My players found a child. They're keeping it. What to do?

[The Shadowdove]

Hey guys,


Here's the conversation:

Man at outpost (known as M): "Wow, you survived. What can I do ya' for?"

Swashbuckler woman in party (S):"We found this wine, oh and a kid. What will you give us for the wine?"

Negotiations for wine begin and end.

M: "How much do you want for the kid?"

S: "What would you want with him?"

M: "Well we'd make him a slave and have him work."

Paladin in party(P): "Heck no, you're adopting him and taking care of him"

M: "Okay well I'll give you 10 gold to adopt him"

S: "What, only 10 gold?!"

M: "That's a fair price, considering I'll be feeding and housing him."

S: "No way. Wait, he can haul stuff and watch over our things? He's not for sale, we're keeping him!"

P: "I guess that's that..."

S: "We killed a little goblin back there with a breastplate, I'm going to get it. Don't worry, I have soap."


My party found a child of around 6-9 years old in the hidden compartment of a wagon. It was malnourished, thin, dirty, and refuses to speak. The overturned wagon belonged to some dead merchants they found after slaying a group of bandit dragonmen.

They're currently in a grassland setting, with few actual towns on the outskirts and mostly plains people and monsters inland.

This bypasses any future plans i had kind of played with(always an amusing surprise), having suspected they would try to find it's barbarian tribe.

What should I do with the kid? He isn't being totally defiant, the boy actually doesn't know common. He knows the barbarian tribe's dialect. And he listens after he understands what they're trying to get him to do. They 'are' feeding him, and are friendly enough. The paladin has already started teaching him to do morning workouts, and the swashbuckler is teaching him to cook, while the ranger teaches him to hunt...

Should I make him an npc? If so, I'm going to start keeping track of time in relevance to his age.
Does he gain experience and level if he helps fight?
Do I roll stats for him?
Do I give him class levels after a while?
Does he suffer experience deductions?
If our paladin, ranger, and swashbuckler train him in the use of weapons and armor, does he gain individual proficiencies every 6 months or so?

They Swashbuckler wants to keep it and have it shoot things with a shortbow once it's big enough. Then give it big weapons and make it kill things when it's capable. until then, they're going to make it carry things around, watch their stuff, and feed it lots of protein...

She actually paid to have the breastplate resized. She then bought a shield and a sling for him...


I need your superior creativity and knowledge!!

thanks everyone,

Dove

[Ralanr]

What do they call him? Bob?

[Ninja_Prawn]

Should I make him an npc? If so, I'm going to start keeping track of time in relevance to his age.
Does he gain experience and level if he helps fight?
Do I roll stats for him?
Do I give him class levels after a while?
Does he suffer experience deductions?
If our paladin, ranger, and swashbuckler train him in the use of weapons and armor, does he gain individual proficiencies every 6 months or so?

Dove

That is so cute! And a 9-year old is surely capable of learning the fundamentals of the adventuring trade (language notwithstanding. I'd let the child pick up the language gradually, being able to communicate ok after about 6 months, and fully conversant after maybe 12. It should borrow linguistic quirks and mannerisms from PCs if possible).

My answers:
Yes, he should be an NPC. He's not magically bound to a PC, charmed, dominated, enslaved, etc., ergo he has free will and must be under DM control.
Only if he is an official party member. NPC followers don't share in XP, but NPC party members with class levels do.
Only when he comes of age* (though using the standard array would be fine too). Until then, he should probably have a stat block (maybe based on the Goblin?)
Only after he comes of age and gets unique stats, and only then if he's had an appropriate class 'education'. It sounds like he will have a choice between fighter and ranger at this point, unless P takes him on as a squire (which would open up paladin).
Not sure what you mean by that... if he gets XP, he gets XP.
That's a reasonable way of doing it, though if this campaign is going to run for years in-game, they may as well wait until he gets class levels (and the attendant proficiencies).

* Setting dependent, but 13 is a good number.

[EvanescentHero]

You certainly have an interesting situation on your hands.

So this kid was presumably hidden in the compartment while everyone around him was slaughtered? Seems likely to me he'd probably want revenge. But did he see the creatures that attacked his companions? Maybe in the future he's scared of creatures of that type. Or perhaps when he gets more fit and into shape, he runs away from the group, wanting nothing more than to return to a life of safety. Would this, say, eight-year-old follow these people into the darkest corners of the world? What if the group has to travel to a different plane? Do they want to bring him to such a dangerous place? Does he even want to go?

What level is your party? At what point will it become too dangerous for a child to be following them around, even if he is staying out of combat and plinking with a bow? What happens when they encounter enemies that have ranged attacks and are smart enough to realize that the kid is shooting at them? What happens when a monster lands a hit on the child (who probably has five hit points, and that's being generous) and one-shots him?

There's a lot that could go wrong, and one mishap could leave your party with a dead child's blood on their hands. Unless he has plot armor, of course. I would probably let them know if you don't intend to pull any punches for the boy, so they can really assess if they want to risk him dying because they were taking him on a tour of the dangerous parts of the world.

EDIT: I wanted to add that that armor isn't gonna fit him forever, so keeping him armored is gonna be pricey.

[Ninja_Prawn]

Maybe in the future he's scared of creatures of that type. Or perhaps when he gets more fit and into shape, he runs away from the group, wanting nothing more than to return to a life of safety.

Sounds like a readymade 'bond/ideal' and 'flaw'.

