Making simpel rules for thirdgraders

[ManicMoe]

hi im makeing a simpel rule book third grader(8 years old) calles dragons, moster and adventures,
and i got a bit lost where to start and i was wondering if anyone had any good advice :)

i was planning to take it down to 3 classe- fighter, mage and ranger
The dice mostly unchanged
the stats to only - str - dex - wis

fights i wod have like this - u attack a goblin and the giblin have armor of 3 and you have to throw the d6 and throw higher to hit and then throw the d8 to see the damage.
Idk rellly if i whant to add skill checks or i dont really know how to do it simpler

and i was planning to add more rules as the groop of kids (3) got more used to the game

https://scontent-amt2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t35.0-12/14438874_972622009533619_605082027_o.jpg?oh=7f081f 388571147bb75a5ef7928d8a39&oe=57E5B80D

Update:

ty so mutch for the tips, there is alot that i will take to me and use :smallbiggrin: i will post a update on how it goes whit the kids :smallbiggrin:

https://scontent-frt3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t35.0-12/14423783_973256349470185_259116715_o.jpg?oh=522275 3b532eeed7ec8dbf934387bc69&oe=57E643B2

[Aedilred]

I think it's relatively common to "talk down" to younger players in rulesets in a way that I'm not convinced is entirely necessary. An eight-year-old mind is capable of grasping the superficial mechanical complexity of D&D. At that age my friends and I were writing our own RPG rulesets because the games we had convenient access to weren't letting us do what we wanted. They may not be able (or, perhaps more importantly, willing) to look beyond the superficial into all the metagaming and optimisation and so forth that many experienced players do, and there's something to be said for not overwhelming them with information and options straight up, but the same could be said for any new players of any age, I think. More important, I think, is to be prepared to improvise, houserule things, and respond to stuff the players want to do, as younger players are less likely to submit to the implied parameters of the game and want to do things you haven't anticipated or accounted for.

So as an overall design principle, I think reducing the number of available classes is a good call. Most introductory sets do that. Simplifying the gameplay to the level you suggest - I'm not sure it's actually necessary or all that desirable. Better I think to keep a lot of the rules behind the curtain until needed. Tell them the basics of what they need to play and work out their own capabilities, but anything complicated or situational, wait until it comes up before addressing it (and it will, if they're into the game at all).

[Leewei]

hi im makeing a simpel rule book third grader(8 years old) calles dragons, moster and adventures,
and i got a bit lost where to start and i was wondering if anyone had any good advice :)

i was planning to take it down to 3 classe- fighter, mage and ranger
The dice mostly unchanged
the stats to only - str - dex - wis

fights i wod have like this - u attack a goblin and the giblin have armor of 3 and you have to throw the d6 and throw higher to hit and then throw the d8 to see the damage.
Idk rellly if i whant to add skill checks or i dont really know how to do it simpler

and i was planning to add more rules as the groop of kids (3) got more used to the game

https://scontent-amt2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t35.0-12/14438874_972622009533619_605082027_o.jpg?oh=7f081f 388571147bb75a5ef7928d8a39&oe=57E5B80D

I play d&d with my (now in 3rd grade) daughter. I have for years. We use 4e D&D modified as follows:

-Divide all experience awards and level goals by 50. For instance, it takes 20xp to reach level 2.

-Remove all non-d20 rolls. Replace these with the rounded average, divided by 5. Reduce all HP totals to 1/5 the original values, as well.

Doing these will greatly simplify the math involved in the game, and reduce the frequency of calculation.

Make character sheets with all skills, defenses, total attack bonus, and other commonly-used numbers are made for your players. Do this on their behalf.

Third graders are budding online gamers, and are solidly in pokemon range. They will want exotic pets and mounts. Make sure to have plenty of sympathetic NPCs for them to interact with. Familiarize yourself with pet/familiar/mount rules for whichever edition you play.

Kids are very visual players. Figurines, combat maps, and so on will greatly enhance their enthusiasm.

My own game centers around the theme of a "Hero School", similar to a Hogwarts for adventurers. The staff assigns the students missions and quests as homework. As my daughter leveled up, she uncovered plots which she is investigating and reporting on to her teacher.

Some things that have surprised me:
-Jewelry is kept and worn, never sold for the gold value.
-Natural 20s are a huge thrill! :smallbiggrin:
-Sneaking, hiding, and eavesdropping on the bad guys is also a huge thrill.

