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  1. - Top - End - #1
    Dwarf in the Playground
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    Default Roleplaying: Kids vs Adult players

    Anyone want to share the types of differences they have noticed with younger players in the 6-10yo age range. I have noticed a number of things, but I am wondering if it is just my kids, or are they common themes.

    Kids (of that age) tend to:
    - Like 30-60min games, any longer and they wander off (especially the youngest).
    - The game has to be able to accomodate kids leaving the table (you know, when the 6yo has had enough after 30min, but the 8yo and her friend want to keep playing).
    - They like having their friends drop in and play (you know, like a playdate, and now you have a new character that will only be in the game for one session... this session, the one we are playing in two minutes).
    - They don't seem to care about leveling, or much about mechanics.
    - They have no care about classes/races. My kids love picking characters from the monster manual... I have a Behir and a Couatl in my current game.
    - They find the character creation process to be overwhelming if it takes longer than 1-2minutes.
    - They can't read well enough to keep up with complicate rules, or even a complicated character sheet.
    - The same goes for a written inventory (we use a communal loot box, and when they get loot it is mostly always something they can put in the box)

    Anyone have any other input?

  2. - Top - End - #2
    Barbarian in the Playground
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    Default Re: Roleplaying: Kids vs Adult players

    Things I've found:

    - Whether or not they care about class/mechanics, each kid wants to be the Best in the group at something or some category of things.
    - Sometimes they'll pick in-character activities very confidently, choosing their own path and adventure, but frequently, they'll treat the plot as a story, asking "What happens next?"
    - They take in-character arguments personally unless you're careful to pose any debate as between their PCs. Rather than "He was mean to you, what do you do?" it's much better to say "Character 1 was mean to Character 2, what does Character 2 say back?" Referring to their character's names, rather than to the players themselves, helps keep IC arguments from becoming OOC arguments.
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  3. - Top - End - #3
    Dwarf in the Playground
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    Default Re: Roleplaying: Kids vs Adult players

    Quote Originally Posted by Tiadoppler View Post
    Things I've found:
    - Whether or not they care about class/mechanics, each kid wants to be the Best in the group at something or some category of things.
    .
    Like they want to have their hero moment? I never considered writing parts of the story to give them a hero moment.

    Quote Originally Posted by Tiadoppler View Post
    Things I've found:
    - Sometimes they'll pick in-character activities very confidently, choosing their own path and adventure, but frequently, they'll treat the plot as a story, asking "What happens next?"
    .
    Oh I have seen the same. They are very involved with the creation of their character, but as soon as they story starts they don't particularly roleplay that character, instead they are very story focused. "What has mum got in store for us next".

  4. - Top - End - #4
    Barbarian in the Playground
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    Default Re: Roleplaying: Kids vs Adult players

    Quote Originally Posted by Kaibis View Post
    Like they want to have their hero moment? I never considered writing parts of the story to give them a hero moment.
    I'm not sure it's about the hero moment. I've heard: "Yeah, you're the best at spells, but I'm the most charismatic and the best at talking." "I'm the strongest, but you're the toughest." It's how they differentiate characters from each other when small stat/skill differences aren't noticeable enough. I would be very reluctant to create a game where there were two kids, each playing Strong, Tough fighters, because each kid would want something special that belongs to them (a party role, or specialized skill) that only their character can do.
    The battle cry of a true master is "RAW!!!"

