I am just putting this out there for others.
---Spoilers Ahead---
I had six kids at the table on Monday, I hosted a special Pathfinder Day on Monday for those kids on Stay-cation! The ages were, 12, 11, 11, 11, 11 and 8. They had not found the "sword" yet and were heading to Black Fang...but they had not tackled the skeletons yet. After they defeated the skeletons I had a skeletal champion burst forth from the ground and give combat...two went into negatives but were saved. The spirit of the skeleton came back explaining that he was the leader of the soldiers who defended this temple and that a dragon had taken it over recently. He then gave some campaign specific info and gave the party the "sword".
The Black Fang combat was short, I rolled horribly for initiative and the party rolled well, 36 points of damage were rolled in the first round, Black Fang fled but swore vengeance on the group.
The kids were thrilled that their 1st levels and scared off a dragon!
We do use the full rules as the kids have been playing for a bit now but we agreed to start over using the BB and teaching the 8 year old how to play.
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So I ran my 10 year old niece, 17 year old nephew, wife, and sister in law through Black Fang adventure tonight. My wife is the only one with experience in role playing and she was thrilled to watch our 10 year old niece experience an rpg for the first time.
My niece also had the best moment of the night. They enter into the goblin king room. I give the goblin speech and ask her what she wants to do as she has highest initiative. She says he is ugly and she attacks. I tell her the goblin king and other goblins pull out heir short swords. She smiles really big, pauses for effect, and exclaims, "But I've got a long sword. I attack!" Everyone at the table laughed for the next few minutes and was the best memory of the night.
She can't wait for tomorrow so my wife can help her create her very own fighter to go on another adventure. I think she is hooked.
She can't wait for tomorrow so my wife can help her create her very own fighter to go on another adventure. I think she is hooked.
Oh my! What great stories!! Glad to hear she had a blast!
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Another interesting game. We played Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh today and I ran it as a bit of a Scooby Doo adventure where the Illusionist at the end "would have gotten away with it if it weren't for you meddling kids." I've kept the kids at 1st level for several games now (as well as for an adaptation of the WFRP3 scenario, "False Pretenses"), but I feel it's time to level them up. They've also attained a bunch of gold so I may give them 2-3 optional items to purchase in town.
Another thing is that I'm taking the "non-human" approach to bad guys. I have the bad guys run off more than get killed and have lots of surrenders where the players get to bring the baddies to town for jail. Seems to work well.
jh
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Another interesting game. We played Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh today and I ran it as a bit of a Scooby Doo adventure where the Illusionist at the end "would have gotten away with it if it weren't for you meddling kids."
That's funny. I plan on running Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh for my gang, too. And then The Eye of the Serpent. Awesome old school adventures.
Another thing is that I'm taking the "non-human" approach to bad guys. I have the bad guys run off more than get killed and have lots of surrenders where the players get to bring the bad guys to town for jail.
Yeah, the "killing off evil humans" thing is pretty iffy when you're dealing with kids.
I'd love to hear more about how SSoS turned out...
- Rebis
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After running my daughter through the Choose-Your-Own-Adventure module, I thought she'd need some pointers on playing anything other than a fighter so I made up a little adventure where she played a rogue. The first thing I did was show her her hit points, armor class, and weapon damage on the Merisiel pregen sheet and ask her to compare them to what the numbers she was using as a fighter. She noted the numbers were all lower, and I told her that rogues don't want to walk right up to a goblin or a skeleton king and just trade blows; they want to be sneaky. She likes being sneaky anyway, so this was good. I showed her how a rogue could do more damage than the fighter by flanking or attacking from Stealth, and then I set Merisiel walking down a road near sunset and finding an inn that had been ransacked by orcs. She had to use Stealth to hide from the orcs until the main group went out to find more food and Perception to overhear their plans to eat the people locked in the barn in the morning. She failed her Stealth roll to sneak past the sentry left behind in the inn, and her first instinct was to go stab him; when I reminded her she was a rogue, not a fighter, and she could dash down the basement stairs instead, she got locked in the basement where she had to fight a dire rat. She picked the lock on the cellar door to get outside, sneaked past the guard at the barn door, climbed up the ladder on the silo to get into the barn, and got the prisoners out of the locked stall in the barn. One of them was Valeros, and she had to sneak back into the inn to get his armor and weapon. Then he created a ruckus in the barn to draw the guard in, she flanked with him, and they all rode away on the horses to Sandpoint to bring back soldiers to defeat the orcs.
