So my daughter, who just turned 6 this past January, has expressed an interest in playing with our group on Monday night's. I thought that she might lack the attention capacity to last the normal 2 1/2 to 3 hours we play weekly but since character creation is easy, it wasn't really an issue. So some key questions where asked: "What sort of character do you want to play, magic user or warrior? What race do you want to play? Do you want to be tricky or noble, etc." Her response was: a scary elf who wields dark magic, but only uses dark magic to hurt the bad-guys. So, Drow Warlock (heh, Char_Op early on) named Ursdeth, which is a combination of Ursla, an evil antagonist from The Little Mermaid and Death, which is what she wields. She also loves the wilds and has the Outlander background. At this point, we're all pretty impressed. Then came the adventure....
So it was a pretty simple adventure. A town, which at this point is nameless, was being plagued by a recent string of kidnappings. As the villagers were in a town-square meeting, a kidnapping happened again. Now my daughter's character, Ursdeth, observed some hunched creatures dragging a boy into the woods where she was exploring. I asked her what she wanted to do and she said she wanted to warn the villagers. As she proceeded to the main gate I cautioned her that the guards might not like her because she looks scary (because Drow are scary and people mistrust / hate them). Her response: "Well I'll just put them to sleep....." to which received a round of laughter from the group. Wow, talk about starting off agressive, lol. However as the DM I suggested that a more subtle approach might be better. She decided, instead, to pretend to be an old lady and deceive the guards into letter her in. Then she started role-playing......
......and we were all very very impressed. Getting out of her chair she acted and spoke as an old woman. The imagination of a kids mind is something to cherish. Needless to say I was very happy and even gave her Inspiration for doing such a good job. Being based off of Charisma and having proficiency in Deception she easily made it past the guards and into the town. There, during the disruption and chaos of the new kidnapping, she was able to approach the other players characters and tell them of what she saw. The paladin in the group was at first suspicious but could not discern any ill-will or intent and decided to follow her into the woods, along with the Wood-elf Ranger (under great duress) and the Tiefling Monk.
What follwed was a slew of dead Kobolds and a follwed trail of tracks to an abandoned Monastary (to Oghma and Denir). There they faced off against a very dangerous threat, a Jackleware who was using the sacrificed villgers, who he ordered kidnapped by the Kobolds, to summon a demon. The players were woefully ill-equipped to fight such a monster because none of them had weapons that could hurt the monster. Ursdeth, however, had her magic and in two rounds, she felled the beast (max damage on Poison Spray to boot). Two of the villagers were saved in the process.
She was so enthralled and happy that she threw a pretty big tantrum on having to get ready for bed. That's my girl.
So, all in all 5E has provided a GREAT introduction into the game and has easily captured my 6-year old's enthusiasm for playing more and more.
That's awesome man, I liked the part where she gets out of her chair and acts out her deception. In all my years of gaming, I can't remember anyone actually leaving their seat to get into character.
I am in the process of trying to get my 6 year old daughter into the game. At first she seemed to really like the idea. Then she decided it was "boy stuff." 
Cyber-Dave wrote:
Nevvur wrote:
Cyber-Dave wrote:
Wow.... very cool. My son is just over 4, and I just can't see him taking part. Then again, 2 years is kind of a long time. Maybe when he is 6 and his sister is 4 they can form a party....
Thanks for the great story.
Great story, Diffan. It is so wonderful that you could share the experience with your daughter.
My son plays in my games, but he's 15 now. I get a charge out of seeing how he plays and what he tells me after each session.
Keep the spirit kindling.
Cheers.
That's awesome! It looks like she's a natural for gaming.
My daughter has been interested in the minature and dungeon tiles since she was around 6, but she did not sit down for a full game using the rules till she was 8. Now that she is 10 she has created her own campaign world and wants to be the DM.
It's nice to see that geek culture is now cool. I still hear of girls getting bullied for liking 'boy' things, but when I took my daughter and her friend to Comic Con it seemed that at least half the kids were girls.
Rhenny wrote:
My suggestion is to use a D&D version of cartoon characters known, for example the ones from "my little pony: frienshipd is magic" would be kentaurids.
Geek & Sundry has a video on girls playing DnD for the first time. We really need to encourage more young girls to join our hobby. You are a great dad my friend 
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Diffan wrote:
Great story! At first I thought 6 years old would be too young but sounds like you approached it from an interactive storytelling approach rather than learning the exact meaning of the rules. Well done DM Dad. My son is just a few months old but I am eager for the day he can join dad and the guys at the table.
That story/experience is just SO full of awesome!!! 
I think it is great that you all helped introduce her to the game and that she enjoyed the experience so much! Congratulations!!! 
My 8 year old son and 10 year old daughter have been playing now since about 1/2 way through the Next playtest. They love it and both have a couple of different characters now that they're pretty attached to.
Thanks for the responses! Last week was her first experience with a quick run-through. Tonight we start an actual Adventure with Horde of the Dragon Queen that my friend is running. My daughter will continue to play Ursdeth while I think I'm going to play a Moon elf Fighter (later progressing into Eldritch Knight). Should be really entertaining to see the interaction between her character and mine, lol.
alienux wrote:
Devils-Advocate wrote:
alienux wrote: