advice for young players? [Archive] - Wizards Community

advice for young players? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
NecroticBanana
03-03-07, 10:11 PM I'm starting up a new game for a few friends, one, my age has played a little DnD before and understands the concept, her 10 year old son has shown a really enthustiactic attitude about playing. well he's a pretty level headed kid, so the monsters and demon and violence doesnt concern me, i gotta make sure i keep the sex refrences to a nill. but my concern is i that i dont want to make it overly complicated for him, should i lay off the puzzle-type traps? complex enemy tactics? i would like to develo him into more than just a hack and slasher...any advice?
Illiden_Nailo
03-03-07, 10:15 PM Don't lay it off, I'm 13 as of now, I have been playing since ten, my Dm, my dad, he gave some pretty challenging stuff. Zip the sex junk, but do include puzzles, kids sometimes are better than adults at that.
Fencerboy
03-03-07, 10:22 PM I'm 14, and, IMO, sex has no place in D&D at all.
Otherwise, I started at 9 and apreciated everything else I got from the experience, including the puzzles.
Arrowhen
03-03-07, 10:46 PM I'm 14, and, IMO, sex has no place in D&D at all.

But then where do baby adventurers come from?
Fencerboy
03-03-07, 10:48 PM But then where do baby adventurers come from?
:confused: I don't know, does that have to do with sex?:rolleyes:
Roleplaying it and involving it prominently in the game. Bloody intense combat is more fun to roleplay...
NecroticBanana
03-03-07, 10:54 PM yea cuttin out the sex stuff is a no brainer, i'm just trying to put together a good low level adventure that will show them how versitial the game can be, i just dont wanna overcomplicate it.
Azar_of_Faerun
03-03-07, 10:56 PM :confused: I don't know, does that have to do with sex?:rolleyes:
Roleplaying it and involving it prominently in the game. Bloody intense combat is more fun to roleplay...

Very solid point you have Fencerboy. The D&D community these days is seeing a huuuuuuuuuuge amount of subtexts, and subplots layered onto the game.

When it all comes down to it, it's about cracking open some orc skulls, snagging the gold and going back for a fine dinner with friends.
HomebrewedMonster
03-03-07, 11:24 PM I'm 14, and, IMO, sex has no place in D&D at all.
Otherwise, I started at 9 and apreciated everything else I got from the experience, including the puzzles.

Oldest profession in the world.

Profession (*****).

Sorry, but its always been there and unless you play a selebate your character is going to find a brothel. I mean come on in Forgotten Realms you get Sune, her temples are brothels with divine magic. O, yea.

But for the young guys playing, its good as long as the rest of the group is ok with it. Do not let a player's son play if the rest of the group isn't ok with him playing. Otherwise it will probably lead to a problem and someone leaving the group. Aka, do you play in a family atmosphere?

I know that when we play the 1/2 orc rogue is a sailor so he sure does curse like one. Plus its a group of 8 guys 23-40 that are married/serious dating, so we don't get to talk like we did in college around our ladies.
Azar_of_Faerun
03-03-07, 11:29 PM Wrong.

Sune is about love and romance.

Sharess is about lust and physical intimacy

But it's a common enough misconception :embarrass
Fencerboy
03-04-07, 08:55 PM Oldest profession in the world.

Profession (*****).

Sorry, but its always been there and unless you play a selebate your character is going to find a brothel. I mean come on in Forgotten Realms you get Sune, her temples are brothels with divine magic. O, yea.

Yes, that may be true, but for my worlds verisimiltude, I don't need to declare that my character visits the brothel, or even that there is one in any certain town. It's not important to the way D&D is supposed to be played 99% of the time, and that 1% can be left out.

Really, do you play D&D for the bashing of the orcs and saving of townfolk, gathering of hoards and epic glorious moments, imaginery though they may be, or for your imaginary moments under the sheets with some half-elf in the brothel that you and your :censored: DM created in your horny little minds?

Is that why you play D&D?

