HELP!!! i might be gaming with munckins tomorrow!!!

[big teej]

tomorrow me, my family, and my dnd buddy are heading down to my sisters house for a day.

and after a moments contemplation, i'm possibly maybe probably going to try and hook my nephews into the game...


any thoughts on how to sell the game to lil kids? and how to run it?


this thread only really helps me from now until tomorrow afternoon so PLEASE REPLY QUICKLY

(however, if it's past noon tomorrow, don't let that stop you from replying, i may be able to access the net at my sisters house)

[Dusk Eclipse]

How old are your nephews? that will change a bit of the advice we can give... if they are young give them a big flashy oneshot so they can see the best part... maybe a fight with a dragon?

[Raistlin1040]

How old are the little devils? That'll affect quite a bit, I imagine.

[Matamane]

inappropriately named topic, yet somehow very appropriate...

hook them with a good story, if that fails, be a munchkin and go up against a tarrasque. Awesome factor usually sells.

[big teej]

my apologies, i only just realized the double meaning of referring to them as munchkins. (ooopsie)


the age range is..... i believe 7 - 11 (possibly 8) my neice is 7 or 8, my oldest nephew is 11ish and the middle child is.... well, somewhere in the middle

i don't see them often enough to start a campaign so it IS going to be a one shot, and very low intensity (the only thing we'll actually roll will probably be stats and damage, i doubt skill points and stuff will even come up, but i dunno)


uhmmmm is any further information required? or would any further elaboration be helpful?

[ShadowsGrnEyes]

game premise: SHREK AND FIONA NEED YOUR HELP!

have the kids make characters they can play in the Shrek universe. Then have them go fight a fairytale bad guy trying to ruin the day. Make it short, make it simple. toss out rules that are to complicated and make sure they all get a little spotlight.
If they do poorly use big dramatic words and make it not so bad as it should be.
If they should die, FUDGE THE ROLL AND DO NOT KILL THE CHILDS CHARACTER. Run it like a disney movie. . . minus the bigotry. . . the good guys never loose, but hard stuff can happen in the middle, as long as its not TOO hard cause they're kids and will get frustrated and quit.

They can learn the hard facts of gaming when they're entering puberty(everything else bad happens then) but if you want to hook them into it you need give them a success experience to start with. . .

NOTE: if they dont like shrek use some other fantasy kids movie they do like. . . i only say shrek because its gender neutral

[big teej]

yea that was the basic plan, i was going to toss everything (just about) but stats and damage rolls, and let them flip through my monster manual and say 'i wanna fight this'

oh wait, that kinda opens the door to 'can i be one of these'? ick

[pingcode20]

Eh, just let 'em have it. You're trying to draw them in, after all. No need to come down hard with rules yet, let stunts rule the day.

If they pick something and ask to be it, then get them to come up with a way that it would be part of this, and let them have it.

[big teej]

the general consensus seems to be 'let fluff prevail' which i agree with

which leads to the second part of my problem

my dnd buddy? do i make him work within the rules? ask him to dumb himself down so he doesn't break the game with his intellect over theres?

etc?

[Saintjebus]

Make sure that you're descriptions are as epic and vivid as possible. You don't want a one-shot full of "You hit him with your sword. He dies."

You want it to be full of stuff like, "You duck his last attack, and see an opening. You lunge toward him and score a hit directly in his midsection. He looks at you in shock, then falls over and dies. You've won!"

[big teej]

Make sure that you're descriptions are as epic and vivid as possible. You don't want a one-shot full of "You hit him with your sword. He dies."

You want it to be full of stuff like, "You duck his last attack, and see an opening. You lunge toward him and score a hit directly in his midsection. He looks at you in shock, then falls over and dies. You've won!"

my problem is for me 'epic and vivid' tends to wax towards 'violent and bloody'

but i agree, and ......... i need to start taking notes

[gallagher]

i would suggest them being at level 6. fighting classes get extra attacks, sneaky guys are more than glorified lockpicks, and casters arent as crippled as they are by few spells at low levels, and they have enough gp to buy nice things.

also, somewhere in the middle, give each of them a nice "ancient magical item" that makes them look super cool. just make it up off the fly. the sword is now covered in fire that doesnt hurt you. the wizards robes give him a DR in case he gets hit. rogues get a free spike chain (i dont see how that isnt going to make them be all like "cool, im fighting with a huge chain")

[big teej]

i would suggest them being at level 6. fighting classes get extra attacks, sneaky guys are more than glorified lockpicks, and casters arent as crippled as they are by few spells at low levels, and they have enough gp to buy nice things.

also, somewhere in the middle, give each of them a nice "ancient magical item" that makes them look super cool. just make it up off the fly. the sword is now covered in fire that doesnt hurt you. the wizards robes give him a DR in case he gets hit. rogues get a free spike chain (i dont see how that isnt going to make them be all like "cool, im fighting with a huge chain")

hm..... at level six they get 2 extra stat points, plus our groups standard d4 point buy... should i not dump that on them?

