Any tips on DMing for kids?

[AchwardSilence]

This past weekend my two sons rolled up their very first RPG characters ever, and I'm currently working on an adventure to run them through. I haven't run a game in years (got out of the hobby for a while), and to be perfectly honest I don't even have that much experience with D&D from back when I was an active gamer.

So my question is, what advice can anybody give me for running a game for younger kids? They are 6 and 9. The 6-year-old is playing a Dragonborn Barbarian, and the 9-year-old is playing a Half-Elf Ranger. Both have the imagination part down-pat, and they are both good with math for their ages. I'm obviously going to focus more on the RP than on crunching numbers. I have the most relevant numbers they do need to know highlighted on their character sheets, and I'll be walking them through some of the specifics as needed. Has anyone DMed for kids this age before though? Is there anything in particular you would recommend, or do you know of any online resources (either tips etc. or maybe even adventures) that worked well for you?

Thanks in advance.

[mgshamster]

My kids aren't quite old enough to play yet, but I have some basic ideas for when they are - hopefully it'll be of use to you.

Minimize combat - I don't want my kids to focus on killing or beating beat up to solve problems and issues; instead, combat scenes will focus on solving a puzzle or running away or talking their way to a solution. When they're old enough to practice archery, I want them to focus on their own skill rather than pretend they have a +3 bow and fire haphazardly without trying to improve themselves (I've seen this happen with kids in some archery clubs I've been in).

Puzzle heavy - The keys to solving adventures will be through puzzles and problem solving for my kids. I want them to focus on critical thinking, tangential thinking, and most importantly, divergent thinking. I want to set up puzzles that require diverge thinking to solve, such as changing the shape of an object to get it to fit into a keyhole to bypass a door. I want to use music puzzles that may require them to identify or play a specific sound to figure it which direction to go, or science puzzles where they have to identify the proper plant or follow the correct animal tracks.

Cliche themes - bad guys will be bullies through and through, good guys will be the paramount of kindness and valiant effort. I want to teach them that the actions the bad guys take do not make people feel good, so I'll use caricatures for NPCs.

Try, Try Again - I want to teach my kids that failure is ok, we just have to get up and try again. Either to improve ourselves or to tackle a problem from another angle. We don't quit just because something is hard or inconveniences us. I want to use the NPCs this way as well, imparting lessons through the prince or princess or whoever the in-game role model is - by having them never give up (perhaps even recruiting the PCs for help).

Adventure - I don't just want the game to be about lessons and teaching, it has to be fun above all else. So I want to use classic adventures, taking themes from movies and video games alike. Such as finding and returning a stolen piece of art from a museum, or hunting down an ancient artifact to give to the king (so the king can prevent a demon invasion), or protecting an archeological dig from animated skeletons.

There's more, but I think this'll do as a springboard for ideas.

[orange74]

My nephews, 7 and 10, asked (ASKED!) to play D&D a little while ago. Like you, I hadn't played in ages, so I was delighted to be able to get started with 5e for free. We played a couple of improvised one-off adventures before I took the plunge and bought the books.

Now, oddly enough, the 7-year-old is playing a ranger (wood elf, though) and the 10-year-old is playing a dragonborn barbarian...

One thing that has worked pretty well is to have an NPC in the party (either me or their dad) to be the voice of reason when necessary. "Don't be a meathead" seems to get better traction when presented in-character from the gruff dwarf than as a directive from the adults. They have really enjoyed puzzles, as well... the immovable rod was a lot of fun. They really like combat, so I'm trying to gradually introduce different kinds of challenges, although realistically they mostly just like beating on stuff. I've also been pretty generous with the loot; there are a lot of "cool" items in the DMG, and I figure that in terms of game balance, "PCs are 7 and 10" will counterbalance excessive magic.

I tried running a pre-made adventure, but I found that the scenario was just too heavy on exposition. Even in the campaign I've been working on for them, I ended up discarding a lot of what I thought was important information because they just weren't into it. The lesson for me there was "show, don't tell." They don't mind being railroaded into a storyline, but if they wanted to be read a story they would just ask.

Also, they love kobolds/goblins/etc. with silly voices... but other than that it's been a little tricky to predict what they'll enjoy. I need to try to be very flexible in my planning. I wouldn't want to have an entire session of 2 goblins, 3 goblins, 2 goblins plus a goblin boss, 2 goblin bosses... but when the 10-year-old DMed a session that's exactly what he did. He did enjoy running an adventure and that's something I think I'll do more of. I've been trying to develop a campaign I can run for the two of them with side stories the older one can run for his brother... but that "flexible planning" thing has made that difficult.

