Best way to teach kids how to play versions of DND (preferably 3.5)?

[Techmagss]

Alright so I have a totally not made up little cousin and I'm wondering how I can teach him to play 3.5 without loaning him any books or dice. The reason is A I want to see how smart this generation is and B I don't want him to get anything on my books and I don't want to lose my die.

So I'm wondering what the best way would be to teach my little cousin how to play.

[qwertyu63]

It depends how this "totally not made up little cousin" learns, and if he has access to the internet.

Step 1 regardless: Buy him his own dice. If you want him to not use yours, he will need his own.

Step 2 varies based on how he learns. If he learns by being told, teach him the core mechanic and then walk him through making a few characters (use the SRD if you can, as it's free and online, link here if you lack it). If he learns by doing, make a few simpler characters and have him play them one at a time getting more complex as you go (a fighter, then a rogue, then a sorcerer, then a cleric [that way he sees all the various archtypes]).

[ArcturusV]

Or you take something he already plays with and introduce RPG style mechanics into it. This is more or less how I learned. My first "Tabletop" games involved plastic army men and Legos. My brother, neighbors, and I would set up a table, or a room, give ourselves something like 1 hour to build, then wargame out with what we built and a few simple rules we cooked up at the time. As we did this more often, we added more rules, it got more complex. To the point where we had veterancy and legendary status on some units and were keeping track of combat encounters...

... and at that point you're pretty much doing everything you need to know to handle a game like Dungeons and Dragons. It wasn't exactly a huge jump to proper published RPGs at that point. Though I actually started off with Robotech myself (As I was a huge fan of the series).

[dps]

How old is this "little cousin"?

[Jack of Spades]

First off, Arcturus is right on the money.

Alright so I have a totally not made up little cousin and I'm wondering how I can teach him to play 3.5 without loaning him any books or dice. The reason is A I want to see how smart this generation is and B I don't want him to get anything on my books and I don't want to lose my die.

So I'm wondering what the best way would be to teach my little cousin how to play.

If you can't trust them to keep food or whatever other grime you're expecting off of books and dice, then they probably aren't mature enough for a complex set of rules like DnD yet.

Or, and this seems more likely given reason A, you're not giving the kid enough credit. If you want to interact with children, you need to realize that things will break and/or get dirty. If you can't shrug off accidental incidences of this, then you shouldn't be trying this. If the incident won't be accidental, the kid isn't at the maturity level for DnD. Maybe other tabletop games, but not DnD.

[Psyren]

1) Go to www.gog.com
2) Buy Neverwinter Nights Platinum for $10
3) Play it with him

He'll learn D&D in days, and have a blast. Best of all, he can continue to learn when you're not around.

[Synovia]

I wouldn't teach him 3.5. I'd teach him something rules light, and with smarter design. 3.5 is kind of an archaic mess at this point, with a million rules with a million exceptions.

[Jay R]

If he's a reader, buy him a PHB. This keeps him from getting anything on your books, and gives him what he needs.

[Rhynn]

I wouldn't teach him 3.5. I'd teach him something rules light, and with smarter design. 3.5 is kind of an archaic mess at this point, with a million rules with a million exceptions.

I cannot pass up a chance to plug
Basic Fantasy (free PDFs)
Swords & Wizardry (free PDFs)
Labyrinth Lord (free PDFs)

Can't get crap on PDFs. (Just the computer...) They also sell print versions.

[LibraryOgre]

Aside from the above (i.e. use a simpler version of the rules, get him his own dice), my suggestion is "Give him a character and a situation. Let him explore it in his mind, giving him details as he asks for them. Have him roll dice when appropriate."

A number of years ago, I taught a friend's son D&D... I was a poor college kid, and frequently babysat. We went with 3.0 (because 3.5 wasn't even announced at this point), and stayed simple. I gave him a simple scenario (an injured kobold was holed up in a farmer's barn), a character (a human bard), and let him run with it. He asked questions, he made choices, we rolled dice when we needed to. He quickly got the "Roll d20, add something, then tell me the number" part, and enjoyed playing.

For the record, he decided to make friends with the kobold.