Hey my kids started to see me and my husband play "roll20" and are asking to play also. I'm not opposed as i've never DMed before and my kids are 7 and 5. So anything suggestions how to make a fun experience for them?
Among the various campaigns with I run as a DM, I also have an ongoing adventure that I have for my 6-year-old daughter. Admittedly, a lot of the adventures tend to be pretend play, but isn't that what most of us are doing when we play D&D? We're pretend playable within a certain set of rules and guidelines, right?
So some of the things that I personally found that are helpful and/or important for a much younger player:
Keep the rules very basic, since they aren't likely to remember all of the RAW from the books...nor are they likely to enjoy that aspect very much.
Definitely play more by the "Rule of Cool" because kids are likely to be much more imaginative than adult who are relying on logic and past experience. Reward them by allowing things to happen that wouldn't necessarily be allowed by the rules.
Try to be as visual as possible, since this helps them understand what's going on. Kids are very imaginative, but it helps to have some grounding to direct that imagination. Using figures and maps help a lot, although they needn't specific or to scale.
Incorporate some physical activity into the session if feasible. Having them act out what their characters do seems to help keep them engaged (as well as burn off some energy). For example, have the sneaky rogue tiptoe down the hallway to see just how stealthy they can be.
And, of course, just have fun with it! Warms my heart when my younger daughter walks up and asks if we can play D&D together even if it's not very official or by the rules.
Both of my kids play D&D, they started at age 8. The things I learned from the experience:
If your kids are anything like mine, they'll be very quick to come up with ideas and want to do them now. It took a while to get them to understand turn order and such, for a short time I used a big plush d20 as a "talking stick". They had to wait until the d20 was in front of them to start doing things.
They have some of the most amazing ideas, and some of them will be out of left field. They're not always going to understand that there are some boundaries to what they're able to do, and it may frustrate them when you have to say that the idea isn't going to work. With kids it is very much a "Yes, but" game, figuring out how to let them do the things they want to do while still staying true to the mechanics.
Some days they'll be able, and willing, to sit for hours playing, other days they'll have about 30 minutes. You're going to have to figure out how to adapt to when they just want to wander off and you're in the middle of a major plot moment.
Most modules are not going to be written in a "kid friendly" way. They can be dark, they can be too intricate, some have themes that are just inappropriate. I suggest looking at something like Phandelver or Sunless Citadel, and reading it through. Adjust the parts you feel are inappropriate for your kids, and then playing it from the book. Leave a lot of room for improv and shenanigans.
As with anything else, it's all about fun. You'll want structure for them so they can learn what to expect, but you're all sitting down to have fun as a family. Just let the goofy happen and put the rules in the back burner.
Any thoughts on on how to do the modifications? I'm very new to DnD, and my introduction is DMing for my 10- and 8-year-olds and two friends of the same age. My 10-year-old is very concrete and rules-oriented and wants as many zombies, ghouls, and undead horrors as possible. My 8-year-old has a huge imagination, and a quest full of zombies means my getting up many times a night to deal with nightmares.
I'm currently running Phandelver for them, and plan to change the undead to "charmed goblins" or constructs or some such (retaining the zombie and/or ghoul stat block, without the saving throw to return them to life). Any other ideas?
Also, anyone have suggestions for published quests that aren't undead-heavy?
Wow, there is already some great advice here, which leaves me with only a little to add.
For TealMeeple, since your youngest is 5 and probably has fewer reading and math skills than the 7 year old, there are a few tricks that should help.
Use a simplified character sheet. (There are some cute ones on-line or make your own.) You'll want name and class, of course. Also, keep basic stats, AC, hit points, a place to list money and weapons. A space for a character portrait is also good, or you can use a separate sheet to let them draw one.
Try starting with only 2 dice; a d20 for attacks and ability checks and a d6 for damage. Kids will probably want more dice, and it is fine to get them their own sets and dice bags, but don't feel you have to include all the mechanics. Just tell them that the other dice are for later or for different spells and weapons. That way, you can introduce them slowly as the players grow.
General tips with younger players:
Keep plotlines simple and objectives clear. By 9 or 10 you can usually add a few twists and the occasional question of who is the real bad guy, but do so with caution and based on how well you know your players. (This is much easier in family games)
Give each player a folder for their character sheet, art, and any handouts you may use. This teaches responsibility and organization skills and will save you having to hunt for things every session.