New background: junior adventurer! Athletics, Survival, Cook's Utensils, <something else>


There's a lot that could go wrong, and one mishap could leave your party with a dead child's blood on their hands. Unless he has plot armor, of course. I would probably let them know if you don't intend to pull any punches for the boy, so they can really assess if they want to risk him dying because they were taking him on a tour of the dangerous parts of the world.

I was actually going to suggest that the OP should conspire to kill him and use it as a plot hook... Maybe that's too evil though.


EDIT: I wanted to add that that armor isn't gonna fit him forever, so keeping him armored is gonna be pricey.

Adventurers are always looking for cash-sinks. It could help stimulate the local economy!

[Shining Wrath]

This kid is in for an interesting future. I think he'd have a better chance of being "normal" if he was raised by wolves.

Follow the 3.5 rules for adding hit dice to a creature as it gets larger. Going from small to medium, the stat changes are:

STR +4 DEX -2 CON +2

The mental stats likewise should add +2 or +4 each; I'm going to recommend +4 to INT and CHA, +2 to WIS. So if you know his eventual stats as an adult, you can subtract those numbers and get his stats now as a child.

Now the question is, what will his stats be when he grows up? And I suggest you go old-school; roll 4d6b3 and write them down, IN ORDER. First number you roll is strength, et cetera. Once you have his stats now, and his eventual stats as a grown up, it may let you decide on his personality.

I'm going to use my cell phone's dice roller and roll a set of stats. Use 'em if they amuse you, otherwise they are an example.

STR 11 DEX 11 CON 13 INT 13 WIS 9 CHA 16 (ADULT) implies
STR 7 DEX 13 CON 11 INT 9 WIS 7 CHA 12 (CHILD).

Kid doesn't pay attention to what's around him but has a strong force of personality. Given the barbarian background I think you should play this kid as growing up to be a Wild Magic Sorcerer, which means that now as a child the occasional weird thing happens that the kid "didn't do - honest!" (and he believes that). Now you've got stats, a future class, and from that you can develop a personality for your new DM NPC.

BTW, the kid's aunt, also a wild magic sorcerer, may come looking for him.

EDIT: When he grows up, also apply racial adjustments. Is he a normal human or a variant with a starting feat? Decide in 6 years or so, in game.

[Janus]

Please tell me that a PC raised the kid above his/her head and shouted, "I'VE GOT THE CHILD!" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G93mleB8V_0)

[The Shadowdove]

This kid is in for an interesting future. I think he'd have a better chance of being "normal" if he was raised by wolves.


This made me laugh.


You guys are all right pretty much.

Yeah, I'm going to make it an npc.

Then only give it experience 'if' it joins in combat.

Also, the slow acquisition of skills is a good way to go about using his experience. As opposed to giving him levels in exchange for exp until X age.

I like that you guys pointed out growth=cost in gear.

The dilemma of danger involved and HIGH chance of fatal situations gives me even more to consider...
I'm considering reminding my players of this. They are all capable players, and like to laugh as much as slaying monsters... but they're not the childish players I've dealt with in the past.
Meaning there's a chance they may come to this understanding on their own.



What I'm having trouble with now are

1) How do I deal with acquisition of skills through experience? (This is probably going to add up to both his background and a couple of armor/weapon proficiencies)

2) Seeing as he's 'not' proficient in weapons/armor, what are the penalties for using a Sling/shortbow/Shortsword?

3) what age should he gain his class? Should it be age determined, or should there be a couple of classic style class requirements?

4) How should I determine exp gain? Divide exp by 4, then give him half of it and split the rest amongst the others?

Still thinking on this, and seeing what I'm missing.. but I'm glad to have your suggestions. I'm a little less lost now.

[Sigreid]

What to do about an orphan child? Little bit of garlic. Little bit of butter. Delicious!

[Shining Wrath]

This made me laugh.


You guys are all right pretty much.

Yeah, I'm going to make it an npc.

Then only give it experience 'if' it joins in combat.

Also, the slow acquisition of skills is a good way to go about using his experience. As opposed to giving him levels in exchange for exp until X age.

I like that you guys pointed out growth=cost in gear.

The dilemma of danger involved and HIGH chance of fatal situations gives me even more to consider...
I'm considering reminding my players of this. They are all capable players, and like to laugh as much as slaying monsters... but they're not the childish players I've dealt with in the past.
Meaning there's a chance they may come to this understanding on their own.



What I'm having trouble with now are

1) How do I deal with acquisition of skills through experience? (This is probably going to add up to both his background and a couple of armor/weapon proficiencies)

2) Seeing as he's 'not' proficient in weapons/armor, what are the penalties for using a Sling/shortbow/Shortsword?

3) what age should he gain his class? Should it be age determined, or should there be a couple of classic style class requirements?

4) How should I determine exp gain? Divide exp by 4, then give him half of it and split the rest amongst the others?

Still thinking on this, and seeing what I'm missing.. but I'm glad to have your suggestions. I'm a little less lost now.

1) At present, his proficiency bonus is zero; he's not proficient with anything. All he gets to any situation are the applicable ability scores. As he matures, raise his proficiency bonus to 1, then 2 when he finally "grows up". Even commoners count as having a proficiency of 2.
2) No penalties, just a proficiency bonus of zero as noted.
3) I think age determined and depending on his class; also, classes that require extensive training are right out unless some party member can provide it. It seems unlikely the kid will grow up a wizard unless there's a wizard in the party. Or a monk.
4) One of the characteristics of children is that they learn really fast compared to adults, especially things like language. There's some things that require context and mental maturity, and some things that require physical maturity. I'd vote to give him full XP for any encounter where he makes a meaningful contribution.