Everyone plays D&D for their fantasies, but for most of them its glorious, majestic battles and massive hoards of treasure, and the hero that everyone wants to be.
Those whos D&D sessions are wasted on trips to a brothel have my pity.
NecroticBanana
03-04-07, 09:10 PM i agree, sex should only be a small, severly overlooked area of the game, i'd much rather smash a few orc skulls myself, that i can't do in real life, but the sex? well who needs fantasy games for that? lol
Fencerboy
03-04-07, 09:25 PM Only the people who RP it majorly in their games, because thats the only way they would probably ever get it. :rolleyes:
DrMorganes
03-04-07, 09:25 PM lol.

I've been playing since I was 9 as well - nearly a quarter century now. Kids are far more aware than most adults give 'em credit. Heck, my 6 year old daughter is exhibiting a knack for poker that makes me jealous - and nobody in the family dares to challenge her to Crazy Eights. I'm toying with the idea of introducing her to chess, but I digress...

Straight-up hack-and-slash is probably fine for the first few encounters to help him get a handle on the basic combat rules. (Odds are he's used to that from the video games he plays, right?) Introduce tactical thinking sometime before Level 2 - preferably from a group of otherwise weak creatures (like kobolds) - to show how smart thinking and a little planning can overcome superior force of arms.

Puzzles are fine, especially if you can provide a real-world version for them to mess with. Remember, if your kid likes video games, odds are he's already better at some puzzles than you'll expect! Riddles are always fun, especially if you prep him by tossing them around for a week or so before you bring them into the game. At some point be sure to bring in the social encounter to help reinforce that force of arms is not always an appropriate solution. Kids are naturally better at playing pretend than most adults, so be prepared to be surprised with this one!

Most of all, have fun! Kids are always a blast once everyone kicks back and relaxes. D&D is a wonderful family activity, with nearly limitless utility for a creative parent!
Fencerboy
03-04-07, 09:28 PM I must ask you, do these family sessions of D&D (which I envy greatly) have brothels, sex and rape in them?

I thought not.
HomebrewedMonster
03-04-07, 10:05 PM Yes, that may be true, but for my worlds verisimiltude, I don't need to declare that my character visits the brothel, or even that there is one in any certain town. It's not important to the way D&D is supposed to be played 99% of the time, and that 1% can be left out.

Really, do you play D&D for the bashing of the orcs and saving of townfolk, gathering of hoards and epic glorious moments, imaginery though they may be, or for your imaginary moments under the sheets with some half-elf in the brothel that you and your :censored: DM created in your horny little minds?

Is that why you play D&D?

Everyone plays D&D for their fantasies, but for most of them its glorious, majestic battles and massive hoards of treasure, and the hero that everyone wants to be.
Those whos D&D sessions are wasted on trips to a brothel have my pity.

No, I do not play DnD for the fantasy of skin. I have the internet. Anyway, my point is a thieves guild can be fronted by a brothel, a major bad guy can be a succubus, and Gods have sex with farm animals to create Satyrs, Minotaurs, and Centaur.

Also if you have not watched Firefly you should. One of the main characters is a "Companion", pretty much an upscale escort. In one of the episodes the crew is brought to a brothel where they defend it. They defend is against a villain that wants the women he impregnated.

There can also be wicked horrible monsters and characters in a campaign that illustrate what a really evil person can do.

Take the movie "Seven" for example, this could easily be turned into an Eberron adventure in Sharn that leads up to a climax involving the followers of the dragon below.

So please, if you don't think there are more mature play styles, that is your opinion. If you think 99% of gamers don't involve sex into their game ask now many people have played a half-dragon. :P
Fencerboy
03-04-07, 10:11 PM I'm not saying that sex doesn't exist in my game, or that I don't allow half-dragons because they came about like anything else alive.

But we don't ROLEPLAY the very beginning of our half-dragon characters...:uh-huh: That would be really, really dumb...