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  5. - Top - End - #5
    Ettin in the Playground
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    Default Re: Roleplaying: Kids vs Adult players

    My observations:

    - kids will take "anything is possible" very literally, for example one went straight to wanting to build a rocket to the moon. So the limits of the game and the characters need to be well-established

    - kids are at least as likely to engage in murderhoboism as adults, sometimes with no prodding from the part of the GM or the game. It doesn't matter if your players are girl cub scouts, chances are high they will want to shank somebody and take their stuff

    - player-versus-player is the norm in most games, so don't be surprised if kids play against each other. This isn't an actual problem you need to weed out, as long as the kids are a good sport about it and don't take things personally

    - kids don't take things personally more often than adults, they'll just be more emotional when they do and don't know how to de-escalate. That is, if a kid gets upset that another player shanked their character, they may pout, cry or throw a tantrum, and need (an adult) GM to get them to calm down. By contrast, when an adult gets upset, they will write a hundred-page thesis on why what the other player did is objectively bad gaming, unless they realize how silly they're being.
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  6. - Top - End - #6
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    d6 Re: Roleplaying: Kids vs Adult players

    This is why modules are great. They give you an area and different things to interact with. People wilderness and most importantly goals. Remember this game predates video games. The big problem is they do not make a lot of lower level settings. As my cousin put it I am not running a dirt farmer. He was forced to play for a job at a book store job. Now in the army as an officer. I wonder if they play to teach strategy? Hopefully they fo it would a great laugh for me.
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  7. - Top - End - #7
    Troll in the Playground
     
    MonkGuy

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    Default Re: Roleplaying: Kids vs Adult players

    My son is 7. We play D&D 3.5 with him every Sunday, with little or no trouble.

    We had him describe what he wanted to do as an adventurer and talked to him about the various base races and what they're like. He was happiest with Half Orc Fighter, L2.

    We built the character for him and then showed him his character sheet, and gave him a collection of dice he would need to play Thokk the Mighty.

    When he attacks something, we have him describe or play out the attack, which is amusing for the whole group. When he does something that could be dangerous for Thokk or the rest of the party, we ask him if he is sure if he wants to do that, and explains the consequences of doing so. (Things like bursting open doors and treasure without waiting for the Rogue, provoking AoOs, exploring other parts of a dungeon while a combat is going on, yelling in a dungeon when the party is trying to be sneaky).

    Whatever decision he goes with, we allow, as long as he doesn't attack another member of the party.

    Our sessions last 3-5 hours and are very kick-in-the-door. RP is encouraged, but kept within the purview of dungeon diving. So lengthy back story exposition and heartfelt exchanges are less common than combat description, or "NO DON'T" when Thokk bursts through a door that a high Listen result revealed a room full of orcs were readying javelin tosses at the first thing that comes through that door.

    We hand wave all mundane gear except tool kits, and don't bother with rations or rest unless necessary to rebuild spells. So, if Thokk wants some chalk to draw on the wall, even if it's not in his character sheet, Thokk has some chalk... no biggie.

    We break up slow moving sessions with fresh baked cookies and milk, and laugh about our adventure story so far, giving our son time to think about his character and how Thokk made an impact on the direction of the game. Once we're ready, we get back into it.

    Though, in retrospect, I would've insisted on running 5E. I'm just going to say, character building in 5E is soooo much more streamlined than 3.5, and I think even my son could've built his own character that way.
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  8. - Top - End - #8
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    Default Re: Roleplaying: Kids vs Adult players

    Quote Originally Posted by inexorabletruth View Post
    My son is 7. We play D&D 3.5 with him every Sunday, with little or no trouble.

    We had him describe what he wanted to do as an adventurer and talked to him about the various base races and what they're like. He was happiest with Half Orc Fighter, L2.

    We built the character for him and then showed him his character sheet, and gave him a collection of dice he would need to play Thokk the Mighty.

    When he attacks something, we have him describe or play out the attack, which is amusing for the whole group. When he does something that could be dangerous for Thokk or the rest of the party, we ask him if he is sure if he wants to do that, and explains the consequences of doing so. (Things like bursting open doors and treasure without waiting for the Rogue, provoking AoOs, exploring other parts of a dungeon while a combat is going on, yelling in a dungeon when the party is trying to be sneaky).

    Whatever decision he goes with, we allow, as long as he doesn't attack another member of the party.

    Our sessions last 3-5 hours and are very kick-in-the-door. RP is encouraged, but kept within the purview of dungeon diving. So lengthy back story exposition and heartfelt exchanges are less common than combat description, or "NO DON'T" when Thokk bursts through a door that a high Listen result revealed a room full of orcs were readying javelin tosses at the first thing that comes through that door.

    We hand wave all mundane gear except tool kits, and don't bother with rations or rest unless necessary to rebuild spells. So, if Thokk wants some chalk to draw on the wall, even if it's not in his character sheet, Thokk has some chalk... no biggie.

    We break up slow moving sessions with fresh baked cookies and milk, and laugh about our adventure story so far, giving our son time to think about his character and how Thokk made an impact on the direction of the game. Once we're ready, we get back into it.

    Though, in retrospect, I would've insisted on running 5E. I'm just going to say, character building in 5E is soooo much more streamlined than 3.5, and I think even my son could've built his own character that way.
    I have nothing really to add other than to say that that story brought a smile to my face. :)
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  9. - Top - End - #9
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    RedWizardGuy

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    Default Re: Roleplaying: Kids vs Adult players

    This is insightful. I'm about to introduce my daughter to the hobby and many of these are things I had not considered. Thanks everybody.

  10. - Top - End - #10

    Default Re: Roleplaying: Kids vs Adult players

    I guess your kids are typical.

    Though:

    *I find kids want to play a game way, way, way, way, way longer then I do (and I for example don't sleep some Thursdays to stay up all night and game). Like we will ''plan'' to game for an hour, and they want to go on for 10. Of course, it is also a ''not so sneaky'' way to stay up later. Though, it's also a great motivator too as they will do things like ''get ready for bed'' in record time...just to play a half hour more.

    *Kids love the To Be Continued. Though, of course, this likes comes from reading them stories and TV shows. We often leave off at ''the dragon breathes fire on your character''(and they don't roll their save yet) or something like that. And me, being me, literately have a LOT of cliffhangers (''your character uses the rope to climb down the cliff, and then feels a tug on the rope...To Be Continued!")

    *Kids make simple characters. A bit of a given? They have a character idea, and they just make it.

    *Kids are generally rules lite, but sure become experts on the rule or two they use a lot. Becky with Tumbleena the Tumbler has all the Tumble Rules memorized.

    *Kids get very attached to a character in like seconds. But this is great for immersion.

    *Plenty of kids have no problem getting into the role play. Seconds after the game starts they are fulling role playing Zorna the Monk.

    *Kids like lots of action and adventure.

  11. - Top - End - #11
    Troll in the Playground
     
    Kobold

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    Default Re: Roleplaying: Kids vs Adult players

    Quote Originally Posted by Frozen_Feet View Post
    - kids are at least as likely to engage in murderhoboism as adults, sometimes with no prodding from the part of the GM or the game. It doesn't matter if your players are girl cub scouts, chances are high they will want to shank somebody and take their stuff.
    The most merciless, bloodthirsty players I've ever worked with were a bunch of 9-year-old girls. And also the most prone to collect pets.

    "Well, we could take the wolf cubs with us"
    "What are we going to feed them?"
    "There's that stack of goblins we killed..."
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  12. - Top - End - #12
    Troll in the Playground
     
    MonkGuy

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    Default Re: Roleplaying: Kids vs Adult players

    Quote Originally Posted by Joe the Rat View Post
    The most merciless, bloodthirsty players I've ever worked with were a bunch of 9-year-old girls. And also the most prone to collect pets.

    "Well, we could take the wolf cubs with us"
    "What are we going to feed them?"
    "There's that stack of goblins we killed..."
    LOL! Seconded.

    When he was 5, my son joined an ongoing 4E campaign being hosted at a local comic book shop. In the story, He received a premade halfling rogue character sheet he named Needles.

    The DM set the scene: "After travelling for days, you come upon a burned down village. There are bodies lying everywhere. Some of them appear to be alive but badly hurt."

