D&D 5E Running a game for a 6 year old

[Scurity]

Hi All,

I have a little experience running games, though I play more. My daughter would like to have a go and I'm thinking of running a game with her and my wife. I had originally looked at making my own very simple game and created some mechanics, but I thought it might be easier to simplify 5e instead.

My first thought is to leave a lot of detail of the character sheet and I can manage that behind the scenes. I thought this could be extended to possible actions, and I could have the little one narrate what she wants and I convert that into actions. Given she will almost certainly want to have magic, vancian casting could be messy.
I'm considering starting off by making all magic at will, and nerfing spells as needed. I don't tend to use miniatures, but I think they might be very useful to explain what is happening.

Has anyone done something similar? I'd appreciate any constructive feedback.

Cheers

Rob

 

[aramis erak]

Keep the sessions relatively short. 1-2 hours max.
If she's able to read, the character sheet isn't going to be an issue, but the power descriptions might be.
Have her learn by doing.
Emphasize the variety of the 3 pillars - exploration, interaction, combat.

If she's not able to do the addition on her own, use a pair of matching number lines - one only as long as the modifiers, the other going from 0 to 30, with every line numbered. (This is how we teach the addition concept to kids in resource math. I'd recommend 1cm or 1/2" per line, and about 20-25 point sized numbers.) The way this works - have her put the 0 of the moving (modifier) strip on her roll's value on the fixed strip. have her touch the modifier on the moving strip that matches her action. Have her tell you the fixed strip's value by her finger. This will help both math concepts and put the addition on her - something more for her to succeed at in play.

For exploration, I highly recommend use of one-room-at-a-time maps in dungeons. Especially if those are pre-drawn. Such as printing out the map, then cutting the rooms apart, and putting new rooms on as they're encountered.

Remember the lack of common experiences - many things that should be obvious won't be obvious to her.

 

[Jachywalcott]

I would have recommended Brave Halfling's Dagger for this, and then importing whatever ideas from 5e you like, but it appears they're not selling it anymore. Something very simple and minimalist that she can have and read her own copy of (and that is therefore very short and simple) will help her out a lot.

 

[Quartz]

A while back another member here wrote up his experiences of DMing for his similarly-aged daughter. He concentrated on having her help various fantastical creatures. Unfortunately, I don't recall more than that.

 

[Scurity]

Keep the sessions relatively short. 1-2 hours max.
If she's able to read, the character sheet isn't going to be an issue, but the power descriptions might be.
Have her learn by doing.
Emphasize the variety of the 3 pillars - exploration, interaction, combat.

If she's not able to do the addition on her own, use a pair of matching number lines - one only as long as the modifiers, the other going from 0 to 30, with every line numbered. (This is how we teach the addition concept to kids in resource math. I'd recommend 1cm or 1/2" per line, and about 20-25 point sized numbers.) The way this works - have her put the 0 of the moving (modifier) strip on her roll's value on the fixed strip. have her touch the modifier on the moving strip that matches her action. Have her tell you the fixed strip's value by her finger. This will help both math concepts and put the addition on her - something more for her to succeed at in play.

For exploration, I highly recommend use of one-room-at-a-time maps in dungeons. Especially if those are pre-drawn. Such as printing out the map, then cutting the rooms apart, and putting new rooms on as they're encountered.

Remember the lack of common experiences - many things that should be obvious won't be obvious to her.

For powers I might add a drawing to show what it does. She can read, but I want her to do that at her own pace.

She can add, but a number line sounds like a good idea. I like the idea of using modifier strips as well, thanks.

Building up a map a room a time also sounds sensible. I wish I still had my copy of the Hero Quest boardgame.

Thank you for your advice, lots of great ideas for me to mull over.

Cheers

Rob

 

[Scurity]

I would have recommended Brave Halfling's Dagger for this, and then importing whatever ideas from 5e you like, but it appears they're not selling it anymore. Something very simple and minimalist that she can have and read her own copy of (and that is therefore very short and simple) will help her out a lot.

This review of it is quite positive: (Can't post URL, but it is on this blogspot site: willyoueatthemeatloaf)
As you say, it doesn't appear to be on sale anymore. However, either not using, or hiding attributes would keep it simple.

Cheers

 

[Scurity]

A while back another member here wrote up his experiences of DMing for his similarly-aged daughter. He concentrated on having her help various fantastical creatures. Unfortunately, I don't recall more than that.

Thanks, I'll search and see if I can find it.

 

[Jester David]

Write an adventure akin to a kid's adventure show. Something like Dora the Explorer or Team Umizoomi. Look at the format of the episodes and mimic the design. Lots of big setpiece scenes that you move through rapidly, but are known in advance so there's a feeling of progress. A simple quest that seems easily accomplished. Monsters and threats that are defeated when you make them laugh or give them something they want.

 

[Nytmare]

For my son's first (6 years old) foray into D&D, and to play to his interest in all the crazy dice, I borrowed a page from the old Dragon Strike game and made it so that all abilities and checks were set to different dice (d4-d12) depending on how good you were at it. For magic and special abilities he had a hand of cards (with text, pictures, and icons) that operated off the standard at-will/encounter/daily mechanics.

I also patterned the game (as well as each of the first 3 or 4 little mini-campaigns I ran for him) very heavily off of what his primary TV/movie/video game interests were at the time. The first had been a Pokemon/Legend of Zelda kind of game where he basically played Link as a Ranger who could capture different monsters he was fighting in Pokeballs and use them later as animal companions. The second was a Ben Ten styled game where he could temporarily change into different legendary heroes that had been trapped inside of cursed story books. The third, probably first "true" D&D game he played, was about a mild mannered half orc barbarian called The Incredible Rulk who had a bunch of rage abilities.

I also am always a really big fan of doing a lot of "and then what happens"-ing story building when I run games for kids. http://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?t=6298

 

[jgsugden]

Keep it simple. Roll up the 6 attributes. Pick a class and race. Then strip away all the mechanics and tell her to roll dice when it is time for random chance to determine a situation and tell what she needs to solve a puzzle, hit on an attack, dodge an attack, etc.... then you can add more complexity after she gets used to playing a storytelling game.