Running game for older family members, suggestions needed

[Jarmen4u]

I've been planning to put a small family game together in a few months. The majority of the group is 50+ yrs old, including my grandmother, who has shown interest in playing. I have DMed before, but nothing has really prepared me for this type of situation. I don't really know what kind of story to run, or how to even mechanically build this up. I really don't enjoy the modules, as I found that they're rarely little more than dungeon crawls, and other groups I've run with never really enjoyed them. Anyway, help? Even looking for things to reference, pop culture from the 50s-80s that I could throw in?

[Venger]

I've been planning to put a small family game together in a few months. The majority of the group is 50+ yrs old, including my grandmother, who has shown interest in playing. I have DMed before, but nothing has really prepared me for this type of situation. I don't really know what kind of story to run, or how to even mechanically build this up. I really don't enjoy the modules, as I found that they're rarely little more than dungeon crawls, and other groups I've run with never really enjoyed them. Anyway, help? Even looking for things to reference, pop culture from the 50s-80s that I could throw in?

ask your players what kind of story they are interested in telling together. there's no one answer that's applicable to all tables. are your family members familiar with the basics of a tabletop roleplaying game? what kind of pop culture does your family enjoy?

what level are you looking to start at? low level dnd is very swingy, so it's a real turnoff for new players.

not all modules are just hack n slash. eyes of the lich queen is pretty fun and has a decent story to it as well.

it's really important for you to compile a list of basics (what is a save, what is my attack, etc) so your players know what to roll when you ask for stuff. put it on sheets for them to consult

make a list and shepherd them through chargen. chargen is the biggest hurdle to play, so once over this, it'll be downhill.

some of the big sixteen for running games would also be useful info to get from your players:


1. What game system are you running (D&D, Call of Cthulu, Palladium, GURPS, etc.), and if applicable what edition (Original, Classic, Revised, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 10th, etc.)?


2. What 'type' or variant of game will it be (i.e. "Shadow Chasers" or "Agents of Psi" for d20 Modern)? What is the setting for the game (eg. historic period, published or homebrewed campaign setting, alternate reality, modern world, etc.)?


3. How many Players are you looking for? Will you be taking alternates, and if so, how many?


4. What's the gaming medium (OOTS, chat, e-mail etc.)?


5. What is the characters' starting status (i.e. experience level)?


6. How much gold or other starting funds will the characters begin with?


7. Are there any particular character classes, professions, orders, etc. that you want... or do not want? What are your rules on 'prestige' and/or homebrewed classes?

8. What races, subraces, species, etc. are allowed for your game? Will you allow homebrewed races or species? 'Prestige' races or species?

9. By what method should Players generate their attributes/ability scores and Hit Points?


10. Does your game use alignment? What are your restrictions, if so?

11. Do you allow multi-classing, or have any particular rules in regards to it?

12. Will you be doing all of the die rolling during the course of the game? Will die rolls be altered, or left to the honor system? If players can make die rolls, which ones do they make, how should they make the rolls, and how should they report them?

13. Are there any homebrewed or optional/variant rules that your Players should know about?


14. Is a character background required? If so, how big? Are you looking for anything in particular (i.e. the backgrounds all ending up with the characters in the same city)?


15. Does your game involve a lot of hack & slash, puzzle solving, roleplaying, or a combination of the above?


16. Are your Players restricted to particular rulebooks and supplements, or will you be allowing access to non-standard material? What sources can Players use for their characters?

[Jarmen4u]

First of all, as far as I know none of the older players have ever touched D&D, though one of them is nerdy enough that he might have in his youth.

As for chargen, I was planning on just making their characters for them, as I generally end up doing so in most of my campaigns anyway due to new/lazy/unable-to-read-the-book players.

What is the "big sixteen"?

I'll definitely have lots of reference for them as far as dice rolling goes, I want the mechanics to be as painless as possible.