    My son: "I eat them."
    The DM: "You--you eat... the bodies?"
    My son: "I eeeeeaaaaat them."
    The DM: "But, your good aligned. Why do you eat them?"
    My son: "You didn't give me any rations. I've been traveling for days."

    The DM looked to me for help. I shrugged. "You didn't give him any food rations."
    Last edited by inexorabletruth; 2018-02-28 at 09:45 PM.
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  13. - Top - End - #13
    Barbarian in the Playground
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    Default Re: Roleplaying: Kids vs Adult players

    Quote Originally Posted by Kaibis View Post
    - They don't seem to care about leveling, or much about mechanics.
    - They have no care about classes/races. My kids love picking characters from the monster manual... I have a Behir and a Couatl in my current game.
    - They find the character creation process to be overwhelming if it takes longer than 1-2minutes.
    - They can't read well enough to keep up with complicate rules, or even a complicated character sheet.
    I ran into these with a 8 & 5 year old a few years ago, and then last year I stopped playing D&D and switched to a "rules light" system... it made game design and running faster for me, and keeping track of stuff easier for them.

  14. - Top - End - #14
    Barbarian in the Playground
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    Default Re: Roleplaying: Kids vs Adult players

    I've been playing regular computer games with kids for awhile.


    They don't like to lose to an enemy they perceive as "inappropriate encounter" regardless of whether it actually is. I was in Command and Conquer Generals game with two others, mike and his dad. His Dad comes over and tells me [name not remembered] (Mike's friend) is now playing him instead. He asked me if there was any problems winning. I looked at my two dozen Overlords and then at my 'mere' normal enemies "I can win right now". I enforced them and merely helped them win by killing targets that would vex me and devistate them.


    Que second advice: sometimes you have to pull your punches, regardless of which side of the screen your on. They want to feel special too and seeing you be the badass they already feel you are could place them back at the kids table. Keep the tension and stakes up but keep the mechanical stakes lower. In keeping with previous example i didn't need those dozens of Overlords and most went unused at all. Some planes and three Overlords (a vary heavy tank that can only be one shotted by heroes or superweapons) was all i needed to help them.


    If you must lose, lose with style. Mike would not believe me when i told him Broodwar was harder than regular. I don't play Brood war (I'm not into challenges) but he talked me into trying. Normally his Dad builds his defense on a modded map. No mods here. Enemy ran past his 'defense' early and sunk first base. Mike retreated to my area where we lost an hour later as i pull a recreation of "300"; his army did not live to see it but he watched over my shoulder. 99 protoss killed 410+ zerg. It was awesome even for me.


    He, like me, was a casual player. He's an adult now so that might have changed.

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    GreenSorcererElf

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    Default Re: Roleplaying: Kids vs Adult players

    PFS has a HUGE variety of players here in phoenix. Players range in age from 7 to 80.

    A 12 year old girl wanted to play elsa... welcome an ice sorceress. She got upset a couple times when she couldn't do something from the movie, but she enjoyed playing.

    There is also a 7yo boy who frequents. He plays a 2 handed figher. He like smacking things and making them explode.

    I have never seen a table of JUST kids though. Usually it is 1 kid with a bunch of adults one being their dad (the 12 yo's mom plays too) I have a feeling it would be VERY different with just kids, but when it's mostly adults they tend to behave more.

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    Default Re: Roleplaying: Kids vs Adult players

    I've had kids before at public tables. But they're almost always in the 10-12 range. Honestly, they're easier to handle than super D&D-nerdy late teen to college age "kids" in a casual game. They think more about what they want to do instead of what their character sheet says, they don't worry about player/character separation, and they care about enjoying themself more than winning*. Overall, I feel like they engage the game better. But most importantly of all, they're rarely arrogant little shirts.

    (*I'm fine, even prefer, players that want to win in the right kind of game. Casual is not it.)