also, does anyone have any thoughts on how to handle the inevitable (but hopefully very rare) bad rolls?

or a streak of bad rolls?

yea i know i'm gonna fudge dice to prevent my munchkins dieing but miss hits and failed saves?

perfection is fun for only so long

[Dusk Eclipse]

hm..... at level six they get 2 extra stat points, plus our groups standard d4 point buy... should i not dump that on them?

also, does anyone have any thoughts on how to handle the inevitable (but hopefully very rare) bad rolls?

or a streak of bad rolls?

yea i know i'm gonna fudge dice to prevent my munchkins dieing but miss hits and failed saves?

perfection is fun for only so long

explain beforehand that the might get bad rolls?

[big teej]

explain beforehand that the might get bad rolls?

that makes way to much sense ....

[The Glyphstone]

Make premade characters for them, with some extras. A sneaky halfling thief, a smart elf wizard, a strong dwarf fighter - simple descriptions, and at least two of each class/role in case they want to double-up. Give each one something unique and cool...the human fighter's sword lights on fire, but maybe the dwarf fighter has a shield that can flash a bright light and blind enemies (homebrew, Dazzle effect).

Have a simple quest for them to go on - they're in a village, and the mayor's daughter/son has been kidnapped by goblins. They're the only heroes available to save them!

Have a few goblins in a cave for them to fight, and fudge the dice mercilessly so that they're never in danger, and it's an easy fight - explain to them that rolling low is bad, and rolling high is good, but keep the goblin rolls to where they only get hurt a few times. When they bring the lost child back to town, describe a huge party and feast that the town throws to celebrate.

[big teej]

Make premade characters for them, with some extras. A sneaky halfling thief, a smart elf wizard, a strong dwarf fighter - simple descriptions, and at least two of each class/role in case they want to double-up. Give each one something unique and cool...the human fighter's sword lights on fire, but maybe the dwarf fighter has a shield that can flash a bright light and blind enemies (homebrew, Dazzle effect).

Have a simple quest for them to go on - they're in a village, and the mayor's daughter/son has been kidnapped by goblins. They're the only heroes available to save them!

Have a few goblins in a cave for them to fight, and fudge the dice mercilessly so that they're never in danger, and it's an easy fight - explain to them that rolling low is bad, and rolling high is good, but keep the goblin rolls to where they only get hurt a few times. When they bring the lost child back to town, describe a huge party and feast that the town throws to celebrate.

mmmmm.... it may be my creativity talking (or it may be my paranoia) but the pregen character idea strikes me as bad..... BUT it has merits, and i may take along a few just to be safe.

[The Glyphstone]

Well, character creation is long, complicated, and can be a bit boring for people who don't understand the rules. It's really something you want to save for the second session, if there is one - the first game is 'here, pick a hero and go on an adventure!", the second game (if they liked it and want to try more) is "now, want to learn how to design your own hero?".

[big teej]

Well, character creation is long, complicated, and can be a bit boring for people who don't understand the rules. It's really something you want to save for the second session, if there is one - the first game is 'here, pick a hero and go on an adventure!", the second game (if they liked it and want to try more) is "now, want to learn how to design your own hero?".

oh i know, i was just gonna have them roll stats. and pick weapons
aside from that (things like skill points, feats, etc) wasn't gonna use them

i agree creation can be a bit... tedious (especially if i'm dming)

but i was just gonna have them roll high power

give them a brief description of what each statistic does. and then let them do whatever, with pregen characters in reserve

[The Glyphstone]

Maybe picking a weapon for a bit of creativity, but you really want to keep it as simple as possible for the first session. Have pregenned characters for everyone, but with a few options to choose...say, whoever picks the sorcerer/wizard can have either Fireball or Lightning Bolt for a big blasting spell, the warrior can choose to have a club, sword, or axe. Little things that make them feel like they're creating their characters, but are actually mainly cosmetic differences to keep you where you can make sure they have fun.

[Anxe]

I started playing when I was that old. Our first mission was to find out why the elves weren't trading with the human town anymore. (They'd been attacked by trolodytes and skeletons)

If they don't know what to do, use a DMPC.

[Beorn080]

the general consensus seems to be 'let fluff prevail' which i agree with

which leads to the second part of my problem

my dnd buddy? do i make him work within the rules? ask him to dumb himself down so he doesn't break the game with his intellect over theres?

etc?

For your D&D buddy, perhaps make him the BBEG? Would even work better, since he'll know the Evil Overlord list and you can ask him to pretty much make sure to break every rule on there. Maybe have him play through a voice distorter in another room, at least for when he is talking to the group.

Oh yes, be sure EVERYONE has a clear role. Depending on their maturity level, and lets face it even us older players get bad days, you might end up in a "My fighter beats on the bad guys""No my wizard zaps them all with lightning" No yes no yes.

