I would love to play table top RPGs with my children... But I have no idea what is out there that is designed for this age group.

Any ideas?
Any advice?
This message was last edited by the user at 23:12, Thu 04 Sept 2014.

I started playing d&d basic at about 8 years of age. I got started just finding the books lying around the house. It was "Hey neat pictures, reminds me of Final Fantasy". It was not to long before I went behind my uncles back and learned the rules. My brother and I created games based on video games, and our own dreams.

Other then that, maybe play the game around them and tone down some of the things to what you feel is ok for that age?


EDIT:
Hahaha, sorry seems I misread your post.
This message was last edited by the user at 23:55, Thu 04 Sept 2014.

I used Faery's Tale. It's great, published by Firefly Games. Started my kid when she was around five. I can't recommend it highly enough.

After we'd played that for a while, I got her the West End Games Star Wars hardcover book for her birthday. I started running it for her and she began to tell me what I was doing wrong! She might've been seven.

Since then we've moved on through Basic D&D to 1e AD&D. Got her the Gygax memorial editions. Now I run a game for dads and kids, we're having a blast! Next will be Classic Traveller...

And she just turned twelve.

Gurps and Mechwarrior!

But seriously, I would think it would have to be whatever the kid likes. If they're in to Pokemon, a game with similar themes might interest them I suppose, regardless of ruleset (or not following the rules all the time more likely).

Lego has a cool game which you can design and build boards with legos. Magic a wizard, thief barbarian etc. work together as a team or against each other to collect treasures and defeat momstoers like bats, and goblins and it uses a D6. I have a few of these set and play with my 6 year old and even with my D&D group when we just what something to pass a quick few hours.

Its called Heroica, Not sure if they still make it because it really boomed in the stores. and with legos being so pricey I happen to pick a lot of them up at deep discounts.

They have some newer stuff but i havent taken a look yet as i wait for the discounts on Legos.

I can't emphasise highly enough 'not following the rules'. They're going to have, potentially, years to have to follow the rules to the letter. Work around the rules to let them have fun. Ignore the rules. Dump the rules. Allow them to do things that, per the RAW, you just can't do.

Especially if you're also gaming with more experienced players.

I have heard great things about Faery's Tale.

Also, a little less traditional, but still a storytelling exercise with some "gamification" that's oriented towards kids is "Happy Birthday, Robot!".  Basically it uses some basic rules, and some dice to structure a group telling a collective story.  Might be a good first step into the broader idea of communal storytelling, which is pretty much what RPGs are at their core, if you're looking for something to go in between nothing and the step up to a more traditionally formatted game.

Some great advice already! Thanks comrades.

This community rocks.

Grow with me RPG.  SPECIFICALLY geared towards children of ages 4-7 with advice advice to the parent on how to get the kids into rpg'ing.  Not sure if I can give the website where you can find it for sale but they do offer a few pieces for the rule set.

In reply to tulgurth (msg # 9):

No links required :) my Google-Fu is strong.

I once taught a group of 12 year-olds 3.5 D&D, so I feel strongly that if they want to play, they'll learn with a good teacher darn near any system.

That said, Numenera, with its Cypher System, I believe to be good for kids.  The rules are very simple, and there's great room for the GM to adjudicate.  As the point of the game is to explore (you actually don't gain XP for killing monsters, but for discovering things), it encourages kids to think of other solutions than just killing monsters and taking their stuff (though you can do that too).  A friend of mine has a 9 year-old daughter, who, along with her 5 year-old brother, plays Numenera with their dad as the GM.

The nice thing about it is because the rules are so simple, you can easily make up monsters or NPCs to your players' comfort level.  Some Numenera monsters are quite disturbing, but you can re-skin them effortlessly, or just make your own with the game mechanics.

My advice is to look at what the kids like, outside of RPGs.  There is at least one passable My Little Pony RPG that would work for kids if you glossed over some of the rules.  http://www.roleplayingismagic.com/

There is also Laser Ponies.  http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/...t/65022/Laser-Ponies

You can really play any system that you want.  Just make all the choices really simple and abstract stuff.  D&D 5 seems simple enough on the face of it, although I haven't really played it much.  I don't think you'll have to abstract much, though, there's nowhere near as much paperwork and math as in previous editions.

