[Play Report] DMing for Middle/High Schoolers

[Connorsrpg]

Good luck Rechan.

(BG: I am a teacher in a small community and have helped foster MANY budding young RPers. I have recruited students to my mostly adult games, ran RPing as an elective at the school and run very popular sessions for End of Year Activities each year. Oh, and I was taught the game by a teacher ).

I will try to keep points brief.

1. You will likely have a few visual learners and 'hands-on' learners. They will like minis, but as you have a prob there, make sure each PC comes with a very cool picture.
2. Have lots of choices for PCs. I would definitely do pregens...and lots of them. Twice the normal even. Have them displayed so as the players come in they can peruse them and ask questions and select one. (Opinions may vary, but if you have enough, there isn't really a need to do their own PCs. If they stay on for campaign maybe. Allow them to modify a pregen even).
3. Game aids, pictures, riddles, maps, etc. will be loved by the 'hands-on' learners. But as someone else mentioned, don't disregard their imaginative abilities They will love picturing things in their heads, and asking questions.
4. Start with short adventures, delves even. Several have been published in Dungeon and you may own the whole book of them. But I also agree to get some RPing in early, not just combat. You obviously need to lead the way here.
5. Don't start a campaign straight up. Run a few delves/1 sheets and see who is interested in running a campaign.
6. Narrate BIG. All the tips from the Star Wars RPG Make them feel cool for what they do basically.
7. Narrate the details. Remember back to when you were young and every little discovery meant something. Finding an unused candle, dented helmet, etc. (4E has kinda gotten away from that with equipment balancing etc). Use those dungeon dressing tables. Searching goblins' pockets should also be a lot of fun. (I have a Useless Miscellaneous Paraphernalia chart under DM Tools on website in sig if you like). NPCs should have one stand out quirk and make some funny. (Again, I have tables for this too).
8. Whoever said 'narrate to have fun and not sell the game' = spot on. Just go for it. That's why I would probably avoid the Newbie Boxes - you already now the game right? Learning by playing is probably best (but if some are really interested you can recommend these or use them later).
9. Simple character sheets. Maybe the Character Builder ones look good, but I use Word Doc ones - easier to keep track of and in one place. No lost, mixed, or 'unsure whether I have used this' power cards. (Again, I have some on website, Players Tools, though I saw another post with PC Sheets mentioned).
10. I have found Savage Worlds fantastic for beginners. PC pic and all stats on one page. (Yes, have these sheets on site too). But I am sure 4E would be fine - they just need to get used to the choices.

That will do. Probably not that helpful, as most of these you probably do normally, which is fine - they won't be little kids Have fun. Looking forward to hearing how it went.

 

[S'mon]

So I kind of second this idea of pregens to get the ball rolling. Except instead of forcing pregens on the players, supply a generous stack of them, and let them know they can use them as-is, modify them, or make their own.

I agree with this. What I have found works best for this kind of environment is a big stack of generic pregens, multiple copies of each character type. The players can then personalise them as desired with name, sex, background, and make mechanical changes if desired.

Eg:
Human Rogue
Human Cleric
Human Wizard (with all the 'standard' spells in book, if pre-4e)
Human Fighter, 2-handed sword
Human Fighter, sword & shield
Dwarf Fighter, axe & shield
Elf Bow Ranger
Human Paladin

Bring 3 copies of each of those and you should be good.

Edit: BTW this is far, far easier to do with Pathfinder or pre-4e D&D, since regular 4e character sheets are 5 pages long (*eek*!). If I were in your position I'd definitely consider buying & using the Pathfinder Beginner Box. It also solves your no-minis problem.

Edit 2: In fact, writing this caused me to give in and finally order the Pathfinder BB.

 

[Rechan]

Thanks for all the advice, but I wanted to zero in on one thing:

9. Simple character sheets. Maybe the Character Builder ones look good, but I use Word Doc ones - easier to keep track of and in one place. No lost, mixed, or 'unsure whether I have used this' power cards. (Again, I have some on website, Players Tools, though I saw another post with PC Sheets mentioned).

I feel that a lot of space on the character sheet is taken up by "showing your math" spaces. For instance, besides the total AC number, there are spaces to show your dex bonus, your armor bonus, magic bonus, armor check penalty, etc. If you just have a flat AC: X then you safe a lot of space.