I'd also like to suggest the party might want to hire a garden variety fighter whose job it is to keep the kid safe in case of attacks from the rear, and that the kid does not engage in melee if it can be avoided.

Don't forget the rules for downtime activities; if for some reason the party stops for a few months in a town, the kid can get a lot of training in just about anything.

I would keep the kid's ability scores a secret from the party; they'll probably try to guide him into a class, and it may be hilariously unsuited to his abilities.

[Kurt Kurageous]

A kindly looking cleric in the next civilized place observes the party with child and asks nicely to have the child be made a ward in the orphanage of the Inoffensive Innocuous Name. Asks if they would like to invest anything towards his upkeep and future education. Is it a scam? Is it legit?

If/when rebuffed by the party, the cleric returns with the Chief Officer of Protective Services (COPS) to order the remanding of the child to the custody of the local authority. Cleric repeats request for GP for upkeep and education. Will they argue that adventuring is a responsible way to bring up an orphan when the kingdom/society offers an apparently (il)legitimate alternative?

Tough decisions for the party. Easy way or hard way? Fight or flight? Trial by debate? Trial by combat? Trial by ordeal? Trial by bank accounts?

The evidence at hearing/trial should include their initial rebuff and how much the PCs did/didn't offer to pay on the spot both times.

Dastardly dilemmas, DM!

Let me know what you think. I think I'm going to use "what if you find a kid?" at my next campaign opportunity!

[BRKNdevil]

My first question is

Is the swashbuckler the rogue archetype? and how has that been going? because there was a lot of things about it being op without actually trying it.

My statement is call CDS or its fantasy equivalent as a weird ass side mission where they have to respond to all the weird things they expose the kid to

[Slipperychicken]

I say just have someone adopt or claim the kid. Maybe even have the rightful parents recognize him. If that kid gets involved with violence or other perils of adventuring, things can get really messy and depressing, very fast.

[Ramshack]

obviously he is the evil wizard behind the plot line and under an altered self spell and will ultimately ambush the party and reveal himself at the most inopportune time.

[PoeticDwarf]

obviously he is the evil wizard behind the plot line and under an altered self spell and will ultimately ambush the party and reveal himself at the most inopportune time.

That's one of the option, you can find a reason he kills the player if he is older.
I'm sure you have to make him stronger than a commoner child (2 or 3 hp?).

[The Shadowdove]

The truth is, the kid is Chief's son to a tribe. The wagon he was in was actually from some merchants who double as smugglers. They just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Tonight we played our first session with the kid involved.

He has 6hp (1d6 roll that went well).

While leaving the town to return to the plains, child in tow, one of the tribal people there as an envoy recognized him. Of course this tribesman was from a rival tribe.

They stalked the party back to the ruins, two days away, and ambushed them there after the leader demanded the child (of course our party declined flavoredly).

Child obviously didn't like the other tribesmen/recognized them. Unfortunately he's young and knows his keepers do not understand his language.

For this encounter the tribesmen/barbarians obviously didn't want to hurt him, so he got to dabble in the back.

The party spread out as the encounter started. Our beast master ranger stayed behind to guard him while he mountain cat ran forth to pounce things.

The swashbuckler gave him the go to shoot things with his sling (he rolled a 1 and lost it first try) with no proficiency bonus and at disadvantage.

He did, however, have luck throwing rocks at the remaining couple (1+1 bludgeoning damage). The whole while he did not much but hold his shield up and throw rocks, or dodge people trying to nab him.



After a short rest, hit die expended for health (the kid never got attacked truly), they continued.

He was forced to stand behind everyone as they descended into darkness. He was given the lantern in his on hand, shield in offhand, and made to shed light on everyone from afar.

Amusingly, they encountered a mimic (truly a nightmare to the inexperienced child); which only spoke the word "eat!" over and over again. The child now believes the words to mean "Kill!", and keeps telling everyone to "Eat!" the enemies they encounter.


they're keeping him far from combat for the most part,and leaving the beast master ranger to guard him while her pet attacks things.

Now, the way I am doing it (for now) is experience only contributes to basic item proficiencies and is slowly leading to background bonuses.

I'm taking advice and using his experience to give him tool (like cooking) and skill proficiencies. Perhaps a background feature too, eventually.

For now, he'll slowly acquire a couple of basic item proficiencies (As may have been earned from a class), so that he doesn't so awkwardly wear armor or wield his simple weapons.

Over 6 months periods he'll acquire basic skills/proficiencies. After about 2 years, I expect he'll have enough to be considered a 'background'. Then I'll reset his exp and give him 1 class level to start at.

He didn't gain any experience for granting light to them in the narrow maze corridors, as he wasn't engaged in combat the whole time.

However, he did gain some for hitting people with rocks while wielding a shield and a breast plate. He's currently at about 400 Experience. He did manage to shoot a carrion crawler with a shortbow, as it kept retreating onto the ceiling (no prof/disadvantage.) it took three misses to hit it though.

I'm considering giving him Light armor proficiency after this long rest.



Any advice, ideas, considerations, remodels?

I don't consider what I'm doing now to be any way 100% thought out. But it's something to go off of / alter as I learn more and incorporate more of your suggestions.

[EvanescentHero]

Is the swashbuckler the rogue archetype? and how has that been going? because there was a lot of things about it being op without actually trying it.

