DMing for Highschoolers. [Archive] - Wizards Community

DMing for Highschoolers. [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Remiera
09-20-05, 09:44 PM How do you go about keeping their attention in a game? Also, what kind of characters should they play?
Tek
09-20-05, 10:01 PM Hack, some Slash, and alot of Pulp Adventure. Make the games play like an action movie. Action action action.
Ohtar Turinson
09-20-05, 10:43 PM I DMed during my senior year of High school. Most of my group was younger than me, and we did have sessions with no combat (we were playing a Planescape game). No session was focused completely on Combat (though we did have our Pulp moments).

However, I suspect it depends on the group you're playing with. No universal answer.

(Middle schoolers or elementary kids, that would be different)

As to keeping attention... I found that lots of unanswered questions helped keep people focused. They didn't want to miss any clues that might be in the details. Attention wandered the most during combat. Again, this could be a result of the group, and not indicative of other High school students.

In conclusion: It depends on the group, but don't sell them short just because they're high schoolers.
A Vision In A Dream
09-21-05, 05:20 AM I'm in year 9. And I know this. Give them Pulp. And scares. And funny little guys that get their heads chopped :headexplo: . Daring Indiana Jones escapes. Double-crossing patrons (with moustaches for stroking) and people who shouldn't be there (Order of the Emerald Claw and Church of the Silver Flame are good for this). Graphic dismemberment (does the finger twitch, does the head bounce?). Screw boxed text, say it like you see it. The adventure plot should be like a movie. Draw your audience in. :drool::clap:

Characters should be cool to the players. One of my players made a paladin with short term memory loss and a deathwish whenever he saw battle. Another made a ranger/fighter with a quarterstaff, just because the character was so awesome with an underestimated weapon.
Ringmereth
09-21-05, 09:13 PM As a high-school student myself, I'd say that it depends largely on who your players are and how long they've been playing. Our group has a couple of dedicated roleplayers who really enjoy good plot and roleplaying, along with the hack'n'slash. On the other hand, the majority of our group is rather the opposite: low on roleplaying, heavy on side-chat (usually about WoW.. *sigh*), and mostly interested in beating something up.

Bleh. It's why I prefer the internet...

But anyway, I'd say you should go for a tight and compelling plotline with plenty of opportunities for a good fight. Most of us aren't the most original in our ability to do much beyond following the plotline, so an inexperienced group probably won't mind railroading.
Uller999
09-21-05, 10:29 PM I always find that the more work you coerce them into making their characters the more hair-rasing things will be when their characters get near death or drop. Also I recommend a couple of surface things. i like to put fake counters on during combat. I use a battle mat and wash markers and one of the players keeps track of initiative ,what I do is start an X round counter and tick it off. I than will a third of the time have it have some relevance (the wizard conveniantly lobbed in the party and than runs as he planned) no relevance ("was that lizardman supposed to die that round?) or be completley relevant (*tick* "you hear a tremendour roar as green scaled bipedal 30 feet long monstrosity of teeth and claw smashes through the Xen'Drikian jungle with a still wriggling sauras warrior clenched in his teeth") they about shat their pants with that since the fight has been real close anyway. Also don't hesistate to use mistakes players make (especially random ones from not paying attention) against them later. A player of mine wasn't paying attention to game tactics at all (he was reading some part of the ECS or someting during the fight) and he let himself get away from the group and turned into a hostage by the assasin. Needless to say he pays well close attention and is much more decisive during fights now than he was than. I agree with the whole hack and slash thing but repetitive combat gets boring well fast I recommend spicing up encounters with enviromental concerns of unconventional monster tactics or morally questionable positions. "ah another room full of cultist flunkies...wait why are their children in here, why are the blank-eyed and carrying butcher knives, by the host they are coming for us what are we to do" that should make more folks than just the paladin concerned before combat begins.
Deflare
09-22-05, 02:07 AM Hack, some Slash, and alot of Pulp Adventure. Make the games play like an action movie. Action action action.

Gee, thank you for that wonderful stereotype. I'm surprised you didn't mention the inclusion of an angsty clique of redeemed vampires. :whatsthis

It pretty much depends on the players. Teenagers are just as varied in their tastes as adults- I, for example, like moral gray zones and anti-clichés that avoid being clichés themselves (as in, good individuals of a normally-evil species that avoid Drizzt syndrome). That reminds me- I ought to try out the Paladin of Freedom class from Unearthed Arcana some time.