I'm reffering more of to the stereotypicall gamers sitting in the basement around the table... "Ok, now that your back in town with your loot, how are you gonna spend it?"
":drool: :smirk:"
HomebrewedMonster
03-04-07, 10:46 PM I'm not saying that sex doesn't exist in my game, or that I don't allow half-dragons because they came about like anything else alive.

But we don't ROLEPLAY the very beginning of our half-dragon characters...:uh-huh: That would be really, really dumb...

I'm reffering more of to the stereotypicall gamers sitting in the basement around the table... "Ok, now that your back in town with your loot, how are you gonna spend it?"
":drool: :smirk:"

And after committing genocide at the local ogre camp, what better way to celebrate than upgrading your battle ax and going to a brothel?
Fencerboy
03-05-07, 12:47 PM I'm probably going to be accused of being a power-gamer here, but why not upgrade the axe and get some alchemists fire? Rather than spend a few sp on your DM and you roleplaying some sex for half an hour...
Silverthumb128
03-05-07, 12:55 PM And after committing genocide at the local ogre camp, what better way to celebrate than upgrading your battle ax and going to a brothel?

Thinking about it logically, the percentage of most gaming groups is largely male. If I were 14 years old, it wouldn't be as cool to roleplay having sex in a room of 3-5 other guys my age as it might initially seem, and I wouldn't want to be known as the guy who got enough Roleplay XP to level up from doing the nasty. :rolleyes:

Just upgrade the axe.
Fencerboy
03-05-07, 01:00 PM Thinking about it logically, the percentage of most gaming groups is largely male. If I were 14 years old, it wouldn't be as cool to roleplay having sex in a room of 3-5 other guys my age as it might initially seem, and I wouldn't want to be known as the guy who got enough Roleplay XP to level up from doing the nasty. :rolleyes:

Just upgrade the axe.

So are you saying its more fun to RP sex when your with a group of, say, 21-year-olds? Or 30-year-olds?

Oh boy, I can't wait to grow up...:rolleyes:
Stormonu
03-05-07, 01:08 PM How in the world did this degrade into this?

I'm doing some D&Ding with my 5 year old. He's done some minor puzzles (finding a key hidden in a dungeon, solving a simple rhyme/riddle), interacted with a few NPCs and done a heck of a lot of combat.

He's also learned some valuable lessons. 1) There's always someone tougher than you are and knowing when to run will keep you alive (getting nearly killed from a one-hit battleaxe blow from a minotaur), 2) It's good to have friends (having talked to, instead of attacking two dwarves and getting them to help him kill a BBEG) and 3) Have fun, but don't take it too seriously (having lost a character to a enemy).

What I've been doing is starting light and scaling up the complexity as I see he's been able to handle things. If I see things have gotten too complicated, I offer a little help or fudge things to get them down to a level he has a chance to succeed at. Only had to do that with one puzzle, taking a moment to give him an A,B,C or D type answer he could choose from.
Silverthumb128
03-05-07, 01:31 PM So are you saying its more fun to RP sex when your with a group of, say, 21-year-olds? Or 30-year-olds?

Oh boy, I can't wait to grow up...:rolleyes:

Wow, blown out of context, there's a shock.
Olskool
03-05-07, 01:41 PM Am I the only one who finds it funny that you're about to describe endless violent amounts of mutilation and bloody mayhem to a child, but you're worried about even mentioning sex around them?
"Decapitations are wholesome fun kids... but if you even think about sex your whole life is doomed... now let's go watch 24 together as a family."
CrashtheStyx
03-05-07, 02:23 PM Props Olskool. Just when I was getting very bored with this thread you bring in the calvary of a well-needed round of relief. Not to mention I agree with you completely...If you are at all a fan of fantasy novels as I am (and as a DM who reads more than my players, I get a lot of ideas from those novels) you'll find that the sexual aspect of a character can be not only great addition to the depth of the game but a powerful DM tool. Succubi are probably the best and easiest example of this. Going to a brothel doesn't need to be roleplayed out, as much as simply saying your character is going to a brothel. That in and of itself is enough to show that you are making decisions for your characters as they actually would...therein being great roleplaying.