I actually second this inquiry. I'd like to know how that archetype works out, because I really like the way it sounds.

[Person_Man]

Go read Lone Wolf and Cub. In addition to being an excellent manga, most of the plot is about a ronin raising/protecting his son while also going on various adventures. It's came out in 1970ish, so you can pretty much find the entire very long and entertaining saga online for free if you Google around, or if you don't enjoy reading, there's a bunch of movies and tv shows based on it as well.

[Bard1cKnowledge]

You guys are forgetting a fundamental

If it look small, weak, and adorable, its a loch in disguise

[Ninja_Prawn]

You guys are forgetting a fundamental

If it look small, weak, and adorable, its a loch in disguise

By Moradin's beard! I always knew those lochs (http://bootandbike.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/loch_katrine_7.jpg) were dangerous, but I had no idea they could polymorph into small children!

[The Shadowdove]

I actually second this inquiry. I'd like to know how that archetype works out, because I really like the way it sounds.


The third level ability is somewhat strong, but not overly ground breaking.

Our rogue has a high con, so she's not too afraid of initial encounters. I can see standing toe to toe with tanky meleers being a problem.

Otherwise the free sneak attack in 1v1 is (if) you hit. So it's good versus things you hit well enough without the need of advantage. An extra 2d6 isn't ground breaking though.

The mobility feature of this paired with two weapons is pretty dang good too. Avoiding attacks of opportunity is fair game. It mostly frees up movement to escape, intercede, or engage other opponents.

The taunt ability that she has yet to get, I suspect to be relatively decent as well. A compelled duel ability is kind of nice.


Also, my players fully take advantage of the flanking option from the dmg. I encouraged it at first, now they straregize without thinking most times.

So she almost always has sneak attack opportunities.

Still, she's not game breaking in any way. And a heavy crit / spell is just as likely to cripple her as any other rogue (evasion/uncanny dodge aside).

[EvanescentHero]

-snip-

Thanks for the impression! I thought it looked a little strong, but things often look stronger on paper than they actually are. I'm glad rogues now have a good dual-wielding archetype now.

[Bard1cKnowledge]

By Moradin's beard! I always knew those lochs (http://bootandbike.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/loch_katrine_7.jpg) were dangerous, but I had no idea they could polymorph into small children!

Ugh, I meant lich, phone autocorrect hates me

[Plus1Sword]

Lots of awesome ideas in this thread. Cleric ran orphanage, barbarian tribe encounters, outfitting him with slings and such. Cool stuff.

Personally though, I wouldn't roll his stats. You've said the paladin has taught him morning workouts, the swashbuckler cooking, the ranger hunting, etc? I'd make notes of that and build his stats around that. If/when he ages enough to become an adventurer and he's been working out with a seasoned paladin every morning he should be pretty buff, if he's been hunting dear in the woods he should be pretty nimble/quiet, if he's been watching magic rituals and spellcastings he should have a thirst for knowledge, and so on and so forth. Let his evolution into a stronger person be a result of what the party teaches him.

Give the party oppurtunities they wouldn't have without the child, see if villians try to exploit it, see if you can get him to wrestle a goblin or kobold. See if he gets tired while adventuring and the party has to put up camp sooner than they should, see if going through a dungeon is taxing on him, see if a dungeon can have parts for him to help the party, see if he'll get sick eating a plant everyone else did because his young immune system isn't as strong.

This is a unique and interesting path your party has chosen, and a wonderful opportunity for you to flex some creativity as a DM. Have fun with it, and come back with stories :smallsmile:

[MaxWilson]

What level is your party? At what point will it become too dangerous for a child to be following them around, even if he is staying out of combat and plinking with a bow? What happens when they encounter enemies that have ranged attacks and are smart enough to realize that the kid is shooting at them? What happens when a monster lands a hit on the child (who probably has five hit points, and that's being generous) and one-shots him?

There's a lot that could go wrong, and one mishap could leave your party with a dead child's blood on their hands.

Eh, Revivify is only a third-level spell anyway. The kid will just have to get used to dying, just like other kids get used to cleaning their rooms. It builds character!

[Ardantis]

Three men (sort of) and a baby!

Seriously, though- fade to black, 'five years later.'

Give him a class level and make him an (adorable) NPC.

[Ghost Nappa]

My party found a child of around 6-9 years old in the hidden compartment of a wagon. It was malnourished, thin, dirty, and refuses to speak. The overturned wagon belonged to some dead merchants they found after slaying a group of bandit dragonmen.

They're currently in a grassland setting, with few actual towns on the outskirts and mostly plains people and monsters inland.

This bypasses any future plans i had kind of played with(always an amusing surprise), having suspected they would try to find it's barbarian tribe.

What should I do with the kid? He isn't being totally defiant, the boy actually doesn't know common. He knows the barbarian tribe's dialect. And he listens after he understands what they're trying to get him to do. They 'are' feeding him, and are friendly enough. The paladin has already started teaching him to do morning workouts, and the swashbuckler is teaching him to cook, while the ranger teaches him to hunt...

Should I make him an npc? If so, I'm going to start keeping track of time in relevance to his age.

Yes, he is not a party member so he's an NPC. Think of this as an escort mission without a definite ending.

Does he gain experience and level if he helps fight?

Yes. If he participates in combat, he counts as a combatant just the same as all the others.

Do I roll stats for him?

Up to you. I would look for stats for a civilian, lower STR and CHA a bit, raise DEX a bit, and consider raising INT a bit.

