Quote from: Age of Fable;317749I wonder if the emphasis on animal companions & familiars in D&D is a response to Pokemon and similar franchises. MMORPGs tend to give a big role to 'pets' as well don't they?

I think a lot of people just like the idea of them.  I know I do.

Familiars have been "Disney-fied" ever since 1E.

I don't know of TTRPG off the top of my head, but my 12 yo niece is so into Final Fantasy X-2, Kingdom Hearts and Dream Life that it's not even funny.

How to translate what makes them appeal to her into a TTRPG would be tricky I think.

Well there is a Final Fantasy RPG, a fairly competent one even.  I don't think they've gotten round to keeping up with the latest games though.  They were still pretty focused on the SNES games last I looked, and the rules are based mostly on 5 and FFT.

Partly this is because the developers are a committee of twats more interested in politics than actually producing a product though, which is why Rob Pool, the guy who started the whole thing, left it years ago.

Quote from: Hairfoot;317755I think a lot of people just like the idea of them.  I know I do.

Familiars have been "Disney-fied" ever since 1E.

I unintentionally pissed off my DM by asking for my ranger's animal companion to be a sheep.

I don't really think the rules per se are important so much as an understanding GM and a successful play experience.

I'm going into my third year sponsoring a D&D club in my elementary school, and with each new year's group the number of girls has increased - now I have a group of 8 girls, no boys. All are 12 & 13 year old 5th/6th grade Koreans. I chose Moldvay D&D as it's relatively quick and easy to understand for non-native English speakers. The only issue I've seen with playing with girls vs. boys is allowing time to allow the girls to speak and plan. Boys tend to get very vocal and make snap decisions, while the girls are a lot more thoughtful and successful (esp. if the boys aren't around).

Quote from: Hairfoot;317755I think a lot of people just like the idea of them.  I know I do.

Familiars have been "Disney-fied" ever since 1E.

Not entirely in 1E; remember the implication that all familiars of evil-aligned spellcasters were secretly very minor demons/devils/whatever in disguise with a mission to ensure that their wizard continue down the path to damnation?

as someone else upthread said, this is aimed squarely at preteen girls who are into Harry Potter.

Quote from: Premier;317209It made me realize that the whole "right system for demographic X" idea is bollocks.

This.

Quote from: GeekEclectic;317235The cover should sparkle.

Forget realism. Better equipment should just make you look fancier or better-looking or more archetypal or something. If Japanese schoolgirl uniform > plate mail, you're on the right track. If yo-yo > broadsword, even better!

It should be able to handle both Buffy and Sailor Moon with similar ease. Yes, Revolutionary Girl Utena also, if you insist. Fine, fine, Fruits Basket, too! Gilmore Girls? Are you serious? . . . well, ok, maybe.

Um . . . no talking animals. They're creepy.

Zombies. Girls dig zombies.

Misunderstood good guy bad boys. If Twilight proves anything, it's that girls are a sucker for this character type. The more the better!

Horses. Unicorns and Pegasuses are even better.

Not this.

When my daughter was still young enough to want to play stories with Daddy, she loved Tunnels and Trolls. I think mostly because I love Tunnels and Trolls, and had fun teaching it. She also liked Holmes D&D and Duel. As she got older and figured out that Daddy wasn't cool, she wanted to do other things--computer games and whatnot. I think girls, as much as younger boys, want to play games where they're having fun and their contribution is valued, rather than gravitating to any set of trappings. The very last thing girls want to hear in any game ever is, "You're a girl, what do you know?" Kills any interest dead. Unfortunately, little boys love to say that, especially when the girls are intruding into their sanctuary--the world of swords and rockets and whatnot. If you get group dynamics ironed out, and adopt the sort of loose style you would adopt with any beginners (fights go fast, don't worry too much about counting arrows, don't count copper pieces, don't worry too much about arbitrary level restrictions) you shouldn't have a problem playing almost any rpg with girls.

As to marketing a game to girls, I don't think it can be done. They're too clever for that. Bella Sara is just the sort of campaign you should look at, though--it does well.

When I was in high school, the girls almost universally liked Runequest better than D&D. I never figured that out.

Quote from: GeekEclectic;317525It sounds more like Neopets to me.

I know nothing about Bella Sara but Webkinz are basically neopets. The additional innovation is you buy a stuffed animal in a physical store that has a code to create an online account with a digital pet that's the same typle/look as the stuffed animal. Then they have a bedroom that you can buy stuff for and a yard and such in addition to the traditional feed and play of digital pets.  You can also buy physically accessories that give you bonus codes.
 
My 9 year old daughter has 3 and my 4 year old son has 1 and they've been playing a fair amount lately.

Quote from: Age of Fable;317760I unintentionally pissed off my DM by asking for my ranger's animal companion to be a sheep.

Nothing wrong with that!  They can be vicious buggers at times.....

I think he was thinking more along the lines of a noble eagle or a mighty wolf.

Quote from: Age of Fable;317760I unintentionally pissed off my DM by asking for my ranger's animal companion to be a sheep.

I think this . . .



. . . would make a fine animal companion for a ranger.

Or even a familiar, for the wizardly-inclined mountain dweller.

If you wanted to get girls in, I guess you could base the style of a rules light DND on things like Card Capture Sekura, Inuyasha, or whatever other girl anime is out now.

Quote from: Cranewings;317980If you wanted to get girls in, I guess you could base the style of a rules light DND on things like Card Capture Sekura, Inuyasha, or whatever other girl anime is out now.

It would certainly grab  my attention. I <3 shoujo!