Comments on: Running D&D For Kids

By: Anthony

Anthony — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 15:32:08 +0000

There is a difference between a 10 year old and a 6 year old Alaskan Terrasque. A 10 year old is better equipped to handle a Role Playing Game, horror & gore and all. Whilst a 6 year old on the other hand doesn’t have the tools for a full blown game but they can understand well enough between whats right and wrong (of course using the game to strengthen that belief is a good idea as well) and basic math and problem solving they can preform as well so a “simplified” game is best for kids under the age of 8 or so.

An as with anything as they grow you can introduce more into your games with them.

By: alaskan tarrasque

alaskan tarrasque — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 02:47:51 +0000

Thats offensive to a preteen GM like me. I played a horror campaign when i was 10 and it was awesome! This guy did not hold back anything just coz i was ten!

By: Naomi

Naomi — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 04:38:18 +0000

I appreciate the advice. I understand that for certain age groups, this might be a bit sheltered; but I am currently trying to teach my 5 and 6 year olds how to play because they love the story telling/role-playing aspects.

Thank you for posting this!

By: Dogstar

Dogstar — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 09:21:14 +0000

Alex, it’s really not about moral or ethical decisions, but more about trying to make things as simple as you can to teach the kids how to play the game. Give ‘em a few sessions and make things as simple as you possibly can. This is also a good idea for teaching RPGs to complete newbies.

By: Alex SchrÃ¶der

Alex SchrÃ¶der — Tue, 29 May 2007 20:08:19 +0000

I haven't played with kids, and I don't have kids. If I had kids, however, I'm not sure I'd follow your advice. Why protect children from difficult ethical decisions? They need to make ethical decisions in real life as well. Many children know death and violence from TV, the movies, or comics. Just play at an appropriate level â€“ that's how I would do it. I agree with the simplification, but I'd probably just use a rules-light derivative such as M20.

By: Alan Oak

Alan Oak — Fri, 18 May 2007 01:56:42 +0000

I run a regular game for a group of 11 year olds. I can tell you they know the game as well as any adults, no dumbing down. I’ll also add that they fully appreciate all the gore and absurdity you can add.

I’ve also run one-time intro games for the 9-12 year olds. In that case, I used some of the concepts you suggested. I wrote up standard characters for them, all fighters, that used the same feats. That way it was eaier for me to manage and easier for them to learn.

If I have anything to contribute about their age it’s: action, action, and more action. All the rules lawyering that can kill any game does so more with their age. I just keep the action rolling. If I don’t know how a rule would work exactly, I don’t waste time looking it up. I just keep the action rolling.

By: longcoat000

longcoat000 — Thu, 17 May 2007 16:32:04 +0000

Ah hell, your site just ate my entry. Bastage HTML! Anyway, the long & short of it is instead of dumbing-down 3.5, just use the old Basic D&D (red / blue / green / black boxes) rules, which are extremely simple when compared to AD&D, or play The Princes’ Kingdom, which is an RPG geared towards kids, but concentrates more on problem-solving than playing whack-a-mole with kobolds and goblins.