Kid Friendly WoD

[Kesnit]

Our nieces are visiting for the weekend. The 10-year old is upset she can’t play in the mixing pot oWoD LARP Saturday night. My wife and I came up with the idea of running a tabletop one-shot Sunday evening to make it up to her.

I am leaning toward V:tM as the system. (We use Lost and not Dreaming in the LARP, but my wife does not think I should run a Lost game.) My niece has said no to Fallen once she found out the setting (person possessed by a demon). Apoc is an option, but I don’t know it very well.

Now I need to come up with some scenarios for the group. I anticipate saying the party work for the Cam Sheriff, who will be the one giving out jobs. I will probably have them need to break a “drunk” vampire out of jail before dawn, but am looking for other ideas.

Help??

[sktarq]

100% honest here. When one of my players kids really wanted to play in my WoD game we started a smaller group but of Pugmire. Which can be so wholesome it makes a nice contrast.

Real question is thinking about how to handle things like feeding. I mean your characters are generally HUNTING (and thus hurting) people and possibly killing them.
Another question is how do you want to handle their beasts? Are you going to play the voice of their beasts? are you going to ask them to create a secondary beast personality? How do you want to handle their humanity trait?
How do you want to handle possible human deaths?

I would stick to pretty core systems. Avoid whatever splatbooks you can. Especially for a oneshot. If the kids have 2-3 books that is fine but more than that can be distracting IME.

I would generally look for heist type ideas. Perhaps their target is a staked vampire somewhere. Look for ways to run combat as fast as possible. This is part of why I say avoid splatbooks. Keeping it moving really helps as many kids will get distracted in combat because of time between turns.

Tell the story of what happens when do an action...reporting 3 lvls of lethal damage can work for adults a lot of the time but for kids I found a more cinematic style to be helpful...maybe even talk with your hands more and don't be afraid of silly voices...but have lots of sensory descriptors for their imaginations to work on...even if you think you already do this- up it.

[Bulhakov]

I would say Mage is probably more kid-friendly than VtM, but aside from the occasional need to drink blood and loss of control due to frenzy a VtM adventure can be played pretty much like a superhero game.

I remember the first adventure I ran in VtM was actually quite kid-friendly. One of the players got sloppy/unlucky during a hunt and got discovered by a priest, so the church sent some oldschool Vatican vampire hunters to the city. The sheriff ordered the group to clean up their mess, discover what the hunters know about vampires and plant as much disinformation as possible. Once the players found out how little the priest hunters knew about Camarilla, Disciplines etc. the players prepared an elaborate plan to first convince the hunters the vampire was a stupid mindless beast, then to fake the vampire's death with special effects.

[lightningcat]

I agree that Mage is likely the most kid friendly of the games, as murder is not a inherent part of the story for it, although it can happen easily enough.
Dreaming can be fine, but if you scratch that game's themes very much it gets dark in a hurry. The loss of innocence and growing banality is a significant part of that game.
Wraith is about hope, but also death. And is set mostly in the underworld, which might not be something that works for you.

CoD has Innocents which is child based, but that is all I know of it.

[Mr Blobby]

I'd agree with MtA being the most 'kid friendly' plot-wise, Main cramp I'd say is the Sphere system; it's hard enough as it is, and perhaps not worth it for a one-shot for kids. So... how about running a MtA Sorcerer game instead? Depending on how much time/inclination/source materials you have, you can either knock together a 'spell book' where they can buy bits of in Creation, or if you're really lazy simply re-skin say, VtM Disciplines as 'spells'.

2nd-Era Mage is perhaps a more promising setting-wise - it would allow for easier 'adventures' in the Horizon realms and so on. Personally, think the best bet would be that the PCs are investigators and they go around dealing with PG-level 'Monster Of The Week'. An example story could be that their master's familiar threw a fit and went off in a huff, and the PCs need to catch up and 'capture' it somehow before Sleepers see it.

[Rad]

Have you considered Exalted? Several avenues are kids-friendly (others aren't, but you get to pick). The system is quite similar and it is technically in the WoD continuity if you squint your eyes enough.

[Anonymouswizard]

There's also Scion, where you play the children* of deities and/or mythological creatures. The central conflict of the setting is relatively morally simple (titans=problematic, gods=probably better), but can be made more grey as kids get older, and you can downplay the tensions between gods and pantheons while at Hero level (and possibly even at Demigod).

Plus you get to play the daughter of Thor who has mastered Kung Fu by the time she's 14. What's not to love?

Rules-wise 1e is borked. It's Exalted's attempt to do action movie Storyteller all over again, but what takes the cake are Epic Attributes and Fate. The former give automatic successes are fine at Hero level but scale in a nonlinear fashion, meaning that by demigod level there's very little point in rolling against somebody with a higher Epic Attribute than you. This makes the side effect of making the example bruiser Eric Donner basically useless at higher tiers. Fate meanwhile does exactly what it says it does: basically nothing at Hero level, but once you hit God you can't use your divine might without getting six dozen basically insignificant Fatebindings.

