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We often hear the doomsayers predicting the imminent demise of the RPG hobby, and given the gray at my temples, I can certainly say that I’m part of the aging RPG community. Graceful aging, I assure you, but aging nonetheless.
However, two years ago, I introduced my boys to RPGs and the Pathfinder RPG in particular and have posted a few times about how that experience has gone successfully. While it’s great for the nostalgia effect, I do take great joy and some pride in the idea that I’m passing the RPG torch to the new generation.
Back around Father’s Day, I posted about my experiences of introducing Pathfinder to a larger group of kids as my eldest had recruited several of his friends. The results have, candidly, surpassed my expectations by leaps and bounds.
The Gaming Group Make-up
What originally started as a game for my two kids has grown to a core group ranging in ages from 7-15. The two youngest players are casual players that play when/if they want to which is fine given their ages, attention spans, and the length of your average gaming session. The others range from 11-15 and since June we’ve picked up another player’s sibling and recruited two other players. All have become rabid Pathfinder fans. There are currently 3 ongoing campaigns:
Campaign A – Just for my sons. The game we run when no one is available.
Campaign B – Primary group campaign consisting of 8 players (10 when the little guys want to play).
Campaign C – Campaign consisting of 4 players for when the other 4 are unavailable.
So here’s my completely anecdotal take on gaming with the under-18 crowd:
Skyrim is the Gateway Game, not D&D
Every single player in the kid group above was introduced into the idea of pen-and-paper RPGs via something along the lines of “It’s like Skyrim but it’s not a video game. You can play with a group and you can have your character try to do whatever you can think of. It’s awesome.” In my earlier post, I referenced how Skyrim provides an easy point of reference. However, even in that regard, I underestimated how powerful an introduction that can be and just how popular Skyrim is with the under-18 crowd.
Pathfinder (or any brand) is as strong a brand as you make it
While their parents have heard of D&D, most of these kids hadn’t. However, they had all heard of or played Skyrim, and for every single one of them, pen-and-paper RPGs now equals Pathfinder. They don’t say they’re playing D&D and if you asked them if they were they’d look at you like you were weird. Even my old modules and rulebooks are “Pathfinder books” to them.
I’m not making that observation as a knock against D&D. When my adult group plays, that’s what they tell their spouses – “we’re doing D&D on Friday”. However, my point is that the hobby isn’t dependent upon a single brand. In videogame parlance, kids play Dishonored, not “that game that’s like Thief: The Dark Project”. Props to Paizo for things like the Beginner Box, the Comic, Pathfinder Tales, and other vehicles that are not only cool but increase brand awareness. On the older-gen side, if you want to promote your game system, the call it what it is, regardless of whether that’s Pathfinder, Mutants & Masterminds, Warhammer, Shadowrun, or whatever else you might be playing.
The Magic of RPGs
Yeah, maybe I’m just waxing nostalgic given that we just came out of the Christmas season, but when you can get 8 kids under the age of 18 to sit around a table for eight hours and the session ends with a Mexican-standoff over a masterwork longsword being acted out where people are talking in character, pantomiming holding swords and aiming bows and crossbows, all screaming over one another and you, as a GM, didn’t have to do a damn thing but take it in and smile… that's RPG gold. (And for two of the player’s it was their 1st session.)
The only thing that made it even better was in the midst of the yelling and arguing, I let out a roar. Every single player, remembering rumors of a fire drake in the region, yelled (in-character) “Run to the cave!” Now THAT was priceless!
An Unexpected Upside
So it’s New Year’s Eve, and we’re at a party at a neighbor’s house. As parents will do, much of the talk was about the kids. I was taken by surprise when one couple thanked me for running Pathfinder and introducing their kids to it. They loved the fact that it wasn’t a video game, it used their imagination, that they were spending time with friends, and it helped them get along better at home because collectively they all wouldn’t stop talking about Pathfinder. At this point, one of the other couples chimed in and thanked my wife for “letting me” (married guys know what I’m talking about…) run Pathfinder for the kids and that it allowed them to have a night out without the kids.
Somewhere along the way, RPGs became cool in the minds of parents… but I’m not telling those kids that anytime soon!
One Weird Thing
I’ll never get used to being called “Mr. Porter” while GMing.
So for 2012, particularly the latter half, next-gen gaming was a huge success. At present, aside from my little stories above, we have:
2 of my players dipping into the GM-pool running games for friends; My eldest child is prepping an adventure for Dad to play through
2 Core Rulebooks & 2 Bestiaries purchased
1 Beginner Box purchased
2 Hero Lab core licenses purchased
… and a whole lot of “when can we play Pathfinder again, Mr. Porter?”
Happy New Year, all. Since the world didn’t end in 2012, here’s hoping 2013 is a banner year for RPGs in general, and Pathfinder in particular!
I've tenatively tested the water with my girls to mild success. They really liked it last summer and we even got some minis, but then as school came on they lost interest. Over winter break we went to a B&N bookstore and my older one saw the PF Beginner Box.
