Hi,

I've been searching for old threads (I know they are there) about roleplaying with kids. Apparently, I'm not very good at the search tool here at the Forge, so I am hoping someone can help me out.

Also, if anyone wants to share their thoughts about gaming with children age 8-12 or so, please feel free to do so right here.

Thank you for your kind assistance,

I very much enjoy gaming with kids, even if they are mixed in with adults. What specific questions did you have?

Hello,

Arref's right, Peter - if you would, please raise an issue of some kind for discussion.

Here are some threads I dug up:

So now I work in an elementary after-school program
Prydain, The Hobbit, Pendragon ... fun for kids!
Side-scrolling anthropomorphic limbo Universalis!
Shadows

I found most of these by searching Vincent's threads (lumpley), but I'm pretty sure other folks have posted about playing Shadows with kids too.

Best,
Ron

Hi,

Thank you for your response. I've been contacted by a man whose kids (9 & 11 yrs old) want him to play a roleplaying game with them. He has not roleplayed himself for quite a while. He is considering running HeroQuest with his kids (or possibly RuneQuest, which he used to play in the old days).

Any tips or links that would be helpful to him is appreciated. He is also asking about campaigns/scenario packs for HeroQuest that would be suitable for his purposes. I can't think of anything that sticks out in this regard, but perhaps someone has ideas about scenario design for kids?

I'll send him a link to this thread, so he can read for himself and participate if interested.

Thanks!

Cheers,

Well, I thought the thread was cross-posted to Actual Play here, but I couldn't find it, so a link to an RPG.net thread on Ian Young's HeroQuest game with his four-year-old son:

My 4-Year-Old's First RPG - Actual Play (rather long) [/URL]

Hope that helps!

In a mixed group I used for playtesting Kathanaksaya, one of the most interesting things from the sessions consistently came from the 12-year-old girl in the group. While she had a few problems staying focused during less action-intensive parts of the game, she did have her moments when her character shined.

Since she was new to roleplaying, there were a few things I did to engage her from the beginning. Due to time constraints, we had to use pregens. I took my knowledge of her in particular and created a character with a similar personality but different goals and abilities. As expected, she took to the character right away, quickly realizing that the character was based on her. This was no problem, I guess because she could realize her power fantasies. Not to mention, it's easier to imagine oneself in strange circumstances than try to imagine a completely different person in strange circumstances.

Being as exuberant and energetic as any 12-year-old is wont to be, it was sometimes difficult for her to be still and focused when the action or conversation was not centered around her character. Her older sister and brother, though, restrained her when necessary and sometimes when it wasn't necessary. I deliberately stayed out of the sibling dynamics.

As a tool to generate more subplots and involve the characters in a more personal way, we had solo mini-sessions with the players. It took no longer than 15 minutes. However, during her mini-session, our young player showed a lot of potential for immersive, premise-driven roleplaying. The main question for the character was whether it was worth endangering friends to get the one thing you want more than anything in the world. My guess is that without pressures from the group, she was able to express genuine dilemma and come up with her own answers.

If I were to offer any advice about gaming with kids, I suppose the most important thing is to not underestimate their ability to understand how the game works. Your main problem will come from the fact that they get fidgety if the action is not focused on them, so make sure that when they don't have something to do during the game, that you don't keep them out of the loop for too long.

Hi,

I am "the man with kids (9 & 11)" Peter is refering to. Being away from the RPG scene for 15 years, I didn´t know where to look to discuss this. But Peter was kind to help me. Thanks Peter!

So, my kids have asked me to play RPG with them (and my wife will join too). Since I am a RQ fan I wanted to introduce them to the fantastic world of Glorantha. There are a few questions I would like your opinions on:

- Glorantha is quite a complex world, and when I used to play it, a major obstacle to get a flow in the game was the learning curve, or different levels of knowledge among players. I fear that this could be an obstacle when playing with kids too, especially if they are to play characters who are supposed to have some knowledge of their world (which most are). Perhaps playing in a more familiar world, like Tolkien´s Middle Earth, is better? What is the best way to introduce beginners (kids) to a complex new world like Glorantha in a campaign?

- RPG rules, and campaigns too in most cases, tend to focus on combat and to be quite complex. Do kids get bored easily by this? Are there any simplifications available for RQ/HQ rules? Experimenting with a new system while introducing my kids to RPG does not seem like a good idea. I would rather have a tried and tested system so that we can focus on gaming rather than rules.

- What games are best for kids? HeroQuest, RuneQuest or some other game? Peter suggested HeroQuest would be better than RQ. Why?

- Any suggestions for a good HQ campaign for kids?

- Sibling dynamics. Use it or avoid it? Perhaps they can act out their aggressions and problems with their siblings in the game if their characters are siblings too? Are there any known Hero Bands consisting of siblings?

- I have heard that some kids focus a lot on dice, chance and luck in RPG. If they have bad luck it can ruin their day. Any experiences?

Green, Thanks for the good advice. I will definitely use the solo mini-sessions.

Cheers,

Håkan

Håkan,

To address some of your concerns:

In my recent D20 campaign, I had two elevenish year old kids. One of them was quite up on D&D and the D20 system, created characters himself, and was quite knowledgeable with the rules. The other child did not get into the game so much, I think she was there more to spend time with her father doing what he enjoyed doing. On the other hand, I'm not sure he was encouraging her to step out on her own as much as the other child whose mom has been bringing him up with a lot of independance.

So at least for eleven year olds, I don't see a problems with rules complexity if they are motivated. I would also guess that Rune Quest would be just fine. When I was polling people for interest in a system other than D20, the boy voted for Rune Quest as a system he was familiar with and enjoyed.

The children were definitely not bored by the combat, in fact, I would say they were more easily bored by the non-combat stuff.

