D&D 5E Wait - Is This D&D? (DMing for Teens)

[jgsugden]

I wouldn't want to fill in for a DM in their campaign. If I was filling in, I would run my own short adventures/one shots with all new characters.

That is my preference as well, but I factor in the wishes of the table. In the end, I think a DM can find a way to slide into a game, have some fun, and not disrupt the plans of the existing DM too much.

As an example of my approach, the last time I was asked to guest DM was for an estimated 4 months while the DM was giving birth and raising a baby (priorities, right?) I asked the DM what they would prefer I do, and they told me to ask the players. I asked the players and they wanted to continue the current PCs as they were close to some fun level advancement (which wasn't a great reason in my mind, but - again - I'm not the sole decision maker). I sat down with the DM and plotted out a side adventure, ran the treasure/benefits in it by the DM, and we decided that we'd keep the PC advancement to 3 levels over ~16 evening sessions.

Then, I wrote a Ravenloft based adventure and gave the DM a few hooks to toss into her game. The hooks brought a mystical artifact into their possession that seemed to be tying the group to the Shadowfell. When the DM went into labor a bit early (when the PCs were mid-combat between sessions), I stepped in and had them - mid-combat - be sucked into a Ravenloft domain. It was a dark Groundhog Day scenario where the PCs awoke in an inn and had until the stroke of Midnight to solve a mystery that could not possibly be solved in one day unless you took knowledge from each loop and figured out how to use it (like the T.I.M.E. Stories board game). Importantly, if a PC died in a loop, they returned the next morning ... but they'd pick up a curse that could not be broken while in the Ravenloft Domain - and that escalated with each successive death (the one PC that died did so three times and lost control of their shadow(s) - which would run off and do horrible things).

There was a Dread Lord that became aware of the PCs and began to manipulate the situation to stop their efforts. The goal of the adventure was to end the reign of the Dread Lord (which was actually something it could be convined to want). Eventually, they did something that limited the number of loops they had left. If they defeated the Dread Lord and saved the Domain, the area would be 'returned' to a part of the campaign world (in a place that had been empty on the DM's map, but was prime real estate) and provide them with valuable resources (There was a Mithril Mine). If they failed, they'd be returned to the Material Plane and the Dread Domain would go on. Either way, they'd return to the Prime in the instant that they had left it in the exact positions their PCs had been in and in the exact state they were in at that point of the Ravenloft adventure - which ended up being really messed up.

We ended up running a few extra weeks beyond the initial plan as the DM needed more time and their last few loops took much longer than I'd expected (they crammed a lot in as they tried to solve the big riddle and tried to gather valuable treasure, too), but my goals were met:

1.) I did not have to walk through the DM's world too much (although I asked a lot of questions of the DM so that the Domain felt like something from his campaigns past that had been sucked up and removed) ,
2.) The players got to play their characters in a self contained adventure (and they worried a lot over what was going on in the 'Real World' as they were stuck in the plane, especially when they realized they'd been through the loop thousands of times without remembering those loops),
3.) The adventure had real stakes (they 'reappeared' with their gear and curses from the other realm - and could have brought vast new resources to the area),
4.) The adventure was something new and fun for the players (I put a Jenga tower on the table when I run Ravenloft games and PCs have to pull from it when they roll a 1 or they decide they made an error - and something really bad happens if it falls), and
5.) I wasn't going to kill the PCs no matter what (although one died as the 'paused' combat continued).

(I also recorded the sessions and sent the recordings to the DM - she listened to some, but not all).

