Yesterday my son (11) and me were playing D&D with our friends - two parents and their boy, similar age, at their house a good way away. Today my son commented on how he normally has to play D&D with adults. I make a point of my D&D Meetup being open to families - Meetup requires age 18+ for membership, but I allow up to 2 children per parent/guardian, and the pub venue allows children to 9pm. But I've almost never seen other children at public D&D. I do get "My wife and kids are off to Ireland for the weekend - this is my chance to play!" - and I've seen people drop out when they have children. So I know D&Ders do breed, at least occasionally!
I was wondering if this absence of parents bringing children to in-public D&D games is a universal thing? Do they only play with their kids at home? I have a friend with a bunch of kids who does that sometimes, but such games tend to lack staying power IME.
My daughter got interested by looking at my D&D books at home, then would go out and play with friends only occasionally asking me for advice. She was in her later teenage years, so the situation was different - it became a custom for her to bring a prospective boyfriend home to play D&D and have me check him out....
I have three children, ranging in age from nearly 3 to 8 years old. We've just started playing Talisman (3rd edition - 4th is crap), and the older two love it. Given the way they're already approaching it as an extension of the roleplaying that characterises a lot of their play, I don't think it would be a big leap to go to RPGs when they're all a bit older.
I think the real problem you're going to have with a lot of modern children is the ubiquity of electronic devices; they expect their play to be managed by software, not require their imagination.
No, but I bring the game to my children, four of them ranging from oldest of almost 15 to 10. We're playing OSR now after finishing a 5e campaign. When I host in person group we play in basement and the children might swing down to say hi, but don't stick around. Two of my buddies from in person game run games for their children.
I started bringing my son to a group that I was gaming with when he was 11. He's now 13, that group broke up due to relocations, and he and I still game together as schedules permit. He's more of a wargamer than a roleplayer, though.
When our store group expanded and I became a DM my then 14 year old son joined the old group. He just left for college but I still bring another youth from my church (and his brother will join us soon). I would bring my oldest daughter, but it conflicts with ballet.
My two stepkids both played for a bit. The stepdaughter (now 34) mainly played because of a 'cute guy' in the group. That lasted about a year around 2000/2001 (early on in D&D 3e). My stepson (now 32) played several systems for several years, but he's been fighting and on/off battle with MMORPGs eating his gaming time for the better part of a decade. Currently, he's losing that fight.
I don't play in game stores, but I have regularly brought my son to local game conventions. In most of them, there is a well-attended kids room. He is 18 and in college now, and is still very enthusiastic about RPGs.
I don't do meet ups or play like that but my kids all go to conventions and play and play with their friends. Your son is old enough for his own group with his friends
Our local gaming store closed up awhile ago (wasn't very big, anyway), but if we had one and they let people run games in the store, and there was interest, my fiance and I would definitely bring our daughter along as long as it wasn't on a school day.
As it stands we have to settle for using Hangouts or Discord. Once our daughter gets older (she's only 7 and had to switch schools this year) she'll probably try roping some of her friends into playing.
Quote from: jhkim;1057513I don't play in game stores, but I have regularly brought my son to local game conventions. In most of them, there is a well-attended kids room. He is 18 and in college now, and is still very enthusiastic about RPGs.
^This.
And play in our home groups. I never subjected my kids to gaming in stores. They're both in their late teens now, and still enjoy gaming.
Quote from: Ted;1057482No, but I bring the game to my children, four of them ranging from oldest of almost 15 to 10. We're playing OSR now after finishing a 5e campaign.
I'm sure this is pretty common with larger families, yup - growing your own game group is certainly optimal! :cool:
Quote from: Lurtch;1057516I don't do meet ups or play like that but my kids all go to conventions and play and play with their friends. Your son is old enough for his own group with his friends
Yes I'd love it if he could start a group at his new school, or join an existing club there. He doesn't seem very interested in GMing though. Maybe in a few years. I'd certainly get a thrill seeing him take on the DM's mantle.*
I think with kids today there is a problem with lack of boredom - they all want to rush home and play age-inappropriate video games. But they could presumably play at lunch time the way I did, especially since phones are banned during school hours.
*
"Once you start down the Dark Path, forever it will dominate your destiny..."
Thanks for feedback - so it does seem fairly common in the USA at any rate.
I started tabletop gaming myself when I was about 9. I do feel like this is a perfectly fine age to start tabletop gaming. If there's any caveat to that, I remember what kind of gaming I was interested in at that age and it was mostly a murder marathon. Don't be surprised if when you let the kids join the game its hard not to have them stabbin everything that breathes.
I run a gaming club at a local library where we play Boardgames an RPGs.
I bring my daughter (15) to that.
I help run another RPG club at another local library, which is dedicated to DnD 5e. MY daughter comes to that too.
We both have a great time at these clubs and they have a very varied age range.
My son (18 ) is more into PC games, but I've been trying to draw him into RPGs.
He does play DnD with some of his friends from time to time, when they can get themselves organised enough to get sessions going.
Gaming is a family affair around here. We have two parents and their teenage daughter in one game. The kids have since gone on to college, but four of six players in on campaign were two parents and their two teen kids. Another couple I play with figures their kids are getting old enough to start learning how to play and will probably joining us in some game or another soon enough.
Chalk up another variation for play with kids, but not in public games. We've included our kids in games, and also the kids/nieces/nephews/etc. of other players, but this is all in private games.
Frankly, public games with my kids wasn't worth the hassle. On top of the usual cost/benefit analysis of public games in general (some pros, some cons), there is the fact that quite a few people do not want to play with kids at all (due to bad experiences, usually, though some are merely confused on the relationship between age and not being an idiot). Others, are playing in games that are too mature for kids, and have the good sense to know that kids don't belong in those games. So automatically, the pool of possible games has already shrunk.
If we hadn't had the option to play as much as we wanted privately, it might have been worth navigating those hazards to find a good public game, but we did have a better option.
My group meets Thursdays at my house. My kids (2 and 8) express interest in "game night", but they're not ready.
In a few years though, if they're still interested....
Quote from: S'mon;1057524I'm sure this is pretty common with larger families, yup - growing your own game group is certainly optimal! :cool:
Pretty funny, but true. My experience is whatever you expose the children to they will dig because they want to have quality time with a parent(s). We also play board games as a family, but I hate losing at Command & Colors Ancients to my 10 year old. Drat.