[Anonymouswizard]

I think it's relatively common to "talk down" to younger players in rulesets in a way that I'm not convinced is entirely necessary. An eight-year-old mind is capable of grasping the superficial mechanical complexity of D&D. At that age my friends and I were writing our own RPG rulesets because the games we had convenient access to weren't letting us do what we wanted. They may not be able (or, perhaps more importantly, willing) to look beyond the superficial into all the metagaming and optimisation and so forth that many experienced players do, and there's something to be said for not overwhelming them with information and options straight up, but the same could be said for any new players of any age, I think. More important, I think, is to be prepared to improvise, houserule things, and respond to stuff the players want to do, as younger players are less likely to submit to the implied parameters of the game and want to do things you haven't anticipated or accounted for.

So as an overall design principle, I think reducing the number of available classes is a good call. Most introductory sets do that. Simplifying the gameplay to the level you suggest - I'm not sure it's actually necessary or all that desirable. Better I think to keep a lot of the rules behind the curtain until needed. Tell them the basics of what they need to play and work out their own capabilities, but anything complicated or situational, wait until it comes up before addressing it (and it will, if they're into the game at all).

I agree with this. I first encounter D&D (a copy of the red box that my dad had) at somewhere between 8 and 12 (I can't quite remember now), and had no trouble with them.

How old is third grade? I'm tempted to say 8/9, as I've hears that American grades are the age of the next numeric English year. Assuming that's right you might want something like Fate Accelerated, it allows whatever sort of character you want while remaining simple. Fate points might be a little complex at first, but it shouldn't be hard to teach, I'd grasped chess at that age and was already interested in more complex games. However Fate Accelerated is a simple game that allows you to play whatever you want and works on letting you narrate your action and then working out how it works (and also does stuff with permissions that makes character creation a bit of a game of 'what do you want to do?).

[ManicMoe]

I think it's relatively common to "talk down" to younger players in rulesets in a way that I'm not convinced is entirely necessary. An eight-year-old mind is capable of grasping the superficial mechanical complexity of D&D. At that age my friends and I were writing our own RPG rulesets because the games we had convenient access to weren't letting us do what we wanted. They may not be able (or, perhaps more importantly, willing) to look beyond the superficial into all the metagaming and optimisation and so forth that many experienced players do, and there's something to be said for not overwhelming them with information and options straight up, but the same could be said for any new players of any age, I think. More important, I think, is to be prepared to improvise, houserule things, and respond to stuff the players want to do, as younger players are less likely to submit to the implied parameters of the game and want to do things you haven't anticipated or accounted for.

So as an overall design principle, I think reducing the number of available classes is a good call. Most introductory sets do that. Simplifying the gameplay to the level you suggest - I'm not sure it's actually necessary or all that desirable. Better I think to keep a lot of the rules behind the curtain until needed. Tell them the basics of what they need to play and work out their own capabilities, but anything complicated or situational, wait until it comes up before addressing it (and it will, if they're into the game at all).

i can see how you can see that, i will use this as a beginners step, the kids im going to play whit have never done anything like this befor so im going to do as you said "rules behind the curtain until needed" but im not really shure how im going to go forward whit it, i was planning the first "quest they r going on to be a simpel go her and kill stuff and reach the evil wizard to see if they r intested and then add more rules as the kids get more safe whit the game

ty for the tips :D

[ManicMoe]

I agree with this. I first encounter D&D (a copy of the red box that my dad had) at somewhere between 8 and 12 (I can't quite remember now), and had no trouble with them.

How old is third grade? I'm tempted to say 8/9, as I've hears that American grades are the age of the next numeric English year. Assuming that's right you might want something like Fate Accelerated, it allows whatever sort of character you want while remaining simple. Fate points might be a little complex at first, but it shouldn't be hard to teach, I'd grasped chess at that age and was already interested in more complex games. However Fate Accelerated is a simple game that allows you to play whatever you want and works on letting you narrate your action and then working out how it works (and also does stuff with permissions that makes character creation a bit of a game of 'what do you want to do?).

i havent beem thinking on how im going to do it whit the character creation, not shure if i whant them to roll for the stats and how they r going to efect the game, i belive that alot of the rules r going to be inprov, adjust the rules how the kids whant to play

[ManicMoe]

I play d&d with my (now in 3rd grade) daughter. I have for years. We use 4e D&D modified as follows:

-Divide all experience awards and level goals by 50. For instance, it takes 20xp to reach level 2.

