I was thinking this morning that I would really like to get my kids gaming. They are of the imaginative age and would love the Pathfinder game, but I don't have time to craft adventures for kids under 10.
I am wondering if the folks, who have made such great products for teens and adults, have considered making a module line (maybe 4 a year) for kids 12 and under?
They could follow more predictable story lines kids might recognize, but also at a pace that would match younger attention spans?
Possibly they would allow a variety of play settings so kids could gradually be exposed to the versatility of the character classes and the mechanics of the game.
Ideas:
1) A woodlands help the fey adventure
2) A tropical island / jungle / pirate adventure
3) A spooky castle / undead crypt adventure
Just tossing it out there. I would be willing to buy adventures specifically designed for parents to run with their kids. Not implying they would need to be sanitized and free of violence, just of a different complexity and pace and maturity.
(edit: I added detail to the subject title.)
Thanks for pointing me to this thread Desferous -- I think this would be great!
Even if Paizo didn't want to dedicate a lot of resources to something for younger kids, they could maybe just do one small set of adventures and leave it at that. I could see them turning into the "classics" that introduced them to gaming that they remember years later. :-)
If this were to catch on, I'd like to throw in some suggestions (I have an 8-year-old, so I feel like I'm pretty in touch with what would work):
1. Ages 7-12 would be perfect. Anything younger would be tricky, because reading would be an issue. My boy is 8-years-old and in 2nd grade, and I feel like he's just ready to be introduced to the game. He's mature enough to sit and play, and he can read well enough where it wouldn't be an obstacle. So in terms of starting age, I think 2nd grade is the spot.
2. Avoid killing people. A lot of the available adventures are hard to adjust for kids because the main bad guys are often times humans. Killing stuff is obviously part of the game, but I'd like to stick to monsters for the youngsters.
3. Specific scenarios where each class can shine! The Paizo adventures already do a good job of this, but it would be even more important here. Rogues get to be sneaky, rangers get to be woodsy, etc.
4. Other than that, just the obvious stuff: make it fast-paced and fun for the shorter attention spans. Keep it light. Throw in some comic relief -- slapstick and toilet humor tend to do particularly well. :-)
I really think this could be a lot of fun, and I think a lot of writers would love to do something like this. I really hope Paizo gives it real consideration and doesn't dismiss the idea out of hand. It wouldn't be too demanding of a project, and it could be the start of the next generation of gamers!
I'll add my voice to that - I have three kids aged (would you believe it) 7 - 12, and they want to play but I don't have the time to write adventures. I have some for a small number of players, but something custom-designed for kids would be great!