We want to start a dnd game with one 5 year old, one 8 year old and one 12 year old. Is that even possible? Does anyone have any resources for me as a DM for this? We want it to be fun for the biggest and accessible for the littlest - ThreadSky

maggietokudahall.bsky.social • 75 days ago

We want to start a dnd game with one 5 year old, one 8 year old and one 12 year old.

Is that even possible? Does anyone have any resources for me as a DM for this? We want it to be fun for the biggest and accessible for the littlest

Comments

mvsamuel.bsky.social•75 days ago

My 12yo started a game with his 7yo sister.
He got quite frustrated that she wanted all the stats and all the powers. Letting them select from pre-made characters might avoid that.

mvsamuel.bsky.social•75 days ago

I also did a bit of programming in Racket with my 10yo where we wrote some code to define combat with Pokémon style creatures.

He roped his siblings into defining creatures and seeing what affected who wins/loses.

mvsamuel.bsky.social•75 days ago

Part of the collaborative storytelling of D&D is surviving while uncovering rules and capabilities.

But kids can benefit from being able to focus on one aspect of a complex system.

Kids might enjoy exploring the rules system w/o being personally invested in who loses bc "my character" is in it.

davidcsloane.bsky.social•75 days ago

It probably depends on the relationship between the kids. If 8 and 12 are willing to slow down and play the game at 5-year-old speed, everyone can have fun.

maggietokudahall.bsky.social•75 days ago

8yr old struggles socially, 12 yr old very patient with all things EXCEPT games. Maybe it's just not in the cards?

davidcsloane.bsky.social•75 days ago

You know the players, but DnD is very interactive, ideally shared storytelling and problem solving. Feels like a tough combination.

notadecepticon.bsky.social•75 days ago

I don't know if D&D won't bee too complicated for kids, maybe something rules-lite or story first could be better first introduction?

khuruuk.bsky.social•75 days ago

I didn’t see this mentioned yet, but I only skimmed quickly - @jimzub.bsky.social wrote some kid-oriented D&D books, here’s a quick Amazon link:

https://www.amazon.com/Adventurers-Collection-Dungeons-Dragons-4-Book/dp/059383612X/ref=asc_df_059383612X?mcid=28b2681852e53725a5d1ecf78d92d3f7&hvocijid=15844188880145974361-059383612X-&hvexpln=73&tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=692875362841&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=15844188880145974361&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1025197&hvtargid=pla-2281435180978&psc=1

jimzub.bsky.social•75 days ago

Lots of information on the D&D Young Adventurer's Guide series here:
https://www.jimzub.com/dd-young-adventurers-guides-faq/

khuruuk.bsky.social•75 days ago

Thanks - that’s a really helpful FAQ!

martasrsly.bsky.social•75 days ago

Highly recommend Honey Heist for children! It has two stats and it’s super easy and super fun!

jennygr4.bsky.social•75 days ago

My husband got "No Thank You Evil" to play with our son when he was young. Maybe a fun alternative?

mackenziewrites.bsky.social•75 days ago

I second this! It’s like DnD but with starter wheels

natusm.bsky.social•75 days ago

Not sure about how to manage games with grade-school kids, but there are a good few books on DMing (Lazy Dungeonmaster’s guide, etc) available and many YouTube videos.

kslivensky.bsky.social•75 days ago

We have been running RPGs with our oldest since he was 4! We started on a system called Little Wizards which worked fantastic as an introduction. But by the time he was 6 we were full into DnD! So it is possible!

maggietokudahall.bsky.social•75 days ago

Oh excellent!!! Is little wizards something I can find online?

kslivensky.bsky.social•75 days ago

Looks like you can buy a PDF version here! https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/117481/little-wizards

maggietokudahall.bsky.social•75 days ago

Thank you, I will! I really appreciate the tip!

kslivensky.bsky.social•75 days ago

You're welcome! Our oldest is now 9 and we still campaign as our Little Wizards characters every now and again, even though we mostly do DnD campaigns with DnD characters. But LW remains fun even for an older kid in our experience. :)

pedagogue.bsky.social•75 days ago

I've lost count of the number of times I gifted these to younger readers
https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-young-adventurer-s-collection-dungeons-dragons-4-book-boxed-set-monsters-creatures-warriors-weapons-dungeons-tombs-and-wizards-spe-jim-zub/14686159?ean=9781984859549

I ran this adventure for kids as young as 7 and everyone had a blast

https://winghornpress.com/adventures/a-wild-sheep-chase/

smoroden.com•75 days ago

📌

michaelzapata.bsky.social•75 days ago

We started with this dungeon crawler first! Kids loved it. https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/318546/coraquest

cor-caroli.bsky.social•75 days ago

Yeah, just run Hero Kids. It's more suitable for younger audience. With D&D, you either will give yourself a big headache, or you will just ignore the rules and won't know what to do next.

timblue.bsky.social•75 days ago

The trickiest bit isn't the ages but the age difference between 5 and 12.

I'd start with a simpler char for the youngest, with just one or two abilities, and ramp up the complexity with age.

