I am running a campaign for my workplace soon. I work with young adults and youth with disabilities. They're all super stoked about character creation already and are loving the idea of adventuring together! I'm hoping this will be a good outlet and skill building opportunity for them.
However, I have personally only ever been a player never a DM/GM. so advice around that. appreciated!
Specifically, I expect some of the biggest challenges will be attention, turn-taking, and simplifying some of the more in depth parts of DND. For example: "perception" not really a word I can use and have understood. I'm planning on making them each individual character cards and having as much visual engagement as possible ie. physical gaming board and a story board with pictures for the TV.
ANY suggestions are extremely helpful. any experience in running campaigns for kids/youth/ individuals with disabilities also appreciated for insight and preparation.
Someone made character sheets designed for dyslexic players, but a lot of non-dislexic players, especially new players, find them really useful too. They do a great job of conveying what all the different numbers you put in different places mean. Could come in handy with terminologies too since it can reference the box shapes if words aren't understood.
I've found in playing with kids that a different range of in-game activities is best (some kids like fighting, some kids are good at puzzles and riddles). You have to make sure the boys don't yell over the girls, or big kids steamroll little kids. And I think you should have a fairly episodic, railroady campaign to make use of the limited time and attention spans you're working with.
There are probably a thousand more important things that go into this, but if I were DMing this group I'd ask myself how much time was going to go into each session. For 5-6 players, a fight that goes four rounds will take about a half hour of dice rolling and arithmetic. If you have one hour to play in total, plan it around that one fight, with a few minutes for an intro; some exploration and skill checks, maybe a scene that focuses on one player in particular, and then an ending that previews the next step in the campaign..
I saw this and thought it just about perfect with the add-on of-
Use creative ideas!! Even it seems kinda out there let them try it!! It doesn't have to work 24/7 but if it does every once in a while it will keep the players engaged and always thinking about new ideas!!!
I run a D&D group for kids, and I've found that some children need to be pointed in the correct direction to understand the problem before them. I have also found that children also sometimes have trouble expressing their ideas with the group, because everybody has their own ideas. I use initiative for expressing ideas. This way, everybody gets a say as to what happens in the game. Also, if some players are in the same location, allow them to discuss their next actions before they do it. It takes a while sometimes for players to figure out their next actions, but in the end it's all worth it.
Hope this helps!
RJOP
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Hey DND Community!
I am running a campaign for my workplace soon. I work with young adults and youth with disabilities. They're all super stoked about character creation already and are loving the idea of adventuring together! I'm hoping this will be a good outlet and skill building opportunity for them.
However, I have personally only ever been a player never a DM/GM. so advice around that. appreciated!
Specifically, I expect some of the biggest challenges will be attention, turn-taking, and simplifying some of the more in depth parts of DND. For example: "perception" not really a word I can use and have understood. I'm planning on making them each individual character cards and having as much visual engagement as possible ie. physical gaming board and a story board with pictures for the TV.
ANY suggestions are extremely helpful. any experience in running campaigns for kids/youth/ individuals with disabilities also appreciated for insight and preparation.
Do you know about these? https://www.geeknative.com/70088/dd-character-sheets-for-players-with-dyslexia/
Someone made character sheets designed for dyslexic players, but a lot of non-dislexic players, especially new players, find them really useful too. They do a great job of conveying what all the different numbers you put in different places mean. Could come in handy with terminologies too since it can reference the box shapes if words aren't understood.
magical! Thanks!
I've found in playing with kids that a different range of in-game activities is best (some kids like fighting, some kids are good at puzzles and riddles). You have to make sure the boys don't yell over the girls, or big kids steamroll little kids. And I think you should have a fairly episodic, railroady campaign to make use of the limited time and attention spans you're working with.
There are probably a thousand more important things that go into this, but if I were DMing this group I'd ask myself how much time was going to go into each session. For 5-6 players, a fight that goes four rounds will take about a half hour of dice rolling and arithmetic. If you have one hour to play in total, plan it around that one fight, with a few minutes for an intro; some exploration and skill checks, maybe a scene that focuses on one player in particular, and then an ending that previews the next step in the campaign..
I saw this and thought it just about perfect with the add-on of-
Use creative ideas!! Even it seems kinda out there let them try it!! It doesn't have to work 24/7 but if it does every once in a while it will keep the players engaged and always thinking about new ideas!!!
I run a D&D group for kids, and I've found that some children need to be pointed in the correct direction to understand the problem before them. I have also found that children also sometimes have trouble expressing their ideas with the group, because everybody has their own ideas. I use initiative for expressing ideas. This way, everybody gets a say as to what happens in the game. Also, if some players are in the same location, allow them to discuss their next actions before they do it. It takes a while sometimes for players to figure out their next actions, but in the end it's all worth it.
Hope this helps!
RJOP