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Message: <blockquote data-quote="buddhafrog" data-source="post: 5767503" data-attributes="member: 86605">Good for you.  I use D&D as a tool in my ESL games in Korea and have played with many dozens of kids over the past couple years.  It's fun.  When you have new kids playing, you'll get the un-jaded, first-time reactions of AWESOME that will remind you of when you played as a child.  FANTASTIC!Some advice:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">be prepared for kids to order pizza at the inn.  Seriously, maybe Coke, too.  The older they are, the more they might understand the setting.  The younger they are, the more flexible you should be in making sure they follow standard D&D world expectations. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Play as though they are adults.  They watch/play their fair share of murder/horror games - no need to tame it down in that regard.  I don't always describe the violence but I'll throw out in juicy detail occasionally so that they remember the type of situation their PC's face.  They love it.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">I still have a hard time doing this, but start with actual playing as soon as possible - don't get hung up on explaining all the rules first.  They'll learn by doing and will have a lot more fun that way.  Most sit down and play their new videogames without going through the directions, unlike many adults. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Exaggerate,  Be expressive.  They will likely be more reserved at first b/c they might be new and b/c some teens are rather shy.  Hopefully you'll have a couple clowns which will make everyone relax.  Either way, YOU keep up the pace and excitement, they'll follow.  This is true for all DM'ing, but I find it more important for new youth games.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Good for all DM'ing, but again especially for youth, let them explain who their character is and what their backstory is.  They might be more comfortable seeing the story as a list of goals (much like video games) and take some time to fully grasp their ability to make their character/world their own.  That is what makes this game special - so force them into that a little more than you might normally.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">I find myself having students roll insight more than normal, especially new students.  I use it as a way to give them clues or suggest best options for them.  Sometimes they need a little more guidance and are far less sure of the real range of choices their characters can make.  With that in mind, try to find a reason for PC's to benefit from exploring their environment and interacting with it through verbally saying what they're doing.  This will put them in control of their characters and help them to see the game beyond what is on the table and in front of their eyes.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Use minis.  Many adults love minis, but holy ranger, kids LOVE minis.  Minis alone will make them want to play.  I always put my PC minis on the table and have each players choose a few they might be interested in playing (be prepared to answer the question: who's the best? = they're all equal, but have different strengths)</li> </ul>If you're playing Pathfinder, it sounds like the new Beginners Box would be good.  If you're playing 4e, I'd suggest trying to Run Madness at Gardmore Abbey and a prequel like Siege.  I haven't done this yet, <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/d-d-4th-edition-discussion/315821-will-run-madness-gardmore-abbey-siege-other-pre-story.html#post5762669" target="_blank">but I'll start using this set up</a> for my next round of games.  I think the kids will love the Deck of Many Things. The benefit for playing a prequel like Siege of Gardmore Abbey is they can explore the game a little, using pre-gens that you create, and then worry about their "real" character after they learn a little about the game.A few things you might consider that are tangible things that help my games:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">I use fake gems and put them in a velvet bag and have kids randomlly pull their treasure.  The rarer the color, the more valuable the treasure.  I have four different levels of treasure rewards based on encounter levels.  I keep each gem low so that usually each kid in the party will draw a few gems each for their total party share.  Kids have a lot of fun with this. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">I use the a critcal hit the way I did as a child.  Roll again to see what extra damage.  0-9 max damage / 10-14 roll damage x 2 / 15-17 roll damage x 3 plus one condition / 18-19 roll damage x 3 plus one condition plus one immediate attack / 20 beheaded, plus everyone gets a free attack as your enemies watch their ally's head roll away...  Kids go crazy in love with that Crit20 extra roll.  I have a few extra special d20's that I let kids choose from, and they only get to use these for very special rolls (one of the dice is seen in my avatar pic to the left)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">I used to do this - and kids love it - but it took too much time as I started playing D&D daily with multiple classes.  I used to make magic treasure cards using a free downloadable progam that lets you make your own "Magic" cards (I think it was Magic, not sure).  I'd find online pics of real items and put them as the image of the card and type of it's properties.  It was fun but took too much time.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">I think most character sheets are crap.  Even I get confused.  I use D&D 4E Shado's Character Sheet (you can find it here on Enworld).  I adjusted this further to make more ATK option on the front page.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">I find this very useful for me - I give each student a cheap colored plastic closed folder, a small yellow pad, and plastic sleeve to put their actual character sheet in.  I have them write all the HP/etc changes on their yellow pad.  I do all this so that they keep their crap clean and organized and not lost - you might find this to be a little more problematic for kids.</li> </ul>Have fun.  Good luck.  Give us an update and let us know how it goes.Feel free to ask me any questions.</blockquote>

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