this summer my nephews from nebraska are visiting for an extended period at my moms house, they are ages 7 and 10 i also have my daughter who will be 7 also (which is according to her "almost a teenager"), i was wondering which ap is best for kids.
i have all of kingmaker and the first three for serpent's skull
i prefer the ap's that have already been written for pathfinder system, tho i wont rule any out if someone can give compelling argument that it would be best ap.
by the way, kingmaker and serpent's skull both rule
i'm leaning towards kingmaker but the kingdom building might be daunting for young gamers and my daughter probably will be pissed off if i tell her she can't build her own kingdom and be queen lol thanks for any and all imput
i also don't mind cleaning things up a bit (such as less emphasis on cannibals)
I think Kingmaker is probably the child-safest AP out there. And it has a lot of room for friendly RPing. Especially the first adventure, where you can overcome several obstacles with diplomacy.
+1 with the caveat that Kingmaker is simply the easiest to control content in being an open concept campaign, rather than it being overly geared for kids.
Actually, I was thinking of just using the first few adventures of Rise of the Runelords. I mean defeating the pyromaniac goblins is going to be gobs of fun. But you have to end it early, before the Logue influence really gets into full view.
Actually, I was thinking of just using the first few adventures of Rise of the Runelords. I mean defeating the pyromaniac goblins is going to be gobs of fun. But you have to end it early, before the Logue influence really gets into full view.
i seem to remember that rise of the runelord's second adventure was a bit disturbing i will look into it though.
i understand that none of the adventure paths aren't for kids per se i'm just looking for one that would be fun for them, also is there a recommended age for pathfinder, not that it matters because my daughter is very intelligent with an incredibly active imagination, just curious.
p.s. she loves the artwork of the iconic characters in the core rulebook and the advanced players guide (especially the one of the master spy prestige class)
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I once started a whole thread about age on the Pathfinder Society pages. You might search for Thod and Age and children - might yield the right thread.
I do Kingmaker with my daughter 7, my son just turned 10, a friend 12 (13?) and her mother as well as my wife.
The main issue is concentration span. My son has managed some whole PFS scenarios - that's four hours. But this is really his limit. I would half this for my daughter.
Time can be worse depending on daytime. AND one issue I have seen is that they sometimes are a lot more disruptive - look for personal attention - if there are multiple children on the table and they are not balanced out by the same number of more experienced players.
Spell casters are a difficulty - my young one loves Lini and the snow leopard. Actually it works after I made spell cards for all spells. But ideally I would like a second GM playing who can help out as player and give guidance.
It can be n issue if all - including the adults - need additional clarifications from the GM. That makes gming more difficult - and you need to make it exiting to keep them concentrated.
Thod
Actually, I was thinking of just using the first few adventures of Rise of the Runelords. I mean defeating the pyromaniac goblins is going to be gobs of fun. But you have to end it early, before the Logue influence really gets into full view.i seem to remember that rise of the runelord's second adventure was a bit disturbing i will look into it though.
Actually, now that you mention it, I think you're right.
Actually, I was thinking of just using the first few adventures of Rise of the Runelords. I mean defeating the pyromaniac goblins is going to be gobs of fun. But you have to end it early, before the Logue influence really gets into full view.
I think ROTR is too dark for kids, depending on the kids.
And taking that out would lose a lot of the flavor of the adventure.
And once you get to Skinsaw Murders and Hook Mountain Massacre...things get VERY nasty. I have adult players who get disturbed by those adventures.
But it also depends on the kids. With the internet today and some parents, they might be able to handle this sort of thing.
I LOVED horror movies as a kid, watching things like dracula, alien, and night of the living dead when I was a pre-teen. So, things like SSM would not have bothered me.
Then again, you have to know the PARENTS as well...
Creative Director
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No two kids are alike. What's dark for one group of kids is nothing for another.
For example, I was reading Stephen King by the age of 10—thanks to my Grandma, who gave me a copy of Cujo and then next year a copy of Pet Semetery.
For our products, we aim to have things USUALLY settle on the hard side of PG-13, periodically venturing into R-rated territory. Whether or not something's safe for kids is not our decision—it's up to each specific GM to decide what's appropriate or what's not.
No two kids are alike. What's dark for one group of kids is nothing for another.
For example, I was reading Stephen King by the age of 10—thanks to my Grandma, who gave me a copy of Cujo and then next year a copy of Pet Semetery.
For our products, we aim to have things USUALLY settle on the hard side of PG-13, periodically venturing into R-rated territory. Whether or not something's safe for kids is not our decision—it's up to each specific GM to decide what's appropriate or what's not.