2e actually has rules that work, but also adds a fourth core rulebook, Origin, for playing before you get your magic stuff. But the Knack rules are a little confusing (you can only swap out active Knacks for different ones at the beginning or end of the session).

* Or in 2e you can also be a chosen one.

[Thrudd]

Our nieces are visiting for the weekend. The 10-year old is upset she can’t play in the mixing pot oWoD LARP Saturday night. My wife and I came up with the idea of running a tabletop one-shot Sunday evening to make it up to her.

I am leaning toward V:tM as the system. (We use Lost and not Dreaming in the LARP, but my wife does not think I should run a Lost game.) My niece has said no to Fallen once she found out the setting (person possessed by a demon). Apoc is an option, but I don’t know it very well.

Now I need to come up with some scenarios for the group. I anticipate saying the party work for the Cam Sheriff, who will be the one giving out jobs. I will probably have them need to break a “drunk” vampire out of jail before dawn, but am looking for other ideas.

Help??

I understand the "no" to Lost, but why not Dreaming? That seems like naturally the most kid friendly. It's literally about people who learn they are fairies when they are kids. Weren't there even rules for playing as a pre-adolescent character? Nobody's drinking blood, nobody's tearing people limb-from-limb (usually), it's about the power of imagination. Is it just because you don't have access to the book? There are probably ways to find one.

[Rynjin]

Magical Girl-style Mage sounds like a hella fun time to me honestly.

But honestly there's nothin in WoD (the game) that's inherently kid-unfriendly. Kids know what vampires are. They know they suck blood. There is plenty of children's media featuring vampires.

Pull on those for inspiration rather than more adult media.

[Anonymouswizard]

I understand the "no" to Lost, but why not Dreaming? That seems like naturally the most kid friendly. It's literally about people who learn they are fairies when they are kids. Weren't there even rules for playing as a pre-adolescent character? Nobody's drinking blood, nobody's tearing people limb-from-limb (usually), it's about the power of imagination. Is it just because you don't have access to the book? There are probably ways to find one.

Dreaming has some REALLY heavy stuff in it. The impending end to it all, the grinding mundanity of the world, the inability to separate fantasy from reality, the entire commoners versus nobility thing. Oh sure, compared to Lost it's all smiley, but it's the smile of a broken person trying to assure you they're fine.

Yeah it's about the power of imagination. To the point where characters can use up somebody's imagination just so they have the Glamour to actually use fairy magic.

Yes, unlike Lost you don't have to go through a Durance. You just have to live knowing that the world will crush all hope and imagination from you by the time you're 30. Then it's likely another twenty to seventy years until your next life is able to feel it again, if winter hasn't come.

[Kesnit]

Have you considered Exalted? Several avenues are kids-friendly (others aren't, but you get to pick). The system is quite similar and it is technically in the WoD continuity if you squint your eyes enough.

Because I don't know Exalted at all. I read about half the book, but have never played it.


I understand the "no" to Lost, but why not Dreaming?

When I said we played Lost, not Dreaming, I meant in the LARP.

As for Dreaming itself, I like Lost better. I have read the Dreaming core book and have played a little with Dreaming (we used to use Dreaming in the LARP), but it isn't a system I like.


Weren't there even rules for playing as a pre-adolescent character?

The book assumes all the characters are teens or pre-teens. Which gets creepy when you think about Redcaps and Satyrs...

[Anonymouswizard]

The book assumes all the characters are teens or pre-teens. Which gets creepy when you think about Redcaps and Satyrs...

Eh, it's mostly fine with Wilders. Teens fight and adventure under the covers, and that can be handled as maturely or immaturely as when adults do it. In fact Wilder Redcaps probably aren't that far from most teen wannabe gangster characters, thinking their oh so big and impressive because they have faerie powers.

Satyrs are just creepy and problematic full stop (Even for Grumps, who can be as old as their late 20s!)

Honestly I'd be more worried about the severe mental health theming Dreaming has. Banality is a clear depression allegory, but many Changelings would appear to be prone to psychotic breaks. It's pretty easy to sanitise, but you potentially lose a lot. There's a lot to like in Dreaming, but it's just as heavy as Lost is.

