I'm working on a campaign and club I'm trying to build for my local Boys and Girls club. I was wanting to get some other fellow DMs input.
If the players are between 10 & 14 should I water down the rules any? I play with adults, and sometimes it feels like I need to water down the rules with them haha.
I'm wondering if I should do one offs, or a longer campaign, what do you guys think?
How do you all handle the addition of players, or players not being there every game?
Thanks for the input, I'll probably be back looking for some more inputs and thoughts.
1.) Maybe not so much watering down the rules, but be okay with glossing over some things or ignoring some of the more complex parts until your players have a firmer grasp on things. At the very least, use simpler language to describe game mechanics.
2.) I think you'd be best served with various one-shot adventures. They can be short, and wrap up nicely in whatever time table you are working with. Also it will give the kids a sense of accomplishment each time they play as they can start and finish something all in one sitting.
3.) This is where one-shot adventures shine. New people can join, people can miss a day, and nobody feels like they are behind or something. I wouldn't let your table grow beyond eight players though, as that is really pushing the bounds of people all trying to do something without players getting too bored between rounds. If your program takes off, I'd suggest finding a precocious kid who wouldn't mind DMing and split the group. It may also help to have a handful of level appropriate pre-gen characters on hand so that new players aren't wasting time getting into the game.
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"The mongoose blew out its candle and was asleep in bed before the room went dark." —Llanowar fable
Do you have any suggestions for some good one shots? I typically make my own campaigns but with starting off testing the waters with these kids I want to have something a little more structured until we get everything going.
My son and his friends who are all 14 & 15 got into D&D in a big way this summer and it was great to behold.
I don't think you need to water down any of the rules, but I would keep the focus on keeping things light and moving.
Something else I'd encourage you to do would be to get out of their game as quickly as possible (both as DM and Player). Make the introduction, get them comfortable and then leave them to their own devices. If that's after only a play or two or a few months is up to you, but there's something kind of limiting about having an adult at the table when you're a kid.
Do you have any suggestions for some good one shots? I typically make my own campaigns but with starting off testing the waters with these kids I want to have something a little more structured until we get everything going.
Depends on how much money you want to spend vs. how much work you want to do on your own. For a bunch of kids, the D&D Encounters adventures that are part of the D&D Adventure League are decent enough. You can get them on the DM's Guild for under $5 each, with the first adventure from each season actually being five mini adventures that are technically designed to be run in an hour or so each. If you are on more of a budget, there's the one page dungeon contest, which is a website that takes submissions for short one-shot adventures and compiles the better ones every year. Honestly, the quality isn't always good there, but after spending a couple hours digging through their archives, I found a good thirty or so adventures that were worth saving for my own personal use later. The "Hold the Mushrooms Please" adventure from the 2015 collection would actually be really fun for your kids, I think. Most of the adventures are technically system agnostic, so you can fit in monster stats however you like.
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"The mongoose blew out its candle and was asleep in bed before the room went dark." —Llanowar fable
If you want a good way for players to be present or not without hindering the game, the Tales from the Yawning Portal setting/adventures would be good. New players stumble into the tavern, absent players simply are off doing other things. After a while, once you have a dedicated crew that is really in it, you can ditch the one shots and give them the modules straight from the book.
True that would work, I would just have to work around the whole Tavern thing. I mean really, how many of us always start off our group in a Tavern. I wanna say like 95% of my campaigns have.
The Yawning Portal Tavern itself is a decent setting itself, but with kids that young you basically undersell the presence of ale and treat it like a hero hotel. It's doable, and has a lot to offer as far as intresting curios and NPC's that can come through. ESPECIALLY if you're starting with one offs.
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#OpenDnD. #DnDBegone
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Hello fellow DMs
I'm working on a campaign and club I'm trying to build for my local Boys and Girls club. I was wanting to get some other fellow DMs input.
Thanks for the input, I'll probably be back looking for some more inputs and thoughts.
DM - The Lost Mines of Phandelver
DM - Tales from Irileth: Korey ◆ Rook ◆ Grinner
In order:
1.) Maybe not so much watering down the rules, but be okay with glossing over some things or ignoring some of the more complex parts until your players have a firmer grasp on things. At the very least, use simpler language to describe game mechanics.
2.) I think you'd be best served with various one-shot adventures. They can be short, and wrap up nicely in whatever time table you are working with. Also it will give the kids a sense of accomplishment each time they play as they can start and finish something all in one sitting.
3.) This is where one-shot adventures shine. New people can join, people can miss a day, and nobody feels like they are behind or something. I wouldn't let your table grow beyond eight players though, as that is really pushing the bounds of people all trying to do something without players getting too bored between rounds. If your program takes off, I'd suggest finding a precocious kid who wouldn't mind DMing and split the group. It may also help to have a handful of level appropriate pre-gen characters on hand so that new players aren't wasting time getting into the game.
Do you have any suggestions for some good one shots? I typically make my own campaigns but with starting off testing the waters with these kids I want to have something a little more structured until we get everything going.
DM - The Lost Mines of Phandelver
DM - Tales from Irileth: Korey ◆ Rook ◆ Grinner
My son and his friends who are all 14 & 15 got into D&D in a big way this summer and it was great to behold.
I don't think you need to water down any of the rules, but I would keep the focus on keeping things light and moving.
Something else I'd encourage you to do would be to get out of their game as quickly as possible (both as DM and Player). Make the introduction, get them comfortable and then leave them to their own devices. If that's after only a play or two or a few months is up to you, but there's something kind of limiting about having an adult at the table when you're a kid.
Good luck with the game.
If you want a good way for players to be present or not without hindering the game, the Tales from the Yawning Portal setting/adventures would be good. New players stumble into the tavern, absent players simply are off doing other things. After a while, once you have a dedicated crew that is really in it, you can ditch the one shots and give them the modules straight from the book.
#OpenDnD. #DnDBegone
True that would work, I would just have to work around the whole Tavern thing. I mean really, how many of us always start off our group in a Tavern. I wanna say like 95% of my campaigns have.
DM - The Lost Mines of Phandelver
DM - Tales from Irileth: Korey ◆ Rook ◆ Grinner
The Yawning Portal Tavern itself is a decent setting itself, but with kids that young you basically undersell the presence of ale and treat it like a hero hotel. It's doable, and has a lot to offer as far as intresting curios and NPC's that can come through. ESPECIALLY if you're starting with one offs.
#OpenDnD. #DnDBegone