As a teacher and After school activity leader, I was asked to start a Dungeon and dragon workshop for grades 3&4. (duration: 10 weeks). They love it. I did "ogre and his cake" and "heroes of Hesiod." These two were easy as I was reading out a script. Also, there weren't that many options for player initiative. The students are absolutely in love with D&D and want more. Which means I need to up my game and become a true dungeon master. I am a total beginner and haven't even played the game myself. Yes, I know, super silly and stupid, but time and my chaotic schedule + principal breathing down my neck led to this all.
I bought the DM handbook, but that is quite overwhelming.
I have about five meetings left and was wondering what I could do.
The students would love to create their own characters. Aside from the online tool, are there kid-friendly explanations about how to? Is there maybe a wikiHow? A nice video? Are there websites that explain in a bit simpler words the different races/ classes/attributes/etc.? Is there maybe a kid-friendly character creator tool?
After this 10 week workshop, I would love to continue and I think the students would like to as well. How do I handle completely new players and a little bit more experienced players in one game?
Could anyone recommend other adventures 3&4 graders would like?
Would be great if someone would like to help me out with this.
I don't know much about running the game for kids, but I think it's great that you are doing this for your students! Keep it up!
There are a few people here that I'm sure will be able to get you rolling, but if they don't respond by later today, I'll try to find some resources for you over the next few days.
As far as character creation, honestly, the ones you make on this site is about as simple as it can be, imo. They make a choice, click a button and then they’re guided to the next choice. There’s lots and lots of information out there on the internet about making characters, but most of it is about optimizing a character— finding ways to squeeze every last drop of bonus out of them.
I’d suggest you make your own. Get some friends together for a game night, and all of you make characters together. You can get the practical experience and that might put you in a better position to answer the kid’s questions. Since you’ll know your kids better than an online tutorial, you can probably predict where the sticky spots will be and figure your way through them. The thing you have going for you is, this edition is pretty friendly to characters who aren’t optimized. The kids can make them, and even if the character is less than ideal, it should still work ok. And, really, them not quite understanding can work for you. Since they won’t get hung up making their character mathematically perfect, they’ll just want one they think is cool. They’ll have an idea in their head of what they want it to be able to do, and the system should be able to get them pretty close. Even if it’s not built perfectly, it should be fun for them to play, and they won’t realize they’ve only got a +2 instead of the +3 they could have had, they’ll just picture their guy (or gal) swinging their sword.
Also, I know you said you have the dungeon masters guide, but you should really have the players handbook. It’s where most of the rules for game play are, and all the rules for character creation. If you do t have that, I’d suggest picking it up.
Experienced and new players happens at every table, and is not usually a problem. Heck, if you have one or two kids who really took to it, you can deputize them to help teach the newer kids, I’m sure I don’t have to tell a teacher how great something like that can be for everyone involved.
Im afraid I can’t help with kid friendly adventures. You might check out dmsguild. I don’t know what kind of search filters they have, so I can’t guarantee how easy it will be to find what you need, though.
If you would like some pre made adventures you could take a look at steamforged games (link here there is a few options on the left hand side of the screen and you want the 3rd one down: https://steamforged.com/en-gb/blogs/resources), they do a series called Animal Adventures where all the player charaters are dogs (I think there is a cat version as well), but they also have 3 free adventures: Who let the Dogs Out?, Raiders fo the Lost Bark and Lair of the Necro-Meow-cer. They should all be pretty kid friendly and might make picking up the character side of things a bit easier for them.
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* Need a character idea? Search for "Rob76's Unused" in the Story and Lore section.
I've not seen anything to kind of child-ize the game (make it simpler for kids) but I believe there has been mention of an official WotC educator's group or something? It would be worth it to look there and see if you can find contacts within. There's a decent chance another educator has faced the same challenges and has or created, an answer. So far as kid-ifying character creation, you could do it yourself.
I would begin by explaining what the various stats DO. Strength for carrying, lifting and swinging many weapons, Intelligence referring to mind tasks one learns or studies and so forth. Once they get that, you could move on to the classes and what skills and abilities they have, explaining to the kids how these skills and stuff link to your abilities, so they are better able to build more viable characters. As Xalthu states above, optimal characters are not essential to be successful and have fun, so even if they boost stats that might not mechanically benefit their character class, it should be workable.