Lastly, to be honest, I've only ever DMed in person once, for a one-off Call of Cthulhu game last halloween. So that's a hurdle in itself. My DM style is mostly improv, though that's more due to my inability to plan sessions effectively. I think I'm more looking for things to add to the game, like examples of NPCs that are callbacks to pop culture icons of old, like some Bogart-esque vigilante, or something to that effect.

To be more specific party-wise, the group I intend to run with includes my girlfriend, brother, grandmother, and both parents. All have expressed interest, some to my surprise. Parents are 60s, grandmother is 80s, so I'm trying to work with general time periods as I'm not 100% on their interests.

[Malroth]

for what the big 16 was refrencing click the show button in the spoiler

I'd start them at lv 6 with their choice of Bard, Dread Necromancer, Warmage, Beguiler, Warblade, Crusader, Swordsage, Wildshape Ranger or Warlock. All high floor classes who don't step on each other's toes very much.

As for Refrences, Watch stuff from the era you want to emulate in the genre you want to emulate. Maltese falcon and Casablanca for Noir style urban intrigue. Ben Hur and Spartacus for historical fantasy. True Grit and Fist full of dollars for Frontier outlaw vs justice style. Wizard of Oz and all the old disney movies for fairytale. Bladerunner and Westworld for cyberpunk etc.

[Venger]

First of all, as far as I know none of the older players have ever touched D&D, though one of them is nerdy enough that he might have in his youth.

As for chargen, I was planning on just making their characters for them, as I generally end up doing so in most of my campaigns anyway due to new/lazy/unable-to-read-the-book players.

What is the "big sixteen"?

I'll definitely have lots of reference for them as far as dice rolling goes, I want the mechanics to be as painless as possible.

Lastly, to be honest, I've only ever DMed in person once, for a one-off Call of Cthulhu game last halloween. So that's a hurdle in itself. My DM style is mostly improv, though that's more due to my inability to plan sessions effectively. I think I'm more looking for things to add to the game, like examples of NPCs that are callbacks to pop culture icons of old, like some Bogart-esque vigilante, or something to that effect.

To be more specific party-wise, the group I intend to run with includes my girlfriend, brother, grandmother, and both parents. All have expressed interest, some to my surprise. Parents are 60s, grandmother is 80s, so I'm trying to work with general time periods as I'm not 100% on their interests.

making the character for them might save time, but you will still need to go over the character sheets and explain the basic d20+bonuses paradigm that we use for all rolls in the system

the big 16 is in the spoiler of my post.

that's another point for eyes of the lich queen as a jumping off point. eberron's writers specifically cite maltese falcon as an influence, and its setting and adventures within it are written with a noirish bent


for what the big 16 was refrencing click the show button in the spoiler

I'd start them at lv 6 with their choice of Bard, Dread Necromancer, Warmage, Beguiler, Warblade, Crusader, Swordsage, Wildshape Ranger or Warlock. All high floor classes who don't step on each other's toes very much.

As for Refrences, Watch stuff from the era you want to emulate in the genre you want to emulate. Maltese falcon and Casablanca for Noir style urban intrigue. Ben Hur and Spartacus for historical fantasy. True Grit and Fist full of dollars for Frontier outlaw vs justice style. Wizard of Oz and all the old disney movies for fairytale. Bladerunner and Westworld for cyberpunk etc.

a prixe fixe caster is a great choice for someone new to D&D. make sure you explain how spells and slots work.

[Jarmen4u]

Big 16:

1. What game system are you running (D&D, Call of Cthulu, Palladium, GURPS, etc.), and if applicable what edition (Original, Classic, Revised, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 10th, etc.)?

I was planning to run D&D, though I'm not sure if I'm going to run 3.5 (my first and best system) or 5e (because its supposed to be beginner friendly).

2. What 'type' or variant of game will it be (i.e. "Shadow Chasers" or "Agents of Psi" for d20 Modern)? What is the setting for the game (eg. historic period, published or homebrewed campaign setting, alternate reality, modern world, etc.)?