  17. - Top - End - #17
    Dwarf in the Playground
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    Default Re: Roleplaying: Kids vs Adult players

    Quote Originally Posted by Calthropstu View Post
    I have never seen a table of JUST kids though. Usually it is 1 kid with a bunch of adults one being their dad (the 12 yo's mom plays too) I have a feeling it would be VERY different with just kids, but when it's mostly adults they tend to behave more.
    Surprisingly not. I play with a full table of kids (<9yo), my experience is that their behaviour is exemplary. They are engage with me (GM), with each other, and we play.


    Quote Originally Posted by Tanarii View Post
    I've had kids before at public tables. But they're almost always in the 10-12 range. Honestly, they're easier to handle than super D&D-nerdy late teen to college age "kids" in a casual game. They think more about what they want to do instead of what their character sheet says, they don't worry about player/character separation, and they care about enjoying themself more than winning*. Overall, I feel like they engage the game better. But most importantly of all, they're rarely arrogant little shirts.

    (*I'm fine, even prefer, players that want to win in the right kind of game. Casual is not it.)
    Ha, yeh I would class the 10-12yo range as being old enough to play with the adults. They are hardly children anymore.

  18. - Top - End - #18
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    MonkGuy

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    Default Re: Roleplaying: Kids vs Adult players

    Quote Originally Posted by Kaibis View Post
    Surprisingly not. I play with a full table of kids (<9yo), my experience is that their behaviour is exemplary. They are engage with me (GM), with each other, and we play.
    When you really take time to contemplate the differences between roleplay and play pretend, you discover there really are none. My son doesn't always get issues of alignment. He's still learning about the social constructs of good and evil, law and anarchy, but he understands how to pretend to be in a fantasy world where there are elves, orcs, fairies, and giants.

    And sure, you'll bore a child to death with crunch. It's all math. My eyes glaze over once the build gets complicated enough. But fluff? Kids get the fluff. They really know how to get in character once they understand the world they're playing in.
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  19. - Top - End - #19
    Barbarian in the Playground
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    Default Re: Roleplaying: Kids vs Adult players

    Quote Originally Posted by inexorabletruth View Post
    ...understands how to pretend...
    Yes, this. I'd rather have a player who comes to the table with a character concept and no idea of mechanics, than a player who comes with an optimized build and no idea how to pretend that they're really in the world.
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    Daemon

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    Default Re: Roleplaying: Kids vs Adult players

    Quote Originally Posted by Tiadoppler View Post
    Yes, this. I'd rather have a player who comes to the table with a character concept and no idea of mechanics, than a player who comes with an optimized build and no idea how to pretend that they're really in the world.
    Yeah. I have a group going right now with two high school girls (it's a school club). They're no-where near optimized, but they're way in character. And bloodthirsty...and destructive. Man they're destructive. The druid tends to eat her victims if she's in bear form when the combat ends. The wizard saw a crystal tube carrying an unknown purple stuff in a dungeon and thought "oooh, I'll get to shatter it!" Eventually she did. Totally not what I was expecting, but...

    I play a lot with teenagers (as part of that club). They seem to love to be part of the world. Some are certainly more "kick in the door" types than others, but they all love to leave their mark on things and see the results of other groups having left their marks.
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    Default Re: Roleplaying: Kids vs Adult players

    Quote Originally Posted by inexorabletruth View Post
    When you really take time to contemplate the differences between roleplay and play pretend, you discover there really are none. My son doesn't always get issues of alignment. He's still learning about the social constructs of good and evil, law and anarchy, but he understands how to pretend to be in a fantasy world where there are elves, orcs, fairies, and giants.

    And sure, you'll bore a child to death with crunch. It's all math. My eyes glaze over once the build gets complicated enough. But fluff? Kids get the fluff. They really know how to get in character once they understand the world they're playing in.
    100% agree. Playing with young kids reminds you that we are dabbling in their world. Roleplaying is the bread and butter of their day. I began GM-ing with my kids trying to find a good set of mechanics for them, and the more and more I did it, the more mechanics we threw away.... Instead of me teaching them to how to play an RPG, they reminded me how to RP.