Both of them were interested and they asked if we could get it. Unfortunately Dad's still a little strapped from the holidays so it didn't happen but They're still kind of interested.
My question is: do you think its worth it? And if I do get it, is it easy enough that my older one (10) could use it to make her OWN game? She's kind of a controlling type and likes being in charge so she's asked if she can run instead of play.
Great summary of your experiences!
I also took the dive into teaching under-agers to play D&D several years ago, both for my love of the game, and as a favor to a friend: his kids were interested. And while only one kept with it, that one got several of his friends started too. As for me, I discovered that my patience with teaching kids has a limit. :)
I've tenatively tested the water with my girls to mild success. They really liked it last summer and we even got some minis, but then as school came on they lost interest. Over winter break we went to a B&N bookstore and my older one saw the PF Beginner Box.
Both of them were interested and they asked if we could get it. Unfortunately Dad's still a little strapped from the holidays so it didn't happen but They're still kind of interested.
My question is: do you think its worth it? And if I do get it, is it easy enough that my older one (10) could use it to make her OWN game? She's kind of a controlling type and likes being in charge so she's asked if she can run instead of play.
The Beginner Box is the best RPG intro product I've seen. It slims down the Pathfinder rules to the core elements and the presentation makes it very easy for a newbie to get acclimated.
As for whether or not it's easy enough for a 10-yr old, that's a bit tougher. If the goal is to open the box and go, while it's doable & designed with that goal in mind, it might be a tall order for age 10. I'd use the child's interest in reading as a gauge. If reading is "fun", you're probably ok. If reading is "work", you'll need to be more involved as a teacher.
My 2 coppers, anyway.
Awesome post
Thanks for sharing, very inspiring.
Can I ask what materials you use to make campaigns? APs, PFS, your own material, or something else?
Awesome postThanks for sharing, very inspiring.
Can I ask what materials you use to make campaigns? APs, PFS, your own material, or something else?
Thanks for the compliment!
As for what I use, it's really a mix. Initially, the campaign started with me doing a PF update of the old AD&D module U1: The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh. I added a ton of my own material, however, as the kids were so caught up in the "go anywhere, try anything" aspect that I was constantly doing GM-improv to keep up with them. This translated into multiple side quests of my own design.
When they finished U1, they were bordering the line of cure-worse-than-the-illness status with the town of Saltmarsh. I gave them the option of continuing to the 2nd module in the series but they were ready to move on.
At present, I'm modifying/updating Dungeon adventures and old modules to Pathfinder, and then fleshing out mini-sandboxes around those site-based adventures.
Back in Saltmarsh, I seeded a map to dwarven ruins. They're into their 3rd "main adventure" and are now searching for those ruins. The ruins, are the 3e module Forge of Fury. I fleshed out the area around the ruins and Blasingdell (I shrunk it from a town to a borderlands mining village). So far, that story is comprised of:
1. Blasingdell - just a stat-block in the module with a few key NPCs. Now fleshed out with major NPCs, several mines in the surrounding area. The PCs did some shopping but 1/2 the group ended up having dinner with the local mayor and local aristocracy while the others were dicing and participating in boxing matches at the local gaming hall.
2 A map of the mountainous region including the main hunting areas of a group of perytons and a fire drake.
3. A cult of evil druids that are intent on corrupting/destroying the mines and the village.
4. A bandit group that ambushed the PCs and their lair. The bandits were taken straight out of the NPC codex.
5.To give the players something of a "home base" since they often get in over their heads and need to recuperate, I suggested that they form a caravan to act as a mobile base. I'm using the caravan rules from the Jade Regent AP. The NPCs (drivers, cooks, etc.) in the caravan will also be used for minor subplots.
6. And, of course, the actual adventure module itself, which only details the site of the dwarven ruin.
At some point, I'd like to run them through an AP. However, they jump from quest-to-quest so quickly, that the only one I think that they could stick with at present would be Skull & Shackles or Kingmaker. I'm saving an AP run for when they're a bit more seasoned and have a clearer picture of what they want to do. I do, however, cherry-pick encounters, maps, or NPCs from various APs if I think they'll port over well or if I'm really pressed for prep time.
P.S. - Additional resources: HeroLab, Hexographer, & Dungeonographer
Pathfinder (or any brand) is as strong a brand as you make it
While their parents have heard of D&D, most of these kids hadn’t. However, they had all heard of or played Skyrim, and for every single one of them, pen-and-paper RPGs now equals Pathfinder. They don’t say they’re playing D&D and if you asked them if they were they’d look at you like you were weird. Even my old modules and rulebooks are “Pathfinder books” to them.
Reminds me that last year, my son (eight back then)asked me what "D&D" was. Trying to answer in the most intelligible way he would understand, I replied "Its like Pathfinder, but by another brand".
And yet I own one Pathfinder product over two rows of the shelf...