Do I give him class levels after a while?

I would say yes, at some point he starts getting class levels. I would probably see what's learning from the party and look at what class makes the most sense following their contributions. Fighter, Thief, and WM Sorcerer come to mind

Does he suffer experience deductions?

What? No? If the child is participating in combat, he earns experience. If he gets enough experience to start earning levels, give him the levels. The child shouldn't be brave or strong enough to actually contribute thatmuch in combat but if one of the players gets thrown aside and knocked out, he could run to stabilize someone who isn't near any enemies.

If our paladin, ranger, and swashbuckler train him in the use of weapons and armor, does he gain individual proficiencies every 6 months or so?

This depends on how quick a student the kid is, and his stats. You could have the characters roll for Charisma and Intelligence checks to see if they can 1) Get the kid excited enough to learn things 2) Effectively communicate things to learn. If they pass both, the kid picks it up quickly. If they fail one, it takes him a moderate amount of time. If they fail both, it takes him forever to learn.


Responses Bolded.

Let them take the kid along and try to teach it things (he would incidentally pick up on Common very quick IRL) but he shouldn't ever being risking his life stupidly. Have him just watch and learn for now. He can earn experience when they participate in fights (remember to divide it by one more: if you have 6 players, you're dividing the XP into 7) but don't give him the levels until the party has taught him the basics of a class.

[tomjon]

First off. I find your continued reference to the child as it odd.

That aside i would not doc the xp the party receives from encounters unless it makes some actual meaningful contribution. I might actually give story reward if the can keep it alive. None to easy a task. But in the end let they players write the story and take it to its logical conclusion. Dose it end well or just end? Remember choices have consequences.

[Dark Ass4ssin 1]

This entire concept pleases me.

The fact that they kept the child is adowable
The fact that they are raising it is hilarious
Most of all it was creative. (But mostly adowable)

I think just for deciding class you should pick something that nobody else is to represent adolescent rebellion, keeping an alignment similar to who he favore.

This interested me so much I did some research about who the child would favor the most and asume its a boy it would listen to female characters, if there are none present than the least strict member. Inverse for girl.

[Mr.Moron]

I'd need to know way more about the tone of your game and the tastes of you and your players to make any real suggestions.

Depending on all those it could be anything from

"Roll the kid up as combat-pet like NPC, that any player can control. Make it moderately powerful with impervious plot armor and hand out inspiration to the players any time they think of something heartwarming to do with him"

to

"Roll the kid up with minimal stats, and a tendency to behave erratically. The fact that the kid is an ethnic minority is obviously to everyone and NPCs should hate this fact. They should up-charge at inns, try to attack the kid and authorities should tend to see the PCs more criminally. Roll on a trauma chart each night, and PCs should have to make Dexterity/Strength checks to avoid hurting the kid during tantrums."

[eastmabl]

The adopted child of murderhobos will wind up worse than that kid from Indiana Jones.

[Dark Ass4ssin 1]

The adopted child of murderhobos will wind up worse than that kid from Indiana Jones.

Hey there is a lot you can learn from murderhobos like:
How to break the law because your plot relevant
How to scare tavern keepers into giving you a luxurious for free
How to never need to use the bathroom againg

And most importantally, that when the world needs you most it is your job to save it... For a price of course.

[eastmabl]

Hey there is a lot you can learn from murderhobos like:
How to break the law because your plot relevant
How to scare tavern keepers into giving you a luxurious for free
How to never need to use the bathroom againg

And most importantally, that when the world needs you most it is your job to save it... For a price of course.

I don't see how any of this results in a well adjusted child.

1. The child needs to be plot relevant to break the law, but that's hard to know. I guess the kid breaks the law until he gets away with it or killed?
2. Scaring tavern keepers into giving you things for free is called "extortion."
3. Never needing to use the bathroom again is called a plot diaper; much like #1, you don't know when you have it. I guess the kid wets himself until no one notices it anymore.
4. The only reason to do something right is for a cost.

So basically, the party's going to raise a criminal who extorts people when he's not pissing himself. If he sees something that is the right thing to do, he'll ask for money before anything else.

[EvanescentHero]

I don't see how any of this results in a well adjusted child.

I think this was a joke.

[The Shadowdove]

I mentioned to my players that they've been deemed murderhobos because they have a child and are not considered possible of raising a child any better off than a pack of wolves...

They resent the comments, and are threatening to go on an npc murdering spree with the child riding on their shoulders.

[Ninja_Prawn]

I mentioned to my players that they've been deemed murderhobos because they have a child and are not considered possible of raising a child any better off than a pack of wolves...

They resent the comments, and are threatening to go on an npc murdering spree with the child riding on their shoulders.

...Thereby proving you right?

[The Shadowdove]

...Thereby proving you right?

I do believe that is the humor they intended in their threats.



And I love all of the ideas.

I am surely going to try to incorporate more the the difficulties of having a child along. I'm not sure about rewards for keeping him alive..

And I am still allowing him experience toward the equivalent of a background before allowing an actual class.

I don't enjoy the idea of a elementary aged child with a class level.... 11-12 seems somewhat low but more possible.

still thinking on it.

[Shining Wrath]

Since the players have been told about my "raised by wolves" comments, have them encounter some LN werewolves who volunteer to raise the child and assure the party that they will do a better job.

BTW, I think wolves and werewolves ought to be considered lawful - every member of a pack has a place in the hierarchy, et cetera.