I want to write my own setting, but I'm horrible at actually putting the work in for that kind of thing, so if that falls through I'd probably use Eberron, as it's my favorite published setting.

3. How many Players are you looking for? Will you be taking alternates, and if so, how many?

The full group would be about 5 players.

4. What's the gaming medium (OOTS, chat, e-mail etc.)?

In person, around a table

5. What is the characters' starting status (i.e. experience level)?

Starting at level 1 so they can get used to the rules, then leveling them quickly through the first 3-5 levels after that.

6. How much gold or other starting funds will the characters begin with?

Standard starting equipment, with a chance to spend gold for minor items like ropes and mundane gear.

7. Are there any particular character classes, professions, orders, etc. that you want... or do not want? What are your rules on 'prestige' and/or homebrewed classes?

Since most of them are new, I have control over what they play but I am willing to allow them to play just about anything they want.

8. What races, subraces, species, etc. are allowed for your game? Will you allow homebrewed races or species? 'Prestige' races or species?

I generally avoid homebrew just because it's already hard enough for me to keep track of the 1st party stuff as it is.

9. By what method should Players generate their attributes/ability scores and Hit Points?

I'll probably let them roll for it, since I don't think they'd fully grasp point buy.

10. Does your game use alignment? What are your restrictions, if so?

It does, and I don't really have any, though I'd probably warn them against evil.

11. Do you allow multi-classing, or have any particular rules in regards to it?

I ignore the multiclass penalty, because it's annoying to keep track of. Other than that, as long as you qualify, it's yours.

12. Will you be doing all of the die rolling during the course of the game? Will die rolls be altered, or left to the honor system? If players can make die rolls, which ones do they make, how should they make the rolls, and how should they report them?

Players can make all of their rolls, though that may change in the future. I recently had a DM who concealed all Stealth(hide/MS), Perception(spot/listen), Insight(sense motive), and Investigation(search) checks so we couldn't metagame.

13. Are there any homebrewed or optional/variant rules that your Players should know about?

No, since I don't use any.

14. Is a character background required? If so, how big? Are you looking for anything in particular (i.e. the backgrounds all ending up with the characters in the same city)?

I'd probably work on their backstories together with them in a session 0, which I will also use to teach them about the rules.

15. Does your game involve a lot of hack & slash, puzzle solving, roleplaying, or a combination of the above?

I'd love to make it a combination of the above. One of the players loves John Grisham, Crichton, Connelly, Clancy books, so I know she'd love intrigue. I'll have to see what I can do.

16. Are your Players restricted to particular rulebooks and supplements, or will you be allowing access to non-standard material? What sources can Players use for their characters?

Again, no real restrictions, mostly because they would only know about what I offer them. I'm not worried about any kind of optimization here.


On that note though, I'd love to set up an urban intrigue game, perhaps in Eberrons floating city whose name currently escapes me. What other suggestions of media do you have for inspiration/blatant ripping off?

[Venger]

sharn is the city you're thinking of. sharn: city of towers has a lot of great stuff in it

[Jarmen4u]

sharn is the city you're thinking of. sharn: city of towers has a lot of great stuff in it

Damn, thanks. Is City of Towers a book? I'll have to see if I can find a copy. Most of what I know about Eberron I read in online supplements and such.

Beyond that, I'm still very much open to suggestions for sources of inspiration. I'd love to build an intrigue campaign, but I don't know a whole lot about Eberron, and I'm not the most experienced at writing original stories. (My most successful campaign was mostly original on a large scale, but almost all of the minor plot points were adapted from other works. I recall the party visiting a marsh inhabited by an ogre and his talking dire mule.)

[jdizzlean]

treat them like any other group. i would echo that low level can be a bit whooshy, but high level can be to hard to follow, maybe start at lvl 3 so they have a few options.