I even knew one kid of about 9 or 10 that started with 2nd edition. Even Shadowrun. You just tended to have to let them say what they wanted to do, and then you translate it into gamespeak.

Dagger for Kids: Supplemental Rules for Classic Role-playing with Kids is a very basic rule system. It is available as a free download.

Not played it but Hero Kids looks right for you. I use the authors other game, Heroes Against Darkness, here on rpol and it is pretty good.

http://herokidsrpg.blogspot.co...o-kids-overview.html

Savage World of My Little Pony

It is based on the Savage Worlds system so is a good introduction to that system, and given SW's structure, it is a good intro to RPGs in general.

You can find it here,
http://giftkrieg23.deviantart....th-Edition-347963248

Unfortunately, it is intended to go with the core rules, though even a passing familiarity with it can be enough to skip the core rules if you really want to.

What kind of die do you need for Faery's Tale?

My daughter used to sit on the basement stairs and watch as my friends and I played various games, mostly Deadlands at that time. When she was about nine, I started doing a free-form sort of game with her based on an event I had played at Origins involving kids abducted by desert raiders. Every time we were riding in the car on the way to some other activity, we'd pick up the story.

She wanted me to run some games for her and a few of her friends. We did a regular game with her group from the time they were ten until they were about fourteen. We used Deadlands, Dragonlance, and Call of Cthulhu. Those were good times and the kids all really enjoyed the gaming.

When she was thirteen, I took my daughter to the Origins Games Fair for the first time. Three years later she was helping me run my first RPG events and two years after that she was running her own event. We're still writing and running RPGs there.

It takes a fair amount of teaching and patience in the early years. With a child younger than ten I think it's important to keep the sessions relatively short and to the point.

Even at ten or eleven I had to demonstrate how to investigate a mystery to my daughter's group with coaching: "What do you know? What do you need to find out? Who might be able to help you?" And it was important to keep my own notes, because they couldn't remember the details until they got to be around twelve or so -- and these were all TAG students.

So it can be a great hobby to get involved in with kids. It tends to push their interest in reading and history, too.

There may be some 'RPG boardgames' made for younger kids that would provide a transition, similar to 'Betrayal at House on the Hill' or 'Arkham Horror' but a bit simpler and shorter.

Way back when I was a teenager, and they actually used to leave small children in my care sometimes, this was how I'd keep them wrangled: old school Basic D&D (a little more simplified) with a very simple run of Keep on the Borderlands, or of In Search of the Unknown, since that's set up for being custom stocked.

Characters are pre-rolled, the encounters are a bit simplified, and well, they almost always did way better than a group of adult players would since I was such a softy.

Standard d6's are fine. You need maybe six or eight. Also some kind of tokens to keep track of points, you want maybe four or six per player (I think).

They do/did make faery dice and goblin(?) dice too, which are cute. The faery is blue, the goblin is green. The PC's, the good guys, use the faery dice and it's especially good if you roll (I think) a six, so the faery dice have a pic of a faery on the six side. OTOH the goblins (enemies) get it especially nice if they roll (I think) a one, so the goblin dice have a pic of <something> on the one side.

Been a while, we haven't played in years. But I should point out that you could easily play with adults, for those who like a lite game.

The old TSR "Dungeon" board game is great.

I recall Hero Quest (the board game) as being a great gatewa to RPGs, too.  There may be a moder equivalent.

HeroQuest is still awesome for that -- especially for making the switch from player to GM.

One thing I wanted to say was... don't underestimate them.  A whole lot of the advice you get (and are getting) for introducing children to gaming is to make it simple and easy and walk them through everything, and there is truth to that.  If nothing else, as much as there is for introducing anybody to anything; it's always best to start simple and build up.  We started a D&D game with them first as just sort of freeform gaming, and then introducing system-elements over time -- first character concepts like what classes they were, then actual sheets and dice, and soon, I'll drop Torg on them! (...No?  Maybe Torg can wait.)

But kids can handle more complicated issues than we think they can.  Our son, as stereotypical as it feels, really just wants a video game when he plays; he looks for the combats, and wants boss fights, and isn't so interested in all those extraneous details like his character's name.  But when he gets a battle, he can come up with some remarkably impressive strategies and clever ideas for how to win it.  Our daughter (also, yes, kind of stereotypically) gives her characters incredibly rich and interesting backgrounds, and fills in setting details almost without thinking about it.  Both of them are doing just fine keeping up with a game that has a whole lot of mystery and political elements along with your basic adventuring.

