What version of D&D do you play with your kids?

[ken-do-nim]

I was surprised when third edition came out without an accompanying Basic edition. In my opinion, third edition is far too complicated to play with anyone under 15. Now that's just my opinion of course, but bear with me.

I did the Big Brother program about 6 years ago, and my Little (as we called them) wanted to learn D&D. Instead of teaching him 3E, I broke out the Rules Cyclopedia (which was the first time for me) and we played through B1 with another Big/Little pair. My Little was about 12 at the time. We had a good time, though my Little had issues not understanding the difference between intelligence and wisdom.

A few years later, my Little picked up the 3.0 and 3.5 books (naturally he couldn't tell which was what) and told me about the adventures he played with his friends in school, and I could tell they didn't have a clue how it worked (level 30 characters running from orcs, nobody played a spellcaster because they couldn't figure it out, etc.)

So barring 4E, I still think Classic D&D or 2E without the optional rules is a better gaming system for young'uns, but of course those are out-of-print systems. Well enough about what I think, what do you play with your kids, or plan to play with your kids.

[AstralFire]

If I, for some reason, decide that my spermatozoa absolutely MUST fuse with oocytes and undergo a runaway cellular reaction... I would probably start the kid off with an entirely different system, one that's a lot easier to learn, and then work my way up. Maybe the system I'm developing, if I'm still using it in 10 years.

[Knaight]

I play with my younger brother and his friends, or rather GM for my younger brother and his friends, and there is a huge age gap between us(3 and a half years, so its basically the same sort of thing as playing with your kids), so I'm thinking that if I absolutely had to GM D&D I would do third or fourth edition. One of his friends DMed 3.5, and well, from age 12 though, so I have to disagree with your opinion about kids 15 and older. That said what we actually do play is Fudge, with a Mutants and Masterminds game scheduled to start as soon as one of my players actually reads the book.

[Talya]

Uh, I don't. I don't think I ever would, actually. My kids are 5 and 3, and I don't know what type of stuff they'll like when they're older, anyway.

[AstralFire]

Uh, I don't. I don't think I ever would, actually. My kids are 5 and 3, and I don't know what type of stuff they'll like when they're older, anyway.

Eh, it's a lot like playing sports with your kids. It helps develop them, gives you one more thing you can do with them, and they can decide when they're older if they don't want to do it.

Or so I hear, my parents never played anything with me.

[Xyk]

Being 15, I am insulted. I've been playing different D&D editions for at least 5 years. My older brother (4 years older) Dmed for me and my friends on multiple occasions with little dumbing down. Also my friends step-dad (been playing D&D since forever) DMed 3.0 for us when we were all 12 I think.

It all depends on the kids. I, for instance, am a super genius, so I might not be the best example. :smallbiggrin:

[Knaight]

More of a thing you would do after you know their interested, but other than that I agree. Although I think your in the minority about not forcing your kids to play sports, I know people who have been held back in school because their parents wanted them to be better at sports than the other kids in their grade. Ironically one of those people was the captain of the chess team at one of the schools I went to as a rebellious thing, which is kind of what would happen if you forced a kid to play RPGs, only reversed. They are also likely to suck at sports since they will only be doing it to be rebellious(also like the chess team captain, although the entire team was horrible, or else just had really bad luck playing me and a few other people I know. That school was pathetic.)

[Lert, A.]

I often have one or more of my kids around when my group meets. We use a heavily houseruled 3.5 edition which I DM.

The really young ones have helped me out with rolling dice, sometimes roleplaying NPCs. My oldest is 7 now and she actually plays a PC, having picked up the game pretty well just by watching.

If you want to throw them into gaming use some other system. Otherwise, just let them watch and they will learn.

[AstralFire]

More of a thing you would do after you know their interested, but other than that I agree. Although I think your in the minority about not forcing your kids to play sports, I know people who have been held back in school because their parents wanted them to be better at sports than the other kids in their grade. Ironically one of those people was the captain of the chess team at one of the schools I went to as a rebellious thing, which is kind of what would happen if you forced a kid to play RPGs, only reversed. They are also likely to suck at sports since they will only be doing it to be rebellious(also like the chess team captain, although the entire team was horrible, or else just had really bad luck playing me and a few other people I know. That school was pathetic.)

From my experience, such parents are in the minority. More common than they should be, but the minority.

You shouldn't force them to do anything they don't want, but playing stuff with them to get them interested when they're little doesn't require that. I became a big reader because my older sister would read her homework next to me and I wanted to see what she was doing.

[Knaight]

Its a huge minority then, probably 40% or higher.

[AstralFire]

Its a huge minority then, probably 40% or higher.

I know very few people who have been pushed into sports. I know a lot of Korean kids who get pushed into studying real hard...

[Xyk]

I often have one or more of my kids around when my group meets. We use a heavily houseruled 3.5 edition which I DM.

The really young ones have helped me out with rolling dice, sometimes roleplaying NPCs. My oldest is 7 now and she actually plays a PC, having picked up the game pretty well just by watching.

If you want to throw them into gaming use some other system. Otherwise, just let them watch and they will learn.

That's essentially how I learned to play. I would listen while my brother and his friends played and if they needed an extra player it would be me almost every time.

