Kiddy Monsters/Adventure Ideas

[DnDegenerates]

Hey DnDers,

My daughter has been listening to our little group play d&d since before she could speak and has been putting up with Daddy editing podcast episodes and helping run AL events for over a year now.

The other day she asked if she could make her first character. She went further to explain that she wants to play and thinks she's ready to help mommy and daddy and their friends with her character.

She's four, almost five, so her reading and grip on mathematics is what you'd expect of your typical kid that age who has been given freedom to use her imagination.

I have made a simplified character sheet with minimal dice and zero math. Instead of hit points it has Zelda style hearts/half hearts even.

We did a session zero to make a character, Kelema the wolf girl, and now I just have to write up adventures.

I'm trying to make it fun but instead of just typical hack and slash adventures, I intend on incorporating little life lessons and Morales.

Things like finding your way to school (pre-adventurer academy in our case) if you get lost, talking to strangers, bullying, being nice to animals, not approaching animals that may bite, permission, getting npcs to say sorry, etc.

She'll have a school issued wooden sword and sticky blunted arrows as standard equipment.

So when we do have and slash, what kind of monsters do you think are good for kid friendly encounters?

My first though is skeletons. They're not super Gorey and they just break when you beat them. Golems, robots, animated armor, and things like that.

There are also probably ways to make normal fodder type monsters a regular encounter that we can bonk to sleep, or even have dialogue with as a "don't judge a book by it's cover" kind or story lesson.

What kind of monster or adventure ideas for you have?

Thanks in advance,

Dungeons & Degenerates

[LoneStarNorth]

Goblins, orcs, or any other sort of humanoid should work fine if you run them as people instead of always-evil monsters.

You could do something with an ogre or hill giant that she needs to outsmart instead of fight. Similarly, any sort of fey could be interesting if you played up their trickster nature.

If you want to go farther with the life lessons and morals you could give her character tools instead of weapons, like a grappling hook and a musical instrument. Things like immovable rods and a robe of useful items lend themselves well to puzzle solving over combat.

For adventures I'd say simple, separate encounters would be best for a young kid. You could string them together in threes, fairy tale style; Navigate the Maze --> Solve the Puzzle --> Escape the Monster. Any short dungeon crawl could probably be adapted easily.

Always remember to think ahead to what sort of non-death thing happens if the adventure goes south, because of course the characters of young children do not die. Pit traps can be slides that lead outside the dungeon, and monsters might steal her lunch but leave her alone otherwise.

I haven't actually run D&D for a kid that young before (yet; my friends have a daughter about the same age) but that's about how I'd do it.

[JoeJ]

Goblin, as suggested above. Using the same stats you can make some of them look scary and ugly, but actually be friendly, and others look like fluffy teddy bears but actually be mean, to help teach the idea of not judging by appearance.

[Sorlock Master]

An evil sorcerer has animated all the cookies in (town name) and they need some one to round up the cookies and rid the sorcerer.

[Kane0]

The town's local hedge mage got a little too creative with his Prestidigitation and has accidentally flavored all the food in town like broccoli. There's no real danger but everyone is starting to get a little bored of the taste so they ask Kelema to figure something out.

Some random non-human comes into town carrying on in broken common about an approaching danger. He looks scary and sounds weird so the villagers avoid him or chase him off, but he's telling the truth and is trying to warn the town of an approaching raid that they could easily protect themselves against if they were forewarned.

The local creek has run dry and the villagers put together a few people to head upstream to figure out why. Wait this is Rowan of Rin, nevermind.

[Finback]

An evil sorcerer has animated all the cookies in (town name) and they need some one to round up the cookies and rid the sorcerer.

Summon Cookie Monster.

[Finback]

You could also use classic 5-dungeon models to create longer experiences, without making them complex dungeon crawls.