Races, as D&D has evolved, especially the last couple years, have been more or less flattened, so there's not much need to mention any stat boosts they get. These are all selectable following a couple releases, so stats are flat for all races and all you need to review are their special abilities, like breathing underwater for Sea Elves or Tritons, flight for Aaracokra, some who have night vision, things like that.
You could easily stretch the whole character creation/understanding process over a few sessions, there's so much you could prospectively cover. This is a fair bit to undertake solo, as well. Are there any others you work with who might be willing to jump in and lend a hand? If so, you could write out the perks for each race in bullet points for the kids to have as a guide.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Talk to your Players.Talk to your DM. If more people used this advice, there would be 24.74% fewer threads on Tactics, Rules and DM discussions.
The students would love to create their own characters. Aside from the online tool, are there kid-friendly explanations about how to? Is there maybe a wikiHow? A nice video? Are there websites that explain in a bit simpler words the different races/ classes/attributes/etc.? Is there maybe a kid-friendly character creator tool?
The Young Adventurer's Guide series is aimed right at that age group, and is intended as an intro to the rules and concepts they'll need to be ready to make characters and play using the PHB etc.
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Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock) Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric) Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue) Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
First of all, why were you not my teacher 50 years ago? What a great way to teach creativity, teamwork, critical thinking and much more. I would suggest joining an online game here. Let the group know your reason and as you play for a few hours on say a weekend night you will learn the game and see an experianced DM navigate diverse players. Also make 4 or 5 per class characters using the online creation tool. Get familar with the easy to use click and create process.
Good luck and thank you for being an outside the box educator!
The games I run for my kids are fairly simple. I try to emulate what ever new show or movie they’ve been into. We spend a good bit of time trying to figure out who they want to be, which is a fun little game in and of itself. Afterwards we try to complete an objective where they have to work together to help the situation.
we have dice but honestly the rolling is random. Sometimes we roll dice very little because they just take off without it, other times they focus on the dice a lot and want to roll like it’s a separate game.
Its fairly chaotic but it’s fun. Ages 5 and 7. The girls usually end up being ninja pirate princesses.
For 3rd and 4th graders, I'd recommend maybe using the Dungeon Crawl Classics system instead. Character creation is much quicker and simpler. It's much more like old D&D when characters could die really easily though, so you might want to just let them revive fallen party members instead of rolling to see if they died while they were down.
For adventures, you might pick a favorite TV show and adapt an episode into a mini-adventure by taking a significant feature of the setting and goals, and re-structuring it into a dungeon with a few extra traps and monsters along the way. You'll have to judge for the kids you're running for what sorts of challenges are appropriate. I've seen some kids that age who'd be freaked out if you describe a T-Rex in too much detail, giving them nightmares, and I've seen others who watch the SAW movies with their parents and find it funny.
Maybe instead of outright monsters, depict creatures that are just wild, and that might attack if provoked, or if proper precautions aren't taken.
So, this might be an opportunity to bring in some out-side help. If I were you, I'd contact the nearest high school and see if they have a D&D club and if any of them would like to volunteer to DM. I would then keep a close eye on them because high school kids can be little shitheads at times ;-)
I would have weekly DM meetings to discuss what each DM has planned as well as help each other with session prep.
Doing adventure league modules might be good because then people could sit with different DMs each week.
DnD Adventure Club– A kid-friendly D&D adventure subscription box! Every month you’ll get a new 16-page booklet with original artwork and a story built especially for young players.
An Ogre and His Cake– An introductory adventure where the players must retrieve a stolen birthday cake—built for and tested by kids!
Clonker’s Guide to Being a Hero– A collection of five all-ages adventures, each with a hand-drawn map and artwork depicting some of the most important NPCs.
Truly Madly Deeply: Level Zero to Hero– A mini-campaign arc designed to teach players, especially young ones, about RPGs and guide them through character creation through roleplaying.
First Adventure– A well balanced mix of exploration, role-playing, riddles, combat and tons of fun suited for both DnD kids and adults!
