DMing for a 5 year old...

[Fualkner Asiniti]

Just like the title says. Any tips for DM'ing someone so young?

[doliemaster]

Cut down on the violence unless it is your kid.

[Fualkner Asiniti]

Great. Kinda figured on that one...

Anything else?

[kyz]

Make him brutally eviscerate pastiches of his favorite TV characters in order to advance in levels.

[Abacab]

I have no DMing experience and just 30 minutes of DnD experience, but I guess you would have to explain scenarios and places more to the kid. He's five, and I wouldn't expect any five year old to automatically know his/her next move in situations that even a 20-year old would have to think about.

Or, you could just start with an easy and simple campaign to let them get a grip on what the game is about.

[Behold_the_Void]

What's the child's interests and what kind of story is he most likely to want to play? Those are the best ways to start for crafting a narrative readily accessible to a young child.

Also, keep things simple. Children tend to see the world in terms of black and white, so make sure to keep allies and villains obviously defined. Take a cue from the original Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy series (if you're familiar with either games). The plot can be quite simplistic: "Hero, go slay the evil!" It will still work.

That's about all I'm getting off the top of my head besides from know the child so you can properly craft a narrative they'd like. Also, if they seem to be getting bored, change it up a bit. Make sure you can respond to what they want and change at a moment's notice.

[warty goblin]

Hello all, new here, but I've been lurking for a couple weeks now.

Anyway, summer before last I babysat for a 5 year old girl, and her twin three year old siblings. In order to keep things under control, I instigated what came to be known as "The Story", a very heavily D&D inspired epic full of kobolds, dragons, goblins, gelatinous cubes and our three heroes: Regdar, Mialee and Soveliss, all based off of their PHB likenesses. There were no dice or rulebooks, and most of the time I just told the story in regular fashion, making things up as I went along, but occasionally (once every 10 minutes or so) let the oldest girl choose what the characters did next. These were generally pretty simple choices ala "Does Mailee cast Magic Missile or run?" or "Do the characters go left or right." This way it was interactive and kept everybody interested (including me, since things sometimes went differently than I expected), but let me keep some form of control over events. In general I tried to stick in the 'cool' monsters like displacer beasts and G-cubes and keep the scary ones to a minimum, so no undead or illithids etc.

Hope this helps.

[Felan]

I've been DMing for my 6 year-old for a little while now, and it's going fairly well. As said above, keeping it simple is the main issue.

For example, we use miniatures, and instead of explaining that diagonal moves are 1 1/2 squares, I just limit him to moving 4 squares however he wants to move, and if they happen to all be diagonals, so be it.

Some kids that age just want to "fight stuff" and don't really care for talking to townfolk in character and, if that is the case, try to keep a fairly fast pace. Now that I think of it, that's true for some of my adult gamers as well.

Most 5-6 year-olds I know have really short attention spans. No matter how cool your adventure is, don't let it get to you if they get bored after 20 minutes and need to switch.

If this is a 5 year-old you spend a lot of time with (such as if it's your child) and there's another adult in the house that you can get to play with you, that can help out a lot - that way, one person can DM, and the other can model being a player with the kiddo.

If you do have an adult playing with you, play while you're in the car. Use a sheet of paper to sketch where characters are in relation to baddies instead of using miniatures, just bring along what books you need. Playing can make long car drives much more bearable. It's been a wonder for our family.

Take advantage of the different dice to start working on math skills. It sure beats kindergarten homework.

I like to focus on straightforward bad-guys. hidden, treacherous villains and complex intrigue are right out.

Help them build their characters, helping to avoid things with complex class abilities and choices. For example, my 6 year-old wanted to play a fighter. Using power attack can be complicated when determining how much you want to subtract. So, I wrote on his character sheet what his attack bonus is with a regular attack and a full power attack. He decides which of those 2 attacks he wants to make, rather than deciding how much he wants to subtract. Be careful with spellcasters - maybe choose their spells memorized for them.
If they play a wizard, don't be surprised if they charge with their dagger - sometimes the baddies just have to be stupid and attack someone else to keep from stomping on the 5 year-old and making them cry.