Plot - the Dragon is eating our sheep!
Room 1 - very small challenge, eg a skeleton saying "NONE SHALL PASS!"
Room 2 - A Puzzle (the door is locked with a riddle/maths problem - clues are in the room Kelema was just in)
Room 3 - slightly bigger fight - (mimics! Always fun for kids - you can describe them being chased around the room by a chair and bookshelf, with flying books zooming around, etc)
Room 4 - the twist! Wait, there are lots of bales of hay here, and sheep hoofprints...
Room 5 - the dragon is hoarding sheep because they are so fluffy and cute, but doesn't know how to look after them properly! Cue talking about what Kelema could do to help the dragon - talk about not stealing the sheep but asking first, helping build some fences outside the cave, putting the skeleton back together so he can be a SKELESHEPHERD*, etc.



* his name is Dave, he's pretty fun when you get to know him.

[DnDegenerates]

Great ideas everyone!

I am having more fun brainstorming kiddy adventures than I thought I would.

I'll be the first to say there's nothing wrong with that, and if there is I have no problem with being wrong in this instance!

[Vogie]

You could look up the Stuffed Fables board game, which is very close to what you're trying to do.

However, You could just take the concept of the game, and adapt that: In Stuffed Fables, the party is a collection of a child's favorite toys, and their quests are defending the sleeping child from monsters under the bed, fighting on a runaway wagon, and venturing into the world of under the bed to rescue the favorite blanket.

You can do effectively the same thing. Have Wolf Girl be able to shrink down and be in a Toy-Story-esque world, Fighting teddy bears, Army Men bandits, and rescuing Bo Peep's Sheep. If your child likes (or had liked at some point) the Super Why television series, you can do something very similar, having your daughter and her floppy crew dive into a book or a favorite movie and work their way through the story.

Remember - they're kids who haven't done anything like this before. You can be trope-y as hell, and they won't know the difference, because there's nothing for them to compare it against. Depending on their media consumption, you can even preempt some movies that they'd see by having a campaign that is basically a carbon copy of a movie you enjoy. It's Aladdin, but with Kelema instead of Aladdin. Cars, starring Kelema, and no automotive references. And so on.

[Ventruenox]

I'm not sure that 5E is the right system for this kiddo. May I suggest No Thank You, Evil! (http://www.nothankyouevil.com/) instead? I've run it for my 6 year old and he loved it. It has all those little life lessons built in already, and was created by Monte Cook (co-author of Planescape back in 2E).

[Segev]

The shepherd-kid (boy or girl; doesn't really matter at this age)'s dog saw the wolf-girl passing by, and chases after her. (S)he needs his/her sheep-dog to help him/her herd his/her sheep, or they'll get stolen by wolves that aren't as nice as the wolf-girl. But she can't approach without spooking the sheep. Options might include sneaking in in sheep's clothing to get the shepherd's attention, or she can play guardian herself, or she can try to find the dog (because he got lost in the woods because the dog doesn't know them like she does) and try to talk him into returning.

Maybe the shepherd will be her friend, or pay her with some food or a magic item like a wool coat of comfort, or something.

[Unoriginal]

Hags are pretty good "don't trust seemingly friendly strangers who give you stuff" monsters.

[DnDegenerates]

Thanks for the suggestions folks!

Definitely a different experience, making kid adventures.

I can't help but continue to work the world as if it were a Homebrew campaign, while still writing out the sessions age appropriately.

I could comfortably drop my standard weekly group into this world, but I've also written in plenty of kid friendly NPCs and adventure hooks so far. Actually I may just mix this world into the one I have been writing for a different podcast that's about to finish a hardcover adventure and make the transition to homebrew.

During further development of the wolf family she made up I found myself making the father and mother survivors who washed up on the current continent as children and are now in search for other survivors to learn about their Homeland.

The founder of the Pre-adventurer's academy she has been enrolled in is a mysterious adventuring fellow who sends funding.

She made amends with the dwarf and human boy she stopped from bullying a goblin boy after being roomed with them and an elven girl. They're all kind of becoming friends.

Now she wants to get her father's glowing heirloom guitar back from a dapper fellow who tricked her into letting him hold it before disappearing.

It's been fun so far. Here's the character sheet I developed for her. The shield is base 10, then we fill in a shield for each +1. She has two additional filled in for a total of 12ac.

Instead of hp we do hearts. With heavy hits and normal hits. Whole and half hearts of damage respectively.

