Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Skittles The Death Knight 05-01-06, 08:46 PM	is it wrong that a 9 year old playes? granted i have to edit some of the things going on but she still loves plying DnD! i was 7 when i started. and my dad was 7 when hes started (1st ed.) but i hear complents from guys at school about her playing! i just wanted to know...is she too young? :confused:
Antinua 05-01-06, 08:51 PM	Nobody is too young to play D&D, maybe to immature or not following rules but if she/he knows how to play and wants to play there is no reason he/she shouldn't.
Mist of Shadows 05-01-06, 09:03 PM	If she can play and understand the rules and people are having fun, then I don't see why not. About the earlist I would want to have someone playing would be 7 but hey if they can play at 9 and you don't mind playing then go for it. It's a great for family fun.
Skittles The Death Knight 05-01-06, 09:05 PM	Nobody is too young to play D&D, maybe to immature or not following rules but if she/he knows how to play and wants to play there is no reason he/she shouldn't. THANK YOU! those butt holes at school are really ticking me off! they say my sister cant play cuz shes too young! she still needs help here and there but shes young and new, what can you expect! thanks, now...to get that through there thik heads! :rant:
Piff 05-01-06, 09:51 PM	Hey i was 8 when i started playing. ANd our DM was only 10 and we still managed to have lots of fun (good ol' 2ed)
Whim 05-01-06, 10:13 PM	Yeah, as everyone has already said, there is no "too young". However, I think that it wouldn't typically be recommended to have your 9 year old sister play with your teenage friends for reasons you've probably already encountered. However, if she can play the game and hold her own, that would probably shut your older friends up real fast. Just really teach her how to play as well as you can before you toss her in with the big boys.
sneak_Blast 05-01-06, 10:24 PM	I started playing when I was about.... 11-13. Can't really remember. It was sometime between 7th and 8th grade, and my birthday being in August... ya. I agree with what has been said here. As long as you have a general grasp on the game and you are having fun, it doesn't really matter how young you are, but I would say that 7 might be the limit because of math involved, but hey, it completely depends on each situation.
Krug_the_smasher 05-01-06, 10:29 PM	Age is not a number. Base her age on her maturity level, brainpower, and wisdom. If you consider her to be an adult with all 3 of these, let her play. And when you play, get a cardboard tube, and when the other players complain, give 'em a bonk.
stargate525 05-01-06, 11:07 PM	And when you play, get a cardboard tube, and when the other players complain, give 'em a bonk. And then watch as said players rip it into tiny shreds... :) But seriously, I think it's kinda neat that she's a third generation D&Der. Wish I could say that.
was_fired 05-01-06, 11:23 PM	There is no such thing as too young, but there is such a thing as too young FOR A GIVEN GROUP. I started with RPGs when I was 8 or so. At the time I always played with people my age, often DMing. We did things then which I would NEVER accept now, but we accepted them because we were still kids. If everyone else complains then odds are she is too young for your group. The solution is to get her into a younger group or a group that is more accepting of her age. The best case scenario is that you start her DMing and converting other 9 year olds to D&D.
Darth Sephiroth 05-01-06, 11:40 PM	I was around 12 when I first started playing RPG's, my cousin started when he was 6 or 7 (My uncle died and he moved in with my family then). You have to be careful with the storylines you use and certain types of villains shouldn't be used. Careful just which players you have involved as well. Stay as far away from evil campaigns as you can and try to go for a Black and White universe. Some restrictions should be waived (I'd ditch the Law/Chaos axis as well just to simplify things)
tsuyoshikentsu 05-02-06, 02:16 AM	Last Friday, at my local game store, I saw a kid that couldn't be more than eight playing a solo game of Call of Cthulu with his dad. Not D&D. Call of Cthulu. If a kid can handle that, she can handle D&D.
Radijs 05-02-06, 04:37 AM	A month ago I taught my little niece who isn't even 2 years old to say Hastur. IMO its never to early to start with roleplaying. :)
Neverwrong 05-02-06, 04:48 AM	No. You are two young to play if you are incapable of considering violence, and inacapable of grasping the mechanics of the game. Or if you can't find the time to spell your posts in a half-way decent attempt at coherency.
JadeSpider9643 05-02-06, 07:47 AM	there is no age requirement to play D&D, but there are mental stat prerequisites. Specifically you need a 10 or better in at least 2 out of the 3 mental stats(Int, Wis, Cha), and no less than a 6 in the third.