I think Ringmereth has the best solution- do both story and combat, and see which interests which players. Handle it from there as you would adult D&D players.
PoeticJustice
09-22-05, 02:56 AM Treat them like adults. Ask them to make choices and stick by them. Don't be afraid to confront them with adult situations either. They'll like rescuing the enslaved legions better than wandering unicorn forest looking lost treasure.

Remember, roleplay is escape. High School is pain, and only more so for our type, so the best thing ou can do is to make it go away for a few hours.

Another aspect they'll crave is gratuitous violence. Much of mass entertainment is sugar-coated. It goes without saying that High School tries to avoid graphic content. To combat this, you should shake them from their malaise! Give them corpses to remember!
Thwyvylyn
09-22-05, 08:04 PM I DMed for a slightly post high school audience for quite awhile. Combat is a must but don't make it too pervasive. What I do with any campaign with a new group is put up a hack'n'slash session, a diplomatic session, and a puzzle session (for the skill monkey characters), then I judge as to which type(s) they liked best and load the campaign to be dominant with that type. I try to mix things up no matter what, as the GRIND is the worse thing to have happen to any campaign. It's a campaign not EQ for Pete's sake.
Majorafire77
09-22-05, 08:32 PM I think the biggest problem (especially when playing with highschoolers) is keeping the side chat to a minimum. Us highschoolers have a lot to talk about, and probably will unless our attention is drawn elsewhere. That doesn't mean action action action, and in fact I find that my friends and I are the most interested in the game when in a role-playing situation, such as talking to a noble about stuff, or planning some sort of assassination. When you've got players choosing what actions to make in combat, you can bet that the other players will start chatting out of boredom. Keep that in mind.
Thwyvylyn
09-23-05, 01:07 PM I have an easy solution to that. I use it as standard now. I call it the "1 minute rule". When I call initiative everyone has to shutup or I hand out ability damage like candy to the offenders. I describe the situation and then start calling turns. When I call your name you have 1 minute (real time, I use my watch :D) to act and make you character's moves. If you do not within that timeframe you lose any remaining actions you have that round and combat moves on. It keeps things brisk. I am more relaxed outside of combat but for combat which could take us 3 and a half hours to kill 1 thing before I implemented the rule, it has worked wonders.

and I almost never get these reactions :weep: :mad: :headexplo :banghead: :tantrum:

This :eek: on the otherhand happens alot ( I run exciting campaigns with lots of twists and strange characters like Kobold Ninjas "HI YA! *squeek*")