...In other words, yes, there's a definite risk of boring them with too much system; but you can bore them with too simple a game, too.  Keep your system simple, but don't hold back on the rest.  If anything, expect to be trying to keep up.

(For an example, have you read Darths & Droids?  It's a webcomic taking screencaptures from the Star Wars movies, and making a game out of it with a very different plot.  JarJar Binks and the Gungans and a number of other elements are all kind of thrown into the game by the 8-year-old sister of one of the players that they get stuck with part way through.. until after a while when the GM is stuck he just says, "Sally? What's this planet like?", and she spits out something weird but awesome.  She's written brilliantly.)

Okay, here's a thing I'm wondering about:

Is introducing children to RPGs at a young age really healthy for them? Won't it mess up their minds too much?

Plus, the violence...
This message was last edited by the user at 19:01, Fri 05 Sept 2014.

I've been considering introducing my grandson to RP and this will help me out tremendously in introducing him to RP. He is 8 going on 9 and is very capable to do this! I think it's healthy for children to RP and I think it helps fosters creativity and problem solving. It doesn't really have to be violent either.

On the other hand, RPGs work by taking people away from reality and their own identity. Is it safe to do with children, whose sense of reality and personal identity is just forming?

Kids play act all the time.  Cowboys and Indians; Cops & Robbers; Playing Pirates.  All healthy expressions and no rules.  This is no different save that there's less "I shot you!"  "No you didn't!" arguments.

Maybe you're right. I guess I'm just... overprotective.

Have your ever looked back at the hobbies you had while being a kid and having a thought of "I'd never let my kids read / watch / play with this stuff"?

I agree with this! I don't see the difference either. I've played lots of games like this with my kids and grandson! I enjoyed the hobbies I had and wouldn't keep my kids from those hobbies.

So, I've been reading through this thread and I've seen several valid points about the perils of encouraging RPG's for kids (introducing violence,  fantasy, etc). What it boils down to isn't just the game or system. The person introducing and playing with them plays a huge part in yhe game's impact on a young mind. In the context of this thread, it is the parent. For that, I am fully supportive. I work with kids and hear parents on a regular basis say how they wish they had more control over what, exactly, their child saw/heard/played (not just frequency but also content). This is the perfect opportunity to do just that.

You don't want a lot of violence? Don't make it a huge part of your story. Don't want dark and scary elements? Don't have them. Worried that they might lose their identity? Show them by example that you can separate the game and your real life.

I plan to continue gaming when I have kids and, if they want to do it with me, they are more than welcome to. I will just be selective of the stories to which they are introduced.
This message was last edited by the user at 19:37, Fri 05 Sept 2014.

I have a degree in psych, studied developmental psych and theories of learning, and am a certified teacher.

Roleplay is extremely beneficial to children (as well as to adults). "Make-believe," remember? Absolutely every kid with a toy in their hand plays make-believe.

As has been said, a parent GM is in control of what the elements are.

Children need to learn imagination, creativity, problem solving, and can work through behavioral ideas in a safe environment. This is all part of growing up. Plus, RPGs usually foster an interest in writing, art, acting and history.

Anyone who can become detached from reality in any meaningful way by roleplaying is just as likely to do so from some other avenue, such as TV, computer games or fiction. Or by withdrawing from others altogether. That's a problem that exists before the individual gets involved. At least in RPGs there are other players and a GM to interact with, so there are other perspectives being shared on everything that is described or done in the game. That kind of reality-checking provides feedback on what is and isn't appropriate.

Dice'd RPGs also teach math, probability, and statistics.  ^___^
This message was last edited by the user at 19:59, Fri 05 Sept 2014.

In reply to Dara (msg # 33):

Thank you for adding that, I was on a rant... ;)

Since my daughter's group included not just her, but other parents' ten year olds as well, I sent the parents a little introduction (already knowing the kids and most of the parents from their school and the small town we all lived in). In it I promised that the kids would always be on the side of good, that they would never play the bad guys.

While I knew the kids could handle the fantasizing and play acting involved, it was important to me that they not play evil characters at their ages. I also kept the violence fairly abstract, without graphic descriptions, at least until they were in their teens.