Emphasize cooperation. This can mean allowing a character to "help" without having a specific proficiency bonus or designing simple puzzles where they have to work together to succeed. Even something as simple as "There are 2 lever beside the door, but they are too far apart for you to reach both." or "You see the key, but it is up on a high shelf that you can't reach by yourself" work well for younger players.
Plan short sessions, or take a break (where everyone must stand up and move around) in the middle of the session.
include a regular NPC who can function as a mentor and quest giver. A wizard works well for this. "I need some special flowers for the potions, I am making" gives you a simple mission. Plus, you can then reward the characters by giving them each a potion. Most younger players will prefer items over coin, so things like potions and later scrolls are good since they are single use and won't really effect game balance.
Don't be surprised if they all want pets. You can certainly include this, but I would suggest that a pet is something they need to care for and protect -- not something that helps in battle or suddenly has all the abilities of a familiar. For that, you are better off adding an intelligent companion (pseudodragons are very popular) Something that can think for itself and may not always agree with the player characters.
I know there is a short trilogy involving gnolls for level 3-5 and a number of Feywild or pirate themed adventures if that would be better for your 8-year-old.
Otherwise, I would definitely turn the undead into constructs or something similar. I suspect that undead are so often used because they can be treated as mindless evil to be destroyed with no qualms on conscience on the part of the adventurers. I would try some sort of stone or wood constructs or elementals in their place. After all, they are not really being killed, just broken or banished.
I ran with your pirate suggestions and I ended up getting a copy of Ghosts of Saltmarsh out from the local library, and it's been fantastic. For anyone unfamiliar and looking to run this with older kids, it starts out with a haunted house (if you follow the adventures in order) that isn't actually haunted, but is full of squirming and biting critters, as well as a gang of pirates. There were a few skeletons that I turned into sand-beast constructs, and so far there's been just enough creepiness and mystique to hook them, but not enough that they're up at night worrying about it (thoughtless parenting move: when I started running Frozen Sick during a pandemic... with children...).
Otherwise, I would definitely turn the undead into constructs or something similar. I suspect that undead are so often used because they can be treated as mindless evil to be destroyed with no qualms on conscience on the part of the adventurers. I would try some sort of stone or wood constructs or elementals in their place. After all, they are not really being killed, just broken or banished.
Sounds like a suitable alternative has already been found, but I wanted to re-emphasize Eriniel's suggestion about converting undead into constructs/elementals. In fact, I would take it one step further and suggest possibly even converting some other monster types into constructs, elementals, or some other similar thing. I cannot remember the specific cartoon my daughters were watching at the time, but the heroines were always fighting some sort of magical [shadow] creatures in each episode. So, when I started running D&D games with them, I tended to make most of the bad things a type of shadow-construct/shadow-elemental creature.
Most of these shadow creatures were basically just reskinning creatures from the Monster Manual and changing their appearance to be more "shadowy" in appears; such as being shades for black and grey. However, they were less scary than facing things like zombies and ghosts, especially since they were familiar to the cartoon that they knew and were comfortable with. Plus, I liked that my shadow constructs merely dissipated when defeated, so there wasn't the blood and gore concept when younger kids were fighting my monsters. They were defeating the darkness versus killing the enemy.
So very true! I run games in which both of my daughters play, and each of them have made it a point to acquire pets for their characters. My younger daughter in particular is trying to creature her own menagerie of mystical creatures.
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Hey my kids started to see me and my husband play "roll20" and are asking to play also. I'm not opposed as i've never DMed before and my kids are 7 and 5. So anything suggestions how to make a fun experience for them?
Among the various campaigns with I run as a DM, I also have an ongoing adventure that I have for my 6-year-old daughter. Admittedly, a lot of the adventures tend to be pretend play, but isn't that what most of us are doing when we play D&D? We're pretend playable within a certain set of rules and guidelines, right?
So some of the things that I personally found that are helpful and/or important for a much younger player:
Both of my kids play D&D, they started at age 8. The things I learned from the experience:
If your kids are anything like mine, they'll be very quick to come up with ideas and want to do them now. It took a while to get them to understand turn order and such, for a short time I used a big plush d20 as a "talking stick". They had to wait until the d20 was in front of them to start doing things.