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Remiera 09-20-05, 09:44 PM	How do you go about keeping their attention in a game? Also, what kind of characters should they play?
Tek 09-20-05, 10:01 PM	Hack, some Slash, and alot of Pulp Adventure. Make the games play like an action movie. Action action action.
Ohtar Turinson 09-20-05, 10:43 PM	I DMed during my senior year of High school. Most of my group was younger than me, and we did have sessions with no combat (we were playing a Planescape game). No session was focused completely on Combat (though we did have our Pulp moments). However, I suspect it depends on the group you're playing with. No universal answer. (Middle schoolers or elementary kids, that would be different) As to keeping attention... I found that lots of unanswered questions helped keep people focused. They didn't want to miss any clues that might be in the details. Attention wandered the most during combat. Again, this could be a result of the group, and not indicative of other High school students. In conclusion: It depends on the group, but don't sell them short just because they're high schoolers.
A Vision In A Dream 09-21-05, 05:20 AM	I'm in year 9. And I know this. Give them Pulp. And scares. And funny little guys that get their heads chopped :headexplo: . Daring Indiana Jones escapes. Double-crossing patrons (with moustaches for stroking) and people who shouldn't be there (Order of the Emerald Claw and Church of the Silver Flame are good for this). Graphic dismemberment (does the finger twitch, does the head bounce?). Screw boxed text, say it like you see it. The adventure plot should be like a movie. Draw your audience in. :drool::clap: Characters should be cool to the players. One of my players made a paladin with short term memory loss and a deathwish whenever he saw battle. Another made a ranger/fighter with a quarterstaff, just because the character was so awesome with an underestimated weapon.
Ringmereth 09-21-05, 09:13 PM	As a high-school student myself, I'd say that it depends largely on who your players are and how long they've been playing. Our group has a couple of dedicated roleplayers who really enjoy good plot and roleplaying, along with the hack'n'slash. On the other hand, the majority of our group is rather the opposite: low on roleplaying, heavy on side-chat (usually about WoW.. sigh), and mostly interested in beating something up. Bleh. It's why I prefer the internet... But anyway, I'd say you should go for a tight and compelling plotline with plenty of opportunities for a good fight. Most of us aren't the most original in our ability to do much beyond following the plotline, so an inexperienced group probably won't mind railroading.
Uller999 09-21-05, 10:29 PM	I always find that the more work you coerce them into making their characters the more hair-rasing things will be when their characters get near death or drop. Also I recommend a couple of surface things. i like to put fake counters on during combat. I use a battle mat and wash markers and one of the players keeps track of initiative ,what I do is start an X round counter and tick it off. I than will a third of the time have it have some relevance (the wizard conveniantly lobbed in the party and than runs as he planned) no relevance ("was that lizardman supposed to die that round?) or be completley relevant (tick "you hear a tremendour roar as green scaled bipedal 30 feet long monstrosity of teeth and claw smashes through the Xen'Drikian jungle with a still wriggling sauras warrior clenched in his teeth") they about shat their pants with that since the fight has been real close anyway. Also don't hesistate to use mistakes players make (especially random ones from not paying attention) against them later. A player of mine wasn't paying attention to game tactics at all (he was reading some part of the ECS or someting during the fight) and he let himself get away from the group and turned into a hostage by the assasin. Needless to say he pays well close attention and is much more decisive during fights now than he was than. I agree with the whole hack and slash thing but repetitive combat gets boring well fast I recommend spicing up encounters with enviromental concerns of unconventional monster tactics or morally questionable positions. "ah another room full of cultist flunkies...wait why are their children in here, why are the blank-eyed and carrying butcher knives, by the host they are coming for us what are we to do" that should make more folks than just the paladin concerned before combat begins.
Deflare 09-22-05, 02:07 AM	Hack, some Slash, and alot of Pulp Adventure. Make the games play like an action movie. Action action action. Gee, thank you for that wonderful stereotype. I'm surprised you didn't mention the inclusion of an angsty clique of redeemed vampires. :whatsthis It pretty much depends on the players. Teenagers are just as varied in their tastes as adults- I, for example, like moral gray zones and anti-clichés that avoid being clichés themselves (as in, good individuals of a normally-evil species that avoid Drizzt syndrome). That reminds me- I ought to try out the Paladin of Freedom class from Unearthed Arcana some time. I think Ringmereth has the best solution- do both story and combat, and see which interests which players. Handle it from there as you would adult D&D players.
PoeticJustice 09-22-05, 02:56 AM	Treat them like adults. Ask them to make choices and stick by them. Don't be afraid to confront them with adult situations either. They'll like rescuing the enslaved legions better than wandering unicorn forest looking lost treasure. Remember, roleplay is escape. High School is pain, and only more so for our type, so the best thing ou can do is to make it go away for a few hours. Another aspect they'll crave is gratuitous violence. Much of mass entertainment is sugar-coated. It goes without saying that High School tries to avoid graphic content. To combat this, you should shake them from their malaise! Give them corpses to remember!
Thwyvylyn 09-22-05, 08:04 PM	I DMed for a slightly post high school audience for quite awhile. Combat is a must but don't make it too pervasive. What I do with any campaign with a new group is put up a hack'n'slash session, a diplomatic session, and a puzzle session (for the skill monkey characters), then I judge as to which type(s) they liked best and load the campaign to be dominant with that type. I try to mix things up no matter what, as the GRIND is the worse thing to have happen to any campaign. It's a campaign not EQ for Pete's sake.
Majorafire77 09-22-05, 08:32 PM	I think the biggest problem (especially when playing with highschoolers) is keeping the side chat to a minimum. Us highschoolers have a lot to talk about, and probably will unless our attention is drawn elsewhere. That doesn't mean action action action, and in fact I find that my friends and I are the most interested in the game when in a role-playing situation, such as talking to a noble about stuff, or planning some sort of assassination. When you've got players choosing what actions to make in combat, you can bet that the other players will start chatting out of boredom. Keep that in mind.
Thwyvylyn 09-23-05, 01:07 PM	I have an easy solution to that. I use it as standard now. I call it the "1 minute rule". When I call initiative everyone has to shutup or I hand out ability damage like candy to the offenders. I describe the situation and then start calling turns. When I call your name you have 1 minute (real time, I use my watch :D) to act and make you character's moves. If you do not within that timeframe you lose any remaining actions you have that round and combat moves on. It keeps things brisk. I am more relaxed outside of combat but for combat which could take us 3 and a half hours to kill 1 thing before I implemented the rule, it has worked wonders. and I almost never get these reactions :weep: :mad: :headexplo :banghead: :tantrum: This :eek: on the otherhand happens alot ( I run exciting campaigns with lots of twists and strange characters like Kobold Ninjas "HI YA! squeek")