I've been asked by my niece to DM for her and her friends. My plan is to run a encounter/roleplay sessions before i commit as i don't know how serous they are being 11 years old.
One of my ideas is having them split onto two teams and play Dodge ball.
I'm think have them say take 1D4/6 damage as they will be level one characters on hit. All plays will make a Dex save against a DC of 10. If they fail they take full damage and if they roll a 20 they catch the ball and take no damage.
The winning team can then choose one common item each for their character.
Does this sound stupid as i don't have anyone else to ask?
The winning team can then choose one common item each for their character.
Does this sound stupid as i don't have anyone else to ask?
I don't think that splitting the group up like that is beneficial if you later want everyone to work together. Pre-teens may already be thinking about dealing with cliques in this day and age. I would say that it's better to use a one-shot from Tales from the Yawning Portal or a similar module book. Give them decently optimized characters of your own making to minimize the amount of overhead for character creation.
I would definitely not pit them against each other, rather have them on one team against a group of NPCs (use commoner stats). And especially if they're 11 years old, I'd not use combat damage for non-combat competitions. I'd instead use contested skill checks.
If you go with dodge-ball, here's my suggestion:
Action to throw the ball: Attack roll with a ranged improvised weapon, that deals no damage. The DC is the target's passive Acrobatics score (10 + Dexterity Modifier + Proficiency Bonus if applicable).
If the attack roll hits, the target can use a reaction to try to catch the ball with a Strength or Dexterity Saving Throw. The DC is the attack roll that otherwise hits the target. On a success, the target is not eliminated, and one member of the target's team can return to the game.
Additional rules to preference, because across the country, there are a lot of variants to the rules for Dodgeball.
You could just model it of of Goat-Ball from the Frostmaiden adventure.
GOAT-BALL
Goat-ball is a team sport similar to dodgeball. It uses a furry, misshapen ball made of stuffed goat hide and also requires a dozen or more elevated platforms (usually pillars or tree stumps) arranged in a random pattern. Two teams of four players clamber onto the platforms, pass the ball back and forth, and try to knock their opponents off their platforms. A team wins if all its opponents have been knocked out of the game.
Rules. To determine the outcome of a goat-ball game, have each player in the game make a Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check (their choice). Add up the totals for each team. The team with the highest total wins. In the event of a tie, the game goes into overtime and all the players re-roll.
Hello there and thank you to anyone reading this,
I've been asked by my niece to DM for her and her friends. My plan is to run a encounter/roleplay sessions before i commit as i don't know how serous they are being 11 years old.
One of my ideas is having them split onto two teams and play Dodge ball.
I'm think have them say take 1D4/6 damage as they will be level one characters on hit. All plays will make a Dex save against a DC of 10. If they fail they take full damage and if they roll a 20 they catch the ball and take no damage.
The winning team can then choose one common item each for their character.
Does this sound stupid as i don't have anyone else to ask?
If you want to encourage teamwork, you could let them face a team of NPCs, maybe even a tournament of sorts.
I don't think that splitting the group up like that is beneficial if you later want everyone to work together. Pre-teens may already be thinking about dealing with cliques in this day and age. I would say that it's better to use a one-shot from Tales from the Yawning Portal or a similar module book. Give them decently optimized characters of your own making to minimize the amount of overhead for character creation.
I would definitely not pit them against each other, rather have them on one team against a group of NPCs (use commoner stats). And especially if they're 11 years old, I'd not use combat damage for non-combat competitions. I'd instead use contested skill checks.
If you go with dodge-ball, here's my suggestion:
Action to throw the ball: Attack roll with a ranged improvised weapon, that deals no damage. The DC is the target's passive Acrobatics score (10 + Dexterity Modifier + Proficiency Bonus if applicable).
If the attack roll hits, the target can use a reaction to try to catch the ball with a Strength or Dexterity Saving Throw. The DC is the attack roll that otherwise hits the target. On a success, the target is not eliminated, and one member of the target's team can return to the game.
Additional rules to preference, because across the country, there are a lot of variants to the rules for Dodgeball.
You could just model it of of Goat-Ball from the Frostmaiden adventure.