Of course, when I was 10 and playing D&D, what we did was "You see an ogre, what do you do?" "You see a white dragon, what do you do?" and so on. So I need to remember not to have too many big ideas -- it seems like the more I try to plan, the less fun they have. I look forward to hearing (and stealing) what works for you, good luck!

[Mr.Moron]

While I was never blessed enough to have children of my own, I certainly have GM'd for kids around the age of your sons. If I've learned anything it's to play loose and let things go where their imagination takes 'em. Kids are pretty good driving the action forward so long as you prompt them whenever they get stuck. Try to read their expectations and meet them with a twist, they don't need to win every little thing but they do need to feel kind of like they're running things more than you or the dice. For better or for worse kids that age bore pretty easily so keep things moving over getting bogged down in detail.

For example if the dragon born is all "I light his pants on fire with my dragon breath", entertain it have the enemy run around doing nothing for a turn in addition to the damage. Sure maybe a free stun is kinda OP or whatever but gosh darn-it when you light someone's pants on fire they ain't gonna like that and the 6-year-old mind is just not going be satisfied by "There are no rules for setting pants on fire" or "His pants aren't on fire because d20 rolls".

Playing with kids, especially under those ~10 ten is by definition a silly and improvisational affair. Embrace that and everything will go fine.

[Stan]

A friendly NPC is helpful.

Give them options but don't paralyze them with too many, poorly defined choices - "you arrive at the town, do whatever you want" might be too wide open. Kids I've played with like plot but it doesn't need to be complex and subtle, more like figuring out which of 3 people did a crime. Dungeon crawls or similar are good for keeping things focused. It's ok to railroad a setup as long as you explain that's what you're doing. For example ask them if they want to have an adventure where they have to find their way home. Then have something like. "You are walking home one day when there a big sinkhole appears under your feet. You drop into an underground river. It carries you over a mile underground and a ways deeper as well. You are washed up in a cave. The current is too strong to go back the way you came. You see two tunnels, one leads downward. The other leads up but you see many red eyes."

Have fun and don't worry about the direction things go. Don't be afraid to improvise if they show interest in something not scripted - you might need to fudge numbers on the fly and that's fine.

If they aren't super into tactical builds, drop feats and multiclassing as it adds complexity you don't really need.

[BW022]

I've DMed a lot of kids at public game days -- although usually with adults at the table. My general thoughts for younger children...

* Watch attention spans. Younger children, especially boys, often can't wait turns which last minutes. Keep the group small, limit combat, make combat really easy, don't put a lot of enemies in initiative, etc.

* Have an adult player. Younger children often learn from example. Having an adult able to demonstrate and encourage roleplaying is often useful. However, try keeping them secondary. Make sure you as the DM roleplay and exaggerate more. Make combats dramatic, give people accents, etc.

* Limit choices. A really simple setting, few NPCs, no tough puzzles, etc. Avoid towns, cities, lots of NPCs, complex caves, etc. to start with. Start them in a scenario which limits choice and give them a clear objective. Say they were sent to meet someone at a roadside inn. They arrive on a stormy night... only to find it completely abandoned.

* Do the math/mechanics for them. Separate them from the mechanics of the game. Ask "Why do you want to do?", ask them to roll, and then explain the result to them. Over time, they'll pick up the math on their sheets, but avoid it entirely to start. Another adult at the table can be useful in helping them. Be watchful of their writing skills.

* Keep it simple. Low-level, try avoid having them pick spellcasters or limit their spells. Consider the quick play rules... to start with. Let them make their own characters and backgrounds, but keep it simple. Two sentences or so.

* Keep it short. Consider limiting play sessions to maybe two hours and take a break after an hour.

* Give tangible rewards in each session. Doesn't have to be magic, but it needs to look like something for them.

* Don't use pre-made modules to start with.

[Occasional Sage]

My kids aren't quite old enough to play yet, but I have some basic ideas for when they are - hopefully it'll be of use to you.

Minimize combat - I don't want my kids to focus on killing or beating beat up to solve problems and issues; instead, combat scenes will focus on solving a puzzle or running away or talking their way to a solution. When they're old enough to practice archery, I want them to focus on their own skill rather than pretend they have a +3 bow and fire haphazardly without trying to improve themselves (I've seen this happen with kids in some archery clubs I've been in).


In particular, I'd avoid sentient enemies. I'm less concerned with an ochre jelly than an orc.



