My Son and his friends are playing with fantasy miniatures and they are playing their own stories with self generated rules, once a week. Their rules are always changing.
I would like to play the adventure from the starter box.
The children would love to create their own characters. They’re especially interested in playing tieflings and dragonborn. What are some ways to create very simple characters? The character generator is great, but all the abilities, spells, and special features are a bit too much for them at the beginning.
I’d like to start the children off with as few special traits and spells as possible and gradually introduce more information over time. Is there a really simple way to start?
For the kids, it’s not important to have complex or highly detailed characters — it’s more about imagination and the fun of playing a cool character. I’d love to use a kind of “building block” system and slowly add more rules and features to the characters as they grow into the game.
You could try the sidekick characters found in Tasha’s. They’re kind of simplified versions that are still effective. Or get a starter set it’s generally got simplified rule set. Play a bit with those, then upgrade when they’re ready.
Also, fwiw, I started playing when I was 9 in the early 80’s. We used the red box rules, which were the stripped down version of 1e. I’m pretty sure we ignored and/or misunderstood a large number of them, but that’s pretty much always been how D&D operates. So I guess my point is, hand them some books and let them have at it; if they’re having fun, they’re doing it right.
Try Googling for an adventure called Peril in Pinebrook. It was written a couple of years ago and it's stated intent was for families to play over the holidays when someone inevitably says "so what's this D&D you keep playing?" It's got a very simple adventure but one of the big strengths is it has several very simple character sheets that reduce everything down to about half a page and only use a d20 and a d6 for everything. They might be just what you want with a bit of editing
Also consider sticking to 2014 rules, they are significantly simpler than 2024 rules. Or consider Nimble 5e.
The 2024 rules are actually simpler, but there are more cases of weird/confusing wording, namely Nick. Do you use Nick on your main hand or off hand weapon? No one knows for sure. Go with 2014 to avoid arguments about rule interpretations.
with spellcasting avoid warlick obviously honestly wizzard might also be difficult depending on the people, do something versatile and try and start off low level so they dont get overwhelmed in the abilities and stuff, i would recomend 3 because especialy with people who played fantasy games where they can do anything, playing level one or level 2 to some extend can feel limited in what you can do. try to not make it too difficult and try and get them and their characters attached to the story
My Son and his friends are playing with fantasy miniatures and they are playing their own stories with self generated rules, once a week. Their rules are always changing.
I would like to play the adventure from the starter box.
The children would love to create their own characters. They’re especially interested in playing tieflings and dragonborn. What are some ways to create very simple characters? The character generator is great, but all the abilities, spells, and special features are a bit too much for them at the beginning.
I’d like to start the children off with as few special traits and spells as possible and gradually introduce more information over time. Is there a really simple way to start?
For the kids, it’s not important to have complex or highly detailed characters — it’s more about imagination and the fun of playing a cool character. I’d love to use a kind of “building block” system and slowly add more rules and features to the characters as they grow into the game.
What’s the best way to do this?
Some of the more simple character build include Fighter: Champion and Rogue: Thief.
You could try the sidekick characters found in Tasha’s. They’re kind of simplified versions that are still effective. Or get a starter set it’s generally got simplified rule set. Play a bit with those, then upgrade when they’re ready.
Also, fwiw, I started playing when I was 9 in the early 80’s. We used the red box rules, which were the stripped down version of 1e. I’m pretty sure we ignored and/or misunderstood a large number of them, but that’s pretty much always been how D&D operates. So I guess my point is, hand them some books and let them have at it; if they’re having fun, they’re doing it right.
Also consider sticking to 2014 rules, they are significantly simpler than 2024 rules. Or consider Nimble 5e.
Try Googling for an adventure called Peril in Pinebrook. It was written a couple of years ago and it's stated intent was for families to play over the holidays when someone inevitably says "so what's this D&D you keep playing?" It's got a very simple adventure but one of the big strengths is it has several very simple character sheets that reduce everything down to about half a page and only use a d20 and a d6 for everything. They might be just what you want with a bit of editing
The 2024 rules are actually simpler, but there are more cases of weird/confusing wording, namely Nick. Do you use Nick on your main hand or off hand weapon? No one knows for sure. Go with 2014 to avoid arguments about rule interpretations.
with spellcasting avoid warlick obviously honestly wizzard might also be difficult depending on the people, do something versatile and try and start off low level so they dont get overwhelmed in the abilities and stuff, i would recomend 3 because especialy with people who played fantasy games where they can do anything, playing level one or level 2 to some extend can feel limited in what you can do. try to not make it too difficult and try and get them and their characters attached to the story
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