-Remove all non-d20 rolls. Replace these with the rounded average, divided by 5. Reduce all HP totals to 1/5 the original values, as well.

Doing these will greatly simplify the math involved in the game, and reduce the frequency of calculation.

Make character sheets with all skills, defenses, total attack bonus, and other commonly-used numbers are made for your players. Do this on their behalf.

Third graders are budding online gamers, and are solidly in pokemon range. They will want exotic pets and mounts. Make sure to have plenty of sympathetic NPCs for them to interact with. Familiarize yourself with pet/familiar/mount rules for whichever edition you play.

Kids are very visual players. Figurines, combat maps, and so on will greatly enhance their enthusiasm.

My own game centers around the theme of a "Hero School", similar to a Hogwarts for adventurers. The staff assigns the students missions and quests as homework. As my daughter leveled up, she uncovered plots which she is investigating and reporting on to her teacher.

Some things that have surprised me:
-Jewelry is kept and worn, never sold for the gold value.
-Natural 20s are a huge thrill! :smallbiggrin:
-Sneaking, hiding, and eavesdropping on the bad guys is also a huge thrill.

im planing to draw maps for them, but to begin whit imma keep the story simpel to see if they like it and im mot really shure how to explain to them, maby im underestermating them, imma start whit a simpel kill quest, oh and this is the first time im going to dm witch is going to be hard but i hope it will end well

[ManicMoe]

-Remove all non-d20 rolls. Replace these with the rounded average, divided by 5.

so only d20 and d10? (is there a d10 o.o)

[Leewei]

Third grade is indeed 8-9 years old. In math, the kids will be adding pairs of numbers up to 10 with relative ease, and pairs of numbers up to 100 with effort. Adding three or more numbers up to 10 is within their capability, but will wear them out pretty fast. Pre-adding their modifiers as much as possible will ease up on the effort they need to take, but will still give them good practice.

Some eight-year-olds find addition easy to perform, and will enjoy the game as written. Most kids will be practiced enough to not get bogged down by the numbers by age twelve.

If one of the players is struggling, you could also do the math in advance and name the target that they must beat on an unmodified d20.

[Leewei]

so only d20 and d10? (is there a d10 o.o)

In my game, just d20. I have three damage figures pre-calculated for her attacks - the miss damage (as from a daily attack), the regular damage, and critical damage (maximum damage plus average critical modifiers). This greatly speeds up encounters, by the way.

I do use other dice as counters. We play on a map with lots of painted foam landscape pieces using flat tokens for PCs and monsters. I keep track of damage using d10s, d12s, and d20s on or next to the tokens.

An example of HPs and damage:
A Young Blue Dragon has 300 HPs in the Monster Vault. This translates into 60 HPs (one fifth the original amount) in my modified system. The dragon claws twice for 2d8+6 damage. 4.5 + 4.5 + 6 =15 average damage, which is 3 damage after conversion. A critical from the dragon would be 8 + 8 + 6 = 22, or 4 damage after conversion (rounding to nearest whole number, minimum 1).

[ManicMoe]

In my game, just d20. I have three damage figures pre-calculated for her attacks - the miss damage (as from a daily attack), the regular damage, and critical damage (maximum damage plus average critical modifiers). This greatly speeds up encounters, by the way.

I do use other dice as counters. We play on a map with lots of painted foam landscape pieces using flat tokens for PCs and monsters. I keep track of damage using d10s, d12s, and d20s on or next to the tokens.

An example of HPs and damage:
A Young Blue Dragon has 300 HPs in the Monster Vault. This translates into 60 HPs (one fifth the original amount) in my modified system. The dragon claws twice for 2d8+6 damage. 4.5 + 4.5 + 6 =15 average damage, which is 3 damage after conversion. A critical from the dragon would be 8 + 8 + 6 = 22, or 4 damage after conversion (rounding to nearest whole number, minimum 1).

how do u do stats and character creation? it may be bad to start by making new rules when i have never been a dm befor XD can u just send me a stat sheet XD jk i need to do it myself, so you just tone down dps and health by 1/5? armor then or AC?