There is just a line that is drawn so that your game doesn't cross over into the realm of, "dude, that's weird." And with a younger aged player, that line gets lowered. No biggy.

Fencerboy, I mean no offense, but you are only 14, and at that age I probably would only be able to get into the hack n' slash aspect of the game too. PUzzles and traps too for sure, but mainly the combat and epic qualities of the game that you previously described.

In no way am I saying that sex is an intricate part of the game and as a whole D&D would be lacking without it...but ignoring it as a feature allowing you to elaborate on your ability to roleplay your characters well because it just seems weird or could possibly produce an awkward situation seems immature to me.
Tukka
03-05-07, 04:57 PM To answer the original question, I don't see why you'd need to limit the difficulty of the game much, especially if you've only got one 10 year old player in the adventuring party. The rest of the players should be able to pick up any slack to figure out puzzles, traps, etc. The youthful perspective might even help with some of them.

Same goes for combat, pretty much. You may want to go easy on that player's character a little bit by not having all your bad guys gang up on him, or throw the party up against tactically stupid enemies to begin with, until he or she is able to absorb the basic rules of the game with regard to movement, attacks of opportunity, flanking, etc. Introduce concepts like cover and concealment, enemies that make generous use of special abilities, magic and advanced tactics more gradually.

As for sex, unless you were running a XXX-rated campaign before I doubt you'd need to do much modification. A lot of the usual innuendo and sexual content might fly right over the 10 year old's head, in which case it's nothing to worry about.

Besides, sex is normal and natural. It's not wrong, and even if it were, it wouldn't be any more wrong than hacking intelligent creatures to pieces. Sex should be a part of the game world, though it shouldn't be a primary focus of the adventures unless that's what everyone at the table wants (seldom the case).

If I had a kid I wouldn't worry about censoring my campaigns at all if he or she wanted to play, regardless of age, but then I'd also be the sort of parent who wouldn't mind if my 12 year old kid started downloading porn, let alone saw an R-rated movie -- I did and I'm not any sort of raging pervert.

Other parents will feel differently though, and I suppose you should respect the kid's parent's wishes in this regard, if they express any.
NecroticBanana
03-05-07, 05:22 PM well it seems this topic got way off course, so i'll recap, i got 2 players, one is 10 years old, the other is 26. sex was never the issue here, i'm not going to even bring in sex at all, not even a succubus. my original question was "should i dumb it down for the kid?"
Giant_Moth
03-05-07, 05:38 PM Well I don't have any young people in my group, and thank god for that. I'd never allow any young people in my group either, as it would be too much a bother. Hey I started playing 13, but I did it with a group of friends at the same age. So that was all good.

Because you can't rule out sex and other "touchy" subjects from the game. It's roleplay, it's realistic. Some of you think roleplay only involves combat and rulesjuggling, but that's not RP. Rp is a good situation where you explain your actions, you have colourfull discussions and you act somewhat logical and realistic(unless of course, you're doing something unrealistic). And that might actually involve your barbarian sleeping with that seductress... It might just be the realistic course of ations. Or you'r charming rogue(personalitywise, not class) might actually snare a barmaid around his finger, and then that's the characters buisnes to do what the character wants.