There is something called The Young Adventurer's Collection which I've never read but has good reviews.

maggietokudahall.bsky.social•75 days ago

For sure agree that the span of ages is the toughest bit, but people have got some good suggestions! We've got cousins and we're trying to create a game that can be played across visits

timblue.bsky.social•75 days ago

I don't have a huge amount of experience in this area so can't offer direct experience.

My suggestion based on a lot of DMing for disparate groups, though, would be to ignore the rule-book as needed to simplify things to the right level for each player. The rulebooks are a tool, not a commandment.

yoyotheassyrian.bsky.social•75 days ago

I’ve done DnD one on one with my five year old daughter, and I noticed a few things. She doesn’t get stats, but she does get the character sheet, would have happily paused the game for 15 minutes to draw and color the gold pieces I said she now had. The other is don’t worry about the rules, keep it

yoyotheassyrian.bsky.social•75 days ago

Real simple, tell me what you want to do, roll die, if its high, good things happen, if it’s low, age appropriate bad things happen. Often not that bad in the case of a five year old. But other than that, she grokked onto make believe but with a bit of structure super fast.

spaceturtleart.bsky.social•75 days ago

I would suggest a more simplified system, I think there are a couple aimed at younger players. @oneshotrpg.bsky.social, any ideas?

oneshotrpg.bsky.social•75 days ago

My first instinct would be @montecookgames.com No Thank You Evil! That is designed exactly for that age range.

I also think Golden Sky Stories is a interesting fit depending on the interests of the players.

mrbarky.bsky.social•75 days ago

I wonder if a system like Savage Worlds would be easier. If your skill is 8, you roll an 8 sided die with 4 as the default target number. I run a dnd game and it's complicated even for adults.

iancaton.bsky.social•75 days ago

Yes! Five-year-old just wants to be included, make it happen .. that used to be me 😭 😭

marilynbeagle.bsky.social•75 days ago

Character creation is hard even for high school students but everyone has ideas about who they want to play. Maybe lots of menu-style choices? Kids don’t care as much about the rules. You’re playing pretend. Just have fun.

gloriknits.bsky.social•75 days ago

📌

derlakernlins.bsky.social•75 days ago

If they bounce off DnD but like the idea of RPGs I'd recommend the PbtA game Epyllion by Magpie Games, where you play as young dragons trying to make your way in the world. It's a super cute and accessible system with juuuust enough Lore and crunch for older kids but free form enough for younger

abekin.bsky.social•75 days ago

I've heard many stories of parents playing Mausritter with their young children. It's free, short and very simple and can be tactile with the "arts and crafts" inventory. If Redwall or other tales of small mice in a big world sound appealing, give it a shot https://mausritter.com/

dsradam.bsky.social•75 days ago

Seconding Mausritter. I currently playing our 2nd campaign with a 9-year-old and a 4-year-old. So good!

mikesapoz.bsky.social•74 days ago

Our DM is doing this very successfully. I’d say prepare it for the 8 and 12 year olds and give the 5 year old a role that can come and go as attention wanders. Our little one is a mechanical owl who buffs and heals folks

maggietokudahall.bsky.social•74 days ago

Cute.

joebruehler.bsky.social•75 days ago

It's probably already been said, but I find that if you focus more heavily on the role playing aspect of the game, you can slowly introduce more complexity in terms of game play, like rolls and stats. Starting light on the game mechanics and focusing on RP can help them build confidence in 1/2

joebruehler.bsky.social•75 days ago

Their ability to play the game. Also drawing from familiar stories and media they're used to can help them ease into playing a character and help them anticipate the story you're building together. 2/2

jise.bsky.social•75 days ago

That is possible. You might wish to have the 5 year old play some sort of sidekick character with limited action choices, something like a small dragon. Print out the actions (something like: breath fire, fly xx ft, chomp, etc)

jise.bsky.social•75 days ago

One of the older ones should probably play something that can act as a tank, the other can be a caster or ranged.

Load them up with decent amount of healing potions, and you could have a npc "healbot" to help.

jise.bsky.social•75 days ago

This kind of trio/quarter can manage a decent adventuring quest line. Depending on how they are, and how combat oriented you wish the games to be, using unintelligent monsters (undead, constructs etc.) and environmental hazards can keep the game fun.

maggietokudahall.bsky.social•75 days ago

Oh he would like that!!!

ajohns.bsky.social•75 days ago

Have some activity to keep little hands busy. My kiddo likes to draw so was always happy to doodle his character. I always have a basket of fidget toys (for the grown up D&D group, too).

doctorbowring.bsky.social•75 days ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Thank_You,_Evil!

jkmakes.bsky.social•75 days ago

I have enjoyed role-playing with young kids using the "No Thank You Evil" system. Very light on rules, but enough structure for it to be a game. There's different levels of complexity for players of different ages, too.

cathypegau.bsky.social•75 days ago

Start 'em young ;)

lmansley.bsky.social•75 days ago

A friend used this game with her 4 yo and he loved it. https://www.heroforgegames.com/hero-kids/

rainer.sigwald.org•75 days ago

I ran Hero Kids for my kids and their cousins a couple of times, ages 4–9, and it went quite well. I’m planning to try https://www.atlas-games.com/magicalkitties with the same crowd tomorrow.

trevorwojcik.bsky.social•75 days ago

For young gamers the prepackaged adventures are preferable.

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