[ManicMoe]

Third grade is indeed 8-9 years old. In math, the kids will be adding pairs of numbers up to 10 with relative ease, and pairs of numbers up to 100 with effort. Adding three or more numbers up to 10 is within their capability, but will wear them out pretty fast. Pre-adding their modifiers as much as possible will ease up on the effort they need to take, but will still give them good practice.

Some eight-year-olds find addition easy to perform, and will enjoy the game as written. Most kids will be practiced enough to not get bogged down by the numbers by age twelve.

If one of the players is struggling, you could also do the math in advance and name the target that they must beat on an unmodified d20.

im doing this at the school im working at, im doing this as a reward for doing well in class to try to motivate them, teese kids have problems at school and i hope this will motivate them a bit :) so i hope i can make this fun for them

[Leewei]

how do u do stats and character creation? it may be bad to start by making new rules when i have never been a dm befor XD

We play a modified 4e game. When we rolled her up, I started by asking her what she wanted her hero to be like. She described someone who climbed and used a bow, and who liked spiders. I talked to her about fantasy races, and she decided she wanted to be human.

I assigned stats for her and made her a Ranger. We then went over feats and powers. I wrote her character onto a card, then made cards for each of her attack powers using the rules I mentioned. Start to finish, the process took about an hour.

Note that defenses, attack rolls, and skills are unchanged. Damage and HPs are divided by 5. Experience is also affected, but that comes into play after character creation.

[Leewei]

im doing this at the school im working at, im doing this as a reward for doing well in class to try to motivate them, teese kids have problems at school and i hope this will motivate them a bit :) so i hope i can make this fun for them

Outstanding!

If their problems include math, do what you can to take care of most of the adding on their behalf. Make sure they each have their own die or dice.

I'd suggest talking this over in advance with each of them. See if they have a favorite movie character that makes sense in a fantasy movie, maybe a figure from history or mythology. (My daughter's character was inspired by Merida, Katniss, and Black Widow from The Avengers.) Pre-generate their characters for them. They'll want to get right to the roleplaying, and kids are great naturals for this.

Don't require originality for the name. We played with a friend a couple years back who was "Batman". :smallamused:

Bring along whatever props you can. Youtube has some great videos about sculpting cheap packing foam into landscapes, if you're up for it. Figurines or tokens (with pictures) are great to use.

Have them introduce themselves in-character, then immediately put them in the action. It doesn't have to be fighting -- it can be a scripted announcement, followed by roleplaying. Make it easy for them, with obvious goals.

I'd suggest there being a monster trainer society that hires them to hunt something dangerous for them to tame. The party gets some rivals, and they're off in the forest trying to capture a drake before the other team gets one.

Make some encounters prior to running the game, with whatever props you have available in mind. Get a feel for how long it takes for them to handle an easy combat, then fit the rest into the time you know you have.

Have fun!

[ManicMoe]

Outstanding!

If their problems include math, do what you can to take care of most of the adding on their behalf. Make sure they each have their own die or dice.

I'd suggest talking this over in advance with each of them. See if they have a favorite movie character that makes sense in a fantasy movie, maybe a figure from history or mythology. (My daughter's character was inspired by Merida, Katniss, and Black Widow from The Avengers.) Pre-generate their characters for them. They'll want to get right to the roleplaying, and kids are great naturals for this.

Don't require originality for the name. We played with a friend a couple years back who was "Batman". :smallamused:

Bring along whatever props you can. Youtube has some great videos about sculpting cheap packing foam into landscapes, if you're up for it. Figurines or tokens (with pictures) are great to use.

Have them introduce themselves in-character, then immediately put them in the action. It doesn't have to be fighting -- it can be a scripted announcement, followed by roleplaying. Make it easy for them, with obvious goals.

I'd suggest there being a monster trainer society that hires them to hunt something dangerous for them to tame. The party gets some rivals, and they're off in the forest trying to capture a drake before the other team gets one.

Make some encounters prior to running the game, with whatever props you have available in mind. Get a feel for how long it takes for them to handle an easy combat, then fit the rest into the time you know you have.

Have fun!

have been hyping up the kids for the game and hey r really looking forward to it, ty for all the tips :D btw do you have any pics as refereans on how u do it whit the character sheet?

