Hi all! I'm a super casual player and I'm DMing for the first time. If that's not stressful enough, I'm DMing for a group of middle schoolers. I've only ever played with other adults before. Does anyone have any advice for running a campaign, especially if you have experience DMing for 12-14 year olds? I'd appreciate any help. :)
I'd suggest being very leading in the choices you offer them, in order to help them along and prevent choice paralysis. Also being very flexible and accommodating to what parts of the adventure interest the players, leaning into what drives them or excites them over what the story may originally call for.
I have a 12 and 14 in my group (the rest are in their 40’s) and it’s important to identify the parts that re of particular interest to the teenagers and make sure they get to do those parts regularly. The 12 year old in my group is ALL about the combat, and can handle investigating and shopping trips, but will get bored and antsy if an entire session goes with out some kind of action, so I try and make sure that there is the opportunity for a fight or two with each session, even if it’s just a fight to be at a local pub they can wager some gold on and his character gets to fight a few rounds
I'd make a hard-and-fast rule of no electronics at the table. It can be really easy to get distracted for anyone, but it's even easier at that age range. And once you lose them, it's hard to get them back. Go for paper character sheets with pencils, no phones or tablets, no I just need to send one quick text, or anything. Granted, you might need to pry the phones from their cold, dead hands, but do what you can.
Know their maturity level, and make sure to have a session 0 where you discuss what topics are not appropriate. You might even have them send you a list privately beforehand, for someone doesn't want to talk about something, but is self-conscious about it, or just basically doesn't want everyone to know that they don't like something. Then you can go over them anonymously. Also at that session 0, talk about what kinds of things interest them, and hat kind of campaign they want to play. if they're all beginners, and you're a first time DM, you might just go with one of the published starter adventures, so you can focus on understanding the rules and not worry as much about writing a story, too.
I ran a bunch of young boys with 5e for a year for my Son's friend group. I would say unless you are informed otherwise by their families keep it at PG rating level.
My descriptions were gross but not incredibly visceral. I'm sure they would have loved it to be more graphic but I did it because I knew their parents in this case.
They were of course killing monsters but I avoided most human-type creatures (Human, Elves, Dwarves & Halflings). I also often kept it lighter and more madcap at times in tone. Like a humorous cartoon with violence.
If you have played World of Warcraft, I think the tone in the game is good if you want a more serious setting dealing with the more mature side of fantasy but it never gets so heavy you have to worry about the subjects that could appear in say Game of Thrones.
As mentioned above you could start with pre-made characters if they are all completely new to the game. One of the best ways to introduce people to any RPG. As mentioned I'm certain the kids will let you know when they are ready to make their own characters. I would suspect it pretty fast from Meltiversegrm16462 example.
Another idea is a get a dungeon-only module and stick with that to start. Feel out how they like it and if it keeps their attention. Let the NPCs run most of the story parts of the game if need be.
Try roleplaying with them a bit by having the NPCs ask them questions after their first time in the dungeon or completing a small quest.
Just remember to layout all their options or give them pointers on what choices they have in front of them or possible decisions if it's warranted. Once they get into it they will be fine.
I'm running a game for 12 year olds. All they care about it combat, particularly the boys. They have little if any concept of working as a team. They don't pay attention to what others do, and do their own thing regardless of what someone else is doing.
There are concepts you need to talk about with them before game starts that you dont have to have with adults or that they just do better at:
Metagaming, They have no concept of in vs out game info. My character has a 16 STR what do you have? Other players character sheet says Changeling not Human so they treat them as a changeling automatically.
Not splitting the party to pursue individual character desires with no anticipation of putting it back together. Spent most a session putting the party back together after some side quests and not 5 minutes later everyone of them wanted to go a different direction, most of them on days long journeys away from the others.
Character death. Its a game. Characters die. Characters are not players. Character death does not mean you are a bad player. We don't need to have an emotional breakdown and half hour of crying because you got reduced to 0 hp while the combat is still going on (this is before they even started rolling death saves). No one is dead until I as the DM say they are dead. Even then no one is dead until all resurrection options are off the table.
Being quiet while others are doing something. The constant chatter across the table during combat while its someone else turn. The incessant desire of at least one player at all times to make some random noises, hum, sing, drum or otherwise just raise the required overall volume in the room.
Preparing your next turn before its your turn. Not spending 15 minutes thumbing through Druid wild shape options before turning into one. Getting the to do this also reduces the ambient noise.
You cant use a minor spell (Druidcraft) to do crazy things. I appreciate the creativity but if an effect is replicated by a higher level spell dont let them do it with a lower level one.