They have some of the most amazing ideas, and some of them will be out of left field. They're not always going to understand that there are some boundaries to what they're able to do, and it may frustrate them when you have to say that the idea isn't going to work. With kids it is very much a "Yes, but" game, figuring out how to let them do the things they want to do while still staying true to the mechanics.
Some days they'll be able, and willing, to sit for hours playing, other days they'll have about 30 minutes. You're going to have to figure out how to adapt to when they just want to wander off and you're in the middle of a major plot moment.
Most modules are not going to be written in a "kid friendly" way. They can be dark, they can be too intricate, some have themes that are just inappropriate. I suggest looking at something like Phandelver or Sunless Citadel, and reading it through. Adjust the parts you feel are inappropriate for your kids, and then playing it from the book. Leave a lot of room for improv and shenanigans.
As with anything else, it's all about fun. You'll want structure for them so they can learn what to expect, but you're all sitting down to have fun as a family. Just let the goofy happen and put the rules in the back burner.
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Any thoughts on on how to do the modifications? I'm very new to DnD, and my introduction is DMing for my 10- and 8-year-olds and two friends of the same age. My 10-year-old is very concrete and rules-oriented and wants as many zombies, ghouls, and undead horrors as possible. My 8-year-old has a huge imagination, and a quest full of zombies means my getting up many times a night to deal with nightmares.
I'm currently running Phandelver for them, and plan to change the undead to "charmed goblins" or constructs or some such (retaining the zombie and/or ghoul stat block, without the saving throw to return them to life). Any other ideas?
Also, anyone have suggestions for published quests that aren't undead-heavy?
Wow, there is already some great advice here, which leaves me with only a little to add.
For TealMeeple, since your youngest is 5 and probably has fewer reading and math skills than the 7 year old, there are a few tricks that should help.
General tips with younger players:
Finally, for UsoppHammer, besides the links DataDwarf provided, you could try :
• https://www.dmsguild.com/
• https://adventurelookup.com/adventures
I know there is a short trilogy involving gnolls for level 3-5 and a number of Feywild or pirate themed adventures if that would be better for your 8-year-old.
Otherwise, I would definitely turn the undead into constructs or something similar. I suspect that undead are so often used because they can be treated as mindless evil to be destroyed with no qualms on conscience on the part of the adventurers. I would try some sort of stone or wood constructs or elementals in their place. After all, they are not really being killed, just broken or banished.
Thanks for the brilliant suggestions, Eriniel!
I ran with your pirate suggestions and I ended up getting a copy of Ghosts of Saltmarsh out from the local library, and it's been fantastic. For anyone unfamiliar and looking to run this with older kids, it starts out with a haunted house (if you follow the adventures in order) that isn't actually haunted, but is full of squirming and biting critters, as well as a gang of pirates. There were a few skeletons that I turned into sand-beast constructs, and so far there's been just enough creepiness and mystique to hook them, but not enough that they're up at night worrying about it (thoughtless parenting move: when I started running Frozen Sick during a pandemic... with children...).
Sounds like a suitable alternative has already been found, but I wanted to re-emphasize Eriniel's suggestion about converting undead into constructs/elementals. In fact, I would take it one step further and suggest possibly even converting some other monster types into constructs, elementals, or some other similar thing. I cannot remember the specific cartoon my daughters were watching at the time, but the heroines were always fighting some sort of magical [shadow] creatures in each episode. So, when I started running D&D games with them, I tended to make most of the bad things a type of shadow-construct/shadow-elemental creature.
Most of these shadow creatures were basically just reskinning creatures from the Monster Manual and changing their appearance to be more "shadowy" in appears; such as being shades for black and grey. However, they were less scary than facing things like zombies and ghosts, especially since they were familiar to the cartoon that they knew and were comfortable with. Plus, I liked that my shadow constructs merely dissipated when defeated, so there wasn't the blood and gore concept when younger kids were fighting my monsters. They were defeating the darkness versus killing the enemy.
So very true! I run games in which both of my daughters play, and each of them have made it a point to acquire pets for their characters. My younger daughter in particular is trying to creature her own menagerie of mystical creatures.