Next I taught her to play a wizard. Ezren's mentor Gandalf (yeah, I know, I'm terrible at coming up with names, but she thought it was cool) had lost his favorite pen while picking mushrooms to make potions with in a cave outside Sandpoint and sent Ezren and Valeros to find it for him. Fortunately, he had arcane marked the pen so Ezren could use his detect magic cantrip to find it. While Ezren was concentrating, it was Valeros's job to protect the wizard, and he noticed movement over behind a stalagmite. I asked what Ezren did, and she said, "I'm going to sneak up and see what's over there." I said, "Okay, you're a wizard, and you're smart enough to know that the big, dumb figher is here to protect you. What you want to do is send him over there and use him as bait so you can cast a spell at the monster." She turned the Ezren mini to the Valeros mini and explained (in a silly accent, no less), "You know, I only have 7 hit points. If I die, it's your fault." They fought a troglodyte and a giant centipede before finding the pen, but she wasn't a fan of playing the wizard, as the fighter got more of the action. She did insist that she keep finding giant centipedes until she had no more magic missiles to cast.
You guys are making me want to have kids. >.<
Ditto, I have a 7 year old cousin though. I have given her sparkly dice for years now to lay the groundwork for years. I will have to wait for the German version though, I own the original, buts that's a bit too much English for that age.
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My almost five-year old and I have been playing Mouseguard for about a year or so (eschewing the rules entirely and going for bouts of structured pretend time set in the Mouseguard world).
When I started unpacking my Beginner Box she was totally enthralled with the look and feel of all the stuff. She was a bit bummed that it wasn't about mice, and I just looked at her and said "Well June-bug...how about we make it about mice?" She gave me that "you are totally insane" look that all five-year old girls can fire at their dads.
I told her to trust me and I went to work with a little microsoft publisher point-n-clickery and voila...mouse hero that looked roughly like a pregen card, and a exacto'ed paper mouse stand-up hero. Granted it didn't look awesome, but my daughter was impressed so we'll call it a win :-)
She played Valeros reskinned as Soft-Patch (her often imagined heroine from our previous Mouseguard pretend times). She's a bit young to grab on to many of the mechanics so I took care of most of that for her. But she was so intrigued with they way we combined our pretend with rolling daddy's dice and moving pieces around the map. She laughed at my goblin voices (Warhammer Goblin style) and decided to beat up the Goblin King and scare off his "babies" (the term minions equated to babies in her mind...which may provide future hilarity with my regular roleplaying group).
She was terrified of the dragon (prompting my wife to glare at me and say "Dragons Jess? Really? Thanks for the nightmare fuel) and decided to run away and find some help before she came back to face it. We finished up our little session with talking about the kind of help she wanted to find. Next time I guess we'll be searching for a brave prince and a wizard or a witch to help out. Officially off the map, but hey, it'll be fun as long as she's having fun.
The end result was that we both shared a real adventure, and at no time was she whining about loot or game balance, or wasting time with "talking to XP."
Thanks Paizo!
-Jess Emerson
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My almost five-year old and I have been playing Mouseguard for about a year or so (eschewing the rules entirely and going for bouts of structured pretend time set in the Mouseguard world).
When I started unpacking my Beginner Box she was totally enthralled with the look and feel of all the stuff. She was a bit bummed that it wasn't about mice, and I just looked at her and said "Well June-bug...how about we make it about mice?" She gave me that "you are totally insane" look that all five-year old girls can fire at their dads.
I told her to trust me and I went to work with a little microsoft publisher point-n-clickery and voila...mouse hero that looked roughly like a pregen card, and a exacto'ed paper mouse stand-up hero. Granted it didn't look awesome, but my daughter was impressed so we'll call it a win :-)
She played Valeros reskinned as Soft-Patch (her often imagined heroine from our previous Mouseguard pretend times). She's a bit young to grab on to many of the mechanics so I took care of most of that for her. But she was so intrigued with they way we combined our pretend with rolling daddy's dice and moving pieces around the map. She laughed at my goblin voices (Warhammer Goblin style) and decided to beat up the Goblin King and scare off his "babies" (the term minions equated to babies in her mind...which may provide future hilarity with my regular roleplaying group).
She was terrified of the dragon (prompting my wife to glare at me and say "Dragons Jess? Really? Thanks for the nightmare fuel) and decided to run away and find some help before she came back to face it. We finished up our little session with talking about the kind of help she wanted to find. Next time I guess we'll be searching for a brave prince and a wizard or a witch to help out. Officially off the map, but hey, it'll be fun as long as she's having fun.
The end result was that we both shared a real adventure, and at no time was she whining about loot or game balance, or wasting time...
Awesome story! My daughter is four. She'll be five in a few months and I have both the Beginner Box and wrapped copy of Mouse Guard just waiting for her :)
So, I'm overjoyed. I'm the guy whose wife vowed to never let my kid play D&D. Today I told her that when I start up the after school Pathfinder Beginner Box program at my son's school (named "Pathfinder," of all things), I wanted Caeden to have the option of playing, if he wanted to. She said okay.