Other things to be aware of as a DM:
Killing things. Some players (the boys usually) are murder hobos, anything that moves is a valid target for death and the solution to all problems is the death of the opponent. They think nothing of garroting some guy in the village square. Other players (the girls) get bothered by the death of anyone that isn't some kind of monster, killing zombies is fine, killing a person who initiated combat is not.
Before you start think about the players, their age and their parents/friends/teachers that they are going to tell about the game. Think about what concepts you introduce because they are going to be communicated to those other people in a manner that resembles a game of telephone and come back to you. Do you want a 12 year old playing an Elric knockoff Warlock, drugged up, bound to a murderous bloodthirsty sword and serving a god that demands sacrifices? And then have to talk to 3rd parties about that?
Be prepared for scenes to take 3 times longer than they would with adults. Over the last year my group is doing well to get 3 combat senses in an 6 hour session. This ties in with the limited attention span (see the noise, and prepping). 6 hours without a break is pushing things a lot. Plan for a half hour to hour long disruption in the middle of game.
Players are not going to provide food. Their parents might but kids aren't going to spontaneously bring cookies, chips or drinks, they just assume that stuff shows up magically. If you expect that or a meal you are going to have to provide or work with the parents to do so. In the same vein kids do not communicate schedules to parents. Have some method to communicate with the kids parents about when and where game will and wont happen. They will drop kids off on the day you canceled game because you have family visiting unless you communicate directly with the parents.
You need to be able to read every spell they cast and every power they have or be familiar with its text. They wont read it, they wont understand it, they wont be ready to tell you what kind of save it has or even if its a save vs and attack roll. They wont get when to use sneak attack or remember what additional damage it does.
Use minis even if they are pennies on a grid. I really dislike minis and usually run with adults in my head but it really helps the kids.
Provide character sheets, minis, spell card and treasure cards. They will leave their character sheets at home or lose them. They wont be using D&DBeyond to look them up. They will forget their mini and dice at home, or leave them at the gaming site. Getting them to understand prepared vs known spells is much easier when they have to place all the prepared spells in front of them before a session starts and leave the rest in a binder/box. Giving them treasure cards for magic items makes the items more real and likely to be used. I gave all my players a 3 ring binder with character sheet and card sleeves for spells/items and I keep the binders so they come back to game.
Ok , as a fourteen year old, dming for a party of 12-14 yr olds, there’s a couple major differences between an adult game and a more juvenile game.
Firstly: as discussed quite often in this forum, attention spans are slim. If they are new it’s slimmer. I will write this assuming that at least half of the party are in fact, seasoned dnd players. If it’s any less than that, I suggest locking yourself in a small closet when they arrive, and breathe quietly. If they find you, play dead. Returning to the points- attention span. I like to have at least one combat per session, although my group is pretty focused. The plot is fine, and as long as you let them joke around and don’t try to stifle them, or press buckets of lore on them, you can usually do a lot of non-combat stuff. Just let them joke, and have fun! It may not be a serious, hardcore game, but if you let them have fun, they fill want to keep playing and make it fun for you! If you need to bring it in just say something that fits in, right where you left off. They will re- center.
Secondly: the party’s decision making. Murder hobos are common among new players, it’s just a fact. I know my first character, five years ago, was a level one rogue who had three hobbies, those being: arson, destabilizing major governments, and doing everything possible to make my dms story go awry. This is why I recommended having at least half the party know what they are doing, so they can guide, and balance out the others. Here’s what I recommend, if things go off the rails regardless. Roll with it!I know this is incredibly cliché, but, if they want to have that kind of game, you shouldn’t be trying to rein them in! Let that make its own story! If they kill a random npc, unprovoked, have them be on the run, and let their quest be that of making sure their pursuing deputy never catches them! Or , if they are caught, have it be a prison escape! I know that you likely have an immaculate story planned, but if they don’t want that, you can’t force them!
Thirdly: it is my honest opinion that the rule of cool was made for these kinds of games! Let them mess around a bit!
Fourthly: Don’t censor it! I know that you are probably thinking “Oh, but I don’t want to be the dad who told all the kids in vivid detail the torture sequence that happened in the dungeons of Drebelfell, where people lie in eternal, magically induced agony, never to see the light of day as the flesh rots from their bones.” Don’t worry. They won’t care. And if they do, they will tell you, and there will be no judgement. Even if the fellow adults find out. You will be fine. It will make them feel good that you are treating them that way, and like you are giving them the normal experience. Now don’t throw in excruciating gore, or numerous innuendos and profanity throughout, and hold back a little. But keep it gritty as it would be.
thank you for coming to my Ted talk :p
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
“In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbithole, and that means comfort.”
