I am coming to the community in order to get some guidance with younger players. I have very little experience with youngsters, but several months ago a 8 years old and his father joined our group. They are now regular players and we all enjoy their company.
But said Young Pathfinder often likes to rush into things, whether it’s a Roleplay Encounter, or a Combat Encounter, he just likes to charge right in with his first impulse. (This isn’t an issue with roleplaying, he does that just fine especially with NPCs he’s met before). When he says aloud his intended action, the group imminently responds in various forms of “No.” This vocal opposition almost always includes his father as well. To be fair his choice of action will usually have negative consequences for himself or the party three times out of four. But being a youngster, his unique perspective sometimes has positive outcomes the rest of the party would not achieve otherwise.
So I have the problem of trying to balance between allowing the group to police itself, and allowing him to do what he wants to do for good or ill.
I figure people with more experience with youngsters might have some helpful tips. I am going to try to give him more attention in game than I have been hoping that might settle him down some. I also decided to sometimes try to shush the other players and ask him “What would YOU like to do?” Yeah his choice might make things worse but experience is a better teacher sometimes. After his death in the Arena of Aroden this past summer I did notice a difference in his behavior for a few months. But time has healed those wounds.
I’ve also invited him and his father to our non-PFS sandbox game in the hopes that being able to make the choices he couldn’t before might help settle him down for PFS. I’m not so sure it’s working but he’s been rather amusing and helpful for me as a GM… His first “dead” character in that game is now a recurring villain…
The other issue I have is his choice of actions sometimes fall under the “There is no reason a player will ever consider this course of action.” Two recent examples of this:
The Merchant’s Wake
The Weapon in the Rift
I know I’m often on my own in these situations since it is sometimes so far off the beaten trail… but any advice would be appreciated.