Cliche themes - bad guys will be bullies through and through, good guys will be the paramount of kindness and valiant effort. I want to teach them that the actions the bad guys take do not make people feel good, so I'll use caricatures for NPCs.


I disagree STRONGLY with this. I am currently DMing for my 10-year-old nephew, and will be DMing for my kids in the next year or two. I do not want them to learn that the world is black-and-white; sometimes people have good intentions and go about them badly, and sometimes people with terrible aims make themselves look like heros. These are important things to learn about the world.



Try, Try Again - I want to teach my kids that failure is ok, we just have to get up and try again. Either to improve ourselves or to tackle a problem from another angle. We don't quit just because something is hard or inconveniences us. I want to use the NPCs this way as well, imparting lessons through the prince or princess or whoever the in-game role model is - by having them never give up (perhaps even recruiting the PCs for help).


Ayup.



Adventure - I don't just want the game to be about lessons and teaching, it has to be fun above all else. So I want to use classic adventures, taking themes from movies and video games alike. Such as finding and returning a stolen piece of art from a museum, or hunting down an ancient artifact to give to the king (so the king can prevent a demon invasion), or protecting an archeological dig from animated skeletons.


Gotta have fun to sneak the lessons in!



* Watch attention spans. Younger children, especially boys, often can't wait turns which last minutes. Keep the group small, limit combat, make combat really easy, don't put a lot of enemies in initiative, etc.


There's no way to stress this one enough. Even downgrading adult expectations to account for kids, you won't go low enough the first time.



* Keep it short. Consider limiting play sessions to maybe two hours and take a break after an hour.


This goes hand-in-hand with the attention span. Let them get wiggles out regularly.



* Give tangible rewards in each session. Doesn't have to be magic, but it needs to look like something for them.


Cliff-hangers work well too. If they really want to know what happens, they'll be SUPERCRAZYEXCITED to get back to the table.

[pwykersotz]

I disagree STRONGLY with this. I am currently DMing for my 10-year-old nephew, and will be DMing for my kids in the next year or two. I do not want them to learn that the world is black-and-white; sometimes people have good intentions and go about them badly, and sometimes people with terrible aims make themselves look like heros. These are important things to learn about the world.

10 is probably a good age for that, but you have to know the kid. Cliches and black and white heroes and villains are useful for teaching what good and bad are. You don't want to teach them that "It's okay for me to steal cookies because I'm mostly good", you want to teach them that good kids don't steal cookies at all. Once they've grasped that, then it's on to the good wizard who caused a lot of trouble because he wanted his home to have legs or the evil warrior who did everything because he loves and wants to protect his family.

Take this lightly though, not because I believe I'm wrong, but because I fully respect that there's a LOT that goes into dealing with children and what has worked for my family isn't universal. :smallsmile:

[mgshamster]

I disagree STRONGLY with this. I am currently DMing for my 10-year-old nephew, and will be DMing for my kids in the next year or two. I do not want them to learn that the world is black-and-white; sometimes people have good intentions and go about them badly, and sometimes people with terrible aims make themselves look like heros. These are important things to learn about the world.

Very fair point. The point I was trying to stress was that it's important to be kind and good, while bad to be a bully and mean. I would plan on more nuanced stuff after the initial lesson is learned. I'm also open to being wrong, and I'm a happy to learn from the rest of you. I haven't really dealt with kids of that age yet, as mine are still young.

[MrFahrenheit]

1. Adult in party filling a role not done by the kids (your party could use a wizard).
2. A "Master Splinter" type DMCP - provides advice, dispenses quests, heals them after (or if things get REAL bad, during) combat.
...But most importantly:
3. Level up each session through 5 at least. The kids seeing real progression will find it cool.

[BrianDavion]

First of all, re combat etc, you know what they like/want/is approperate better then us. it'll vary. obviously if they're lord of the rings fans they'll be sad if they never see an Orc :)

Secondly, I'd advise letting them have a hand in crafting the setting, rather then "... you arrive in the town of Morlach, on the 3rd of april, Morlach is a bustling town of humans and dwarves whom have turned their town into the de facto caital of trade in the kingdom of Armalan.." say "you arrive in the town, what shall we call it?" it'll give them a sense of ownership, and could lead to the slow development of a setting shared between the three of you they can run with their friends when they're older.

[TheProfessor85]

Check out Dungeon World, it pretty much removes math for the most part.

