RPG ideas for a 5 year old

[S'mon]

Children in Grimm aren't helpless. They can use their imagination to alter reality. Of all the game world's denizens, they alone can do this, making them most powerful denizens of that setting.

That's not the impression I got from the sample free adventure on their website, which was recommended to me by someone on rpgnet as a good game to introduce a child to RPing.

 

[S'mon]

Sounds cool, Panthanas!

 

[Abciximab]

Now, I have to thank both Vorput for finding/linking and Abciximab for writing the Gaming with my daughter thread because I stole not just the idea for the wand(s), but pretty much the entire story as well. I told them they were knights in the service of a beautiful queen and that some grumpy goblins stole the queen's fabulous unicorn and it was up to them, as brave knights, to find and rescue the unicorn.

Glad you found some inspiration in there. We've had a lot of fun playing these adventures in our house, its just an added bonus to hear of someone finding their own adventure from it.

 

[jdrakeh]

That's not the impression I got from the sample free adventure on their website, which was recommended to me by someone on rpgnet as a good game to introduce a child to RPing.

I guess that's the danger of forming impressions of a game without having actually read it

 

[am181d]

I was playing 1st Edition when I was about that age (5 or 6) and basically pulling my own weight. (I played with my brother and his friends who were 13-14 at the time.) Admitedly, I'm a bit of a freak, and it helped that I really wanted to be "cool" like my brother and his friends. I might not have had the same motivation if I was playing with a bunch of "oldies".

The moral is "know your players," I guess...

 

[Minigiant]

I have a "4E kinda" campaign with my 7 yr cousin, 11 year old cousin and two 5 year old godsiblings.

Here's what I have learned from those 4 crazy kids:

1) Don't assume they'll use common sense. Small children are unpredictable and do whatever. They will try to burn the forest down instead of searching. They will rob a bank to pay for a glass of milk. They will stab the guard just because.

2) Don't railroad. You can point out the goblins are in the forest a million times but never forced them to go there. Let them use their imaginations. Half the time the miss the hints anyway but the hilarity from what they do instead may be worth it.

3) Don't kill them unless they do many sucidal actions. My cousin prides himself on his ranger's nickname "Half Dead". If they don't want to think before attacking, punish it. Especially with boys. Something they like being a hero and attack things even when losing. My godbrother's wizards die all the time. "But that one was a clone too."