(no subject)

[jeregenest]

We’ve been playing D&D with the kids the last few weeks. peaseblossom has been posting the session summaries, and yes we have been working our way through Keep on the Shadowfell of which we have three more encounters to go.

Gaming with the family is going pretty good, so I’m pretty sure we’re going to keep it up. The kids enjoy it, and I both Peaseblossom and myself are having a lot of fun gaming with me. And yes, I’m greatly aware of the amusement value many of my friends are getting from the fact I’m running D&D.

I’m going to offer the kids the chance to start new characters after this adventure. I know the boy is greatly enamored by the many options available to him (he’s currently in love with a Ranger variant he read in some book while hanging around Borders, it involves beast companions). The starchild is a little harder, she really likes her Warlord, even if it is a really hard class for her to play.

The advantage of starting fresh is I can actually craft more of a campaign. Nentir valley is okay, but maybe not my cup of tea.

We’ve discovered that the best formula for both kids is one combat encounter and one skill challenge and/or roleplaying scene a night. Anything more than that and the starchild really starts to fade. Two combats are usually too much for her. Both kids also really like humor -- the boy especially as it fits his image of a Rouge. And kobolds - For some reason the starchild really wants more encounters with kobolds.

According to this post it seems like this is the model for Wizard’s D&D Encounters, but since it seems I need an RPGA number for that I’m not sure how to get my hands on any to tell.

Gaming with the kids has also interested me in other gaming as well. I need to find some folks to run Gumshoes or something else interesting as well.

Next step, plan a campaign. I’m thinking some sort of area where the Feywild, Shadowfell and Elemental Chaos all blend together. With a giant river.

Comments

[tfbretz.livejournal.com]

I find that Warlords can be tricky for adults to play. In our kids and parents game, one of the younglings has a Warlord and it's really clear he doesn't quite know how to use him, as he falls back on basic attacks and charges rather than using his powers.

(Of course, the irony is that this is the same kid who, at thirteen, has memorized the Monster Manuals to such an extent that we have throw homebrew monsters at them more or less constantly to keep him from spouting stats.)

[bryant]

D&D Encounters is a good model but fails for you in that it's only available to stores -- WotC's using it as a tool to encourage people to go to gaming stores, so you can't play it at home. I find this both understandable and annoying.

But Sly Flourish is right; you can steal the structure easily.

You're playing a character as well as GMing, right? How is that working out with the kids? Does it seem perfectly natural to them?

[bryant]

D&D Essentials has some good stuff for people who prefer basic attacks and charges, but does not have a warlord build, alas. I'd totally throw the fighter or rogue at someone who was having trouble with the PHB1 versions, though.

[tfbretz.livejournal.com]

In the case of the boy in question, I think his father (currently the DM) wants him to puzzle things out on his own. He's a smart kid with a lot of rules recall, but he's at that age where he blurts out knowledge his character can't possibly know constantly. So saddling himself with a somewhat suboptimal character is his cross to bear.

[jeregenest.livejournal.com]

They joke that my wizard never talks so when he does his words have weight.

[smoagendash.livejournal.com]

According to this post it seems like this is the model for Wizard’s D&D Encounters, but since it seems I need an RPGA number for that I’m not sure how to get my hands on any to tell.

Pandemonium does encounters on Wednesday events at 7pm and 9pm. if you wanted to sign up as a DM with WOTC and run an Encounters session at the store for kids (or kids and parents), I would not mind....


Next step, plan a campaign. I’m thinking some sort of area where the Feywild, Shadowfell and Elemental Chaos all blend together. With a giant river.

Ooooh! Extra-planar Huckleberry Finn! Dibs on the Dauphin!

To really play with the kid's heads, have the Great River form one huge loop (kinda like Tepper's Northshore/Southshore), so they eventually come back to their hometown ten levels higher to deal with whatever they left behind. No, you can't go home again.

[telepresence.livejournal.com]

If he hasn't given them a look yet, this youngster might want to check out Barbarians.

[jeregenest.livejournal.com]

What about Barbarians?

[jeregenest.livejournal.com]

What would this signing up involve?

[telepresence.livejournal.com]

Oh, I was just thinking if the kid in tfbretz's group winds up charging a lot and more just hitting things than being Warlordy, he might just investigate playing a Rageblood build Barbarian. They're big, they're strong, they have powers that are pretty synergistic with charging, they're not terribly complicated to play effectively. Or he can do a Thaneborn style Barbarian, which actually multiclasses decently well with Warlord. Again, mostly just to play a class that actually wants to be charging a lot.

[telepresence.livejournal.com]

(Not that Warlords don't hit things. I'm just saying, if he's mostly hitting things, he might as well try a Striker)

[smoagendash.livejournal.com]

I'll email you privately.