[Afrodactyl]

I would get rid of the math element. Keep a sheet with their skills and whatnot on it, and just tell them 'you need to roll a 9 or higher to hit them with your sword' or 'a 12 to get the guard to let you pass'

[Occasional Sage]

Take this lightly though, not because I believe I'm wrong, but because I fully respect that there's a LOT that goes into dealing with children and what has worked for my family isn't universal. :smallsmile:


This is an important caveat that can't be stressed enough, and I didn't use at all. It's important to know your audience when they're adults, infinitely more so with kids.

[orange74]

I think the math question really depends on the kids in question. For some kids, the chance to show off their arithmetic is actually a plus. For others, anything that smells like math with be a complete turn-off. And for others, forcing them to do a bit of mental arithmetic in a setting where there's a clear reason for doing so can be a useful teaching tool. A lot of the math used in D&D is, I think, quite good for developing fluency with arithmetic and a sense of how probabilities work. "Are you sure you want to do that? You'll need a total of 20 to succeed," engages a number of different thought processes.

[N810]

color coded dice sets.

[EXAMPLE]
all d4 yellow
all d6 white
all d10 blue
all d12 green
all d20 red

you get the idea.
get a identical set for each player.

oh and give out inspiration for good role playing and clever thinking.

[Easy_Lee]

Tomb of Horrors

[BrianDavion]

I think the math question really depends on the kids in question. For some kids, the chance to show off their arithmetic is actually a plus. For others, anything that smells like math with be a complete turn-off. And for others, forcing them to do a bit of mental arithmetic in a setting where there's a clear reason for doing so can be a useful teaching tool. A lot of the math used in D&D is, I think, quite good for developing fluency with arithmetic and a sense of how probabilities work. "Are you sure you want to do that? You'll need a total of 20 to succeed," engages a number of different thought processes.

on this I'll agree I used to be weak at math before gaming. from a Math POV D&D was the best thing to ever happen to me. I've become an advocate of teaching kids gaming to develop math skills.

[mgshamster]

on this I'll agree I used to be weak at math before gaming. from a Math POV D&D was the best thing to ever happen to me. I've become an advocate of teaching kids gaming to develop math skills.

And imagination and team work and planning and thinking on the fly and problem solving and word play and descriptive speech and more. :)

[Easy_Lee]

And imagination and team work and planning and thinking on the fly and problem solving and word play and descriptive speech and more. :)

Plus the face-to-face social aspect, how it teaches kids to teach each other, and unlike football, d&d doesn't lead to injuries. It's a great hobby for kids to have.

[Uneasy Goat]

Tomb of Horrors

Savage. Just... savage.

All I'm going to say on this topic is that it can be surprising how well kids can pick up on the rules and how to play these games. Coming from someone who learned to play with people who had played since they were little kids with AD&D, sometimes it's interesting to see what they'll do with extremely difficult situations.

Don't be scared to throw a curveball every so often!

[AchwardSilence]

Wow, everyone. Thank you so much for the replies. Both of my kids are really into the shared storytelling (for years that's how I'll often tell them bedtime stories, by letting each of the take turns telling a scene or two). Their character backstories blew me away. The little one really REALLY wants to punch fools in the face, so I'll have to throw him some combat to keep him interested, but I'm going to stress the idea of consequences to their actions. I think I'll start off simple for the first foray, which is also how they'll meet each other. The kindly innkeep who runs the inn where they both stay has fallen victim to a protection racket. My kids will have to figure out who the thugs are, where they stay, and how to stop them without just making the situation worse for the innkeep (also without just murdering everybody, because they're playing NG and CG characters). If they succeed, the innkeep may have heard about a local noble house that's looking to hire on a couple of mercenaries to track down some stolen art or something.

[Vogonjeltz]

This past weekend my two sons rolled up their very first RPG characters ever, and I'm currently working on an adventure to run them through. I haven't run a game in years (got out of the hobby for a while), and to be perfectly honest I don't even have that much experience with D&D from back when I was an active gamer.

So my question is, what advice can anybody give me for running a game for younger kids? They are 6 and 9. The 6-year-old is playing a Dragonborn Barbarian, and the 9-year-old is playing a Half-Elf Ranger. Both have the imagination part down-pat, and they are both good with math for their ages. I'm obviously going to focus more on the RP than on crunching numbers. I have the most relevant numbers they do need to know highlighted on their character sheets, and I'll be walking them through some of the specifics as needed. Has anyone DMed for kids this age before though? Is there anything in particular you would recommend, or do you know of any online resources (either tips etc. or maybe even adventures) that worked well for you?

Thanks in advance.