Turin 05-02-06, 08:26 AM	No. You are two young to play if you are incapable of considering violence, and inacapable of grasping the mechanics of the game. Or if you can't find the time to spell your posts in a half-way decent attempt at coherency.Re-read your post, and then appreciate the irony. As for the OP, I'll agree with was_fired and say that players should probably play in a group that is age-appropriate. A 7-year old probably shouldn't be playing in a group full of angst-ridden and hormonal teenagers, and a teenager probably shouldn't be playing in an adult-themed game with 30-somethings. I started playing at a fairly young age myself, around 10 or so. But as a parent I can say I wouldn't want my daughter, when she's 10-years old, to be playing a role-playing game with a bunch of 17-year old teenagers... I know what I was like at that age! Where one draws the line is largely a function of the maturity of the individuals involved. Here's a question for the OP, however: if the guys at school don't want to play with your kid sister, don't you think it might be better for everyone involved for you to play separately with her, rather than trying to put her into a game where she isn't totally welcome? That might be a more simple solution and no one has to get riled up by it.
jasper 05-02-06, 08:32 AM	I had a 4 year old play with me. He rolled the dice for the monsters against his dad and mom. I did notice if he did a victory dance, bed time came early.
nome. 05-02-06, 07:58 PM	Re-read your post, and then appreciate the irony. As for the OP, I'll agree with was_fired and say that players should probably play in a group that is age-appropriate. A 7-year old probably shouldn't be playing in a group full of angst-ridden and hormonal teenagers, and a teenager probably shouldn't be playing in an adult-themed game with 30-somethings. I started playing at a fairly young age myself, around 10 or so. But as a parent I can say I wouldn't want my daughter, when she's 10-years old, to be playing a role-playing game with a bunch of 17-year old teenagers... I know what I was like at that age! Age-appropriate is a relative thing, too; it's more about maturity. Myself and my girlfriend (17 and 16, respectively) play in an "adult-themed" campaign with a group of 30-somethings, and we've gotten no complaints. It's definitely true that one has to be careful with disparate age ranges, but if she's capable of playing, and it doesn't get over her head, it's all good.
Caennen 05-02-06, 08:12 PM	I don't think there is an age requirement. Personally, I've been playing since 8th grade (now 12th) and we have some people that play that are anywhere from 12th grade to 9th grade. As long as they know how to roleplay and can follow the rules and calm down and read the Combat section of the ph (a rule at our table) then its good to go. Personally, there is a guy that is 17 that plays with us and my 16 year old sister plays more maturally (don't know if that is a word?) that he does.
Turin 05-02-06, 08:13 PM	Age-appropriate is a relative thing, too; it's more about maturity. Myself and my girlfriend (17 and 16, respectively) play in an "adult-themed" campaign with a group of 30-somethings, and we've gotten no complaints. It's definitely true that one has to be careful with disparate age ranges, but if she's capable of playing, and it doesn't get over her head, it's all good.Heh, heh... not sure where you live, nome, but the US is full of idiotic parents who would actually try to press charges against a group of adults playing in an "adult-themed" game. Nevermind all the violence inherent to D&D, heaven forbid we let teens damage their fragile little minds with forbidden discussion of... mature topics. :rolleyes: Needless to say, despite knowing more than one fairly mature and intelligent teenager (I have a nephew about your age), I'm forced to set a "you must not be a minor" limit on my games. [/slightly off-topic rant]
SokenzanMarauder 05-02-06, 09:11 PM	If I remember correctly the 2nd edition book stated (on the cover) that D&D was for ages 10 and up. She's fine, just a wee bit under the age but I started at around 7 or 8 and I have yet to kill anyone with a longsword. Maces on the other hand... ;) -Gene
obrysii 05-02-06, 09:31 PM	there is no age requirement to play D&D, but there are mental stat prerequisites. Specifically you need a 10 or better in at least 2 out of the 3 mental stats(Int, Wis, Cha), and no less than a 6 in the third. That's not true! I have Int 14, Wis 6, Cha 4 stat array and I do just fine! On topic: If she's mature enough to handle it without going really off task or doddling in the books, I think she should be fine.
nome. 05-03-06, 08:19 AM	Heh, heh... not sure where you live, nome, but the US is full of idiotic parents who would actually try to press charges against a group of adults playing in an "adult-themed" game. Nevermind all the violence inherent to D&D, heaven forbid we let teens damage their fragile little minds with forbidden discussion of... mature topics. :rolleyes: I'm an American.. To be entirely honest with you, I've never encountered the kind of anti-D&D prejudice that people talk about. People who think it's geeky and lame, sure, but aside from Jack Chick I've never seen anyone play the "satanic card" in seriousness. My parents are oldschool gamers (we have a copy of the original D&D around somewhere, the one in the three brown booklet) -- I can't see them sueing anyone over a D&D game. While it's obviously your campaign, and thus your rules, I find blanket age cutoffs with no room for context or circumstance kindof shooting oneself in the foot, unless you're awash in skilled, mature gamers.