The choices they make may be unlike those of most adult players, which may require some humoring. In my first adventure there was a lot of - "I climb up the tree. Okay, now I climb out of the tree. Oh, wait, I climb up the tree again. I want to put some leaves in my backpack. Okay, now I climb out of the tree. Can I find a rock on the ground? I want to put it in my backpack in case it's magic. Okay, I want to climb another tree and sleep in there at night. Something's attacking mom's person? My fighter runs away. I don't want to get eaten!"

Good luck!

[H.P. Grenade]

Does this five-year-old know the system already? (Color me shocked!) This is what I'm planning on doing when my own son is old enough not to choke on my d20's: Start out incredibly simple. Have them start out with a fighter or a sorcerer. Keep the amount of numbers they have to keep track of small: just Attack, AC, Damage, and Ability checks for skills/saving throws. Heck, for the first session, I probably wouldn't worry about any numbers whatsoever, perhaps even just having rolls for show. Don't introduce skills, feats, saving throws, and advanced characters until they understand the basics of how D20 works. The kid may not appreciate or have the patience for all of these rules, but there's no reason you can't have a fun game with just the 'storytelling' basics.

[asqwasqw]

Any idea why you have to have D&D and not just interactive story telling? Lot easier without the rules. If you want D&D, limit the options that the kid has to make, but still allow him/her to roll dice, and tell him/her what the basics of the game are.

[Dervag]

If they play a wizard, don't be surprised if they charge with their dagger - sometimes the baddies just have to be stupid and attack someone else to keep from stomping on the 5 year-old and making them cry.

However, you might want to try rattling them just a little- say, they get hit and it hurts bad but they don't get attacked again.

DM fudging is definitely a must for this situation. There are things that a normal player wouldn't stand for that the 5-year-old will most likely take for granted (like the DM railroading the plot). There are things that a normal player would actually like (such as enemies who fight smart) are likely to break the kid's heart when they lose their character.

The choices they make may be unlike those of most adult players, which may require some humoring. In my first adventure there was a lot of - "I climb up the tree. Okay, now I climb out of the tree. Oh, wait, I climb up the tree again. I want to put some leaves in my backpack. Okay, now I climb out of the tree. Can I find a rock on the ground? I want to put it in my backpack in case it's magic. Okay, I want to climb another tree and sleep in there at night. Something's attacking mom's person? My fighter runs away. I don't want to get eaten!"

You can use situations like this as a bit of a learning experience, too; play them with realistic but nonfatal consequences or ask the kid if they're sure.

For instance:
Player: "Okay, I want to climb another tree and sleep in there at night."

DM: "Okay, now roll a Balance check to stay in the tree"

[the player will most likely fail; there should probably be a penalty for balancing while asleep]

DM: "Well, you fall asleep, but some time in the night you roll over and fall out of bed. Normally, that wouldn't be a big problem, but since your bed is ten feet up a tree, it's going to hurt."

Or:
Player: "The monster is attacking Mom's person? My fighter runs away: I don't want to get eaten?"

DM: "Are you sure you want to leave Mom's person to fight the monster all alone without any help? That sounds dangerous!"

Now, if this doesn't work you shouldn't keep trying it, obviously; it just strikes me as a way to make a little hay while the sun shines.

[Penguinsushi]

Interesting. I'm not sure. The closest I've done is to teach people with no gaming experience how to play - but I've not worked with the complications of a 5-year-old understanding.

A former professor of mine was running a game for his (young) kid a while back. If I see him online anytime soon, I'll try to remember to ask him for you.

~PS

[Logic]

DO NOT give him an intellegent dagger that identifes someones Alignment, after he has stabbed them with it.

*Shudders*

Yep. It really happened folks.

[EvilElitest]

Base it after the hobbit

smart and well done, but in a gentle fantasy sort of way taht when he grow older and thinks back on it will go

"WOW, that was really good."