We only use a d20 and a d6 at the moment.

https://preview.ibb.co/dhDvcT/character_sheet_proto_bnw.png (https://ibb.co/bQ3Hro)

[Kane0]

I’m thinking Kelema should get a campaign journal!

[DnDegenerates]

I’m thinking Kelema should get a campaign journal!

Haha, she's still learning how to read but that'd be a fun project to do alongside her too!

We're audio recording each session and turning them into episodes. I think it'll be fun for her to have them to go back and listen to as she gets older. Perhaps her baby bro will join the adventure when he hits that age too.

I have some more questions that could use everyone's insight if you could spare a moment.



Should I have alcohol in the world? Taverns and ale are a common d&d theme. Perhaps I should refer to them as something else? Niki knows General concept surrounding what alcohol is, and we're not sheltering her. But the whole point of this game is to have a kid friendly d&d experience.

I was thinking of having folks drink honey juice and say that it makes them silly and often do stupid things when they have too much. Maybe even attributing it to the amount of sugar in it. Is this too much of a filter for even a kids game?

Also, when Niki created Kelema she said that she wanted to have a pet wolf named Sebrit. I'm trying g to figure out how to incorporate this pet.

My initial thought is to have it be DM controlled for simplicity sake, while allowing her to have it do basic tasks for her. I also was thinking it would be a good idea to make it particularly young so it has limited combat capabilities.

So far I'm considering having one of the academy assignments given to Kelema to go with a druid girl to find out why some wolves are now leaving the safety of the Forest to attack livestock. To fix the issue and restore natural order before the farmers take up their bows and Spears.

This would be to introduce the animal companion, perhaps as an orphan to one of the slain wolves. The mother wolf slain by the villagers or something. But I'm failing to find a morale or life lesson to include in this.

Also, Niki understands life and death and that they're very real things as well as part of life. She also watches the odd action or suspense flick on the tube with us.

I'm wondering how much death to include. I haven't thought of any plot hooks that involve solving murders or preventing assassination attempts because I don't think they are age appropriate themes. Yet, Land Before Time did it and everything worked out just fine. Shoot, the Lion King was one of my childhood favorites and it starts off with a murder. So maybe I'm wrong in my concerns.

What do you folks think?

Thanks again!

[JNAProductions]

I say include alcohol. Just have an honest discussion about it, if your daughter asks questions.

I think DM controlled pet is a good idea, but obviously with the general directions and goals dictated by the player.

You don't need a lesson or moral in every adventure. Just have a good time! The main thing I can think of is just have karma-those who do good, get good; those who do bad, get bad. Reward her for being nice, and have consequences for being mean.

I think that, at least at first, deaths should probably not be on purpose. It's fine to include death, but including "This man wants to kill someone else" might be a lil' much. Whereas "This man died due to an accident" is more palatable. That being said, your kid, you know her better than we do.

Also! I freaking love that you're doing this! You seem like an amazing dad, and I wish the best for you and your family!

[Vogie]

Should I have alcohol in the world? Taverns and ale are a common d&d theme. Perhaps I should refer to them as something else? Niki knows General concept surrounding what alcohol is, and we're not sheltering her. But the whole point of this game is to have a kid friendly d&d experience.

I was thinking of having folks drink honey juice and say that it makes them silly and often do stupid things when they have too much. Maybe even attributing it to the amount of sugar in it. Is this too much of a filter for even a kids game?

Not necessarily. You can certainly use this as a teaching moment for lots of things, such as replacing alcohol with

energy drinks, that make people really energetic for a small period of time, then really tired.
Gigglewater, a nod to the Potterverse, which is just a drink that makes you laugh. Drink too much and you're lying on the floor laughing.
whatever she drinks. Juice bars exist, soda fountains are a thing, and there's a smoothie stand in every other strip mall. Play to the audience




Also, when Niki created Kelema she said that she wanted to have a pet wolf named Sebrit. I'm trying g to figure out how to incorporate this pet.

My initial thought is to have it be DM controlled for simplicity sake, while allowing her to have it do basic tasks for her. I also was thinking it would be a good idea to make it particularly young so it has limited combat capabilities.