The child focus was really not something Dreaming needed, I'm glad C20 put it out of its misery and I hope any potential C5 follows suit

[Thrudd]

Yes, all WoD games have dark themes, but running it for actual children, especially for a one-shot, you obviously aren't going to get to the really dark themes that come up when examining the long-term psychology of these characters and scenarios. The part where a kid discovers they have magic powers and are surrounded by a secret world of magic and fairies is the part I'd run with in Changeling for a 10 year old. Mage is much the same. I agree that the system itself isn't that great. I was always more attracted to the setting, but the actual rules and gameplay of any of the old WoD were not great, imo. But for a one shot, you're not going to be getting into the system too heavily, either - I presume things would need to be greatly simplified, focused on just the parts that will be relevant to the session's story, any elements you don't like left out. I would approach this by deciding on a story and setting you think will be appropriate and fun for the kid, then decide what elements of which WoD system you can use to represent that. Don't feel constrained by what is found in any specific splat, no reason you can't mix and match. If the kid loves vampires and werewolves, then go for it. If you've got a Wednesday Addams on your hands, maybe creepy ghosts are just what she'd be all about. But in any case, we obviously aren't going to push into the adult themes that all these games are really about. Kid-friendly is up to the GM, rather than the setting - none of them are inherently "kid friendly", all of them could be made to be so (depending on the kid).

[Mr Blobby]

Well, I've never spotted an ST who ran a WoD game exactly as-written in the books...

Speaking purely personally (as an ST), while I'm perfectly happy on 'presenting a lighter shade' and 'toning things down' for a junior audience, I'm not going to completely break the whole setting etc for it. There isn't much 'fluffy/light' points in WtA/VtM and I honestly wouldn't want to lie (if nothing else, it would give an innaccurate view of the game for later on).

Though now I think of it a Ratkin 'MonkeyWrenching' one-shot might be fun...

[druid91]

I'd agree with MtA being the most 'kid friendly' plot-wise, Main cramp I'd say is the Sphere system; it's hard enough as it is, and perhaps not worth it for a one-shot for kids. So... how about running a MtA Sorcerer game instead? Depending on how much time/inclination/source materials you have, you can either knock together a 'spell book' where they can buy bits of in Creation, or if you're really lazy simply re-skin say, VtM Disciplines as 'spells'.

2nd-Era Mage is perhaps a more promising setting-wise - it would allow for easier 'adventures' in the Horizon realms and so on. Personally, think the best bet would be that the PCs are investigators and they go around dealing with PG-level 'Monster Of The Week'. An example story could be that their master's familiar threw a fit and went off in a huff, and the PCs need to catch up and 'capture' it somehow before Sleepers see it.

I mean, maybe, but it's also vague enough to be really easy to explain to a kid. Especially if you're not trying to hold together a long term campaign and are willing to roll with some sillyness.

[Mr Blobby]

Having played MtA myself, Spheres are the #1 argument regarding 'you can/cannot do that' with the ST. Plus, to be honest L1 Spheres are kinda of limited worth too. A MtA 'Sorcerer' game has a shorter 'setup time' in that respect and you can have fun even with 'L1' Disciplines / Gifts / etc.

[Anonymouswizard]

I'm sure you could also do something with Hunter (any of the three versions), and probably any of the splats. I think the ones I'd mostly stay away from are:
-Vampire, either version !(because by the time you've sanitised, is it worth it?)
-Wraith (it's pretty heavy stuff, Geist might work though)
-Changeling: the Lost (I don't know many adults who could maturely handle it)
-Mumny: the Curse (oh boy is that a heavy concept, and fairly built into the mechanics)
-Beast (to be fair I'd just avoid this one in general until they fix the corebook)

Weirdly, I think once you've sanitised the violence in Werewolf (Apocalypse or Forsaken) would be fine. It's not going to be much harder to sanitise than most of the games.

But I really can see CofD mortals or Vigil working. Give access to psychic merits or Endowments, and make the monsters aren't too powerful or thematically problematic. So street clear of Slashers, no matter how cool they can be

[Particle_Man]

Well you can "kidify" a lot of them if you make some house rules.

Like you could run Vampire like the cartoon show Vampirina and just eliminated the need for vampires to, you know, feed.

Heck you could do Promethean if you eliminate Pandorans, Disquiet and Torment. Just have they created golems and robots and that, like Pinocchio, have fun adventures and kinda want to learn to be a real boy. It might be a little like the cartoon Gargoyles.

Basically turn it into a Silver Age Superhero game. Give the characters Kewl Powers, and avoid the dark consequences, existential questioning, negative interactions with innocent humans, etc. Heck, don't even hide in the shadows! Let the vampires exist in sunlight and fight bank robbers and leave them tied up for the police a la Spider-Man from the 60s cartoon.

[Morgaln]

I'm very late to this party but I think Werewolf can work quite well for kids if you do a game focused on the Umbra. I'd probably have something stolen from the Caern and the players are tasked with tracking down the culprit (who fled through the spirit world) and retrieving the lost item.
It gives the players the option to interact with various spirits (talking animals tend to work well with kids), they can use their different forms more freely and it's easier to sanitize fights if the enemies are spirits rather than physical beings. It also allows for more fantastic things that wouldn't be possible in the physical world.