For this reason, I'm going to make the pregen sheets on Word and not bother with the "show your work" spaces. Those spaces are important later, when players make their own characters, but not until then.

Removing the "show your work" spaces should permit me to stuff more things on a single page.

 

[Connorsrpg]

@ Rechan.

RE Character Sheets = I agree and might already have what you are looking for. Attached my Word sheets. Feel free to modify.

Obviously you need to copy and paste the powers to fill in the blanks. (In fact I will also attach a PC so you can see how it looks filled in . See the Gnome Warden).

(I have lots of pregens if wanted, though not all PC Sheets are identical, as I have developed this sheet as time has gone by, such as moving 2nd Wind from HP & Health section to the Powers section).

One change you might make is insert a row or two on the stat sheet for a picture and brief description, if you think a whole 3rd sheet for RP stuff is too much. (I have inc a Savage Worlds PC to show you what I mean here . These are what I handed to students for a Deadlands game and they loved them. So I would go with inserting Pic and Brief Desc to the 4E charts. Simply a matter of inserting rows, though I am sure you are familiar with Word tables ).

(Templates for all of these are available on the link in my sig...along with MANY other tools an charts, etc).

 

[Rechan]

Actually @Connorsrpg , those are even more space than what I was planning to do. For instance, look at the Skills area on the Stats page you provide. It has a column listing skill's name, a column for the skill's ability score, a column for the modifier, a column for Trained, and a column for adjustmnets.

All I would have is a column for the Skill name, and then a column for the skill's bonus.

The rest of that stuff is "How the sausage is made".

Edit: I threw this together in 10 minutes. The numbers aren't accurate, and I don't know how to do the fancy tables you have going, but it's an example of a barebones layout. Granted, I can't fit Equiment, powers, a picture, and character description using this simplified character sheet, but I certainly can get it in a page and a half.

When it comes time for kids to make their own PCs, then they get the full fledged character sheet.

BTW, where do you find art for your char sheets?

 

[Stormonu]

Keep the rules behind the screen. Keep the fun in front of the players.

Just ask them what they want to do, and you calculate out for them how/what they'll need to roll to accomplish it. "You need a 15 or higher" is usually all they'll need to know. If they ask how you calculated what they needed, then explain it to them - when there's time to explain.

 

[Connorsrpg]

[MENTION=54846]Rechan[/MENTION]

Yeah, mine includes more than what you are saying, but doesn't have the break down I have seen on others. (I put all the 'how' in small writing at the bottom of each section).

I was simply providing an easy template for you to take the axe to Delete the rows and columns you don't need wholesale. To save time starting from scratch.

Understand with the skills, but there is only one number there. I simply put YES in the Trained column (but it isn;t needed). Last blank space is for on the ball modifications, such as +2 in forests?

Did you check out the filled in sheets (esp Savage Worlds one) as eg?

[MENTION=52734]Stormonu[/MENTION]

Yeah, but have you done this with several players. You doing the math for all PCs is way too slow and space wise? It is much easier for them to have the +# in front of them and roll, add it ans say "I got a 17". YVMV however. (I do think the players would like to know what they are good at too ).

 

[Connorsrpg]

Re Crude PC Sheet

[MENTION=54846]Rechan[/MENTION]

This looks a little like the pre-release 4E pregens I downloaded. Yeah, I do think it could do with some appeal.

Colour coding does help, believe me. If you know the colours on the PC sheets I did (and they all match the 4E colours used) you can easily say - "Look in the Orange area to see if you have a sun rod". Good for powers obviously and a little visually stimulating too

I could easily condense the sheets I provided down to the basics - looking a lot like the Savage Worlds one. Once you have a template with 'everything' it is easy to scale back Simply click on rows and columns and delete them (If you like I could give it a go).

 

[Rechan]

How did you make these? I'm very curious. I'd like to see what you can do.

Also, where do you get the art for your char sheets?

 

[Connorsrpg]

[MENTION=54846]Rechan[/MENTION]
Just in Word - I have gotten quite good at using tables over the years...thanks to RPing (oh and I then use those skills at work ).

Am shifting house at moment, but with a template, it shouldn't take long to modify.

Anything you would like to definitely keep, or want gone?

RE Art. Well, I google a lot, and whenever I see a good picture, I save a copy. I have hundreds on my hard drive, categorised too (I probably shouldn't be posting Sheets with art here? Oops).