Same here. After I posted, I considered going back and editing to include that. Then I figured, with the community here, someone would add it in. ;-)

No need to apologize Baron, although I will say that the conversation has gotten off topic.  Does not matter what rpg'ing teaches or could teach, the fact the OP'r wants to teach his/her child(ren) about rpg's and wants to know what systems would be good for that purpose.  Although I do agree with Baron and Dara.  But I speak as a parent.

 I invented a simple card game rpg that used two decks of cards. I had my daughter make a simple character sheet with strength, weapons, gold, etc. Then each of the cards corresponded to a silly creature and location she would encounter in her adventure. Each one had a few different ideas for how to defeat it and what was at the location. It was a bit like making a choose your own adventure with some freeform elements. Then each encounter would tell her how many cards she could take from the treasure deck, these also had different things she could find, objects of magical power, weapons, spells that work on certain kinds of encounter creatures and special artifacts.

 All in all, it was extremely fun and we've revisited it a few times since then. I also know she enjoyed it because she's mentioned it several times since we lost the rules. To follow that up, I started giving her the basics of some super hero games, rules lite of course since she's just now eleven, but it's a good start and we have lots of fun with it.

 Oh, I should mention that this wasn't a blatant rip off of munchkin, even though it definitely has many elements that look like it. Though she's enjoyed that game immensely too.
This message was last edited by the user at 21:12, Fri 05 Sept 2014.

As far as trauma ... putting aside all the sources of real world trauma a child can experience, I remember some nightmares and superstitions arising from 'scary movies' (B-movie monster flicks) I saw incidentally on television or was exposed to because my parents happened to watch it.

I dunno, I barely have memories of it so I guess three to five years old at the time.

In that respect, I think free reign of television (or streaming computers) is more 'dangerous' than a controlled shared story. Getting sucked into a mood and then getting a big scary surprise with no control of the situation is powerful, sure.

But there was a big difference by framing -- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, shows like G.I. Joe (I didn't watch that one actually, but that genre) are full of "violence" but it's cartoon combat, which little boys often adore.

Many an action figure engaged in imaginary fights with running storylines. And cars fought. And anything else I had at hand when I was bored. That wasn't scary, I was just making up a 'cool' story. Fantasy Scifi books.

Usually was more interesting than trying to play hide and seek with the neighborhood kids (what's the point, you just go and try not to be found and waste dozens of minutes when you could be reading or something).

Anyway everyone will be a little different so don't try to get a kid into a game that isn't ready (you don't want them to hate RP gaming because their parents forced them to, now do you?)

Also, probably want to avoid Cthulhu sorts of games, hopeless situations about humanity's corruption, senselessness of war and slavery ... If and when a kid wants to, they'll start showing interest in those themes on their own.

We ran a little D&D game for my 6 six year old girl after she showed some interest in playing the games she heard us talking about a lot.  We were very loosey goosey on the stats and dice, mostly just using them to add flavor and set limits while we followed her lead about what kind of story we told.

She ended up making a gnome/smurf who tracked down an evil sorcerer/Gargamel and saved a village from slaving away to build his tower of doom.  She had to travel through the woods, fight off a wolf pack, and figure out how to cross a river without drowning.  There were lots of magical artifacts to be found, since she loved the first one, and it all had a happy ending when she made Gargamel promise not to make anyone be his slave (diplomacy).

She loved it!  Her favorite part was actually the maps and moving the little dice around to show where the characters were.  I was surprised by that.

Just a few thoughts: One could offer choices of which action/route/whatever to follows at the beginning and even preroll characters. Then have less structure. Mostly, it depends on what the children are comfortable with and find fun. IMO, they should have to do some communicating and thinking from the get-go.

When I was young I read a lot of sassafras books. Just because I'd prefer my kids not to read V.C. Andrews doesn't mean I'm going to keep them from reading.

And thanks, Baron and Caladin. I'm checking out Faery's Tale and Heroica right now.
This message was last edited by the user at 00:25, Sat 06 Sept 2014.

Some fantastic discussion here.

I don't think any of it is off topic, as the 2 questions in my OP are quite broad.

I've looked into a few of the suggested systems - lots of options!

My next question is:

Where can I find a resource (online or pdf) that contains encounters or ideas for adventures for kids?

My Google-Fu is weak with this particular topic.

In particular, something in the vicinity of How to Train Your Dragon, or Kung Fu Panda, or to alesser extent, the recent Tinkerbell films.

