: a five-room dungeon is plenty, and allows a dynamic, flexible response to situations.

Have fun!

 

[Manbearcat]

Thanks @Kobold Stew. Had he run a game before? If he had, did he learn just by playing under you (or someone else) and taking note of technique, etc? What systems did he play in/run prior? There is a rather large difference between 9 and 12 cognitively but those reasons that you and your son mention are precisely why I'm leaning toward DW. I think the ruleset and the resultant gameplay would be pretty intuitive for a 9 year old.

 

[Kobold Stew]

Hey no worries:

He had played two dozen or so games over the years. Diaspora (a sf FATE game) and Hollowpoint (an ultraviolent game that kids love), three sessions of D&D (3.5 and now DDN), and Kobolds Ate My Baby, which is the first game he wanted to ref. At his 9th birthday - instead of going out on the planned activity. He just sat down and made characters for KAMB with everybody, and they played the first 90 minutes or so. He'd made some Traveller (LBB) and Reign characters, but never played. And then DW, which is now his staple when he goes to his friend's grandma's house (with all of his friends' cousins).

I have no idea what their games actually do; I doubt the Vietnamese grandma does either.

 

[billd91]

The beginner set for Fantasy Flight's new Star Wars game, Edge of the Empire, is a kid friendly alternative too.

 

[Wightbred]

DW. I've also seen a 12 run it for 6 and 10 year olds after two sessions of me running it for them. I've seen a younger kid who can't read grasp the rules quickly.

 

[Manbearcat]

Thanks for the input everyone. This is precisely what I was looking for.

Any specific, current culturally relevant tropes? Harry Potter type stuff? Classic Dragon Slaying stuff?

The beginner set for Fantasy Flight's new Star Wars game, Edge of the Empire, is a kid friendly alternative too.

I've heard good things about this. Is it 2d6 + mod resolution or dice pool? Binary results for contests/tasks or multi-faceted? Streamlined PC build rules?

 

[billd91]

I've heard good things about this. Is it 2d6 + mod resolution or dice pool? Binary results for contests/tasks or multi-faceted? Streamlined PC build rules?

Specialized dice pool (included in the beginner set but also available separately). Multi-faceted - you can succeed and have negative consequences, fail but have positive consequences, and vice-versa. The beginner set comes with 4 fairly lavish pre-gen PC mini-portfolios. I haven't dug into the rule volume yet since the adventure is designed to be run-able even before you crack the rules open.

The character gen in the full game is fairly streamlined compared to a lot of other RPGs.

 

[Manbearcat]

Specialized dice pool (included in the beginner set but also available separately). Multi-faceted - you can succeed and have negative consequences, fail but have positive consequences, and vice-versa. The beginner set comes with 4 fairly lavish pre-gen PC mini-portfolios. I haven't dug into the rule volume yet since the adventure is designed to be run-able even before you crack the rules open.

The character gen in the full game is fairly streamlined compared to a lot of other RPGs.

That sounds perfect for pulp sci-fi/star wars action/adventure. They love that genre even more than fantasy so perhaps I'll run that afterward. Thank you for the heads up.

 

[billd91]

That sounds perfect for pulp sci-fi/star wars action/adventure. They love that genre even more than fantasy so perhaps I'll run that afterward. Thank you for the heads up.

Keep in mind, if you haven't seen other posts about the game, it's a Star Wars game that's Jedi-light. In the full book, you can make up PCs who are Force sensitive, but this part of the 3-game series is really about living on the fringes of the Empire - smugglers, bounty hunters, hard scrabble colonists, guns for hire and so on.