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Hi all! I'm a super casual player and I'm DMing for the first time. If that's not stressful enough, I'm DMing for a group of middle schoolers. I've only ever played with other adults before. Does anyone have any advice for running a campaign, especially if you have experience DMing for 12-14 year olds? I'd appreciate any help. :)
I'd suggest being very leading in the choices you offer them, in order to help them along and prevent choice paralysis. Also being very flexible and accommodating to what parts of the adventure interest the players, leaning into what drives them or excites them over what the story may originally call for.
I have a 12 and 14 in my group (the rest are in their 40’s) and it’s important to identify the parts that re of particular interest to the teenagers and make sure they get to do those parts regularly. The 12 year old in my group is ALL about the combat, and can handle investigating and shopping trips, but will get bored and antsy if an entire session goes with out some kind of action, so I try and make sure that there is the opportunity for a fight or two with each session, even if it’s just a fight to be at a local pub they can wager some gold on and his character gets to fight a few rounds
I'd make a hard-and-fast rule of no electronics at the table. It can be really easy to get distracted for anyone, but it's even easier at that age range. And once you lose them, it's hard to get them back. Go for paper character sheets with pencils, no phones or tablets, no I just need to send one quick text, or anything. Granted, you might need to pry the phones from their cold, dead hands, but do what you can.
Know their maturity level, and make sure to have a session 0 where you discuss what topics are not appropriate. You might even have them send you a list privately beforehand, for someone doesn't want to talk about something, but is self-conscious about it, or just basically doesn't want everyone to know that they don't like something. Then you can go over them anonymously. Also at that session 0, talk about what kinds of things interest them, and hat kind of campaign they want to play. if they're all beginners, and you're a first time DM, you might just go with one of the published starter adventures, so you can focus on understanding the rules and not worry as much about writing a story, too.
I ran a bunch of young boys with 5e for a year for my Son's friend group. I would say unless you are informed otherwise by their families keep it at PG rating level.
My descriptions were gross but not incredibly visceral. I'm sure they would have loved it to be more graphic but I did it because I knew their parents in this case.
They were of course killing monsters but I avoided most human-type creatures (Human, Elves, Dwarves & Halflings). I also often kept it lighter and more madcap at times in tone. Like a humorous cartoon with violence.
If you have played World of Warcraft, I think the tone in the game is good if you want a more serious setting dealing with the more mature side of fantasy but it never gets so heavy you have to worry about the subjects that could appear in say Game of Thrones.
As mentioned above you could start with pre-made characters if they are all completely new to the game. One of the best ways to introduce people to any RPG. As mentioned I'm certain the kids will let you know when they are ready to make their own characters. I would suspect it pretty fast from Meltiversegrm16462 example.
Another idea is a get a dungeon-only module and stick with that to start. Feel out how they like it and if it keeps their attention. Let the NPCs run most of the story parts of the game if need be.
Try roleplaying with them a bit by having the NPCs ask them questions after their first time in the dungeon or completing a small quest.
Just remember to layout all their options or give them pointers on what choices they have in front of them or possible decisions if it's warranted. Once they get into it they will be fine.
I live my life like a West Marches campaign, A swirling vortex of Ambitions and Insecurities.
I'm running a game for 12 year olds. All they care about it combat, particularly the boys. They have little if any concept of working as a team. They don't pay attention to what others do, and do their own thing regardless of what someone else is doing.
There are concepts you need to talk about with them before game starts that you dont have to have with adults or that they just do better at:
Metagaming, They have no concept of in vs out game info. My character has a 16 STR what do you have? Other players character sheet says Changeling not Human so they treat them as a changeling automatically.
Not splitting the party to pursue individual character desires with no anticipation of putting it back together. Spent most a session putting the party back together after some side quests and not 5 minutes later everyone of them wanted to go a different direction, most of them on days long journeys away from the others.
Character death. Its a game. Characters die. Characters are not players. Character death does not mean you are a bad player. We don't need to have an emotional breakdown and half hour of crying because you got reduced to 0 hp while the combat is still going on (this is before they even started rolling death saves). No one is dead until I as the DM say they are dead. Even then no one is dead until all resurrection options are off the table.
Being quiet while others are doing something. The constant chatter across the table during combat while its someone else turn. The incessant desire of at least one player at all times to make some random noises, hum, sing, drum or otherwise just raise the required overall volume in the room.
Preparing your next turn before its your turn. Not spending 15 minutes thumbing through Druid wild shape options before turning into one. Getting the to do this also reduces the ambient noise.
You cant use a minor spell (Druidcraft) to do crazy things. I appreciate the creativity but if an effect is replicated by a higher level spell dont let them do it with a lower level one.