Just for heavens sake, dont RP out the details, unless you and the rest of your group really really want to :P
The_Basilisk
03-05-07, 05:58 PM Content aside, (I think enough people have given advice on that area) I think D&D should be taught the same way to everyone regardless of age. No need to "dumb it down" or anything, but introduce rules pieces at a time. Discourage playing a wizard or something the first time, as they need to know a lot about rules to prepare the right spells. Get them familiar with skill checks, and basic combat. Then in later encounters intoduce more complex rules like cover and concealment, special attacks like tripping or disarming and like when they have a better grasp of the rules. I think it's all about learning the game in steps, because there is a lot of rules to learn in D&D.
HomebrewedMonster
03-05-07, 06:57 PM I never claimed to roleplay sex. It in game though, a lusty vixen, 10g....happy adventurer.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
NecroticBanana 03-03-07, 10:11 PM	I'm starting up a new game for a few friends, one, my age has played a little DnD before and understands the concept, her 10 year old son has shown a really enthustiactic attitude about playing. well he's a pretty level headed kid, so the monsters and demon and violence doesnt concern me, i gotta make sure i keep the sex refrences to a nill. but my concern is i that i dont want to make it overly complicated for him, should i lay off the puzzle-type traps? complex enemy tactics? i would like to develo him into more than just a hack and slasher...any advice?
Illiden_Nailo 03-03-07, 10:15 PM	Don't lay it off, I'm 13 as of now, I have been playing since ten, my Dm, my dad, he gave some pretty challenging stuff. Zip the sex junk, but do include puzzles, kids sometimes are better than adults at that.
Fencerboy 03-03-07, 10:22 PM	I'm 14, and, IMO, sex has no place in D&D at all. Otherwise, I started at 9 and apreciated everything else I got from the experience, including the puzzles.
Arrowhen 03-03-07, 10:46 PM	I'm 14, and, IMO, sex has no place in D&D at all. But then where do baby adventurers come from?
Fencerboy 03-03-07, 10:48 PM	But then where do baby adventurers come from? :confused: I don't know, does that have to do with sex?:rolleyes: Roleplaying it and involving it prominently in the game. Bloody intense combat is more fun to roleplay...
NecroticBanana 03-03-07, 10:54 PM	yea cuttin out the sex stuff is a no brainer, i'm just trying to put together a good low level adventure that will show them how versitial the game can be, i just dont wanna overcomplicate it.
Azar_of_Faerun 03-03-07, 10:56 PM	:confused: I don't know, does that have to do with sex?:rolleyes: Roleplaying it and involving it prominently in the game. Bloody intense combat is more fun to roleplay... Very solid point you have Fencerboy. The D&D community these days is seeing a huuuuuuuuuuge amount of subtexts, and subplots layered onto the game. When it all comes down to it, it's about cracking open some orc skulls, snagging the gold and going back for a fine dinner with friends.
HomebrewedMonster 03-03-07, 11:24 PM	I'm 14, and, IMO, sex has no place in D&D at all. Otherwise, I started at 9 and apreciated everything else I got from the experience, including the puzzles. Oldest profession in the world. Profession (*****). Sorry, but its always been there and unless you play a selebate your character is going to find a brothel. I mean come on in Forgotten Realms you get Sune, her temples are brothels with divine magic. O, yea. But for the young guys playing, its good as long as the rest of the group is ok with it. Do not let a player's son play if the rest of the group isn't ok with him playing. Otherwise it will probably lead to a problem and someone leaving the group. Aka, do you play in a family atmosphere? I know that when we play the 1/2 orc rogue is a sailor so he sure does curse like one. Plus its a group of 8 guys 23-40 that are married/serious dating, so we don't get to talk like we did in college around our ladies.
Azar_of_Faerun 03-03-07, 11:29 PM	Wrong. Sune is about love and romance. Sharess is about lust and physical intimacy But it's a common enough misconception :embarrass