As far as plots go.  A lot of plots for young children revolve around getting some item to stop some evil force.  Getting the item allows someone to banish or stop some evil power from winning.

Suggestions would be, make opponents be more clearly fall into one of a few categories of characters.

1. Clearly Evil and inhuman (these, the heroes may actually try to destroy them)
2. Misguided (these people, the heroes should try to rescue from deceit)
3. Animals/creatures (these are not really sentient, so depending on the kids maturity, they might see opportunities to subdue them, or otherwise may be able to understand potential loss)
4. Nonliving... (constructions, robots, magical manifestations, traps, etc)  Undead (might fall into this or the first category, but also might be disturbing for some children, so that might be weighed in your decisions)

Keep in mind that you can probably use some form of rules to impart subdual damage for those whom it would make sense to insure a humane defeat.  Also, you can use damage thresholds to reflect a point where rather than dying, the creatures turn tail and flee.

Ideally, I'd have them gather things, in scenes, and then certain obstacles, if they have gathered the required items, have it be an automatic success to proceed through... if they failed to get something, let them make some kind of 'skill' roll or such, with modifiers based on what they have gathered, plus some bonus if they can come up with some problem-solving ideas to help them.  Stressing the action of problem solving, being more important than the solution being that good an idea.

If the heroes fail, you can have them be captured, and have someone unexpected help them to escape, potentially at a cost to the helpers.  (to help encourage them not to simply rely on getting captured and have someone help them)  It isn't uncommon in stories, for someone to help the heroes escape, but get caught, and have anything from becoming imprisoned, hurt, or even died helping the heroes return to their quest.

Well anyway, that was some quick thoughts.

Panacea, I loved your post.

As to plots, I recommend starting out simply.

Let the evil be discovered right away, either by having someone ask for help or give a quest. Maybe the Bad Guy has seized a castle or tower.

Let the path to the evil place be straightforward and/or known to the PC HERO, but let there be obstacles. These might be route obstacles, like a fallen or partially fallen bridge, or they might be oppositional, like the wolf pack mentioned above or a monster or a bandit gang.

A route obstacle might require a skill check to pass or maybe just the courage to climb across the remaining timbers of the bridge. Maybe an NPC HERO is present who, treated properly, will provide an alternative. [Here's a chance to impart some lessons about negotiation or humility or the like.]

Opposition is a chance to use combat or magic skills, but I agree with LoreGuard: battles needn't be to the death (and don't hesitate to do a bit of fudging in the PC HERO's favor). Maybe the alpha wolf challenges the PC HERO to single combat or the bandits are only marauding because the Bad Guy has kept them from working their fields or is keeping their families hostage to make them guard the route. Once they see that they cannot scare off or overcome the PC HERO, they flee or surrender.

These are also opportunities to provide some assistance. Perhaps the NPC HERO who guides the PC HERO around the obstacle is the daughter of the lady held by the Bad Guy and she knows a secret way into the tower. Or maybe there's a mage or cleric clinging to the bridge timbers who can be rescued and will give a potion or spell or magical artifact. Maybe the bandits or wolves become the loyal retainers of the PC HERO.

When the goal is reached, the Bad Guy should be difficult to overcome. He should have other forces he can call upon, like an army of skeletons (the least scary of undead because no one actually sees anything that might be skeletons walking around). This is where those bandit retainers and/or wolf followers come in handy -- and they need to.

Everything acquired should pay off at this point. Maybe the PC HERO's forces are getting the worst of it when the scroll from the cleric weakens them enough that they can be overcome.

In the end, it should come down to PC HERO versus BAD GUY. Again, the fight needn't be to the death. The BAD GUY might surrender when he realizes he cannot beat the PC HERO or he might simply flee when confronted by the PC HERO's victorious forces or maybe the spell he was under is broken by something the PC HERO does or says and he reveals the GREATER EVIL behind his actions.

That's sort of an eternal hero quest.

In reply to Gaffer (msg # 45):

Agree with Gaffer.

Worth avoiding fight to the dead with humans/demihumans and animals. Wolves will flee if beaten, robbers will run away or surrender. Maybe not so much of an issue with fantastical monsters like skeletons, ghosts, etc.