    Now we mostly just play what we call "Story Master". Driving along in the car one of us will take on the role of the Story Master and begin by describing the initial setting, then we respond with a character that fits into the setting, and then the story begins. I have rolled a dice once during one of these games (and only because I pulled on out of the lounge cushions), yet we have so much fun, our characters do the most crazy things (Last game my 6yo daughter was the storymaster. She was holding the D&D Monster Manual and throwing all kinds of stuff at us. We had crafted some kind of portal that was pulling us (Tardis style) into constant monster encounters. Finally we found a Sphinx. Solved the riddle, and then the treasure that it was guarding.... baby Sphinx!!! We all kept one as a pet. Things got crazy when my 8yo decided she wanted a gold lined chest to keep it in so began digging a gold mine right where we were standing (and a tonne of other hilarious stuff).

    We still talk about how good that session was. No dice. We were on a 3hr long car trip.
    Last edited by Kaibis; 2018-03-02 at 06:21 AM.

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    Default Re: Roleplaying: Kids vs Adult players

    Quote Originally Posted by Calthropstu View Post
    PFS has a HUGE variety of players here in phoenix. Players range in age from 7 to 80.

    A 12 year old girl wanted to play elsa... welcome an ice sorceress. She got upset a couple times when she couldn't do something from the movie, but she enjoyed playing.

    There is also a 7yo boy who frequents. He plays a 2 handed figher. He like smacking things and making them explode.

    I have never seen a table of JUST kids though. Usually it is 1 kid with a bunch of adults one being their dad (the 12 yo's mom plays too) I have a feeling it would be VERY different with just kids, but when it's mostly adults they tend to behave more.
    Path of Frost should allow her to play Elsa pretty well, just allow her to use it unlimited.

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    Default Re: Roleplaying: Kids vs Adult players

    Quote Originally Posted by Tiadoppler View Post
    Yes, this. I'd rather have a player who comes to the table with a character concept and no idea of mechanics, than a player who comes with an optimized build and no idea how to pretend that they're really in the world.
    Not me. I look at not knowing stuff equally. Not knowing something means I need to teach it. Or unteach it. Not knowing the mechanics puts overhead of me to handle all the mechanics until I can teach it. Not knowing how to see the character as something other than a 'playing piece' means I have to take away the battle mat and sometimes sometimes even the character sheet for a while, or run a game that will deemphasize it. Not knowing how to create unneeded player/character separation means I have to use tricks like 'anything said at the table is reflected in game' and enforce a lack of it, usually to hilarious results at first.

    Although it is usually easier to teach someone that doesn't know mechanics, if it's because they're brand new to RPGs. But RPG veterans who think mechanics aren't important, or their character is a purely a game piece, or player/character separation is normal or a good thing ... well, they're mighty hard to unteach.

    I'm fine with slightly older kids because they can learn anything, and have a natural knack for blending all of these things well once they learn some rules. Because they naturally don't treat characters as a game piece, and they naturally don't create unneeded player/character separation. But my few experiences with under-tens is they not only don't get mechanics unless they are exceedingly simple, they're too inclined to try and pull stuff out of their ass. Effectively, their characters are the ultimate Mary Sues. Mechanics are there to give structure to a character and the ability to interact with the fantasy world in a somewhat balanced and realistic way. However that particular game defines 'realism' and 'balanced'.

  24. - Top - End - #24
    Barbarian in the Playground
     
    Mendicant's Avatar

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    Apr 2015

    Default Re: Roleplaying: Kids vs Adult players

    There is a really distinct switch that gets flipped around 10-12ish. When they're younger, you gotta keep things pretty short--60 minutes max, and scenes should change pretty rapidly. Older, and they will play until the next morning if you let them.

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