Turin 05-03-06, 09:35 AM	I'm an American.. To be entirely honest with you, I've never encountered the kind of anti-D&D prejudice that people talk about. People who think it's geeky and lame, sure, but aside from Jack Chick I've never seen anyone play the "satanic card" in seriousness. My parents are oldschool gamers (we have a copy of the original D&D around somewhere, the one in the three brown booklet) -- I can't see them sueing anyone over a D&D game. While it's obviously your campaign, and thus your rules, I find blanket age cutoffs with no room for context or circumstance kindof shooting oneself in the foot, unless you're awash in skilled, mature gamers. Sorry if I wasn't clear... my reasons don't have anything to do with upsetting religious fundamentalist's weird objections to D&D itself (I'm the kind of fellow who tries to creatively offend the bible salesmen who interrupt my peaceful Sunday morning coffee). It's more that I'd rather not be creatively restricted as a DM and player by the presence of a minor who's parents might have a problem with the themes present in my games. For example, without getting too far into Mature Boards topics here, one of my campaigns had a player who's character was a changeling who occassionally worked as an "escort". Later on, that same changeling character became possessed by a demon and the player was asked to play out his character's terrible change appropriately. In that same game there an adventure based on issues surrounding a young nobleman's interspecies affair and pregnancy. While I don't personally have a problem with teenagers having an understanding of these "mature themes" (not to get on a soapbox, but I actually think that the attitude of "shielding" teens from adult topics is idiotic from a public policy standpoint), I understand that some parents are stupid and will get their figurative panties in a bunch if they knew their child was involved in a game that had such themes. So it's for my protection more than anything else. It's basically the same thing that causes these boards to have a separate area for "Mature Topics"... it's not neccessarily that the Wizards That Be think that teenage gamers must be shielded from these topics (although they might, I suppose), it's because they are pretty much required to by the litigative environment in which the company operates.
hmmmm 05-04-06, 02:57 AM	Now how much older are these "Older" kids? I would say it could be fine if they were around 11-12 but I wouldn't suggest her playing in a group of 14-and up, as groups like those tend to be more "Mature" if you call it. When my sister was ten she could play better than some people in my group, but then there was another 10 year old who could barly concentrate for 30 mins during the roleplaying parts and would do stupid things like "I want to build a snowman." (He said this while there were in the middle of a quest and were getting directions) Made them wait 5 turns while he built it and then the party figter crushed it (That brought a stop to our game)
zlatko 05-04-06, 07:21 AM	Go ahead and have fun; Some of the more immature players I've played with are older then me (late twenties). It's got a lot to do with expirience. Also, make sure the older kids dont pick on the younger one, since it is a thing kids that age do.
Valeur 05-04-06, 10:43 AM	Maturity is the biggest part of it, of course. Some youngsters are as mature as people 10 years their seniors. A few years ago I ran a solo-campaign with my (at the time) 7 years old brother. He is very mature for his age, but I found myself annoyed at him in some cases. He couldn't grasp all the rules, since english is not his (or my) first language, and he hadn't learned a word of english back then. He had a very good time in combat situations, but had a tendency to be shy when parlaying with NPC's. Y'know, like saying, "I ask the ironsmith if he has a longsword," instead of just asking for the longsword. Also, he'd have a real hard time in some situations, as for example, when trying to find solutions to problems, and I sometimes had to give him a fairly hard shove in the right direction. For example: Me: The newly raised 20 ft. high wall blocks almost the entire chamber, leaving only a slit of open space high above it. The water continues to raise, now at your navel. Him: Uh. I try to jump! Me: :rolleye2: Considering that the wall is 20 ft. high, you might have a problem doing that. Remember, you are a wizard. The water rises to your chest. Him: Wizard.. Eh. I fireball the wall! Me: :uh-huh: The wall doesn't budge. The water rises to your chin. You might escape if you could fly ;) . Him: Fly? I got it! I get my Raven familiar to carry me over the wall. Me: :banghead: The tiny creature with no-noticeable-strength-what-so-ever fails to do so. Now use your friggin FLY spell before you die!!! :D The emotional factor, was great though. I remember during one of our many campaigns, he ended up with a Goblin "pet". When the same died during a battle, only a few hours later, he 'got something in his eye'. :D So, that's great, because authentical grief is not something you encounter often when playing with older players, who have experienced the hard facts of life. As a sidenote, he had no problems with gore and/or violence.