Also encourage using brain rather than just brawn. If you are looking to teach some life lessons then avoid simply charging in and beating the crabapples out of everything. Maybe even fudge things agains them if they do. Encourage roleplay and problem solving skills to overcome a situation. As Gaffer said, negotiation is a good skill to learn.

I'd highly recommend watching some childrens' television - specifically series oriented ones like Thomas the Tank Engine, Florrie's Dragons, Fireman Sam, etc.

They have a very structured narrative which could easily be adapted to a game with almost infinite variations and don't have to involve too much "moral" judgement but rather "sensible" judgement.

After a couple of episodes you'll be able to pen a five or so point plot structure, and then you're good to go. :)

My Little Pony Friendship is Magic is one of the best written children's shows ever, and is also a good inspiration for any bad guys and events should you want to avoid blatant violent solutions.

Additionally, there is a Savage Worlds setting for it posted on deviant art.

Look up John Harper and check out the slew of rules lite games he has made. lady Blackbird, Wildlings, Danger Patrol and several others. They are all very simple, very fun and easy to teach/customize. If you are into DnD, check out World of Dungeons. Also a John Harper game.

Here is a post of one dad playing with his kids. One is seven and the other 11 (I think).

http://www.story-games.com/for...ons-dungeon-girls/p1

My Little Pony as DnD characters -- a truly great webcomic:
http://friendshipisdragons.the...es.com/comics/first/
I linked to the beginning of the story.
This message was last edited by the user at 05:02, Sun 07 Sept 2014.

I'd recommend hitting Mermaid Adventures, by 3rd Eye Games. Even if your kids don't like mermaids, the simple rules and guidelines for story-telling are really handy. The author wrote it for his young daughter (I think four?) and autistic older son (8? I don't recall.) And it really shows; it's the sort of game kids can intuitively grok and run with, and it's gotten very good traction in that age group.

I've also heard Little Wizards spoken well of, but I'm not personally familiar with it.


In general, you need to throw out all your old RP knowledge, and let the kids teach you how to play. They already know. If they don't use dice but instead use the rule of cool, you should too. Once you're on their frequency, you can start adding stuff that meshes with their experience. Don't try to bring them into your gaming style unless they ask.

I would look into The Strange by Monte Cook Games. Its very light on the rules for players, and has rules for the DM on making your own 'incursions' or worlds. You can theme each world around anything you want, so you can literally go save one Disney Princess after another, in their own worlds. It is also based around discovery, not combat, so you could cut monsters out entirely, and still have a fully functional game.

The Deluxe Faery's Tale book I have has a couple of, well, fairy tales at the end written as adventures. There are more fan-written ones for the game, too. But the hint is, look to any set of children's books you may have. Winnie the Pooh stories always have something going on, it's easy to borrow from something like that.

For the younger set, I agree to avoid violence. Problem solving can involve mysteries, investigation, persuasion and indirect spells. My daughter sprinkled faery dust on a foe and enchanted them into "being nice." 'The Journey' is always a good tale, get from A to B, have encounters and overcome the elements and terrain.

Playtested Faery's Tale with Little Miss 6 yesterday.

We handwrote the character sheet (ie, no photocopy) and the care & attention she gave it astounded me.

We had barely started describing how our characters had met - and she turned to me with a rarely seen intensity and said "I love this game. Let's play for 2 hours." So I think we're on to a winner.

As for plot... I hadn't really prepped anything. She was home from school because she was feeling pretty sick, so it was a bit of an impromptu session.

That said, we played about an hours worth of an encounter which saw us:
- roll a few checks, getting used to the dive
-- her first roll was a fail, and she was upset and wanted to roll again, but I encouraged her not to worry, and followed up shortly with another roll for her to succeed at. She didn't get too upset about failing other rolls during that session.
- using magic
- shapeshifting into birds
- coming up with creative plans to deal with a baddy
- making conclusions based on some simple clues

When mum & baby brother came downstairs at about the 45 minute mark she was soon very distracted and couldn't concentrate. So we left on a bit of a cliffhanger, as our two characters find themselves peering through the window of a witches hut...

I'm considering writing up the events of the encounter in narrative form... it could be useful for memory-sake and for her to look back on after a few sessions to put the whole story into perspective.

I'm also going to pop past the local games shop today and buy her some dice of her own :)

I'm glad it's going well.   Kids can be a hard sell for a prolonged game.

