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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Rel" data-source="post: 1265268" data-attributes="member: 99">Death_Jester, I'm liking this campaign idea more and more all the time.  I thought of a few other points that I think bear emphasizing:If you're going to have the "Kids as Characters" thing be the main focus of the campaign rather than a prelude to a more traditional game, you should be very clear and up front about it with the players.  This is the sort of game where differences in expectations between the DM and players can be deadly to group cohesion.  So long as they're good with the idea in general, I think it can work out great.You've already mentioned that the campaign won't be about the acquisiton of "loot" (in the traditional sense of the word) and that's as it should be of course.  But the characters need to be rewarded somehow and I suggest that you use detail to your best advantage.  Let one of the characters find a dagger.  But it isn't just a dagger, it has some wispy runes carved on the blade that might be written in Elvish!  And the quillons are carved to look like vines and the pommel looks like a rosebud.  And when they take it to wise Old Man Wivring, the village elder, he tells them that the writing IS in Elvish and says that the blade is named "Rose's Thorn"!  How exciting is that?!  For a kid, very exciting.  Hopefully the players will be able to be excited about that sort of thing too.It also seems that you are going to have to MASSIVELY reduce the amount of XP you give out as well as the treasure.  If not then you'll soon have 4th or 5th level 9 year olds running around.  I doubt you'll have a problem convincing the players of this necessity because they should understand that "finding Mrs. Jones' lost puppy" will garner you less XP than "defeating the goblin raiders".  Since they aren't going to be getting much in the way of XP rewards, they are not going to be getting better at what they do.  Think a lot about this.If the party is going to stay at a static and low level of ability, they have got VERY LITTLE margin for error.  When everybody in the party has, at best, 4 hit points (not to mention little or no healing magic and probably very little skill at Healing), it's very easy to get killed, even on the sorts of low risk adventures you're talking about.  If you are not fudging for the party on a regular basis, some of them are eventually going to get killed.Given that their treasure is going to be meager (if interesting and detailed) and they're going to be rewarded with little in the way of XP, I suggest an alternate reward system:  Luck.  They say that the Lord watches over drunks, fools and children and they'll fall into one or more of those categories at all times.  Call it "Karma" or "Fate" or whatever you like, but reward them with the ability to avoid bad luck.  Maybe give them a couple of "Luck points" each session that they can accumulate as the campaign goes on.  Then they can spend these to alter dice rolls that might otherwise end their young lives.I'd suggest getting a cheap pack of poker chips or those marbles that are flat on one side (you can buy these at the craft store by the hundreds for very little money).  At the start or end of each session, reward them to the players in lieu of much of the XP they would have gotten.  Reward more of them for exceptional roleplaying or heroic deeds or whatever you like.  Then when the lone goblin attacking them with a club rolls two natural 20's in a row, they can spend a chip to avoid the cruel hand of Fate.I think your ideas for the adventuring party that takes some of the kids under their wing are great.  I'd wait a couple of sessions before I introduced them though.  Have the first couple sessions be very light-hearted, kid stuff types of adventures.  Then maybe let the party get involved in something a bit over their heads but when it looks like they're going to get squashed, the adventurers come in and save the day (note:  I usually try and avoid this type of deus ex machina but in this case I'd make an exception so long as it doesn't happen too often).That's when the adventurers display their various personality types.  Maybe the Wizard delights in an audience for his Prestidigitation parlor tricks.  Perhaps the Paladin gives the kids a stern lecture about obeying their parents but also says that he admires that they were willing to engage in heroic deeds.  The Rogue might tell one o f the kids that he reminds him of himself when he was younger and teach him a few moves with the dagger that might bail him out of a scrape someday.  The Cleric may fear for the children's lives should they get in danger again and slip the one he deems most responsible a Cure Light Wounds potion.  Tons of possibilites there.As for the ideas of killing or kidnapping family members, I think you should base that decision on the tone you are seeking in the campaign.  If you want things grim and gritty with an edge of desperation, whack the relatives whenever you feel like.  If you're looking for something a little more light-hearted, steer clear of that.  If your players are as into roleplaying as you say they are, they'll take such losses seriously.I hope some of that was helpful.</blockquote>

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