+1
I used to run demos for the LGS (not always FLGS...but LGS). After running a brief 3.5 demo for a bunch of 6-11 year olds who came in to learn D&D, I was hired to run an all day D&D bday party for one of the eldest and his friends. (The moms bought PHB for each of the kids and a DMG and MM 1 & 2 for the birthday boy/ gm. And a mini for each kid based on what character they wanted to play.)
So, I had to write a brief adventure to play over 8 hours with a group of 10 6-11 year olds...and I because I didn't know the moms, I had to keep it VERY kid friendly.
It was actually a lot of fun and I kept my creation notes so that the Bday boy could continue the campaign with the characters.
However, with that sort of age range, there were a lot of different maturity levels ( the eldest three were just beginning to notice the opposite sex while the youngest wanted to be a druid so that she could have a pony...so lots of different roleplaying encounters). Add to that he fact that the birthday boy's parents were a lesbian couple, and there were other "standard" WOTC D&D relationships that the kids ignored or changed themselves. (In a more mature way than the way some of my "adult" players dealt with same-sex game romances.)
We still kept it PG. But I let the kids set the tone and feel. (Though I did steer them away from evil characters and evil acts...something that, in a game, isn't always obvious to a bunch f pre-teens.)
It was a blast though. I wish PF was out back then (~2002-2004). I think it would have worked even better...
this summer my nephews from nebraska are visiting for an extended period at my moms house, they are ages 7 and 10 i also have my daughter who will be 7 also (which is according to her "almost a teenager"), i was wondering which ap is best for kids.
i have all of kingmaker and the first three for serpent's skull
i prefer the ap's that have already been written for pathfinder system, tho i wont rule any out if someone can give compelling argument that it would be best ap.by the way, kingmaker and serpent's skull both rule
i'm leaning towards kingmaker but the kingdom building might be daunting for young gamers and my daughter probably will be pissed off if i tell her she can't build her own kingdom and be queen lol thanks for any and all imput
i also don't mind cleaning things up a bit (such as less emphasis on cannibals)
I have at my table three 10 year old boys, they will be 11 in the spring. I have two 7 year olds, one boy one girl, and we have another 7 year old who makes appearance every now and again.
I have found that Kingmaker was a great foundation and then I can patch other item's encounters in from other material into the game. Heck I've used parts of various 4th edition encounter stuff for them as well, translated on the fly. The key I've found is to limit us to about two hours per session...now we have been known to have two sessions a day or a weekend but the two hour mark really helps with the attention span.
i love the advice, all good stuff, when i was a kid tsr put age disclaimers on their products such as "for ages 9 and up" like they have on the sides of game boxes, i love all the adventures and campaign products i've read so far, i have no problem with some of the more mature content.
as james and the other people have said, it depends on the parents (my brother lets his kids watch csi and other shows like that, but forbids them to watch spongebob at home, i went the other way, i wont even let my kid watch newer episodes of the simpsons (not hard since most episodes in last few years suck). btw my daughter loves spongebob.
i would like to hear more about legacy of fire, council of thieves, and curse of the crimson throne, living in the sticks with limited time in the city to peruse the adventures at my leisure in my local game store, i also have limited space on my computer to store large pdf's that is why i started this thread to find out more about what adventures work better for kids (especially ones raised on harry potter, lotr, and pirates of the carribean).
i already have kingmaker and first three serpents skull aps so i know what they're like, i'm somewhat new to pathfinder (hard to believe it's only been 8 months) and i know next to nothing about other aps (is the extra material good?, any better then the others?), and the reviews don't do them justice.
i was already planning on 2 hour sessions, and i was planning on being very theatrical and act out voices, bring in props and costumes, and try to make it as fun and entertaining as possible.
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Kingmaker is probably the easiest AP to adjust for younger gamers. Brushing aside a couple of grittier elements (such as the Stag Lord background) is easy and does not impact the narrative at all.
The kindgom building rules can be handwaved with minimum hassle if they prove bothersome, but I don't think they're too complex for ages 10+ - OTOH, they can prove a rather fun way to tinker with some basic math.
The next best suited AP I think is Legacy of Fire. Even if there are some darker moments (the whole gnoll situation, and the attitude in Katapesh), it's quite easy to just show them as "bad guys work" without going too much into detail.
Moreover the exotic overall theme could prove highly engaging.
Both Curse of the Crimson Throne and Council of Thieves are somewhat more difficult to custom-fit for a younger group. There are some gritty scenes (not too much of them), but the hardest part is the underlying atmosphere, full of moral choices, shades of grey, strange bedfellows as allies, and uncertain areas.
Even if it's not finished yet, it seems to me that Serpent's Skull falls in the same category.
Rise of the Runelords and Second Darkness are not suited. Not only there are some definitively gory moments (Nualia's background, the skinsaw cult, them ogres!, the drow as a whole), but changing or removing them means getting rid of some basic defining elements of the APs themselves.
Unless you're willing to do a lot of work, I'd skip them from the start.