Post/Author/DateTime	Post
NorthWind 01-02-08, 01:06 PM	Ladies and gents of the forum, I've a bit of a dilemma. I've just been elected DM of our family group's first serious campaign, and I'll be running the game for two rather different sets of players. Two of my players are around the age of fifteen, so I'm not so worried about them. My other two players, though, are somewhere between eight and ten years old, and that's the problem. It's not that the two younger players are annoying or in the way, but they don't understand the game (yet, at any rate) or are aware of the options they have, both in character and out of character. They've already made their characters with some help - one is playing a rogue, the other, a fighter. So I have two questions: a.) How do I write adventures that both groups will understand and b.) What's a good way to help the younger players without having to give a running commentary on their choices in combat and other rules? Thanks in advance!
Han Duo 01-02-08, 03:09 PM	I would suggest keeping the scenario simple. And also to use more prose when you want them to make a decision, instead of the cold hard rules. For example: Do not ask: "Do you want to power attack with your main weapon?" But ask: "Do you want to try to hit him as hard as you can, or do you want to try to hit him as many times as you can?" So keep everything simple and stay away from describing the rules.
toucanbuzz 01-02-08, 03:13 PM	Tough job! I recommend thinking about breaking the game into two sessions (one for younger, one for more mature players). If you cannot, then you'll have to tone your adventures to the level that an eight-year old can grasp and limit their choices much like a choose-your-own adventure, handling most of the mechanics yourself, until they catch on. I'd encourage the older players to help out and coach the younger ones (i.e. Make Will Saves. Rather than tell the youngest to roll a d20, let their sibling show 'em). Further, your adventures can't have anything more horrible happening than what you'd let your kids watch in a movie. Good guys always win. Your main issue is that if there's roleplaying involving interaction with people (i.e. the local curate knows what happened out on Bone Hill and the party is trying to talk him into spilling the tale), your older players are likely to dominate the conversation. Developmental skills play a major role in the game, and chances are your younger players are ready to walk in doors and swing a sword at an orc, not engage in innuendo. Keep that in mind!
JackSnape 01-02-08, 03:35 PM	While I agree that you'll have to keep things simple, and handle much of the mechanics yourself I disagree with the notion that youngsters won't be good RPers. This is what children do: pretend to be who they're not, pirates, army men, dinosaur hunters, etc. I think your biggest problem might not be keeping the young ones involved in the RP, but keeping them constant in the way they RP. They're likely to want to change thier character every session. Keep in mind that kids at this age learn quickly, and with a little help (hopefully from you and the other players) they will be able to do a lot of the mechanics themselves within a few sessions, probably faster than an adult gamer who's new to the game. I think 8-10 is a great age to start hooking kids on D&D, but remember these kids have grown up in the age of video games and too much time between encounters will probably bore them, try to keep a fast pace in your game. I hope this was a little helpful. This seems like a great place to mention the family gaming forum request threads. if any administrators are lurking here they should note that this type of thread belongs in a family gaming forum. :rant:
Barticus 01-02-08, 03:36 PM	Question One: Keep it simply.... give it some trys and write the rest of your campaign after you done the first 2 sessions. Question Two: Sugar free stuff on the table.... And be sure to take enough breaks so you and the "kids" can take a breather
Entropy_Judge 01-02-08, 05:12 PM	For the first, I'd say anything written along the lines of most published adventures should be fine. For the second question, I'd have the older players act as wingmen for the younger players, showing them how to do things. I know that when I was 8-10, I would want someone to tell me when I could do something different (for example, I'm a Thief, and I'm off to the side, shooting arrows into the enemies. If someone tells me that I can run behind an enemy and backstab for extra damage instead), I would have thought about it, then done what I would consider a smarter move. Try to keep them from railroading the younger players into set ideas like always doing what's 'best.'
