My no-doubt doomed to be unpopular opinions on recruiting your kids to play in your RPG games.




[video=youtube_share;6BCkKsVTEbc]https://youtu.be/6BCkKsVTEbc[/youtube]

I listened to this earlier today and just want to say this...I was 12 when I started playing D&D and I moved to much more complex games almost immediately. The harder the rules, the happier I was. You're 100% correct.

Translation of "RPGs for kids" = "RPGs that appeal to parents which make them feel safe to buy"

The most badass RPG for teens is still RIFTS.

As for playing RPGs with your kids, I don't think its a terrible idea with pre-teens. But teens should game with other teens and be left alone to forge their own gaming nostalgia. Parents should fuck off to play with the other geezers.

That said, teens often love playing with adults at conventions and game days. It makes them feel very mature. I have friends who bring their kids to conventions, but mostly let their older kids choose their own events so they play on their own most of the time.

I introduced my son to RPG gaming, he games with me, and he games with his teenage friends as well. There is like zero crossover between our groups. He does enjoy going to conventions with me, however we only play the same games once in a great while. He was in one of my tabletop gaming groups for a time, but not all of my tabletop gaming groups.

Mostly I GM for adults at game shows, but once in awhile I get teenagers and kids that want to play in my convention games. I won't turn them away as I always believe our games should be inclusive, not exclusive.

My Dad used to read Tolkien books to me when I was very young. He never originally had an interest in RPG gaming, however did change his mind though after I got him a copy of Icewind Dale for Christmas one year.

I watched the video, and I only partially agree with you.

You will miss the opportunity to introduce some kids to RPGs, if you are still explaining dice mechanics and situational rules 20 minutes later.  I know plenty of adults who feel that way too.  

Some people are allergic to complexity.  My wife won't play chess, because the different movement rules for the pieces seem dumb to her.  She loses interest quickly.  She either wants to do something practical and productive with her time, or else watch something funny on TV.

You should check out Lordling from Goblinoid Games.

Me at 10: Can I play this?

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I've always assumed the best game to run for kids will be the game you're most comfortable running. I don't watch Pundit videos (or, Youtube videos in general), so I'm not sure how that matches up with his views.

I think there is definitely something to be said for parents asking themselves why they are trying to get their kids into gaming. I don't think I would have been as intrigued by gaming if the first RPGs I saw as a kid were targeted towards young children. That said, I am also sure the D&D cartoon and the D&D toys, helped initiate some of my early interest.

I wish my father had played D&D with me when I was a kid. Not only would that have given me great memories but, more importantly, it would probably have let me avoid an entire year of being a shit DM. I started playing D&D with the Holmes box without ever having seen anyone play the game. I was the DM (since I owned the game) and I had no idea what I was supposed to do.

I started my kids on gaming when they were 7 years old. I don't care if they play when they get older, I just want them to know the proper way to play if they decide to. I person's best gaming years are between 10 and 18. Might as well make the most use of it while you can.

I play dnd with my kid and a bunch of adults. It has always been proper dnd with the tropes I enjoy. That's what he likes too. He does run some dnd with friends at school but he is more a natural player than GM I think.

I don't see any point in bowdlerised games, certainly not for typical boys. Maybe for girls a less violent game might work. But boys love killling things.

There's certainly value in letting kids play [RPGs] with other kids free from grownup involvement once they hit a certain age.  I was 8 when I started playing "D&D" (essentially a freeform game that drew upon concepts in Moldvay Basic) with my friends on the playground.  It was great fun, and the fact that I was with my friends definitely factored into how comfortably and eagerly I DM'ed my first adventure a couple weeks later, despite having never really read the rules or owning any polyhedral dice.  That said, I think my friends and I would definitely have benefited on some level from playing with someone older who was more experienced at handling the mechanical aspects of the game, and probably would have enjoyed participating in the RP experience together and trying to "beat" the grown-up DM.  

I'm about to introduce my 5-year-old son to "Ultra-Basic" B/X D&D.  He already "loves killing things" (as S'mon aptly notes ) when we play with WWII or fantasy miniatures on the tabletop, so I'll basically just be adding simple dice mechanics and basic role-playing concepts to what we're already doing.

Quote from: S'mon;1113322I play dnd with my kid and a bunch of adults. It has always been proper dnd with the tropes I enjoy. That's what he likes too. He does run some dnd with friends at school but he is more a natural player than GM I think.

I don't see any point in bowdlerised games, certainly not for typical boys. Maybe for girls a less violent game might work. But boys love killling things.

Pundit seems to be idealizing where RPGs are a cool thing to do to rebel against one's parents. But given that I'm an avid role-player who plays many different games, I don't think there's any way that my relationship with my son would be that way. RPGs will be a family game for him.

As for games for kids, I find that confusing. I personally started on the D&D Basic Set, which was clearly marketed as being a simpler version of D&D for kids. That's not bowdlerized - it's just simplified. As a pre-teen, my son started out on some more kidsy games - Monster Island (giant kaiju fights) and Faery's Tale (playing troublesome little fairies). But he diversified since then.

Quote from: jhkim;1113371Pundit seems to be idealizing where RPGs are a cool thing to do to rebel against one's parents. But given that I'm an avid role-player who plays many different games, I don't think there's any way that my relationship with my son would be that way. RPGs will be a family game for him.

As for games for kids, I find that confusing. I personally started on the D&D Basic Set, which was clearly marketed as being a simpler version of D&D for kids. That's not bowdlerized - it's just simplified. As a pre-teen, my son started out on some more kidsy games - Monster Island (giant kaiju fights) and Faery's Tale (playing troublesome little fairies). But he diversified since then.

Apart from a bit of rules-free when he was very young, and some Dragon Warriors he didn't like that much, I started my son with Mentzer Classic D&D, that's what he wanted to play.  He loved it and we played for years, mostly with a group. He still says 5e D&D is too easy and that he prefers hardcore D&D like BECMI or Swords & Wizardry.

I agree Pundit seems to idealise it as a 1980s style youth rebellion thing, but that's not where the world is these days. I think we Gen-Xers were the last to have that as a general part of the culture.

Pretty good video. I can see the merits of his arguments. As extremely tempting as it is to incorporate one's children into their hobby, initiating that is selfish. Better for them to see you play with a group and let them follow through on their curiosity.

I, myself, got into the hobby at 15-16 with AD&D when a buddy of mine showed me a Ravenloft boxed set that was passed down to him.

As for RPGs specifically designed for kids, just bleh. I don't mind different rulesets but the art is just not evocative of excitement and danger at all. That was probably one of the best things about Monster Manuals: seeing all the stuff you can fight and that can kill you.