RPG Adventure for a 4-year-old

[TikkchikFenTikktikk]

My daughter is 4 years old. She is extremely interested in the game that friends come over to play on Monday nights after she goes to bed, and the game that allows me to spend every Wednesday evening at The Comic Book Store.

She can't read yet, and she can't perform basic arithmetic.

But damn, can she pretend and play make believe and craft an epic tale given some duckies, a mermaid Barbie, and some seafaring Little People.

So I'd like to give her a taste of RPGing without the complexity or the violence. I can make stuff up no problem--we've played Settlers of Catan for ages by just making random maps and rolling dice to move the Thief pawn randomly around the board until she grows weary--but have to think many here have been in a similar position.

How did you create a fairy princess character for your preschool daughter such that there was drama--though non-violent and non-sexual drama--involved in helping the butterfly kingdom move to the south forest?

Edit: There **MUST** be vaguely D&Dish stuff involved like maps, tokens or miniatures, and much rolling of dice.

 

[ERIN6]

how sweet, I have a son 5 years old

 

[Whisper72]

I know what you mean. I am currently in the process of creating my own RPG aimed at kids aged 4-8.

Some ideas I am considering:
- dicepool system where you roll d6 against a target number. all the player needs to do is see which dice are above a certain number and then count that number of dice, a relatively easy feat for kids
- focus on problem solving and not combat: define the PC in terms of several easy non-combat powers/skills (although combat does play a role as well)
- simple physical barriers / challenges can form problems difficult enough; how to cross a raging river, how to figure out to cross a labyrinth (you could provide a real labyrinth for the kid to solve) etc.
- give the PC's non-combat gear to use creatively (rope, spikes, a tent, a mirror, chalk etc.)
- have the prop maps include real clues
- model the area depicted on a map on a known park for example, and give real landmarks mysterious properties (beneath the slide in the playground is the gate to faery). This allows you to put real physical clues in this same park, and so turn it into a sort of LARP for your kid...

Just some thoughts...

 

[clip]

There's a Disney Princess range of Choose Your Own Adventure books which has been OOP for a while, but I managed to get a couple for my daughter through the obvious channels. I think that's a reasonable introduction as it starts off the decision making process, and the RPG mindset.

 

[jonesy]

I've been hearing lots of good things about the Zantabulous Zorcerer of Zo. It focuses on storytelling and campaign creation.

The rules are great because even failure gets rewarded.

Here's a good review that gets into details:
Dr. Fischer's Game Night: Zorcerer of Zo- fairy tale role playing

 

[Doug McCrae]

Use a boardgame, like you're doing with Settlers of Catan, and play it like a roleplaying game.

The ones from FFG - Descent, Runebound, World of Warcraft and Lord of the Rings - all look too complex for what you want.

Enchanted Forest
Wikipedia article
[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Ravensburger-Enchanted-Forest-Family-Game/dp/B00001OK75"]Amazon US[/ame]


Tales Of The Crystals
Wikipedia article
[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Tales-of-the-Crystals/dp/B000V8LLJA"]Amazon US[/ame]


RPGQuest (not sure if available in English)
Wikipedia article
Official site

 

[Keith Robinson]

I used the D&D Board Game (3ed) the first few times I played with my (then) 4 year old son. You'll probably need to forego a lot of the dice rolls. I just pretty much stuck to attack rolls and damage rolls. He had very little interest in searching for stuff or doing anything 'boring'. It was in one door, fight, onto the next door! Locked meant nothing to him...

The funny thing was is that until we'd played, he didn't know what any of the weapons were, or a lot of things we take for granted. It was fun introducing them to him for the first time.

We had a lot of fun (though never completed the game).

The other alternative is to make something up yourself. Keep it really simple, with very few dice rolls (if she Searches, she finds; if she looks, she Spots; if she Listens, she hears, etc, as this rewards intelligent play and encourages her interest IMO). Dice rolls should probably just be for attack vs AC and maybe for damage. Or you do it skirmish style and have a default damage, rather than random damage. I must add I didn't do death in my game. When the monsters were technically dead, I just had them run away. For your map you could use dungeon tiles, a few minis, and a basic plot - the princess has been kidnapped, or turned into a toad, or whatever.

It really only needs to be that simple. I found with my son, he had little to no interest in the mechanics of the game, or calculating base attack, or any of that stuff. He just liked running around, seeing what was in the next door, and fighting what was there. He also loved rolling that d20.

 

[IronWolf]

How did you create a fairy princess character for your preschool daughter such that there was drama, though non-violent and non-sexual drama--involved in helping the butterfly kingdom move to the south forest?

The other alternative is to make something up yourself. Keep it really simple, with very few dice rolls (if she Searches, she finds; if she looks, she Spots; if she Listens, she hears, etc, as this rewards intelligent play and encourages her interest IMO). Dice rolls should probably just be for attack vs AC and maybe for damage. Or you do it skirmish style and have a default damage, rather than random damage. I must add I didn't do death in my game. When the monsters were technically dead, I just had them run away. For your map you could use dungeon tiles, a few minis, and a basic plot - the princess has been kidnapped, or turned into a toad, or whatever.

IronPup was just a bit older when I started playing with him, but making something up yourself and applying a trimmed down version of your ruleset of choice should work well. If you want to avoid any violence I would lean towards a skill heavy plot.

Perhaps a rogue that has to rescue the prince and to do so has to make their way stealthily past several guards, possibly pose as a worker at the castle to make their way in, past a few locked doors, a trap and finally freeing the prince and escorting them back out.

That gets you a fair amount of dice rolling without it having to be combat.

 

[_NewbieDM_]

I actually created a game for my 4 year old daughter, and her and I are having a blast playing it.

You can find the game, and videos of her and I playing it here... rpgKids « www. Newbie DM .com

Gnome Stew, the Gamemastering blog just reviewed it here:

Introducing the next generation with rpgKids - Gnome Stew, the Game Mastering Blog

check it out, it may work for your needs.

 

[MidwestFarmDisaster]

How did you create a fairy princess character for your preschool daughter such that there was drama, though non-violent and non-sexual drama--involved in helping the butterfly kingdom move to the south forest?

Consider Trollbabe. It was originally published only as pdf many years ago (which I still have on a hard drive somewhere), but now I see there is a new version in print.

Here is a play report with a six year old.

Regarding maps and tokens...maybe have a art projects as part of the play session to create props as they are introduced in the story.