D&D 5E Very little kids take D&D VERY seriously

[Jester David]

3?! Wow. Young.
I suppose you couldn't exclude the one if the other two are playing.

I love my son who is almost 5, but he's not ready for D&D. We toy with Dungeon and Castle Ravenloft in a math lite kinda way, but it's more freeform than anything.

 

[Li Shenron]

I'm explaining to the 7 year old that if he decides to turn evil he has to deal with the consequences, and the 7 year old begging me to let him respawn. The 5 year old is upset and angry that his brother would try and murder him. Tilly the 3 year old was happy though - she's the toughest.

Fortunately it ended well... it would have been more complicated to discuss if Sensai had succeeded

 

[Mistwell]

Have a friendly NPC resurrect the dead player, have it be the evil enchantment of the Nothic that used mind influence to encourage the act of evil, hunt down the Nothic. It was a good lesson in the consequences of evil, but I'd go a lot kinder on kids myself and try and judge the appropriateness a bit better.

 

[halfling rogue]

yowza. I'm DMing my 10, 8, 5 year olds and that sounds hella harsh. I try to encourage them to play their PCs as free as they'd like, but I wouldn't encourage them to turn on each other. When they encountered the Nothic in our game I tapped into their bad memories from their backstories. If my kids ended the game in tears because of an in game decision I forced them to make I would view that as a failure on my part.

 

[Imaro]

Lol, I'd say they learned two very important lessons...

1. Bad choices often lead to bad consequences...
2. Don't split from the party or you'll probably end up dead... (even if it's at the hands of your own party members!!)

 

[Rabbitbait]

Lol, I'd say they learned two very important lessons...

1. Bad choices often lead to bad consequences...
2. Don't split from the party or you'll probably end up dead... (even if it's at the hands of your own party members!!)

To be honest - my 7 year old thrives on being the hero and has watched lots of cartoons (and star wars) where the hero is tempted towards the dark side but refuses the offer. I fully expected him to follow the trope and refuse the temptation.

That said, I still let the dice fall where they will - My kids are actually fairly emotionally mature (despite the tears) and I knew that a low level wizard at close quarters really had no chance against a cleric and a fighter. So I thought a lesson on what happens when you turn on your team would be appropriate.

I actually think he has learnt a lot from this episode. The 5 and 3 year old are just happy because they are tougher than their big brother.

 

[Rabbitbait]

I play a very stripped down version of the rules. I helped the 7 year old to roll up a character (he chose a wizard) and choose spells, but I pre-generated the characters for the other two.

With the younger two, each round I just list their obvious options and give them hints as to what a good course of action might be. However the choice is always theirs for what they actually do. Then they roll a dice - if they roll high they succeed, if they roll low they fail. With the 7 year old I make him add up numbers and read through his abilities himself.

I didn't think the 5 year old would be able to handle the game, but he is fine.

I really didn't think the 3 year old would be able to handle the game, but she is also fine.

I really am surprised at how much all of them love playing - my wife despairs because she is now the only non-geek.

 

[Uchawi]

I am waiting for my kids to be a little more mature if and when I introduce them to the game again. Most likely in their teens. I tried it when they were around 7 and 8, but they took it too seriously, and it was so easy for the behavior to spill over into other things. I guess that is the gift and curse of parenting when learning what works and what does not.

 

[jadrax]

3. He has strange tastes. For example, for whatever reason, he thinks electrum pieces are the coolest things ever.

That is not strange.

 

[GameOgre]

When your Five year old turns to you with a strait face and says" Crush your enemies, see then driven before you. Hear the Lamentations of their women" You know that you are truly growing your own D&D group.