Patience, kindness, being charitable...

Try avoiding a character sheet per se and just asking what they want to try to do in a situation. That way they aren't reliant on looking to specific abilities for decision making.

Go with their flow, don't be overly concerned with sticking to a script.

[AchwardSilence]

Patience, kindness, being charitable...

Try avoiding a character sheet per se and just asking what they want to try to do in a situation. That way they aren't reliant on looking to specific abilities for decision making.

Go with their flow, don't be overly concerned with sticking to a script.

I'll be keeping a copy of their stats with me, so I can calculate success/failure based on their dice rolls, but I plan on letting them have their character sheets in front of them so I can explain how I'm figuring it out. Like, "Ok, you rolled a 12, which normally would be a failure, but if you look next to your Dexterity you'll see you have +2, and a 14 is just enough that you barely make it. Good job."

[orange74]

I'll be keeping a copy of their stats with me, so I can calculate success/failure based on their dice rolls, but I plan on letting them have their character sheets in front of them so I can explain how I'm figuring it out. Like, "Ok, you rolled a 12, which normally would be a failure, but if you look next to your Dexterity you'll see you have +2, and a 14 is just enough that you barely make it. Good job."
I've been trying to figure out exactly how much to insulate my nephews from the game mechanics, and so far, it seems like they can usually handle at least as much as I think they can. If I needed proof that kids can figure this stuff out if they want, I got it when my 10-year-old nephew said, "Hey, I have resistance to lightning damage! I shouldn't have taken damage from that!" He was right, and I'd completely forgotten...

[Professor Gnoll]

Tomb of Horrors
That's right. Teach 'em the real lessons. Life is horrible, random, needlessly cruel and ends in death every time. But more importantly: ALWAYS carry a 12ft pole.

[GlenSmash!]

That's right. Teach 'em the real lessons. Life is horrible, random, needlessly cruel and ends in death every time. But more importantly: ALWAYS carry a 12ft pole.

Let's face it Call of Cthulhu is a much better place to start role-playing with kids than D&D.

[Easy_Lee]

Let's face it Call of Cthulhu is a much better place to start role-playing with kids than D&D.

Well, the rules are a bit simpler.

[Uneasy Goat]

Well, the rules are a bit simpler.

My two cents on "simpler":

I think it's important to think about how smart kids can be, and how much they really can pick up on (even if you had difficulty learning it yourself). My first DM grew up with 2.0, playing with his parents, when he was *maybe* 9-10. If you try to flip through those pages as a 5e or even 3.5 player, you'll realize how aggressive and complicated the rules could be. And yet... he played, and remembers all the adventures he used to enjoy. He remembers the sudden thwacking he received for not being prepared, the random deaths, and the countless hours spent creating characters that he knew wouldn't live that long.

This isn't an elitist post by any means, as I started with 3.5 when I was 17, but I think it's important to note that writing off a player or feeling the need to cater to them because they're young isn't always necessary. Kids are adaptable, they'll pick it up no matter what you throw (so long as there's a solid rule system for them to go by) and I don't think there should be a fear of them not having fun because they can't win all the time. That's a lesson in itself.

Dungeon crawl, roll dice, kill your kids! Fun is the name of the game, and I love how much fun it sounds like you're having with them. I can't wait to have kids of my own because I want to see so badly what they'll do in the worlds I've made. Best of luck to you, but don't be afraid to let 'em fail sometimes. C'est la vie, we pick up and move on, and kids are really friggin' good at dusting themselves off and trying again.

[Professor Gnoll]

Dungeon crawl, roll dice, kill your kids!
Can I out-of-context sig this?

[Uneasy Goat]

Can I out-of-context sig this?

I would be honored.

[Occasional Sage]

That's right. Teach 'em the real lessons. Life is horrible, random, needlessly cruel and ends in death every time. But more importantly: ALWAYS carry a 12ft pole.

12', especially shortened for space to grip and for leverage, puts you FAR too close to the scary.

Send your friends in first.

[Vogonjeltz]

I'll be keeping a copy of their stats with me, so I can calculate success/failure based on their dice rolls, but I plan on letting them have their character sheets in front of them so I can explain how I'm figuring it out. Like, "Ok, you rolled a 12, which normally would be a failure, but if you look next to your Dexterity you'll see you have +2, and a 14 is just enough that you barely make it. Good job."

That sounds like a good idea. Once they get comfortable with the basic stuff, you might consider asking family/friends if they are interested in joining in for a larger party (or even just to roleplay NPCs).