So, we've just about finished up Life's Bazaar in my weird version of SCAP.
My campaign background: PC's gated in from WOTC's Forge of Fury as 2nd-4th level characters, are fighting their way through the Malachite Fortress. Another PC party (different players) long ago cleared most of Jzazidrune but got TPK'd soon after entering the Malachite Fortress.
2 of my 4 players (all over the age of 30) have asked to have 12 year olds join up.
-- One is the daughter of the oldest player. She's never played, is home schooled, and her dad assigned her to read The Hobbit before she can play.
-- The other is a nephew of another player. Supposedly, he's actually DM'd for his friends but the group broke up. I assume in 4e (we play 3.5e).
-- I'm 42, married to a non-gamer, no kids, and really don't know kids other than my nephew and niece (both under age 8). The last time I DM'd for a 12 year old, I was like 15.
So I'm thinking, they need an intro adventure to teach them the game, and since there are two of them, do it together.
The questions are:
1) Should I build something in the SCAP setting, since the "parental" party is there and they might join it later?
Or is SCAP too weird a setting for new players/kids, so I should run something more European medieval/hobbity? I mean kidnapping, an economy built on slavery (in my version), outer plane stuff, seems a bit unsavory. On the other hand, -I- wouldn't have minded it at age 12, and their guardians don't seem to mind either.
Assuming I go for a "build a 1st level beginning SCAP adventure", ideas? I'm thinking maybe a nerfed version of Drakthar's Way (which I was playing to skip anyhow).
2) Should their guardians play with them too? That would get us to 4 players. I think "yes", but I might be overlooking something here.
3) Should the intent be for them to join the main group? I guess there's no particular reason not to . . . but I've never DM'd at all with anything like this age difference. Maybe try it on first and see if it works as a more-or-less one-shot?
If you have advice, let me know.
I wouldn't go with SCAP for 12 year olds. Check with their parents first, but I'd probably run something a little more PG-13.
I know the parents are playing in the game with them, but I think a game centering around cultists opening a portal to hell is too mature for a couple of 12 year olds playing their first D&D game.
On top of that, the SCAP campaign is pretty full on. A shorter campaign might be better to allow them to find their feet, before moving on to a longer campaign.
Olaf the Stout
I'll second what Olaf said. SCAP is such a... variable... in terms of PG-13-edness that I would steer away from that when introducing new players. It's such a long-haul, and, even with guardians playing, this could get ugly for you and them personally, especially with some of the themes and later parts of the adventure.
I'd say what to remove, but they're major plot points, so I would steer away until they get more experience and are ready for such an undertaking. Doing one-shots and making sure everything is okay and figuring out their maturity and tolerance levels would be better than starting this AP immediately.
Haven't met the kids or parents, but those are my opinions based on actually running the SCAP (at this point 3 times).
I hope this helps.
Thanks guys. I've talked to the father and uncle (respectively) offline, and we've decided to do a one-shot of Drakthar's Way (reduced to a 1st level adventure) to see if they even like the game. We'll see.