Fencerboy 03-04-07, 08:55 PM	Oldest profession in the world. Profession (*****). Sorry, but its always been there and unless you play a selebate your character is going to find a brothel. I mean come on in Forgotten Realms you get Sune, her temples are brothels with divine magic. O, yea. Yes, that may be true, but for my worlds verisimiltude, I don't need to declare that my character visits the brothel, or even that there is one in any certain town. It's not important to the way D&D is supposed to be played 99% of the time, and that 1% can be left out. Really, do you play D&D for the bashing of the orcs and saving of townfolk, gathering of hoards and epic glorious moments, imaginery though they may be, or for your imaginary moments under the sheets with some half-elf in the brothel that you and your :censored: DM created in your horny little minds? Is that why you play D&D? Everyone plays D&D for their fantasies, but for most of them its glorious, majestic battles and massive hoards of treasure, and the hero that everyone wants to be. Those whos D&D sessions are wasted on trips to a brothel have my pity.
NecroticBanana 03-04-07, 09:10 PM	i agree, sex should only be a small, severly overlooked area of the game, i'd much rather smash a few orc skulls myself, that i can't do in real life, but the sex? well who needs fantasy games for that? lol
Fencerboy 03-04-07, 09:25 PM	Only the people who RP it majorly in their games, because thats the only way they would probably ever get it. :rolleyes:
DrMorganes 03-04-07, 09:25 PM	lol. I've been playing since I was 9 as well - nearly a quarter century now. Kids are far more aware than most adults give 'em credit. Heck, my 6 year old daughter is exhibiting a knack for poker that makes me jealous - and nobody in the family dares to challenge her to Crazy Eights. I'm toying with the idea of introducing her to chess, but I digress... Straight-up hack-and-slash is probably fine for the first few encounters to help him get a handle on the basic combat rules. (Odds are he's used to that from the video games he plays, right?) Introduce tactical thinking sometime before Level 2 - preferably from a group of otherwise weak creatures (like kobolds) - to show how smart thinking and a little planning can overcome superior force of arms. Puzzles are fine, especially if you can provide a real-world version for them to mess with. Remember, if your kid likes video games, odds are he's already better at some puzzles than you'll expect! Riddles are always fun, especially if you prep him by tossing them around for a week or so before you bring them into the game. At some point be sure to bring in the social encounter to help reinforce that force of arms is not always an appropriate solution. Kids are naturally better at playing pretend than most adults, so be prepared to be surprised with this one! Most of all, have fun! Kids are always a blast once everyone kicks back and relaxes. D&D is a wonderful family activity, with nearly limitless utility for a creative parent!
Fencerboy 03-04-07, 09:28 PM	I must ask you, do these family sessions of D&D (which I envy greatly) have brothels, sex and rape in them? I thought not.
HomebrewedMonster 03-04-07, 10:05 PM	Yes, that may be true, but for my worlds verisimiltude, I don't need to declare that my character visits the brothel, or even that there is one in any certain town. It's not important to the way D&D is supposed to be played 99% of the time, and that 1% can be left out. Really, do you play D&D for the bashing of the orcs and saving of townfolk, gathering of hoards and epic glorious moments, imaginery though they may be, or for your imaginary moments under the sheets with some half-elf in the brothel that you and your :censored: DM created in your horny little minds? Is that why you play D&D? Everyone plays D&D for their fantasies, but for most of them its glorious, majestic battles and massive hoards of treasure, and the hero that everyone wants to be. Those whos D&D sessions are wasted on trips to a brothel have my pity. No, I do not play DnD for the fantasy of skin. I have the internet. Anyway, my point is a thieves guild can be fronted by a brothel, a major bad guy can be a succubus, and Gods have sex with farm animals to create Satyrs, Minotaurs, and Centaur. Also if you have not watched Firefly you should. One of the main characters is a "Companion", pretty much an upscale escort. In one of the episodes the crew is brought to a brothel where they defend it. They defend is against a villain that wants the women he impregnated. There can also be wicked horrible monsters and characters in a campaign that illustrate what a really evil person can do. Take the movie "Seven" for example, this could easily be turned into an Eberron adventure in Sharn that leads up to a climax involving the followers of the dragon below. So please, if you don't think there are more mature play styles, that is your opinion. If you think 99% of gamers don't involve sex into their game ask now many people have played a half-dragon. :P