Turin 01-02-08, 05:24 PM	Keeping the older players interested in the game while there are much younger players involved may be the more difficult of your problems. Teenagers, as a general rule, don't have a lot of patience with children when it comes to their hobbies. I'd suggest doing different sessions for the teenagers and the kiddies. Or if that's not possible, try to have the teenagers "lead" the party without bossing the kids around -- this could be a good character-building exercise for them, actually, but you'll need to make sure that they understand the intent. Take the teenagers aside separately and discuss it with them to make sure that they're mature enough to take on the role.
Anathema 01-02-08, 05:34 PM	For the first, I'd say anything written along the lines of most published adventures should be fine. For the second question, I'd have the older players act as wingmen for the younger players, showing them how to do things. I know that when I was 8-10, I would want someone to tell me when I could do something different (for example, I'm a Thief, and I'm off to the side, shooting arrows into the enemies. If someone tells me that I can run behind an enemy and backstab for extra damage instead), I would have thought about it, then done what I would consider a smarter move. Try to keep them from railroading the younger players into set ideas like always doing what's 'best.' Pretty smart. You have two tutors and two learners already. Even if the 15ish year old ones aren't masters of the game, they'll learn new things just by virtue of teaching them to the younger ones. Teaching IS the best way to learn, after all. As far as story and character inspiration goes .. think Disney. I'd watch a few of their adventurous cartoons (Emporer's New Groove, TaleSpin, Darkwing Duck, Lilo & Stitch, Mulan, Robin Hood, et al). The villains should be evil but not oppressingly so, and even goofy in some ways .. just as an example of the inspiration you could draw from this. This could also give your players ideas of how they want their characters to interact. A great wizard (or a kid that pretends to be) with his less-smart-but-loyal bodyguard, or a wise cleric with a friend that isn't always on the right side of the law, are some examples of simple character interactions your players can have that still give them a lot of freedom to play how they want. Just remember .. it's not cliche the first time you hear it ;)
NorthWind 01-03-08, 06:27 PM	Thanks for all your advice guys! I'm probably going to save this thread in my bookmarks, this is great. I'm thinking of making the party a group of adventurers in an island setting, seeking adventure from island to island with a few NPCs making up their loyal crew. This will keep the adventures neatly containted, and give a clear separation between them. The only thing I'm worried about though, (since I can't manage two sessions) is that by catering to the kids, the older players will be missing something - anyone have any tips on making the game appeal to both sets of players? Again, thanks - all of this is great advice, it'll make my job a lot easier :D
Anathema 01-04-08, 07:33 AM	I'm thinking of making the party a group of adventurers in an island setting, seeking adventure from island to island with a few NPCs making up their loyal crew. This will keep the adventures neatly containted, and give a clear separation between them. Great idea. Putting the players in a position of minor power as part of their character background is something that you don't hear people talk about much, but in this specific case it might give all of your players the added incentive to play a bit more actively. It's also an easy in to establish a hierarchy between the players (note players, not characters). If it's going to be a ship large enough for a crew, then it's easy enough to make one an apprentice to one (for sea-faring uses, so their class can still be diverse), or one higher ranked than the other(s) for the same reason. Or whatever works for you. Just a couple ideas off the top of my head. The only thing I'm worried about though, (since I can't manage two sessions) is that by catering to the kids, the older players will be missing something - anyone have any tips on making the game appeal to both sets of players? This is a struggle that pretty much every DM has to go through .. "how do I motivate ALL of my players?". You may luck out and all of your players follow the same carrot (phat lewtz in the case of my group), but if that's not the case then you have to craft more than one carrot. Traditional party lines are split between roleplaying and rollplaying; but there can be many different kinds and you may see that a person has more than one leaning. It could be for descriptive dialogue, or a specific NPC, or pretty much anything you see your players getting excited (out of character) the most about and then giving them more of those things. Cliffs notes--Just slice the game up to give some of them the things they want sometimes, and the others the things they want at the other times. Get the DMGII, it has whole sections explaining the different play types.