 

[nevin]

I had the privilege to be asked to guest DM at a local event because the regular DM had been called away for a family emergency. This gaming club had three full tables of teenagers on a Friday night (don't worry, I was asked to run only one table of six players). It was awesome to see the next generation (or in my case the next-next generation) completely enthusiastic about this hobby.
Only one player had an actual physical copy of a character sheet - handwritten all out of order on notebook paper (just like when I started the game in the 80s). The other five were as far from that original experience as possible - running their characters (and rolling their dice) on their phones through D&D Beyond. That's fine - times change, and there's nothing wrong with wanting to use technology. But I had a lot of difficulty verifying die rolls and character stats without asking to look at their phones all the time.
My theatrical background of presenting memorable NPCs with accents (and dropping my usual puns) engaged the players, and everyone was really getting into the game. But something went wrong starting with the first combat encounter. I was going to run the adventure the event organizers gave me - a family-friendly quest to get a pie recipe designed for characters levels 1-4. The characters the teens had been using for this unofficial organized play were at least 5th level and outfitted with magic items well beyond their stations, with homebrewed weapons that would do ridiculous amounts of damage. One player commanded a water elemental and could shoot two lightning bolts a turn. Suffice it to say the encounters with three goblins weren't going to be much of a challenge.
I didn't mind if it was easy, as long as everyone was having a good time. But unfortunately, fights were over before all the players got an opportunity to do something. Even when I was doubling HP, pulling out tougher opponents out of the Monster Manual.
I decided to lean back into my strength with them: memorable NPCs. But the players started going completely "murder hobo." The 3rd level barbarian and gunslinger decided to pick a fight with a friendly Treant and destroyed him in two turns.
Because this was a one-time guest spot DM role, I didn't think I should change the way the organizers run the event. I did call out a few glaring issues and tried to engage all the players and keep them on track the best I could.
The experience at that event did worry me about running for young people overall. This is relevant because I'm going to be running a regular game starting tomorrow night for a large group of teens in my neighborhood who are already asking me about homebrewed options.
Those of you who have run games for Gen Z, does this experience sound typical? Since I'm planning my Session 0 for tomorrow night, how should I lay down ground rules without coming across as a curmudgeon or killjoy?

The same way you have too in all editions. Consequences. Kill a Treeent the forest is now your enemy, which include any elves and fey that live there. Fey Curses, maybe the town gets attacked by the other Treeent's. Or the town throws them in jail and takes thier stuff and then turns them over to the elves. But I think every game I've ever participated in at a Game event had some hobo killer in it. I don't know if people just do stuff they'd never do in their home games or game events just attract that kind of player. My opinion is that organized play groups that just run dungeon crawls create most of those players.

Just keep a running list of who they wrong and have them suffer consequences for those actions. They'll either get it or if they are like a group I ran in Palladium's TMNT you may spend the entire game with them being the bad guys and all the lawful groups trying to hunt them down. Most groups I've run that started down that path straightened up after dealing with consequences a few times. Don't forget the good consequences for the behavior you want to reward.

 

[billd91]

I well remember trying to run games as a teenager, and players turning up with 20th level characters with all 18 stats and every magic item in the book. That's the way teenagers are. I guess they haven't learned the "cheating spoils everyone's fun" lesson that keeps most adults from doing this.

I don't even know I'd say it's strictly about cheating as much as maxing out an empowerment fantasy. It's a bit immature, but a lot of us experimented with it as kids. I would expect most of the kids to outgrow it in due time.

You probably need to closely supervise character creation for each player, explaining that as an old timer you need it to be in print.

With this, I definitely agree. It also helps you get the kids on board with collaboration with the DM, collaboration with each other.

I would ban phones from the game all together if you aren't comfortable with the tech.

This may be something that someone DMing kids today may just have to accept. There's something nostalgic about the hand-made character sheet, but many of the kids are going to be smitten with the tech. Might as well help them learn to use it constructively and in a way that integrates with the game at the tabletop.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I don't even know I'd say it's strictly about cheating as much as maxing out an empowerment fantasy. It's a bit immature, but a lot of us experimented with it as kids. I would expect most of the kids to outgrow it in due time.

Sure, I agree. And so does Lothric Skullsmasher, 18/00 strength half ogre.

This may be something that someone DMing kids today may just have to accept. There's something nostalgic about the hand-made character sheet, but many of the kids are going to be smitten with the tech.

You can sell kids on nostalgia and doing things "Old School". It has more novelty value than the tech.