[ManicMoe]

have been hyping up the kids for the game and hey r really looking forward to it, ty for all the tips :D btw do you have any pics as refereans on how u do it whit the character sheet?

and whit the cards of attacks, is it like u have a sword and it says on the card how mutch dps it can do?

[Anonymouswizard]

Third grade is indeed 8-9 years old. In math, the kids will be adding pairs of numbers up to 10 with relative ease, and pairs of numbers up to 100 with effort. Adding three or more numbers up to 10 is within their capability, but will wear them out pretty fast. Pre-adding their modifiers as much as possible will ease up on the effort they need to take, but will still give them good practice.

Some eight-year-olds find addition easy to perform, and will enjoy the game as written. Most kids will be practiced enough to not get bogged down by the numbers by age twelve.

If one of the players is struggling, you could also do the math in advance and name the target that they must beat on an unmodified d20.

This is a great thing about Fate, you might have to spend a bit of money on dice, but each die is 1d3-2, so you just have to count up the 1s and -1s. And if people aren't good with numbers just print off the adjective ladder, or each + they roll they move one step up and for each - they move one step down (I've memorised the +1 to +4 steps, but I personally work with numbers).

There's also the possibility of just running a really simple system, more Tunnels and Trolls like, so for example:
Creating Characters:

Every character has six ability scores, Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma. Roll 3d6 and total for each stat.
Every character has a race, which changes their ability scores slightly.
All characters begin with a decent weapon (deals 1d6 damage) and decent armour (absorbs 1d6 damage). They may either choose to have a good weapon or armour (deals/absorbs 1d8 damage) or a magic wand.
Characters have hit points equal to their Constitution, and magic points equal to their Charisma.


Races are simple, humans get no ajustments, elves get +1 to Dexterity and Intelligence and -1 to Consitution and Wisdom, Dwarves get +1 to Strength and Constitution and -1 to Dexterity and Charisma.

Each stat also gives a bonus for each point above 12 and a penalty for each point below 8. Thus 6 Strength gives a -2 modifier and 17 Dexterity gives a +5 modifier.

No classes, anyone can attack with any weapon, wear any armour, or cast any spell they know using a magic wand.

Initiative is 1d20+Wisdom modifier.

Melee attacks are 1d20+Strength Modifier and compared to the opponent's dexterity, ranged attacks use Dexterity to attack. Roll damage and armour and difference is taken as damage.

Skill checks are 1d20+relevant modifier.

Any rolls for magic are 1d20+intelligence modifier.

And just make up some spells. I suggest a magic blast spell and a healing spell, as well as some utility ones (like light and feather fall). A spell costs one magic point per level to cast, and spellcasters begin with 1d3 spells (or every character begins knowing 1d6-2 spells (minimum 0)).

For levelling up let everybody add a point to a stat.

For monsters just assign attack values, their defence value (beat it and you hit them), and their HP. If they know spells give them 1d6-3d6 magic points, and make any area effect attacks deal less damage than standard attacks.

If you do want classes, how about this: Fighters deal extra damage equal to their level with weapons, thieves can deal an extra 1d6 damage per three levels if they attack an unaware monster and can hide in shadows, and wizards can cast spells. Yes, this does make wizards more versatile than the other two, but that's fine at this level.

I might actually take this to the Homebrew forum and see if I can make it into something decent.

[Leewei]

and whit the cards of attacks, is it like u have a sword and it says on the card how mutch dps it can do?

4th edition runs on powers. I use one main card with the defenses, hp, skills, and attack bonuses. The other cards are for various powers.

I should ask, ManicMoe, which version of D&D are you thinking of playing? It can work fine if it's a different edition than mine. I can make suggestions that are more specific for you.

[ManicMoe]

Creating Characters:

Every character has six ability scores, Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma. Roll 3d6 and total for each stat.
Every character has a race, which changes their ability scores slightly.
All characters begin with a decent weapon (deals 1d6 damage) and decent armour (absorbs 1d6 damage). They may either choose to have a good weapon or armour (deals/absorbs 1d8 damage) or a magic wand.
Characters have hit points equal to their Constitution, and magic points equal to their Charisma.


Races are simple, humans get no ajustments, elves get +1 to Dexterity and Intelligence and -1 to Consitution and Wisdom, Dwarves get +1 to Strength and Constitution and -1 to Dexterity and Charisma.