Fencerboy 03-04-07, 10:11 PM	I'm not saying that sex doesn't exist in my game, or that I don't allow half-dragons because they came about like anything else alive. But we don't ROLEPLAY the very beginning of our half-dragon characters...:uh-huh: That would be really, really dumb... I'm reffering more of to the stereotypicall gamers sitting in the basement around the table... "Ok, now that your back in town with your loot, how are you gonna spend it?" ":drool: :smirk:"
HomebrewedMonster 03-04-07, 10:46 PM	I'm not saying that sex doesn't exist in my game, or that I don't allow half-dragons because they came about like anything else alive. But we don't ROLEPLAY the very beginning of our half-dragon characters...:uh-huh: That would be really, really dumb... I'm reffering more of to the stereotypicall gamers sitting in the basement around the table... "Ok, now that your back in town with your loot, how are you gonna spend it?" ":drool: :smirk:" And after committing genocide at the local ogre camp, what better way to celebrate than upgrading your battle ax and going to a brothel?
Fencerboy 03-05-07, 12:47 PM	I'm probably going to be accused of being a power-gamer here, but why not upgrade the axe and get some alchemists fire? Rather than spend a few sp on your DM and you roleplaying some sex for half an hour...
Silverthumb128 03-05-07, 12:55 PM	And after committing genocide at the local ogre camp, what better way to celebrate than upgrading your battle ax and going to a brothel? Thinking about it logically, the percentage of most gaming groups is largely male. If I were 14 years old, it wouldn't be as cool to roleplay having sex in a room of 3-5 other guys my age as it might initially seem, and I wouldn't want to be known as the guy who got enough Roleplay XP to level up from doing the nasty. :rolleyes: Just upgrade the axe.
Fencerboy 03-05-07, 01:00 PM	Thinking about it logically, the percentage of most gaming groups is largely male. If I were 14 years old, it wouldn't be as cool to roleplay having sex in a room of 3-5 other guys my age as it might initially seem, and I wouldn't want to be known as the guy who got enough Roleplay XP to level up from doing the nasty. :rolleyes: Just upgrade the axe. So are you saying its more fun to RP sex when your with a group of, say, 21-year-olds? Or 30-year-olds? Oh boy, I can't wait to grow up...:rolleyes:
Stormonu 03-05-07, 01:08 PM	How in the world did this degrade into this? I'm doing some D&Ding with my 5 year old. He's done some minor puzzles (finding a key hidden in a dungeon, solving a simple rhyme/riddle), interacted with a few NPCs and done a heck of a lot of combat. He's also learned some valuable lessons. 1) There's always someone tougher than you are and knowing when to run will keep you alive (getting nearly killed from a one-hit battleaxe blow from a minotaur), 2) It's good to have friends (having talked to, instead of attacking two dwarves and getting them to help him kill a BBEG) and 3) Have fun, but don't take it too seriously (having lost a character to a enemy). What I've been doing is starting light and scaling up the complexity as I see he's been able to handle things. If I see things have gotten too complicated, I offer a little help or fudge things to get them down to a level he has a chance to succeed at. Only had to do that with one puzzle, taking a moment to give him an A,B,C or D type answer he could choose from.
Silverthumb128 03-05-07, 01:31 PM	So are you saying its more fun to RP sex when your with a group of, say, 21-year-olds? Or 30-year-olds? Oh boy, I can't wait to grow up...:rolleyes: Wow, blown out of context, there's a shock.
Olskool 03-05-07, 01:41 PM	Am I the only one who finds it funny that you're about to describe endless violent amounts of mutilation and bloody mayhem to a child, but you're worried about even mentioning sex around them? "Decapitations are wholesome fun kids... but if you even think about sex your whole life is doomed... now let's go watch 24 together as a family."
CrashtheStyx 03-05-07, 02:23 PM	Props Olskool. Just when I was getting very bored with this thread you bring in the calvary of a well-needed round of relief. Not to mention I agree with you completely...If you are at all a fan of fantasy novels as I am (and as a DM who reads more than my players, I get a lot of ideas from those novels) you'll find that the sexual aspect of a character can be not only great addition to the depth of the game but a powerful DM tool. Succubi are probably the best and easiest example of this. Going to a brothel doesn't need to be roleplayed out, as much as simply saying your character is going to a brothel. That in and of itself is enough to show that you are making decisions for your characters as they actually would...therein being great roleplaying. There is just a line that is drawn so that your game doesn't cross over into the realm of, "dude, that's weird." And with a younger aged player, that line gets lowered. No biggy. Fencerboy, I mean no offense, but you are only 14, and at that age I probably would only be able to get into the hack n' slash aspect of the game too. PUzzles and traps too for sure, but mainly the combat and epic qualities of the game that you previously described. In no way am I saying that sex is an intricate part of the game and as a whole D&D would be lacking without it...but ignoring it as a feature allowing you to elaborate on your ability to roleplay your characters well because it just seems weird or could possibly produce an awkward situation seems immature to me.