If possible, I would try to nudge the wizard player onto the oldest one, and remind them that, while powerful, they have limited resources and must use them to maximum effect.

[ShadowsGrnEyes]

kids will fight over characters. . . let them play whatever they want, and make a character sheet on the spot really fast. dont use a real sheet just write it on paper.

kids have short attention spans, dont worry about level or special abilites or saves or anything other than the bare bones. just give them a few theme classes with theme abilities.

Class: whatever they want to be (fighter, sorcerer, thief, healer) dont give them the option of the complicated classes and if two kids want to play the sorcerer let them both play sorcerers.

Fighter: Your harder to hit cause your wear lots of armor and you hit really hard with your sword so you get to add (make up a number) to your sword attack rolls.

Sorcerer: you dont wear big armor like the fighter so your not that hard to hit, but you stand back most of the time and use your spells to attack the enemy. You can cast magic missle (make up a number) times per day. and Fireball (make up a smaller number) times per day.

Theif: Your really sneaky and are good at sneaking surpriseing them enemy. You can sneak up on the enemy with a sneak roll and do extra damage to the enemy. or you can not sneak and just use your daggers to hit the enemy for a little damage.

Healer: Your're the one who makes sure the rest of the party stays alive, whenever someone gets hit you can youse your healing spell to give them back their hitpoints. when no ones hurt you can use your weapon to try and hit the bad guy, but you dont do alot of damage.


Then make the rest fluff. if they want to try somthing that has large complicated rolls like grapple or a skill check, just turn it into an unmodified d20 roll. Give them a fun monseter or two to fight in a tower or a castle or somthing then give them a big dramatic reward for being heros.

PROBLEMS:

Bad rolls: Make it funny, without making fun of them. kids like to be commedians, but they hate to be made fun of. so instead of "you failed that roll you dont hit." to which other kids will respond with teasing and mockery."wow, you swing that sword right past the guy but rather than hurting him, you cut the belt on his pants and loose the rest of that turn to giggling cause his pants fell down."

Your other friend: dude, just have him help you as your CoGM. Do not have him go into this attempting to play a normal game, it will jsut confuse the kids. . if he's cool with it or really wants to play. Have him play a fighter with the same rules as the kids and be a sort of party leader to help guide them along, but make him play by the kiddies rules (which is basically all fluff) this is kindof dependant on his personality.

[Ravens_cry]

I agree with pre-generated characters for your first game. D&D character creation is a tiresome process involving so many choices, or so it seem when you start out.
I also agree that vivid description are also an asset. While I am inexperienced rules wise, I have DM'd one or two times and a good description can add so much to a scenario. You didn't just critical the rat, its skeleton shot out its behind you hit it so hard.
Go campy, go cheesy, and have fun.

[bobspldbckwrds]

hmm... might i also suggest a very fond memory?

the princess bride

like the grandpa said, it has everything. refluff to taste, alter for party, and voila, you have a spiffy little adventure. just make sure they dont get killed by a ROUS

[Ravens_cry]

hmm... might i also suggest a very fond memory?

the princess bride

like the grandpa said, it has everything. refluff to taste, alter for party, and voila, you have a spiffy little adventure. just make sure they dont get killed by a ROUS

Rodents of Unusual Size? I don't think they exist.
*fails grapple check*

[big teej]

kids will fight over characters. . . let them play whatever they want, and make a character sheet on the spot really fast. dont use a real sheet just write it on paper.
/snip.

I am so cribbing that whole post and using it to hook them into this!


now that i've slept on it, i do like the pregen characters idea alot more than i did last night.


I think my buddy would be willing to dumb down to kiddie rules, but we have an hour car ride to talk about it so we can do that while we make the pregen characters


also... uhm... I have not seen the princess bride... I shall go cry in a corner now

[ShadowsGrnEyes]

I am so cribbing that whole post and using it to hook them into this!


now that i've slept on it, i do like the pregen characters idea alot more than i did last night.


I think my buddy would be willing to dumb down to kiddie rules, but we have an hour car ride to talk about it so we can do that while we make the pregen characters


also... uhm... I have not seen the princess bride... I shall go cry in a corner now

1. your welcome, in my family the children span the gap from infant to 12. . . (i've been around this block before. it can be great fun if you ignore most of the rules until they're old enough to start understanding most of them. at younger ages, kids just want to win. They dont understand cooperative play until they're a touch older)

2. OMG GO WATCH PRINCESS BRIDE RIGHT NOW!

[bartman]

kids will fight over characters. . . <shortened for ease>

This is awesome. there are 2 sets of parent in our group, and when our children get to be of an age (they are 1 and 18 months, long way to go yet) i really want to introduce them to D&D. This is a huge help.

[big teej]

well....

while this thread was extremely successful, the implementation was a bust i'm afraid

dnd just can't compete with a lake house and nice weather ^_^

we ended up spending the visit on the water jetskiing and playing smash brothers brawl with my middle nephew (the one most likely to end up a gamer)

oh well... totally worth it