D1 Do the kids have stats?

[Coridan]

I've only been able to browse the book so far, but the two parts I've seen about the kids (where they're first described and where they're found) doesn't have any.

I know my group, and they're going to give them swords and say "come on! we'll teach you how to be real adventurers!" or some such thing. I don't wanna just shoot the idea down if they're convincing; so any suggestions/help?

[Mike McArtor]

Coridan wrote:

I've only been able to browse the book so far, but the two parts I've seen about the kids (where they're first described and where they're found) doesn't have any.

I know my group, and they're going to give them swords and say "come on! we'll teach you how to be real adventurers!" or some such thing. I don't wanna just shoot the idea down if they're convincing; so any suggestions/help?

No. No stats.

There's a designer note about it, IIRC.

[Jeremy Walker]

Coridan wrote:

I've only been able to browse the book so far, but the two parts I've seen about the kids (where they're first described and where they're found) doesn't have any.

I know my group, and they're going to give them swords and say "come on! we'll teach you how to be real adventurers!" or some such thing. I don't wanna just shoot the idea down if they're convincing; so any suggestions/help?

This was actually a major source of angst during the development of the module. We toyed with the idea of giving them stats, but we simply couldn't figure out what classes to give them. According to the PHB, they aren't old enough to have levels in PC classes. And while it was an attractive idea, we didn't want to make them that powerful. Adding 5 allied 1st-level NPCs would make a huge power difference to a 2nd-level module.

We also toyed with the idea of giving them levels in NPC classes, but we were reluctant to do that because we wanted to leave the option open to doing something with these kids in a future module, and if we gave them NPC class levels they would have to have them in the future module, and it would probably be inappropriate. (How many PCs took a level of warrior or expert when they were 11 or 12 before they started taking fighter or wizard levels?)

We also thought about creating rules for stating up kids (since it is a major hole in the D&D ruleset anyway) but gave up on the idea when we realized we didn't have enough space. Maybe in a future product.

Finally, we considered stating them up in a completely ad-hoc way, just estimating what they are capable of and coming up with stats, but in the end, we decided that would be a mistake, and would only lead to frustration and inconsistency. If the DM wanted stats for them, he was perfectly capable of doing that on his own, but we decided that the way Nick handled it in the turnover was the correct way to do it. So I refer you to his excellent designer note entitled "The Children in the Dungeon" for the best way to handle the situation.

[Matthew Morris]

This Thread has some suggestions on the kids and their futures.

[Coridan]

aha found the sidebar, thanks. I generally treat NPCs that are 1st level NPC classes as having a racial HD; IE it gets replaced as soon as they take a level in a PC class, so I'll probably just whip it up that way.