Tukka 03-05-07, 04:57 PM	To answer the original question, I don't see why you'd need to limit the difficulty of the game much, especially if you've only got one 10 year old player in the adventuring party. The rest of the players should be able to pick up any slack to figure out puzzles, traps, etc. The youthful perspective might even help with some of them. Same goes for combat, pretty much. You may want to go easy on that player's character a little bit by not having all your bad guys gang up on him, or throw the party up against tactically stupid enemies to begin with, until he or she is able to absorb the basic rules of the game with regard to movement, attacks of opportunity, flanking, etc. Introduce concepts like cover and concealment, enemies that make generous use of special abilities, magic and advanced tactics more gradually. As for sex, unless you were running a XXX-rated campaign before I doubt you'd need to do much modification. A lot of the usual innuendo and sexual content might fly right over the 10 year old's head, in which case it's nothing to worry about. Besides, sex is normal and natural. It's not wrong, and even if it were, it wouldn't be any more wrong than hacking intelligent creatures to pieces. Sex should be a part of the game world, though it shouldn't be a primary focus of the adventures unless that's what everyone at the table wants (seldom the case). If I had a kid I wouldn't worry about censoring my campaigns at all if he or she wanted to play, regardless of age, but then I'd also be the sort of parent who wouldn't mind if my 12 year old kid started downloading porn, let alone saw an R-rated movie -- I did and I'm not any sort of raging pervert. Other parents will feel differently though, and I suppose you should respect the kid's parent's wishes in this regard, if they express any.
NecroticBanana 03-05-07, 05:22 PM	well it seems this topic got way off course, so i'll recap, i got 2 players, one is 10 years old, the other is 26. sex was never the issue here, i'm not going to even bring in sex at all, not even a succubus. my original question was "should i dumb it down for the kid?"
Giant_Moth 03-05-07, 05:38 PM	Well I don't have any young people in my group, and thank god for that. I'd never allow any young people in my group either, as it would be too much a bother. Hey I started playing 13, but I did it with a group of friends at the same age. So that was all good. Because you can't rule out sex and other "touchy" subjects from the game. It's roleplay, it's realistic. Some of you think roleplay only involves combat and rulesjuggling, but that's not RP. Rp is a good situation where you explain your actions, you have colourfull discussions and you act somewhat logical and realistic(unless of course, you're doing something unrealistic). And that might actually involve your barbarian sleeping with that seductress... It might just be the realistic course of ations. Or you'r charming rogue(personalitywise, not class) might actually snare a barmaid around his finger, and then that's the characters buisnes to do what the character wants. Just for heavens sake, dont RP out the details, unless you and the rest of your group really really want to :P
The_Basilisk 03-05-07, 05:58 PM	Content aside, (I think enough people have given advice on that area) I think D&D should be taught the same way to everyone regardless of age. No need to "dumb it down" or anything, but introduce rules pieces at a time. Discourage playing a wizard or something the first time, as they need to know a lot about rules to prepare the right spells. Get them familiar with skill checks, and basic combat. Then in later encounters intoduce more complex rules like cover and concealment, special attacks like tripping or disarming and like when they have a better grasp of the rules. I think it's all about learning the game in steps, because there is a lot of rules to learn in D&D.
HomebrewedMonster 03-05-07, 06:57 PM	I never claimed to roleplay sex. It in game though, a lusty vixen, 10g....happy adventurer.