Steel91101 05-05-06, 02:27 AM	A month ago I taught my little niece who isn't even 2 years old to say Hastur. IMO its never to early to start with roleplaying. :) ACK! You taught her to utter the accursed name that must not be uttered??? ACK!!!!!
Slider33 05-05-06, 03:37 PM	I definitely don't think a 9 year old is too young to play. After all, kids that age have great creativity and very good imaginations. That's a good thing in D&D. However, if your players aren't comfortable playing with someone that young, it's still a caution. And if the game leans toward themes that are really only suitable for a mature audience, don't bring a child along. Just use common sense here. The things you can do to try and convince them, is try and teach the child the rules, maybe do some short games with her and teach her the rules so she doesn't slow down the session. Once she has the basics down you can assure your group that she would do well. If she's never played before, I encourage playing with her first, and get a feel for how she plays and what she enjoys. Then introduce her to the group, so you'll know what to expect. You don't want bitter feelings if it doesn't go well. Also, how mature are the other players? their disposition and level of maturity probably has a lot to do with it, if the people you play with are not comfortable with playing with a 9 year old I wouldn't push the issue too much. There may not be that much you can do other than try to prove to them she's a good player. I wish you the best of luck and I hope it all works out! I would welcome a young one in my games, I think they would make it very fun and exciting and I would love to get a person her age hooked on the game. Brings back memories of when I first played, it would be tragic if she didn't get a chance to experience a good game.
Slider33 05-05-06, 03:41 PM	There is no such thing as too young, but there is such a thing as too young FOR A GIVEN GROUP. I started with RPGs when I was 8 or so. At the time I always played with people my age, often DMing. We did things then which I would NEVER accept now, but we accepted them because we were still kids. If everyone else complains then odds are she is too young for your group. The solution is to get her into a younger group or a group that is more accepting of her age. The best case scenario is that you start her DMing and converting other 9 year olds to D&D. This is a good idea... If your group really doesn't want her to play maybe she has friends she could invite to your game. You can DM and get them all to play, then she'll have fun playing with people her age, and everyone is a winner.
Damior 05-05-06, 04:52 PM	I see no reason for an age limit. Little kids play games more mature than D&D (I know 8 year olds who play M rated video games. In fact, one is my cousin)
Turin 05-05-06, 05:17 PM	I see no reason for an age limit. Little kids play games more mature than D&D (I know 8 year olds who play M rated video games. In fact, one is my cousin) :headexplo And the parents of your cousin should have someone slap them upside the head for it. Not to get into the whole videogame thing, but I constantly hear idiots ranting and raving about "oh, think of the children" because people like your relatives don't have the common sense not to let an 8-year old play M-rated games and watch R-rated movies... and then the idiots try to take away my right to have such games or watch such movies or buy sex toys, or whatever the <expletive deleted> Crusade-of-the-Month is, despite the fact that I'm a working, tax-paying, voting adult. But ohhh noooo, it's the videogame manufacturers or R-rated movie directors or anyone else other than the idiot parents. :rant: Guess what? Very young children really should not be playing a game where the primary method of conflict resolution is killing someone. That includes D&D, as much as I enjoy it and think it's a great hobby for anyone else. (And by the way, your reasoning is a violation of Hume's Law fallacy... just because someone does something or can do something, doesn't mean they should... or in other words "ought" does not follow from "is".)
hmmmm 05-06-06, 02:57 AM	:headexplo And the parents of your cousin should have someone slap them upside the head for it. Not to get into the whole videogame thing, but I constantly hear idiots ranting and raving about "oh, think of the children" because people like your relatives don't have the common sense not to let an 8-year old play M-rated games and watch R-rated movies... and then the idiots try to take away my right to have such games or watch such movies or buy sex toys, or whatever the <expletive deleted> Crusade-of-the-Month is, despite the fact that I'm a working, tax-paying, voting adult. But ohhh noooo, it's the videogame manufacturers or R-rated movie directors or anyone else other than the idiot parents. :rant: Guess what? Very young children really should not be playing a game where the primary method of conflict resolution is killing someone. That includes D&D, as much as I enjoy it and think it's a great hobby for anyone else. (And by the way, your reasoning is a violation of Hume's Law fallacy... just because someone does something or can do something, doesn't mean they should... or in other words "ought" does not follow from "is".) Good point.