In reply to ashberg (msg # 54):



I recommend letting her write some of that narrative. My daughter really started to write her own stories around that age. They were horrible, but the imagination... man you could almost touch it then. Now, she's 10 and her writing is pretty dang amazing. I imagine getting to write what her character was thinking and doing in a little story would be pretty awesome for her. If sh'es not quite to the writing stage yet, you could do that bit for her.

Glad to hear your enjoying the experience.

In reply to Sithraider (msg # 57):

I don't think she'd know what or how to write a narrative (based on the game that is) off her own... this style of game is still very new to her.

If I get it started and show her she could see what was possible, and run with it.

My girl, and probably many kids, feels a little apprehensive in situations where 'anything is possible'. She seems to crave limitations and boundaries. This was evident at the first point in the session where I turned to her and said "So, what do you want to do next?" and she just looked at me and shrugged. Then I listed a few options, giving her an idea of form, of what kinds of things were possible to do, and she slowly got the hang of it.

I figure the same will go for writing narrative.
This message was last edited by the user at 04:08, Wed 10 Sept 2014.

In reply to ashberg (msg # 58):

Suggest you take her to the hobby shop and let her choose her own dice! Maybe even buy a miniature to represent her character, even if you aren't using miniatures it could be a good way to give her ownership of her PC.

Re the narrative, 2 options:

- Let her write it and you help her with any tricky bits.
- You write it, then let her read it back to you (if able) or you read to her. She may remember it differently so you can rewrite as needed based on her suggestions.

In reply to Jarodemo (msg # 59):

Good ideas...

Difficult to get her to the hobby shop any time soon... so first round of d6 is on me.

When we progress to another RPG with other die, I'll take her in :)

In reply to ashberg (msg # 60):

I remember when I first say other dice, d4, d10, d20!!!!!!!! That blew my little mind!

I reckon you could get some girlie pastel/pink ones for her if that is what she would like.

I think you'd have to make the game much simpler for 5-8 years olds, as others have indicated.  Given that the older started going to GenCon with me when she was about 12, my youngest must have played when she was 8 or 9, but that was pushing it even though she was always ahead of her age.  Just please avoid Ninja Turtles; I've always found it ironic that this kind of violence and 'bad influence' was marketed to very young children, when I believe it was originally meant as a comic game for older teens/young adults, and after all the fuss about how D&D was such a dreadful game for any age!

I'm sticking with lots of non-violent challenges. Puzzles. Interactions with interesting NPCs who need help with something or rather.

The hardest thing for her to get her head around is the idea of Players being different to the Storyteller/GM.

She feels it's unfair that I am 'in charge'... so our next session I am going to give her more control over what happens. Rather than having her as a player in a scene - she'll get to help shape the scene first, before we play through it.
This message was last edited by the user at 00:48, Thu 11 Sept 2014.

In reply to ashberg (msg # 63):

I think starting with the simple Window system may help. I'm trying to teach people at my place the wonders of gaming who haven't even played videogames :/

I do enjoy playing with the Window... but even some of it's aspects are on the complex side. Still, a nice simple system in contrast to some of the heavy-hitters out there.

In reply to ashberg (msg # 65):

Eclipse Phase and Shadowrun have just the disaster-seeker's needs :D :P Those systems, at first glance, leave even game developers worried, I believe! But I love them both. Numenera would be good, do you like it?

Numenera looks great... but again, concepts inherent in the system are probably a little difficult to grasp at age 5 - 8.

Faery's Tale had some good adventures on their site.  I don't know if they're still up, though.

If you're looking for story ideas, just flip open a book of fairy tales, they're chock full of ideas.  The original book came with a Jack and the Beanstalk adventure, but I also ran one based on Hansel and Gretel.

This site is out of date, and I don't know if anyone linked to it already, but it's still got a lot of good resources for gaming with kids: http://www.tlucretius.net/RPGs/kids.html

In reply to ashberg (msg # 67):

I read of a guy who used Numenera with his kids, who based their characters of disney princesses.

Elsa, a Graceful Nano who Wears a Sheen of Ice, played by Carrie
Merida, a Rugged Glaive who Carries a Quiver, played by Jen
Anna, a Swift Jack who Entertains, played by Evie

http://ilive4crits.blogspot.co...ales-session-16.html

In reply to OggyBenDoggy (msg # 69):

Wow! Just so cute! :D