|
I recently allowed my 13-year-old niece to sit in on our Carrion Crown campaign and play a wizard she had created earlier that afternoon.
Instant addict.
She really enjoyed the game and wanted to know when she could do it again. So, I went ahead and bought her the Pathfinder Beginner Box for Christmas.
That gets her the rules, but she's a little too young to participate in our ongoing campaign full time (all players are 30+, and we do handle some fairly mature themes in-game). I don't want to just hand her the box and not help her find resources to find other players.
Can I ask for your suggestions on how to help her find other players her own age (more or less)? She's presently in 8th grade.
Happy holidays, and thanks for your help.
|
Well I will say I started when i was 8 with a group of boys who where all in their mid teens and they didn't shy away from mature themes and I turned out ok.
Of course it depends on how just how mature the themes are. My first reaction is let her attend with you guys.
My next suggestion is what a friend of mine did with his 11 year old daughter. Run some solo stuff for her for a bit. Then as she plays she will talk to friends of her's and the ones interested can be invited to come try it out. Eventually he had 4 kids including his daughter in a group that he would run for every other week. Once he has ran for them enough and hopefully gets another player or two involved he plans to hand the GMing over to one of them.
Well I will say I started when i was 8 with a group of boys who where all in their mid teens and they didn't shy away from mature themes and I turned out ok.
Of course it depends on how just how mature the themes are. My first reaction is let her attend with you guys.
My next suggestion is what a friend of mine did with his 11 year old daughter. Run some solo stuff for her for a bit. Then as she plays she will talk to friends of her's and the ones interested can be invited to come try it out. Eventually he had 4 kids including his daughter in a group that he would run for every other week. Once he has ran for them enough and hopefully gets another player or two involved he plans to hand the GMing over to one of them.
+1.
Remember that everyone is different and can handle different things at different times. I've known friends of my stepdaughters who would handle some mature themes at 12 and 13 better than some people I've played with in their 30s and 40s.
Check with the parents and clear it with them first, naturally, and also talk to your group to be sure they understand some of your concerns. You can also take her with your group through a one-off to ease her in.
Good luck, and thanks for introducing another generation to the game!
One on one play sounds like a great idea, i wish I'd had something like that at her age rather than just the lonely life a [i[NERD[/i]...
And as Dark said, don't under-estimate her tolerance for mature stuff; you would want to get graphic with a kid that age, but they can be surprisingly level headed.
Of course now that she's got the box, cultural transmission has been achieved and she'll just make her friends play :)
|
|
Thanks guys, I appreciate all the help.
It's a little more complicated than I initially posted: I run a VTT campaign, since most of my players are 2+ hours away (at least). My niece also lives more than an hour away, and doesn't own a computer. So involvement in our campaign for her is just not possible full time.
|
Thanks guys, I appreciate all the help.
It's a little more complicated than I initially posted: I run a VTT campaign, since most of my players are 2+ hours away (at least). My niece also lives more than an hour away, and doesn't own a computer. So involvement in our campaign for her is just not possible full time.
In any case I am sure her uncle does not want to get any blame for mature theme related questions.
My suggestion is that she look at school or maybe ask her friends. You could take her to a local game store to see if there are any open games at the store.
If you have a gaming store I suggest introducing her there so she can play. Perhaps help her find a group. Idk exactly what comes in the box but you might want to consider getting her own set of dice it's always a great feeling getting your first set.
|
|
I was introduced to D&D (through the 1981 red box Basic set) when I was 10 years old. The kid who introduced me to it was only 8. We did just fine playing with each other and other kids in the neighborhood.
Now that your niece has the beginner box, she'll hopefully recruit some friends. If you can get together with her regularly to GM, that would be ideal, obviously. But if not, just let her run with the box set and whatever friends she recruits, or as others have said, check out local gaming shops and stuff that she might be able to visit.
RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 16, RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32
|
I started when I was about 11, and I didn't have any trouble finding people at school who wanted to play with me. In fact, I started an unofficial club of sorts that played in the Library every day at lunch.
If you want to help her, provide a place and a time for her to invite people to play. Finding an appropriate environment to play in is one of the toughest tasks. She should be able to find people to play with her. If she can't, one can always put up an ad in the local game store or online.
I would put trust in her finding people though. If she likes the game, chances are her friends are also going to like it or know someone who would.