- Rich "Rebis" Crotty
How'd you manage this? My wife is of the same mind, and I'd really love to share my hobby with our kids (first is on the way!). She kind of hates RPGs in general, regardless of content, so I'm in a tough spot, but I'd really love to do stuff like this with my kids and her as well if I could ever get her to try it.
My wife doesn't roleplay either and I'm not going to sit around hoping to convince her or wait for her approval. I grabbed the kids and the boxed set and we started playing :)
I also take them to the game store to play so we're around other people. I've always liked that feeling that other people were jealously watching us have a good time while their own kids sat at home :)
You could tell her: It's either I teach them to shoot guns or play RPGs and boardgames. Which is it? ;)
jh
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My kids are only four, but i sat down with them yesterday and played HeroQuest. They actually did really well considering they've never really played anything like that before. I'd say they lasted about 30-45 minutes before they started to make up their own game (which, in and of itself, isn't a bad thing). I do plan on picking up the BB, but will wait awhile before playing it with them.
Well played the BB adventure tonight with my wife and 8 year old son. It went pretty well except that my son was very greedy. He wanted all the items and at one point ignored a warning of a creature coming up behind him just to search through some treasure. LOL But we all had fun.
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I absolutely love this product. My kids have been introduced into the game through the box sets. My oldest two have even taken up the core rule book to "play with dad". I would recommend this product for a family game night. It's quick but very good for the interesting imagination of your kids. I have learned a lot about my kids and their problem solving skills.
teach them to shoot guns[threadjack]You should do that too![/end threadjack]
Well, that's coming eventually too at our household..but I'm surprised that people in this day and age would be "against" letting their kids play tabletop rpgs. Certainly, they won't bat an eye when they play video game rated "M", but holy crap, playing D&D with your dad, now that's crossing the line!
Is it because a particular mis-understanding parent doesn't want them associating with certain types of people (i.e. flat out discrimination) or do they just yank the husband's chain in some kind of power-struggle? Surely in this day and age, this must be a joke? We are in the new millennium of tolerance and equality towards spouses after all :)
I learned long ago that my wife has no interest in RPGs (yet, she dresses up for Bunco the dice game..go figure), so she's got nothing on me when I "attack the darkness" or "lightning bolt! lightning bolt! lighting bolt!" the giant.
Am I alone that my wife can be a non-rpg'er and still NOT be a bigot against us nerds wanting to play a father & kids game of good ol' Pathfinder?
jh
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I have been very lucky about this. My wife plays with me in both games I play. (with the kids and with a gaming group). I got my wife involved by introducing her to other gaming girls. She took to it as a "social event", but now she has blossomed into a solid role player with basic knowledge of the rules
..Also, I don't mean to imply that anyone's wife is a bigot or discriminates against nerds..I just wonder if people are facing resistance. :)
Jay H
Yeah, there's definite resistance, but it's a long-running and complicated situation, though we're in a much better place on it than we used to be.
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At any rate, I'm totally giddy over the BB and while I know there are no plans for a "expert set" detailing a few more levels of play, more items, feats, monsters, etc., using the BB rules and format, nor any plans for BB stand alone modules, I would totally throw Paizo my money left and right if they did so.
Doesn't mean we in the community can't create our own!
Still sitting there, awaiting Christmas morning...
My "true" gamers just finished up their 4th Pathfinder Society module and are giddy as can be about second level. Looking forward to the Bash stuff being released - headed back to Grandma's for Christmas and will try to play several of those with nieces and nephews.
Yeah its there, under the tree... waiting...
On the other hand if the thing goes down well, then I have the hassle of having to help find/build a second group to GM :s
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I think my 5 year old is a natural GM. He's already drawn and populated his own dungeon with goblins, orcs, more goblins, a manticore and a dragon.
Of course the dragon has an ac of 15 and only has 12 hps..and the manticore, he decided, only has 8 hp and an AC of 10. He didn't want HIS character to die.
Ah, game balance..it's taught at such an early age these days :)
Go the kids the painted mini's this morning and got a great big "YEA!!!" from all of them [the kids that is..the mini's just collectively groaned about at least being thankful to not be misfit toys]
jh
Yeah it was unpacked last night (Christmas day) and the house Hobbit had a great time. Aged 11.
So well done, and well marketed :)
I think its presentation sets a new standard for game presentation as well. It reminds me of the sheer amount of grotesque, disorganized, bulk that otherwise gets put into games.
Starting with the solo is something Ive not seen well done since Star Frontiers back n the day and Paizo hits the nail on the head.
Now add the Hero Lab character generator and its even better.
jh
I just purchased the Beginners Box for my nephew and he loves it so far. I was amazed with the simplicity of the rules. He was catching on when I taught him the Pathfinder Core,he will have the Beginners box mastered in no time. An excellent product!
RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8
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I ran some encounters for my sister and her kids. They had fun, Jayla really liked it. I need to take some sundays and teach the godkids, then abduct my niece and have 'em all play. She liked the fighter. I plan to download Amri for her, shame I don't have a Wizkids mini for Amri.
So far, I let them each buy a dice set of their own and Santa got them the mini's for xmas.
My goal this year is to get with DMFTodd and play some more PFS. (and it is helped by the fact that the Beginner Box Pathfinder Society boxed set adaptation guide is out too) http://paizo.com/products/btpy8qev
jh
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My 5-yr old jumped onto his chair and punched the air with both fists when he defeated the 2nd goblin. Then he bunny-hopped down our hallway doing the same on every jump. I think he liked it.
A few hours later we played for another ten minutes and then similar later.
AH five year old attention spans...the ultimate solution to the fifteen minute adventuring day :-)
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AH five year old attention spans...the ultimate solution to the fifteen minute adventuring day :-)My 5-yr old jumped onto his chair and punched the air with both fists when he defeated the 2nd goblin. Then he bunny-hopped down our hallway doing the same on every jump. I think he liked it.
A few hours later we played for another ten minutes and then similar later.
Pathfinder fifteen : events occur ... in real time.
Kiefer Sutherland would need a wig to play Valeros though.
I'm always happy when I hear stories like these. It reminds me of the time when I started playing.
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I ran the BB for my two sons (14 and 10) and a friend of theirs (13) using the iconics (Valeros, Merisiel, and Ezren). They had a blast!! Actually talked to the goblin tribe rather than fighting them. They realized the need for a cleric to save them from bad rolls.
A couple of weeks later, I ran "Sinister secret of Saltmarsh" and they played right into it. They had no problems killing the bad guys. Though I did cause the youngest to have nightmares after I used my BOOMING voice from one of the traps.
Last week my boys rolled up their first characters. Austin chose to go with a human Barbarian and after mods, he had 18's in his three main stats. Jacob went with an elven wizard, and after mods, his Int was 19 and Dex 18. Great starting points.
The boys look forward to playing whenever we get a chance, and they take it fairly seriously. No fart jokes or anything out of character.
I bought Beginner Box to my 15 and 16 year old brothers as Christmas present. I've been trying to get them to roleplaying as I and second oldest brother have been roleplaying from elementary school.
We played Blackfang's dungeon last Wednesday me as GM as I have long experience on playing Pathfinder and they thought it could be best way to start playing. They choose Merisiel and Valeros as their first characters and headed to to dungeon. Mostly it went well as it was their first time roleplaying and (I think) they had fun. Adventure was mostly fighting so combat rules become familiar to them which is nice. Next adventure will happen in Sandpoint, maybe some crime solving so they'll get used to roleplay their characters.
We just enjoyed the final 2 pages of "Border Watch," an old Greyhawk Adventures scenario.
Valeros and Ezren, now 2nd level, got a little help from the Ogre when they bribed him with watermelons (nice unique solution ;)
jh
My kids played it for 8 hours straight yesterday. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not, since it was such a beautiful day outside. Good for their minds and a positive sign for Paizo, of course, but not so good for their growing bodies.
Things I have learned by playing with kids:
- No tinder box? Then no fire.
- Type of armor and whether it fits or not is not enough info. Cut, color, design, etc., are all important factors when "shopping" for armor (my kids are all girls).
- They have terrible poker faces.
- They can rationalize looting at a very early age.
- Spell components count. Better stock up, and better keep any living components secure (they don't exactly want to be spell components, after all).
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My girls keep begging me to play more pathfinder. On a whim I went down to the basement and fished out some old 1st edition TSR Modules I had: "Keep on the Borderlands", "Sinisiter Secret of Saltmarsh", etc. They of course picked "Palace of the Silver Princess" which I am adapting for them on the fly.
Paizo needs to roll out some "Beginner" DM friendly modules using the same design philosophy as the beginner DM book, I think.
My girls keep begging me to play more pathfinder. On a whim I went down to the basement and fished out some old 1st edition TSR Modules I had: "Keep on the Borderlands", "Sinisiter Secret of Saltmarsh", etc. They of course picked "Palace of the Silver Princess" which I am adapting for them on the fly.
Paizo needs to roll out some "Beginner" DM friendly modules using the same design philosophy as the beginner DM book, I think.
FYI: check out some of the PF adaptations on this board and on EnWorld's -- I believe someone has already done "Saltmarsh," and I tracked down an update of KotB to run for my family after they finish with the Beginner Bash mods. If someone's already done "Princess" too, no need for you to redo it, you know? :-)
Good point Thunder.
I think I will have to massage a few of the re-writes into Beginner Box re-writes though :p
My 5 year old made his first dungeon:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/167876/vaughn%20dungeon.jpg
His concepts come out very close to those of the other dungeon, but he added attitude to the an orc that was right next to the dragon.
jh