Other things to be aware of as a DM:
Killing things. Some players (the boys usually) are murder hobos, anything that moves is a valid target for death and the solution to all problems is the death of the opponent. They think nothing of garroting some guy in the village square. Other players (the girls) get bothered by the death of anyone that isn't some kind of monster, killing zombies is fine, killing a person who initiated combat is not.
Before you start think about the players, their age and their parents/friends/teachers that they are going to tell about the game. Think about what concepts you introduce because they are going to be communicated to those other people in a manner that resembles a game of telephone and come back to you. Do you want a 12 year old playing an Elric knockoff Warlock, drugged up, bound to a murderous bloodthirsty sword and serving a god that demands sacrifices? And then have to talk to 3rd parties about that?
Be prepared for scenes to take 3 times longer than they would with adults. Over the last year my group is doing well to get 3 combat senses in an 6 hour session. This ties in with the limited attention span (see the noise, and prepping). 6 hours without a break is pushing things a lot. Plan for a half hour to hour long disruption in the middle of game.
Players are not going to provide food. Their parents might but kids aren't going to spontaneously bring cookies, chips or drinks, they just assume that stuff shows up magically. If you expect that or a meal you are going to have to provide or work with the parents to do so. In the same vein kids do not communicate schedules to parents. Have some method to communicate with the kids parents about when and where game will and wont happen. They will drop kids off on the day you canceled game because you have family visiting unless you communicate directly with the parents.
You need to be able to read every spell they cast and every power they have or be familiar with its text. They wont read it, they wont understand it, they wont be ready to tell you what kind of save it has or even if its a save vs and attack roll. They wont get when to use sneak attack or remember what additional damage it does.
Some things that have really helped:
Buy/build an Initiative Tracker.
Use minis even if they are pennies on a grid. I really dislike minis and usually run with adults in my head but it really helps the kids.
Provide character sheets, minis, spell card and treasure cards. They will leave their character sheets at home or lose them. They wont be using D&DBeyond to look them up. They will forget their mini and dice at home, or leave them at the gaming site. Getting them to understand prepared vs known spells is much easier when they have to place all the prepared spells in front of them before a session starts and leave the rest in a binder/box. Giving them treasure cards for magic items makes the items more real and likely to be used. I gave all my players a 3 ring binder with character sheet and card sleeves for spells/items and I keep the binders so they come back to game.
Ok , as a fourteen year old, dming for a party of 12-14 yr olds, there’s a couple major differences between an adult game and a more juvenile game.
Firstly: as discussed quite often in this forum, attention spans are slim. If they are new it’s slimmer. I will write this assuming that at least half of the party are in fact, seasoned dnd players. If it’s any less than that, I suggest locking yourself in a small closet when they arrive, and breathe quietly. If they find you, play dead. Returning to the points- attention span. I like to have at least one combat per session, although my group is pretty focused. The plot is fine, and as long as you let them joke around and don’t try to stifle them, or press buckets of lore on them, you can usually do a lot of non-combat stuff. Just let them joke, and have fun! It may not be a serious, hardcore game, but if you let them have fun, they fill want to keep playing and make it fun for you! If you need to bring it in just say something that fits in, right where you left off. They will re- center.
Secondly: the party’s decision making. Murder hobos are common among new players, it’s just a fact. I know my first character, five years ago, was a level one rogue who had three hobbies, those being: arson, destabilizing major governments, and doing everything possible to make my dms story go awry. This is why I recommended having at least half the party know what they are doing, so they can guide, and balance out the others. Here’s what I recommend, if things go off the rails regardless. Roll with it!I know this is incredibly cliché, but, if they want to have that kind of game, you shouldn’t be trying to rein them in! Let that make its own story! If they kill a random npc, unprovoked, have them be on the run, and let their quest be that of making sure their pursuing deputy never catches them! Or , if they are caught, have it be a prison escape! I know that you likely have an immaculate story planned, but if they don’t want that, you can’t force them!
Thirdly: it is my honest opinion that the rule of cool was made for these kinds of games! Let them mess around a bit!
Fourthly: Don’t censor it! I know that you are probably thinking “Oh, but I don’t want to be the dad who told all the kids in vivid detail the torture sequence that happened in the dungeons of Drebelfell, where people lie in eternal, magically induced agony, never to see the light of day as the flesh rots from their bones.” Don’t worry. They won’t care. And if they do, they will tell you, and there will be no judgement. Even if the fellow adults find out. You will be fine. It will make them feel good that you are treating them that way, and like you are giving them the normal experience. Now don’t throw in excruciating gore, or numerous innuendos and profanity throughout, and hold back a little. But keep it gritty as it would be.
thank you for coming to my Ted talk :p
“In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbithole, and that means comfort.”