Each stat also gives a bonus for each point above 12 and a penalty for each point below 8. Thus 6 Strength gives a -2 modifier and 17 Dexterity gives a +5 modifier.

No classes, anyone can attack with any weapon, wear any armour, or cast any spell they know using a magic wand.

Initiative is 1d20+Wisdom modifier.

Melee attacks are 1d20+Strength Modifier and compared to the opponent's dexterity, ranged attacks use Dexterity to attack. Roll damage and armour and difference is taken as damage.

Skill checks are 1d20+relevant modifier.

Any rolls for magic are 1d20+intelligence modifier.

And just make up some spells. I suggest a magic blast spell and a healing spell, as well as some utility ones (like light and feather fall). A spell costs one magic point per level to cast, and spellcasters begin with 1d3 spells (or every character begins knowing 1d6-2 spells (minimum 0)).

For levelling up let everybody add a point to a stat.

For monsters just assign attack values, their defence value (beat it and you hit them), and their HP. If they know spells give them 1d6-3d6 magic points, and make any area effect attacks deal less damage than standard attacks.

If you do want classes, how about this: Fighters deal extra damage equal to their level with weapons, thieves can deal an extra 1d6 damage per three levels if they attack an unaware monster and can hide in shadows, and wizards can cast spells. Yes, this does make wizards more versatile than the other two, but that's fine at this level.


this is what i whant at a later level :D imma just warm them up whit a bit simpler, it can be hard to throw english terms at them so i need to translate alot of stuff

[ManicMoe]

4th edition runs on powers. I use one main card with the defenses, hp, skills, and attack bonuses. The other cards are for various powers.

I should ask, ManicMoe, which version of D&D are you thinking of playing? It can work fine if it's a different edition than mine. I can make suggestions that are more specific for you.

i have only done e5

[Leewei]

5e is something I've played a few times. It seems to be straightforward enough.

Get some 3x5 color note cards and 2d20 for each player, plus another 2d20 for yourself. (Consider these dice lost if they go home with the players.)

You may want to ask each player to choose a color before starting. Get them a card and dice to match this color.

On the character cards, record ability score modifiers (don't bother writing in the scores themselves).

Strength +3
Constitution +2
Dexterity +0

... and so on.

Put a column next to these for saving throws. Add in Proficiency where appropriate.

Below on the card, write in their attack bonuses. I'd suggest dividing HPs and damage by 5, and removing damage dice, as I do with 4e.

Give players a card for each expendable item such as a healing potion. Have them give you these cards when they use the items.

Explain Advantage and Disadvantage to each player. Have them roll dice and tell you the higher or lower value so it sinks in before playing. Be very generous granting them Advantage.

Enemies are only there to make your players look good. Don't make anything very challenging. Their imaginations will make the game more than interesting enough!

Give them situations where they need to plan together and make a consensus. Teamwork, such as having one of them climb a wall and drop a rope to the others, is a great experience.

Avoid using traps, or if you use them, only use a couple, and make them easy to find.

Your goals are the following:
-Your players will all feel heroic.
-Your players will cooperate and help each other.
-Your players will use their imaginations.
-Your players will be frequently rolling dice and adding modifiers to beat a number. (No failed die roll should be catastrophic.)

[Knaight]

Making a whole new game seems excessive - there's a lot of existing rules light stuff that works. Take a look at Warrior, Rogue, and Mage in particular.

[Ruslan]

I like the Fighting Fantasy ruleset. They have only 3 attributes, Skill, Luck and Stamina.

[Bohandas]

If you can get your hands on a copy of the instruction booklet from Atari's Temple of Elemental Evil computer game IIRC they do a very good job of condensing the D&D 3.5 rules into a very short booklet


I think it's relatively common to "talk down" to younger players in rulesets in a way that I'm not convinced is entirely necessary. An eight-year-old mind is capable of grasping the superficial mechanical complexity of D&D. At that age my friends and I were writing our own RPG rulesets because the games we had convenient access to weren't letting us do what we wanted.
This too. I remember playing Dark Queen of Krynn on the computer as a kid, when I must've been under ten years old, , and I think I had a decent understanding of the ruleset (there's another game whose instructions did a good job of compressing D&D's rules into a short space. (I still don't fully understand 2e's melee rules though)

Plus between the cluebook and the journal it came with enough extra material that you could probably run it on the tabletop if you really wanted to)