I would incorporate that into the game mechanics. Start it off as a more wild animal that is controlled by the DM. And as she's "leveling up" and you both are getting more comfortable, allow her to teach the pet tricks, and eventually allow her to control the animal over time.



So far I'm considering having one of the academy assignments given to Kelema to go with a druid girl to find out why some wolves are now leaving the safety of the Forest to attack livestock. To fix the issue and restore natural order before the farmers take up their bows and Spears.

This would be to introduce the animal companion, perhaps as an orphan to one of the slain wolves. The mother wolf slain by the villagers or something. But I'm failing to find a morale or life lesson to include in this.

Taking care of those without the resources to take care of themselves
Just because someone is weak doesn't mean they're useless
Beasts and even monsters aren't exclusively scary - the wolves are only now attacking livestock because of *insert plot element here*, and they need to feed their cubs... not because they're evil chicken-hunters.





Also, Niki understands life and death and that they're very real things as well as part of life. She also watches the odd action or suspense flick on the tube with us.

I'm wondering how much death to include. I haven't thought of any plot hooks that involve solving murders or preventing assassination attempts because I don't think they are age appropriate themes. Yet, Land Before Time did it and everything worked out just fine. Shoot, the Lion King was one of my childhood favorites and it starts off with a murder. So maybe I'm wrong in my concerns.

It really depends on the way you'd want her to think. Both LBT & Lion King have death only as climactic, very important plot points. The Average D&D game has death as an entirely underwhelming thing that happens in more than half of the encounters. If you're not okay with murders and assassination attempts because of the appropriateness, I don't think you want to minimize death in the game, like us adult gamers tend to do.

I'd lean towards "exhausting", "knocking out" or something similar as the go-to defeat option after combat. That also allows you to have more nuance after the encounters, not dissimilar to the "Let's see who is underneath this mask... It's John Peters! The Farmer! But why did you do it?!" followed immediately by "I was so close to *plot explanation*, and I would've pulled it off if it wasn't for you meddling kids" types of ending, as popularized by Scooby Doo... or Batman, or Sherlock Holmes, for that manner. It will also key off how you reward the players after an encounter - instead of killing everything and looting the bodies, you'd have to have:

the mayor/governing person giving awards
the police rewarding the help
the potential victims reward the PCs for being saved
the defeated bad guys have to pay reparations, either as Civil forfeiture or settlement.


It also gives the players more obvious options on how to tackle challenges. If it's a stereotypical dragon sitting on top of the gold or a target with the loot in his or her pockets, you have to kill the dragon for their gold, or take out the target to rifle through their pockets. If the loot or gold is coming from the people who just want the dragon or target to leave, then killing doesn't particularly have to be the first option.

[Segev]

Would taverns in this world serve alcohol to a kid your daughter's PC's age? The answer might well be 'yes,' if you recall that a lot of alcohol was really low-proof in olden times, just enough to sterilize it of dangerous microbes. Just be sure to let her know that it's make-believe, and maybe use it to illustrate responsible vs. irresponsible drinking.

On the other hand, the answer can easily be 'no,' and they insist on giving her juice and such.

And then there's the "juice bar" notion. It depends on verisimilitude vs. fairy tale/kiddie setting flavor you want to give it.

[Kane0]

Ribena, the precursor to wine.

[Garfunion]

You should take a look at a comic called “I Hate Fairyland”. While it’s not appropriate for a young audience. You could gleam some insights from it, maybe even adapted it for your adult group.

[DnDegenerates]

Thanks for the responses everyone.

I am torn between npcs refusing children alcohol and offering other drinks, or having juice bars.

Here's our session zero, in which she made Kelema.

https://www.buzzsprout.com/190639/747430-dungeons-dragons-kidventures-session-zero-niki-makes-kelema-the-wolf-girl

[DnDegenerates]

We had our first session and I recorded that as well.

Take a listen to Niki's first time playing d&d as Kelema the wolf girl.

https://www.buzzsprout.com/190639/747872-dungeons-dragons-kidventures-ep-1-kelema-gets-lost-and-makes-a-friend