[The Shadowdove]

Since the players have been told about my "raised by wolves" comments, have them encounter some LN werewolves who volunteer to raise the child and assure the party that they will do a better job.

BTW, I think wolves and werewolves ought to be considered lawful - every member of a pack has a place in the hierarchy, et cetera.

Hah.. That's good. I'll see if I can find a way... But talking wolves?

[FabulousFizban]

Lone wolf and cub!
Lone wolf and cub!
Lone wolf and cub!
Lone wolf and cub!
Lone wolf and cub!
Lone wolf and cub!
Lone wolf and cub!
Lone wolf and cub!
Lone wolf and cub!
Lone wolf and cub!
Lone wolf and cub!
Lone wolf and cub!
Lone wolf and cub!
Lone wolf and cub!
Lone wolf and cub!
Lone wolf and cub!

[Dark Ass4ssin 1]

I think this was a joke.

Thankyou, and it was I apologize for any confusion.

[1Forge]

How old is he? If he's too young then they will have to wait more than 6 months to train him to be usefull, if he's too old he might have other plans. I'd make him 10-ish then npc wise give him commoner stats to start. Adjust his stats every now and then, untill he's old enough then either give him a dedicated npc "class" like guard if he's martial, or start him at leval 1 but level him at half the rate he normally would. Short-term after 6 months give him one weapon proficiency, the begginings of common, and one tool proficincy (maybe he was a blacksmiths son and loves the craft, or maybe his father was a minstel and though he cant speak he playes the -insert instrument- really well.)

[MrConsideration]

I say let them keep 'im. Contriving a reason whereby the kid gets adopted for a plot hook seems like it removes player agency. If they express an interest in parenting for the waif it builds the characterisation and gives great opportunities for roleplaying - will each member of the party want to transmit their values to the kid?

I'd give him a modest mechanical role - he can scout, or keep watch, or carry a torch, or maybe (without being ordered to, as a pleasant surprise for the players) gather some berries for food. Have him occasionally get them in trouble of course - he could steal food or be kidnapped by fey.

If they try to use him in combat, or make no effort to protect him in combat, I would warn the players what would happen to a nine-year-old child in a battle against monsters, but otherwise pull no punches.


The reward is the warm feeling of doing good. Or he's a long-lost prince with oodles of treasure back with his people.

[Plus1Sword]

I am surely going to try to incorporate more the the difficulties of having a child along. I'm not sure about rewards for keeping him alive..

And I am still allowing him experience toward the equivalent of a background before allowing an actual class.

I don't enjoy the idea of a elementary aged child with a class level.... 11-12 seems somewhat low but more possible.

still thinking on it.
I still demand stories of his evolution. *Throws fist down*

[The Shadowdove]

I still demand stories of his evolution. *Throws fist down*

Haha here's a short thing..

They happened across a wood elf town in a forest, kind of happening into it by chance more than anything.

Of course the elves knew ahead of time and greeted them lord of the rings style, with a bunch of hidden warriors/archers that come out of nowhere.

At Some point charisma checks happened.

The wood even princess was pretty much loved, respected, or admired by the group with a sense of mystery and nature about her.

She was "okay" with the group, and not too fond of our skeptical female human swashbuckler.

The princess, however, really liked the silent child; who the group kept proactively behind them.

In fact, it was most likely a result of the noble paladin and unfortunate child that she put them up for the night, allowing them passage through the ancient portal they protect so that they may return to the more inhabited central part of the continent(which teleported them to a desolated mountain range hiding aarakocra protected ruins).

The princess either liked or pitied (probably both)the boy so much that she gave him a cloak of Elven kind(hemmed).

The rest of the party watched the gifting enviously. Up until now the magic items they've seen were wielded by enemies that they couldn't defeat, potions, or charge based wands from the dmg. As well as a crown they found while searching for another, that acts as a powerful hallucination upon those who wear it.

So the beautiful shifting, camouflaged cloak must have seemed a true treasure in their eyes.

[Slarg]

I still demand stories of his evolution. *Throws fist down*

Same here; we need to know!


Also, another thing you need to be thinking about, is that kid is impressionable; he sees that Paladin/Pirate go running into the middle of ten guys, eventually he's going to try to be "just like mommy and daddy" and go running to what will amount to a suicide. That would give your players a huge scare as they save him, or try to.


Also, you could imagine him growing resentful of being coddled by the Ranger because he's "holding him back"/"Pretending I'm just a kid".

[Shining Wrath]

Hah.. That's good. I'll see if I can find a way... But talking wolves?

Werewolves. But LN ones.

[The Shadowdove]

Same here; we need to know!


Also, another thing you need to be thinking about, is that kid is impressionable; he sees that Paladin/Pirate go running into the middle of ten guys, eventually he's going to try to be "just like mommy and daddy" and go running to what will amount to a suicide. That would give your players a huge scare as they save him, or try to.


Also, you could imagine him growing resentful of being coddled by the Ranger because he's "holding him back"/"Pretending I'm just a kid".

I like it!

[djreynolds]

What do they call him? Bob?

No, he has his arms and legs.

Give him to the ranger as his beast

Conan and the Wheel of Toil, leave him there and come back and he's buff. And if your wizard is lacking strength leave him to, now he can carry his own books.

[Water Bob]

Here's an idea....

You've got a special situation on your hands. You can go the mundane way. What the players think they have is what they have. But, don't forget that this is a fantasy game. The players really know nothing of this kid.

What if....