[Knaight]

I know very few people who have been pushed into sports. I know a lot of Korean kids who get pushed into studying real hard...

Well the point is they get pushed around and forced to do stuff excessively. In general(this is going to be extremely cynical, if you don't like cynicism don't read it) parents have kids for three reasons, the first being to carry on their own personal dreams, so they force their kids to do stuff they regret not doing, status symbols and carrying on the family name being the second point, as they are basically the same thing, these kids are neglected or forced into doing what their parents want them to do and probably did themselves out of tradition, and tax breaks by stupid people who don't realize how expensive raising a child is. In general, they have their first kid, take a bunch of pictures, then are extremely strict, for later kids people more often let them be themselves while blatantly favoring them to make up for the guilt of not taking pictures of them while they were babies as much, which continues up until both kids are adults and live on their own.

[Xyk]

stuff

you forgot about the most common reason

"We don't need protection!"
:smalltongue::smalltongue:

[Knaight]

Sure, but thats where the babies found in trash cans come from, as opposed to people actually raising the child.

[Prometheus]

*rerails thread* I don't know much about 2 ed. D&D, but I do that in general, there are much simpler systems to learn than D&D (FUDGE comes to mind), especially the young. Kids can start early and accomplish a lot, but there is a lot that can do wrong. Personally I played in middle school but I had been introduced to it, taught the rules, and still got a lot of stuff wrong. It's easier to learn to be a character than it is to be a DM.

[Knaight]

Back off the rails, Fudge stopped being an acronym in 2005 with the release of the Fudge 10th anniversary edition. Back on the rails, a lot of younger players might keep the preferences of the early game and never like D&D, and just stay with a game like Fudge. Which is a reason to start them on D&D, since they will be more willing to branch out and try new stuff to like, because of its reputation as a popular system. Unless the game they start with is Fudge, since them liking it most is a good thing.

[RebelRogue]

As someone who plays with kids for a living, I do indeed believe children are capable of learning 3.5, at least the basics of it. I've played it with kids from 10+ for a couple of years. While a lot of them might not truly understand the nuts and bolts of it, they play the game just fine and have fun with it. They're kids though, and often act immature and metagamey but that's another problem entirely. Having said that, we've recently shifted to 4th ed, and I do believe this is easier for everybody to handle (it's still sort of a pain for them to manage/remember their powers).

[Knaight]

Yeah, I would say 7 on average is more than enough to play, probably 9 to GM.

[Mad Wizard]

While I'm not a parent, my dad started me on D&D 3.0 about 8 years ago, when I was 7, and I enjoyed it plenty then.

[Knaight]

Another person my age. And I nailed the age for him on the dot, although that is average. I know 10 year olds who couldn't play, and 5 year olds who do.

[Tsotha-lanti]

Someone's underestimating kids. I and my friends started playing AD&D 2nd ed. at 11 or 12 years old, learning it on our own, without any significant problems understanding it. We also played RuneQuest (and only had a bit of trouble figuring out how to calculate the skill class modifiers, for some reason), MERP, and other games. We got some of the rules wrong on occasion, but that hardly mattered - we had a ton of fun. (At 25, I still can't ever be bothered to sit down and read through an RPG rulebook in its entirety before we start playing.)

[BizzaroStormy]

I`ve got nay kids an' hope t' Davey Jones that I neredo. If by some horrid accident that did happen, I would likely be havin' them playin' 3.5.

[Superglucose]

If you want to throw them into gaming use some other system. Otherwise, just let them watch and they will learn.

Hey, it works for walking and talking, each of which are mounds more complex than D&D.

[Lert, A.]

Hey, it works for walking and talking, each of which are mounds more complex than D&D.

You think that's bad.

They end up having to learn how to feed themselves.:smalleek:

[BizzaroStormy]

Then all ye need t' do be teach them th' meanin' o' "Get a job or get ou' o' this house."

[skywalker]

If I had children(which I calculate as under 10) right now, I would probably play Fudge, FATE, 1st(or earlier) edition D&D, or 4th. In that order. But I probably wouldn't at all unless they asked me too(which they probably would, what with dad running off to play D&D every Sunday night.

What do I plan to play? Pretend :smallsmile:

[huttj509]

Well, my girlfriend played 2E with her family while growing up.

I do not have kids (nor do I plan to in the forseeable future, though plans are subject to change), but a couple of my gaming friends have a currently 2 year old (and another on the way).

I figure she's definitely gonna be introduced to role playing games (which, when the time comes, I hope "Uncle Huttj" gets to be involved), I'd probably suggest focusing on the imagination aspects. Something less combat heavy in terms of the campaign. Beyond that, I figure whatever the rest of us are more used to we can use for the mechanics behind what's going on.

And no, I don't plan to be called "Uncle Huttj", as there are other monikers I use more often in the circle those friends are in.

[Worira]

7.5E.NEEDS MOAR WERDZ

[AslanCross]

I don't have kids, but my players are my students/former students. They were able to pick up 3.5 pretty well at age 14-15. We've been playing for one and a half years now.

[turkishproverb]

See, I agree that 3/3.5 was clearly AD&D 3/3.5. IF now that 4.0 is out, we get an AD&D 4.0, I'll start being a little kinder to wizards.