Hell i started playing when i was five, though i was the DM, i noticed that i really based it after the HObbit and LOTR ( I read them when i was seven).

from,
EE

[doliemaster]

Make a complex, advance, even-you can't understand and you wrote it, plot. Make it impossible to understand good and evil, make neutral prevalent and make the world depressing and dark. A world where you can't tell who will strike you down the demon or the angel and in the end they both want to kill you. What? I don't like little kids.

[El Jaspero, the Pirate King]

There was a really good article about exactly this on the Wizards site maybe 6 months ago or so...maybe more? about a guy DMing for his son who was 5 or 6 at the time, as I recall.

This isn't what I was thinking of, but it's a start. Hrm...this is going to bug me until I find it...

[Kevlimin_Soulaxe]

Any idea why you have to have D&D and not just interactive story telling? Lot easier without the rules. If you want D&D, limit the options that the kid has to make, but still allow him/her to roll dice, and tell him/her what the basics of the game are.

Exactly what I was thinking.

[Erk]

I don't recommend d20 for the system, but it is nice to have a few mechanics to keep your pacing easier and for if the kids' characters start fighting or if you want to decide if they can do something crazy. d20 has a lot of dice and rules, though. Try checking out anything TriStat - BESM d6 is the best but you can get Tristat dX online for free. It lets you build any imaginable character, and has a "cartoony" feel intended for the play which is very fitting for a game for kids. Most importantly, the rules are so simple that once you've helped them through character design they can probably start to understand the mechanics themselves.

That said, the rest of the advice here is pretty good. It's also a great way to teach a few morals beyond just "bad guys are bad and good guys are good". Be clear with your villains, but occasionally not so clear: this is an interesting way to teach kids that not all villains have handlebar moustaches and evil cackles. Also a good way to learn arithmetic if you have them help you with the mechanics a bit. "So, he has 10 hit points. You hit him with a rock for 3 damage. How many hit points does he have left? 9 8 7!"

I've been RPGing with Lego since I was too young to remember (heh. I remember having stacks of bricks to represent my hit points. Knocked one off every time I got hit), and took it to pencil and paper when I was 10 or 11 or so. The concept of an RPG comes more naturally to a kid than to an adult, most of the time.

[Mr the Geoff]

My D&D group includes the DM's 7 year old son. I am not saying it's easy having him in the game, but when it works it's rewarding.

We eased him into it slowly, firstly with people sometimes just letting him roll the dice or move the miniatures, then letting him play his character in the game that has been running for a year or so now (so we started him playing at 6, and watching at about 4).

He wanted to play a fighter, possibly not the best choice. 115 hit points of greatsword wielding mayhem and when a monster takes 30-40hp off you are risking tears. Next game we're going to try to get him an archer or a rogue - something with a simple mechanic but that isn't in the front line getting big nasty creatures ripping it to bits.

We try to start most sessions with a big fight then do all the "boring" talky stuff later. Exception will be next session as we got the stuffing knocked out of us and most of us need time to recover and spend our hard earned loot. We'll keep the kid occupied because he'll spend half the afternoon levelling a fighter from 9 to 10 while we do our thing.

Character wise he's the cohort of one of the other characters pretty much, enabling him to be npc'd come bedtime.

Another idea is to play a bit of the D&D board game - simplified rules, and its actually not bad to play.

Also, if you can find it, there's a game out there called "fuzzy heroes", a very fun introduction to RPG where instead of using minis you stat out the kid's favourite cuddly toys using a set of simple rules in the book (is it pink? that means it has 9 hit points, brown ones get 12)

[Shatenjager]

There was a really good article about exactly this on the Wizards site maybe 6 months ago or so...maybe more? about a guy DMing for his son who was 5 or 6 at the time, as I recall.

This isn't what I was thinking of, but it's a start. Hrm...this is going to bug me until I find it...

Yeah it's bugging me too. I saw it in these forums though I'll search for it.

Edit: found it: http://www.glorantha.com/support/na_yoots.html

[Dallas-Dakota]

Base it after the hobbit

smart and well done, but in a gentle fantasy sort of way taht when he grow older and thinks back on it will go

"WOW, that was really good."

Hell i started playing when i was five, though i was the DM, i noticed that i really based it after the HObbit and LOTR ( I read them when i was seven).

from,
EE

o.o your my hero!