What if the kid is really a doppleganger in disguise? The former "family" picked him up and had adopted him. The creature was just trying to move on down the road, and everybody weeps for a starving kid...

Or...polymorph. Could the kid be a power mage polymorphed into the kid, because (insert baddie) is chasing him?

Some dragons can polymorph.

Gods sometimes run around the world in disguise. Maybe this god is checking things out. Does the cleric in your party have strong faith?



Or...maybe the kid is some kind of heretic...cursed...taking the Omen as a cue. Chaotic Evil, in the guise of a helpless, starving kid. A demon of some kind?



Or...maybe the kid is some type of prodigy with unearthly powers. An answer to a prophecy. The Child Has Been Found!



You could start having things happen in the game--depending on which route you go--that will become a mystery. Do it so as its not easy to track it to the kid. A mischievous, powerful kid or polymorphed creature may steal things from the PCs at night as they sleep.

Or, if the kid is part of a prophecy, or maybe the avatar of a god, then the cleric, and those of certain alignment, start having dreams....




You could get creative with this and have lots of fun with it.

[ekestrel]

Or, the kid is just a kid. And they're raising it, but he's still a kid.

So, what do the players do to get him back when he's kidnapped by the Joker Dragon? What happens if the BBEG decides to inhabit his soul? How does the kid feel about being used for bait? What does this kid think of his murderhobo parents, and will he cooperate with the BBEG? Will he wear tights and a costume like Robin, the Boy Wonder Hood?

[MustacheFart]

There's a lot of good suggestions here but not knowing your players, your style, or the plot you've built, I can't make hard fast suggestions. I can only break down my advice to three possible avenues depending on the ambiguous over-generalized over-assumed possibilities for your game.

1) You already have your plot laid out. You don't really need this kid one way or the other. If such is the case then just keep him a kid and let it be an interesting tidbit for player agency.

2) You need a hook or driving force for your plot. If so, the kid becomes that. Maybe he's really good, maybe he's really bad, who knows? I would work out an idea if this is the case and then pull it back a bit so it is more subtle. Don't overdo it.

3) The above two don't really fit and you'd like to use as a plot device BUT not necessarily THE plot device.

In the above we get to my favorite suggestion. The kid serves as a method of "screwing" with the party. He's actually a home brewed monster who feeds off of emotions. He is neither good nor bad.

Perhaps, he was the result of the barbarian chief making a pact with a witch for power over the other tribes. Maybe this is the real reason the other tribe was after him! The knew of his existence being the result of a dark ritual making him (in their eyes) an affront on their entire way of life. Maybe not. It doesn't really matter.

Here is what matters. You've already set up this kid to be such a creature. Think about it.

They found him in a hidden compartment starved. They believed that he was malnutritioned due to lack of food but really it was due to a lack of emotion to feed on.

You see he is young and cannot yet control his powers but when riding with the merchants he picked up on a squabble between two of them. This seemed to invigorate him slightly. Unbeknownst to him he started acting as a catalyst to this merchant squabble. None suspected him as he was just a child. He may not have realized he was doing it. Before long the merchant squabble turned into an all out bloody brawl. The emotion flowing was too much for him, he couldn't yet handle such a flow of power. He crawled into the wagon to hide it out.

All of the merchants ended up dying and not knowing how to take care of himself yet, the boy waited and waited, becoming weaker as a result of the stagnant lack of emotion present.

Then the party rescued him. He feels fed with them as they're proving to be a continual source of emotion...

The envy he felt from them when he received the cloak of elvenkind will surely sate his thirst for weeks.

Dude it writes itself and is very open to a lot. Just an idea of course.

[Sigreid]

I do believe that is the humor they intended in their threats.



And I love all of the ideas.

I am surely going to try to incorporate more the the difficulties of having a child along. I'm not sure about rewards for keeping him alive..

And I am still allowing him experience toward the equivalent of a background before allowing an actual class.

I don't enjoy the idea of a elementary aged child with a class level.... 11-12 seems somewhat low but more possible.

still thinking on it.

eh, in some real world cultures, most of which we would consider barbarian when we are being bigots, 13 is married with children.

[Sigreid]

Since the players have been told about my "raised by wolves" comments, have them encounter some LN werewolves who volunteer to raise the child and assure the party that they will do a better job.

BTW, I think wolves and werewolves ought to be considered lawful - every member of a pack has a place in the hierarchy, et cetera.

I think monster manual alignments are, or were, originally set just to give the party a no-conciseness killing opportunity. Combine that with man's fear of the unnatural, and the serious theory that the original tales were based on stories of viking berserkers and I think we can see where the alignment came from.

[Jaredino]

This sounds like an awesome plot thread, and I think you could do SO much with this. What I would do is have them in a fight they CAN'T win, and right as they are all about to die, have a badass warrior step out of a magic portal and save them all. This hero seems to have abilities that each member of the party has. Don't build this guy like a normal pc, just cherry pick abilities from the classes that your party members have, and make him a high enough level to be able to at least let them run away. Of course, you ALSO give him the elven cloak.Have the players find out that in an alternate future, they died, leaving the child to become an adventurer on his own. He eventually dedicated his life to finding a way to save the party and obtained the power to travel through time. How he got this power is up to you, and maybe this is too fantastical of a premise to just throw at your players out of nowhere, but I have always loved in tv shows and comics when you get to see the grown up version of child characters. I guess a much more plot friendly way would be just to have a mirror that shows the holder a random point in the holder's future.