Yeryl’s Super Happy Fun Murder Dungeon– A highly obnoxious and mildly ridiculous collection of traps, combat, and puzzles designed to test your players’ wits and patience.
In The Black Midwinter– A holiday-themed adventure where the PCs battle an ancient evil threatening a remote village in the subarctic north.
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Hi all,
As a teacher and After school activity leader, I was asked to start a Dungeon and dragon workshop for grades 3&4. (duration: 10 weeks). They love it. I did "ogre and his cake" and "heroes of Hesiod." These two were easy as I was reading out a script. Also, there weren't that many options for player initiative. The students are absolutely in love with D&D and want more. Which means I need to up my game and become a true dungeon master. I am a total beginner and haven't even played the game myself. Yes, I know, super silly and stupid, but time and my chaotic schedule + principal breathing down my neck led to this all.
I bought the DM handbook, but that is quite overwhelming.
I have about five meetings left and was wondering what I could do.
The students would love to create their own characters. Aside from the online tool, are there kid-friendly explanations about how to? Is there maybe a wikiHow? A nice video? Are there websites that explain in a bit simpler words the different races/ classes/attributes/etc.? Is there maybe a kid-friendly character creator tool?
After this 10 week workshop, I would love to continue and I think the students would like to as well. How do I handle completely new players and a little bit more experienced players in one game?
Could anyone recommend other adventures 3&4 graders would like?
Would be great if someone would like to help me out with this.
Thanks a million!
I don't know much about running the game for kids, but I think it's great that you are doing this for your students! Keep it up!
There are a few people here that I'm sure will be able to get you rolling, but if they don't respond by later today, I'll try to find some resources for you over the next few days.
As far as character creation, honestly, the ones you make on this site is about as simple as it can be, imo. They make a choice, click a button and then they’re guided to the next choice. There’s lots and lots of information out there on the internet about making characters, but most of it is about optimizing a character— finding ways to squeeze every last drop of bonus out of them.
I’d suggest you make your own. Get some friends together for a game night, and all of you make characters together. You can get the practical experience and that might put you in a better position to answer the kid’s questions. Since you’ll know your kids better than an online tutorial, you can probably predict where the sticky spots will be and figure your way through them.
The thing you have going for you is, this edition is pretty friendly to characters who aren’t optimized. The kids can make them, and even if the character is less than ideal, it should still work ok. And, really, them not quite understanding can work for you. Since they won’t get hung up making their character mathematically perfect, they’ll just want one they think is cool. They’ll have an idea in their head of what they want it to be able to do, and the system should be able to get them pretty close. Even if it’s not built perfectly, it should be fun for them to play, and they won’t realize they’ve only got a +2 instead of the +3 they could have had, they’ll just picture their guy (or gal) swinging their sword.
Also, I know you said you have the dungeon masters guide, but you should really have the players handbook. It’s where most of the rules for game play are, and all the rules for character creation. If you do t have that, I’d suggest picking it up.
Experienced and new players happens at every table, and is not usually a problem. Heck, if you have one or two kids who really took to it, you can deputize them to help teach the newer kids, I’m sure I don’t have to tell a teacher how great something like that can be for everyone involved.
Im afraid I can’t help with kid friendly adventures. You might check out dmsguild. I don’t know what kind of search filters they have, so I can’t guarantee how easy it will be to find what you need, though.
If you would like some pre made adventures you could take a look at steamforged games (link here there is a few options on the left hand side of the screen and you want the 3rd one down: https://steamforged.com/en-gb/blogs/resources), they do a series called Animal Adventures where all the player charaters are dogs (I think there is a cat version as well), but they also have 3 free adventures: Who let the Dogs Out?, Raiders fo the Lost Bark and Lair of the Necro-Meow-cer. They should all be pretty kid friendly and might make picking up the character side of things a bit easier for them.
I've not seen anything to kind of child-ize the game (make it simpler for kids) but I believe there has been mention of an official WotC educator's group or something? It would be worth it to look there and see if you can find contacts within. There's a decent chance another educator has faced the same challenges and has or created, an answer. So far as kid-ifying character creation, you could do it yourself.
