I am a new DM and was thinking of running a game for my kids. I am thinking of a one shot or start of a campaign. My kids have shown some interest in playing, but I am concerned that the complexity of making a character with a bunch of features might be a bit much to start with. So my idea was to have them play a group of apprentices trying to complete their final test to gain their full capabilities. Does this sound like a good idea or should I just scrap this and play Phendelver like everyone on the internet says. Thanks for reading!
Not like you can't do both. Mines of Phandelver is an excellent intro module, but you can always lay a little extra groundwork before. I'd start with a session zero in any case, explain enough of the basics that they can play without needing more than a bit of guidance every now and then, have them think about what kind of character they want to play.
That said, character creation isn't difficult or complex in 5E especially if you try to do it organically rather than look at the class features too closely. Don't have them choose class and background, ask them what sort of character they want to play and help them pick out class, background, proficiencies etc based on that. A first level character in an actual class doesn't have a ton more features than a sidekick, other than maybe the ones that immediately get their subclass at lvl 1 as well.
My 2 cents: if you have a fun idea for a one shot, do it. If you think it might be better to do a one shot first but don't really have anything good in mind, I'd say not to bother.
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Want to start playing but don't have anyone to play with? You can try these options: [link].
As an alternative, there are other TTRPG games that can serve as a "gateway" to D&D. We have one called No Thank You, Evil! that is a great introduction to open-ended roleplaying adventures. It's got a few different levels of character complexity, the lowest of which my 4-year-old can handle. The very simple, direct approach to crafting adventures and challenges has (I think) made me a better DM for 5e as well.
Otherwise, if I were running 5e, I'd probably build a simpler character sheet with HP, a couple attacks, and a few clumped-together skill check mods (i.e. the skill the want to be best at gets +5, trained skills get +3, all others +0).
I am a new DM and was thinking of running a game for my kids. I am thinking of a one shot or start of a campaign. My kids have shown some interest in playing, but I am concerned that the complexity of making a character with a bunch of features might be a bit much to start with. So my idea was to have them play a group of apprentices trying to complete their final test to gain their full capabilities. Does this sound like a good idea or should I just scrap this and play Phendelver like everyone on the internet says. Thanks for reading!
Not like you can't do both. Mines of Phandelver is an excellent intro module, but you can always lay a little extra groundwork before. I'd start with a session zero in any case, explain enough of the basics that they can play without needing more than a bit of guidance every now and then, have them think about what kind of character they want to play.
That said, character creation isn't difficult or complex in 5E especially if you try to do it organically rather than look at the class features too closely. Don't have them choose class and background, ask them what sort of character they want to play and help them pick out class, background, proficiencies etc based on that. A first level character in an actual class doesn't have a ton more features than a sidekick, other than maybe the ones that immediately get their subclass at lvl 1 as well.
My 2 cents: if you have a fun idea for a one shot, do it. If you think it might be better to do a one shot first but don't really have anything good in mind, I'd say not to bother.
Want to start playing but don't have anyone to play with? You can try these options: [link].
As an alternative, there are other TTRPG games that can serve as a "gateway" to D&D. We have one called No Thank You, Evil! that is a great introduction to open-ended roleplaying adventures. It's got a few different levels of character complexity, the lowest of which my 4-year-old can handle. The very simple, direct approach to crafting adventures and challenges has (I think) made me a better DM for 5e as well.
Otherwise, if I were running 5e, I'd probably build a simpler character sheet with HP, a couple attacks, and a few clumped-together skill check mods (i.e. the skill the want to be best at gets +5, trained skills get +3, all others +0).
My homebrew subclasses (full list here)
(Artificer) Swordmage | Glasswright | (Barbarian) Path of the Savage Embrace
(Bard) College of Dance | (Fighter) Warlord | Cannoneer
(Monk) Way of the Elements | (Ranger) Blade Dancer
(Rogue) DaggerMaster | Inquisitor | (Sorcerer) Riftwalker | Spellfist
(Warlock) The Swarm