As far as sibling dynamics, an RPG is a great opportunity to teach the children about cooperation for group enjoyment, even while each member of the group has different goals, that might even conflict.

I wouldn't worry too much about the dynamics of Glorantha. The children shouldn't have that much more problems than an adult would. Glorantha, while it has some unusual things, really isn't that far off from Western culture. It's not nearly so bizarre as Tekumel for example - which by the way, the boy delved right into when I was planning on running a Tekumel game. Since he was the only player at the time who expressed an interest in borrowing source material, I tasked him with reading the material and presenting some summaries to the rest of the players which he did (before we lost steam). I don't see a problem with sticking with Rune Quest and Glorantha which you're familiar with.

Of course for some, Hero Quest is an excellent game system, so you might want to look into it. As far as campaigns for HQ, there is a nice series of modules for Sartar that might be a good start (I haven't actually played HQ but as a Gloranthaphile I have been purchasing a lot of the material).

Of course the above should all be tempered by the fact that you also have a nine year old. For children, two years is quite a difference, so much of the above may be totally out of whack for nine year olds.

Frank

hajons wrote: - RPG rules, and campaigns too in most cases, tend to focus on combat and to be quite complex. Do kids get bored easily by this? Are there any simplifications available for RQ/HQ rules? Experimenting with a new system while introducing my kids to RPG does not seem like a good idea. I would rather have a tried and tested system so that we can focus on gaming rather than rules.

hajons wrote: - What games are best for kids? HeroQuest, RuneQuest or some other game? Peter suggested HeroQuest would be better than RQ. Why?

hajons wrote:
- Sibling dynamics. Use it or avoid it? Perhaps they can act out their aggressions and problems with their siblings in the game if their characters are siblings too? Are there any known Hero Bands consisting of siblings?

hajons wrote: - I have heard that some kids focus a lot on dice, chance and luck in RPG. If they have bad luck it can ruin their day. Any experiences?

Oh one more thing.

GM'ing the kids was some of the most enjoyable gaming experience I've ever had. Everything was new to them. I'd run the same campaign with two groups. One with the kids and one with my veteran rpg groups. It was very enjoyable to see the different ideas and play styles.

-Jeremy

Each of my five sons was permitted to join whatever OAD&D game we had running when he graduated first grade. Not one of them had any trouble with it. The concepts are simple enough, and picking up the fantasy was easy.

My preference was for them to stick with what I considered "low option" characters--fighters and thieves. The amount of information a player has to handle once he has spell lists to compile and review is formiddable for someone that age. However, a fourth grader has no trouble with a spellcaster, particularly if in a group with at least one older player who can assist with advice.

I did not find that my kids got bored outside combat. Rather, they seemed to have a much better mental image of the imagined world than many of the older players, and often came up with very creative ideas because they didn't limit themselves to what seemed "right" but only to what seemed possible.

--M. J. Young

My experiences match well with most of what has been posted.

I started GMing kids with Amber DRPG. The girls were 8 and 10. Their parents were present (in fact, long time players in the game.) I don't think, nor did I expect, that the girls understood Character Creation very well. But then, I've never been one to hold up play for explaining rules.

In play, the kids were exposed to "waiting your turn", which might have been the hardest part for them. While they have learned this, they do tend to go completely out-of-focus when it is not their turn. They don't seem to derive any spectator satisfaction out of other Players' runs.

Combat was attractive but also nerve-wracking for them. All the good and bad of success/failure were things they had to learn.

Narrative/Choice actions were attractive parts of the game, though there was sometimes the tendancy for the youngest to pick options that "sounded cool" but were not skills that their character had. Learning the possible and 'probable' success of their Character is a slow careful process. You can't criticize their choices, you have to encourage and steer a bit more than with veteran adults.

I think both kids learned better 'presentation' of themselves and their ideas.

They are now 17 and 15 and love to play whenever we get together. They still have the same characters in the game.

Håkan: I can't speak specifically to Glorantha's complexity, but I find that all types of things are made easier for kids (and adults) if "character failure" is as much fun as character success.

If you're aiming for that, and your kid doesn't remember that such and so a God requires such and so a sacrifice then call them on it! Make it fun, even over-the-top fun. Maybe the priests of the God follow the character around, yelling prayers for his soul. This tangles his business dealings, but it also means that he's always getting attention. Like that.

Rules-wise: My experience is that kids get abstract rules very quickly. Those rules just require a leap of imagination that kids are very, very good at. Much better than most adults suspect.

Rules with lots of fiddly little details are less of a great idea. They tend to give kids a lot of negative feedback ("No, you're doing it wrong!"), which is definitely exacerbated if you're worried about sibling dynamics.

Sibling Dynamics: There is no avoiding it. The GM should not attempt to use it. Just recognize that they will be using the game as yet another social arena in which they will explore these issues. I suspect that much more of it will come out in OOC ways than IC, but I could be wrong.

Bad Luck ruining a kids day: I'll refer you back to my earlier point: Make Failure Fun. I think this is the basic requirement for running games for kids.

(Come to think of it, I think it is the basic requirement for running games for adults too, but that's probably more controversial)

Best of luck! I know I'll be eagerly waiting for some Actual Play reports!

Bad Luck ruining a kids day: I'll refer you back to my earlier point: Make Failure Fun. I think this is the basic requirement for running games for kids.

Hello,

Found another older thread: What can I do for my daughter?, which has some very practical advice in there.

Best,
Ron

Prime Time Adventures! It's got all the awesome parts where you do stuff that matters to the story without the ignominy of failure! Story happens when other people are playing and you get to participate! And even when you don't, you're listening to people tell a story!

It's all of the fun of make-believe, only the story makes sense and there's conflict resolution!