I'm pretty sure that at 40, i'm the youngest one in my regular gaming group. granted we're all super nerds, but no reason to treat them like children.

[ExLibrisMortis]

5th edition will be easy enough to go through character creation together and get right into adventuring; 3.5 will likely be too complicated for that, unless you pre-generate some things, such as stat array/class matchups (e.g. wizards always get 10/12/14/16/10/10) or feat matchups (e.g. you pick either Dodge/Mobility/Spring Attack as third-level feat pack, or Power Attack/Cleave/Improved Bull Rush, or Combat Expertise/Improved Trip/Combat Reflexes). And spell selections, very much spell selections. Even in 5e, those will take a longish time and people won't know what to pick.

[Venger]

Damn, thanks. Is City of Towers a book? I'll have to see if I can find a copy. Most of what I know about Eberron I read in online supplements and such.

Beyond that, I'm still very much open to suggestions for sources of inspiration. I'd love to build an intrigue campaign, but I don't know a whole lot about Eberron, and I'm not the most experienced at writing original stories. (My most successful campaign was mostly original on a large scale, but almost all of the minor plot points were adapted from other works. I recall the party visiting a marsh inhabited by an ogre and his talking dire mule.)

yes, "sharn: city of towers" is a book about sharn in the eberron setting.

I'm sort of confused as to your goals. you say you want to write an original campaign, but are not really interested in writing an original campaign? did you want to adopt the plot skeleton from some well known fictional work to provide beats to your campaign? a basic fetch quest like "maltese falcon" or a cozy like "orient express" could be good if you want an intrigue-focused storyline, and eberron has rail travel.

[johnbragg]

Plot arc mostly lifted from the beginning of the Hundred Years' War. I'm going to use the names of the French kings and princes from real life, with some additions in green to help the plot.

The King (Charles IV) is dead, murdered by his uncle Charles of Valois. The crown has passed to the uncle's son, Philip VI, grandson of Philip III. No one could prove that the new King was involved or knew what his father was doing, but Philip VI is widely suspected. In a magical world, this means that some major public works projects (magical hospitals, royal roads with +10 to movement rates, magical water purification facilities, spells to fertilize the crops, etc) are liable to fail--think of it as a massive Tinkerbell effect.

The widely disliked king next door has a claim to the throne through his mother (daughter of Philip IV and sister of Charles IV), but there is a lot of antagonism between French and English. There is also a bastard son of Charles IV's older brother, a widely respected paladin, Prince Reginald. But as a Lawful Good paladin, he's aware of the laws of the kingdom that bar a bastard from inheriting the crown.

Charles of Valois was manipulated and charmed into murdering the king by his daughter, who is secretly a sorcerer or maybe a Beguiler. Her attempts to marry her cousin Charles IV had failed, and she has now set her sights on Paladin Prince Reginald, who would make a very plausible if not very bright king, which suits the would-be Queen quite nicely.

[Jarmen4u]

yes, "sharn: city of towers" is a book about sharn in the eberron setting.

I'm sort of confused as to your goals. you say you want to write an original campaign, but are not really interested in writing an original campaign? did you want to adopt the plot skeleton from some well known fictional work to provide beats to your campaign? a basic fetch quest like "maltese falcon" or a cozy like "orient express" could be good if you want an intrigue-focused storyline, and eberron has rail travel.

Yeah sorry, I didn't word that well. I want to write my own story, but usually when I do, a majority of it is built directly from inspiration from other stories. The one time I made a completely original story, it took me over a year to write and it was arguably my best work, but I don't have the time or motivation to really devote to this, especially since I'm not sure how long it will last. I'm just seeking good sources of inspiration for framing my story, like you said with the plot skeleton.

I did speak to them earlier tonight, and as I guessed, one of them wanted a murder mystery for starters, so I'll probably build some bit of intrigue starting in Sharn. As for the Hundred Years' War plot, I'll definitely make use of that, perhaps before they get there, in a small kingdom.