[Sigreid]

This sounds like an awesome plot thread, and I think you could do SO much with this. What I would do is have them in a fight they CAN'T win, and right as they are all about to die, have a badass warrior step out of a magic portal and save them all. This hero seems to have abilities that each member of the party has. Don't build this guy like a normal pc, just cherry pick abilities from the classes that your party members have, and make him a high enough level to be able to at least let them run away. Of course, you ALSO give him the elven cloak.Have the players find out that in an alternate future, they died, leaving the child to become an adventurer on his own. He eventually dedicated his life to finding a way to save the party and obtained the power to travel through time. How he got this power is up to you, and maybe this is too fantastical of a premise to just throw at your players out of nowhere, but I have always loved in tv shows and comics when you get to see the grown up version of child characters. I guess a much more plot friendly way would be just to have a mirror that shows the holder a random point in the holder's future.

This can definitely work for some groups, but this kind of thing irritates me as a player. It makes it feel to me as though my own actions don't really matter and my character is just a plot piece in a story the DM is tilling himself.

[Thrudd]

I wouldn't worry about tracking XP for the child, yet. It should be years before he would be even at level 1. Think about the player characters and all the skills and abilities they have at level 1, even a fighter or thief has been through years of training and practice, probably with a teacher or mentor, just to reach level 1, which is when they are able to start earning xp.
He should not be able to contribute meaningfully in combat, certainly. At best, carrying a couple light things. The rocks he throws would be small and not cause any damage except 1-2 in the case of a critical hit. The party should be forced to move at a slow pace most of the time, the kid doesnt have stamina to keep up with adults for long periods of time.
I would say the minimum age for level 1 fighter, barbarian or rogue would be 16, other classes would be even older, requiring more time in training to learn skills. If he is 9 or 10, he is appropriate age for an apprenticeship to begin. But going on actual adventures with the party should be deadly dangerous, and I wouldnt pull punches.

If one or more of the characters agreed to take a hiatus from adventuring, settle down and spend some years down time mentoring, you could pick up the adventuring after the passage of time and have the kid be a level 1 teenager. Then treat him like a henchman NPC and give him half shares of loot and XP from adventures.

[Shining Wrath]

There's a lot of good suggestions here but not knowing your players, your style, or the plot you've built, I can't make hard fast suggestions. I can only break down my advice to three possible avenues depending on the ambiguous over-generalized over-assumed possibilities for your game.

1) You already have your plot laid out. You don't really need this kid one way or the other. If such is the case then just keep him a kid and let it be an interesting tidbit for player agency.

2) You need a hook or driving force for your plot. If so, the kid becomes that. Maybe he's really good, maybe he's really bad, who knows? I would work out an idea if this is the case and then pull it back a bit so it is more subtle. Don't overdo it.

3) The above two don't really fit and you'd like to use as a plot device BUT not necessarily THE plot device.

In the above we get to my favorite suggestion. The kid serves as a method of "screwing" with the party. He's actually a home brewed monster who feeds off of emotions. He is neither good nor bad.

Perhaps, he was the result of the barbarian chief making a pact with a witch for power over the other tribes. Maybe this is the real reason the other tribe was after him! The knew of his existence being the result of a dark ritual making him (in their eyes) an affront on their entire way of life. Maybe not. It doesn't really matter.

Here is what matters. You've already set up this kid to be such a creature. Think about it.

They found him in a hidden compartment starved. They believed that he was malnutritioned due to lack of food but really it was due to a lack of emotion to feed on.

You see he is young and cannot yet control his powers but when riding with the merchants he picked up on a squabble between two of them. This seemed to invigorate him slightly. Unbeknownst to him he started acting as a catalyst to this merchant squabble. None suspected him as he was just a child. He may not have realized he was doing it. Before long the merchant squabble turned into an all out bloody brawl. The emotion flowing was too much for him, he couldn't yet handle such a flow of power. He crawled into the wagon to hide it out.

All of the merchants ended up dying and not knowing how to take care of himself yet, the boy waited and waited, becoming weaker as a result of the stagnant lack of emotion present.

Then the party rescued him. He feels fed with them as they're proving to be a continual source of emotion...

The envy he felt from them when he received the cloak of elvenkind will surely sate his thirst for weeks.

Dude it writes itself and is very open to a lot. Just an idea of course.

I think ST:TOS had a monster similar to this one. And yes, it does make for an interesting idea; it's just that the kid ought to provoke conflict between party members, and how does a DM do that without stepping on player agency?

[Coidzor]

...Thereby proving you right?

Thereby having a lot of fun and raising a future BBEG. :smallcool:

[MustacheFart]

I think ST:TOS had a monster similar to this one. And yes, it does make for an interesting idea; it's just that the kid ought to provoke conflict between party members, and how does a DM do that without stepping on player agency?

Why does the kid need to provoke conflict between party members? That's but only one way of generating emotional conflict. Perhaps the conflict comes between the party and other npcs they encounter. Such as what was mentioned earlier in this thread about a conflict with an npc when they tried to find a suitable home for the child (remember they wanted adoption but the npc wanted slavery).

See that's the beauty of it! The DM shouldn't have to do much of anything. The players will create their own conflict just by players as they deal with various encounters. Typical DnD sessions are rarely short of conflict. The players continue their agency and the kid just soaks it in. You can do as much or as little with it as you want.

Now of course if the OP's utmost concern is player agency, then like I said before, you're pretty much left with keeping it just a kid.