I would begin by explaining what the various stats DO. Strength for carrying, lifting and swinging many weapons, Intelligence referring to mind tasks one learns or studies and so forth. Once they get that, you could move on to the classes and what skills and abilities they have, explaining to the kids how these skills and stuff link to your abilities, so they are better able to build more viable characters. As Xalthu states above, optimal characters are not essential to be successful and have fun, so even if they boost stats that might not mechanically benefit their character class, it should be workable.
Races, as D&D has evolved, especially the last couple years, have been more or less flattened, so there's not much need to mention any stat boosts they get. These are all selectable following a couple releases, so stats are flat for all races and all you need to review are their special abilities, like breathing underwater for Sea Elves or Tritons, flight for Aaracokra, some who have night vision, things like that.
You could easily stretch the whole character creation/understanding process over a few sessions, there's so much you could prospectively cover. This is a fair bit to undertake solo, as well. Are there any others you work with who might be willing to jump in and lend a hand? If so, you could write out the perks for each race in bullet points for the kids to have as a guide.
Talk to your Players. Talk to your DM. If more people used this advice, there would be 24.74% fewer threads on Tactics, Rules and DM discussions.
The Young Adventurer's Guide series is aimed right at that age group, and is intended as an intro to the rules and concepts they'll need to be ready to make characters and play using the PHB etc.
Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock)
Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric)
Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue)
Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
First of all, why were you not my teacher 50 years ago? What a great way to teach creativity, teamwork, critical thinking and much more. I would suggest joining an online game here. Let the group know your reason and as you play for a few hours on say a weekend night you will learn the game and see an experianced DM navigate diverse players. Also make 4 or 5 per class characters using the online creation tool. Get familar with the easy to use click and create process.
Good luck and thank you for being an outside the box educator!
Thank you all so much for helping me out. You all gave me some great pointers.
Thanks a million!
The games I run for my kids are fairly simple. I try to emulate what ever new show or movie they’ve been into. We spend a good bit of time trying to figure out who they want to be, which is a fun little game in and of itself. Afterwards we try to complete an objective where they have to work together to help the situation.
we have dice but honestly the rolling is random. Sometimes we roll dice very little because they just take off without it, other times they focus on the dice a lot and want to roll like it’s a separate game.
Its fairly chaotic but it’s fun. Ages 5 and 7. The girls usually end up being ninja pirate princesses.
I have a friend that runs this for his 9 and 11 year old:
https://hitpointpress.com/humblewood/?gclid=Cj0KCQiA_bieBhDSARIsADU4zLdoU4suyAPzlwA_KQDNIb0iOjrCrT4fuit16Xt_7scH9-IxVHD_4toaAi8BEALw_wcB
Dont know much beyond that, hope it helps.
For 3rd and 4th graders, I'd recommend maybe using the Dungeon Crawl Classics system instead. Character creation is much quicker and simpler. It's much more like old D&D when characters could die really easily though, so you might want to just let them revive fallen party members instead of rolling to see if they died while they were down.
For adventures, you might pick a favorite TV show and adapt an episode into a mini-adventure by taking a significant feature of the setting and goals, and re-structuring it into a dungeon with a few extra traps and monsters along the way. You'll have to judge for the kids you're running for what sorts of challenges are appropriate. I've seen some kids that age who'd be freaked out if you describe a T-Rex in too much detail, giving them nightmares, and I've seen others who watch the SAW movies with their parents and find it funny.
Maybe instead of outright monsters, depict creatures that are just wild, and that might attack if provoked, or if proper precautions aren't taken.
So, this might be an opportunity to bring in some out-side help. If I were you, I'd contact the nearest high school and see if they have a D&D club and if any of them would like to volunteer to DM. I would then keep a close eye on them because high school kids can be little shitheads at times ;-)
I would have weekly DM meetings to discuss what each DM has planned as well as help each other with session prep.
Doing adventure league modules might be good because then people could sit with different DMs each week.
Anyway, good luck!
For anyone who stumbled upon this thread, hereby some adventures I found that are suitable for kids.
All found in this article
https://www.level1geek.com/dnd-for-kids-guide/#Good_D_D_Modules_for_Kids
DnD Adventure Club– A kid-friendly D&D adventure subscription box! Every month you’ll get a new 16-page booklet with original artwork and a story built especially for young players.