[El Jaspero, the Pirate King]

Yeah it's bugging me too. I saw it in these forums though I'll search for it.

Edit: found it: http://www.glorantha.com/support/na_yoots.html

That's the one alright. Clearly I was not going to find it on the Wizards site, however hard I looked. Nicely done!

[LotharBot]

During a power outage, a friend who didn't have any power or flashlights brought his little boy over for our D&D session so he wouldn't be in the dark (we had lanterns and flashlights and a fireplace.) The kid was maybe 4 or 5.

We didn't let him "play" exactly, since we were all about level 12, but we gave him a random NPC figurine and let him move it around and roll the dice for his dad.

I have been involved in more in-depth games with my 12 year old sister and several other teenagers. Here are some things to keep in mind:

1) keep it simple. Kids that age can't tweak. They generally can't even roll up a level 1 character. So generate something for them, and only make them worry about a few numbers.

2) provide lots of opportunity for successes and creativity. Even something like beating someone in a race can be an interesting challenge for a young child. Games within the game are a good thing to keep in mind.

3) let them provide descriptions of what they want to do, in detail. Kids have fantastic imagination!

[EvilElitest]

o.o your my hero!

Horray, i'm a hero

Oh if you DMing the 6 and up catagory and they are not hyper, then bear two things in mind
1. Don't let them know your going easy on them. Make the world complacated, but in reality simple, just to make them think their really smart. Like in one game, when before my sister killed the dragon, she talked with it and she asked "Why do you kill people" off all things. She is nine. So that was interesting to say the least. When she had to fight it she admiting to being a little sad at his death
2. No kender
3. Reread the hobbit, the gamage cup, and the Black Caldren series

from,
EE

[Fualkner Asiniti]

Thanks for the huge support. So far, the game is moving quite well, and I help him through a DMNPC. He's actually playing a sorceror. And not doing half-bad.

[lotofsnow]

3. Reread ... the Black Caldren series

You mean The Chronicles of Prydain series by Lloyd Alexander. Great books, I couldn't recommend them more.

[Driderman]

Lot of good advice here. I worked as a teacher of sorts for a year, teaching roleplaying (yes, roleplaying, for 30 $ an hour no less!) around the age 9-14.
Basic rule is to handwalk them through it. If you want to teach him the rules, do it slowly and gradually. Give him clear-cut choices as has already been mentioned. When doing combat and other rules-heavy stuff, take care of the techicalities for him (actually, that can work for grown up gamers as well, if you have the ability to do all the numbers in your head and keep track of everyones characters).
Simply put, think of this as playing a computer rpg and YOU'RE the computer. He clicks some options and you make sure it happens within the rules and he's entertained.
Then you can gradually introduce him to some more advanced concepts as he starts to understand the basics

The D&D starter boxset or whatever its called is probably a good idea too, since it comes with pregenerated maps and simplified stats

[Leush]

Okay, I have some coppers to throw at people in this thread:

Stop being so patronising to little people. They're stupid and egomanical and selfish and... Not that different from an adult.

Treat them like any beginner (okay, be even more patient than that, but not by much). Human beings adapt and learn quickly at that age...

In short, I would run a campaign in the same way I would run it if they were absent and an adult who didn't have a clue about complex social interactions and had mathematical problems would.

[Premier]

Two pieces of advice for the original poster:

1, Go have a look at Dragonsfoot.org, where a bit of clever searching will yield several threads about this very topic.

2, Forget about using D20. It's way too complicated for a 5 year old. Your best bet would be either Original D&D, any flavour of Classic D&D (Cook, Moldvay, Mentzer, possibly simplified down a bit), or something ultra-simple non-D&D stuff like S.L.U.G.

[Dragor]

Yeah it's bugging me too. I saw it in these forums though I'll search for it.

Edit: found it: http://www.glorantha.com/support/na_yoots.html

Very intriguing, that article. Very funny in some parts too- it was good seeing him grow his imagination as the sessions went on. Kudos to the father, he did an excellent job too!