Customer Carebear
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If you're going to register your child for any events or have them taking a seat at a gaming table, then yes, your child will need a badge. Otherwise a child that young doesn't need a badge.
I'm not sure about the hotel rooms and sleeping. This is the first year we're at the Seattle Airport Marriott and I don't know how sound proof the rooms are. I've never heard of any issues at previous PaizoCons with gamers being loud at night. However, the year I went to GenCon we had a nearby room gaming until the wee hours that we could hear through our air vent, so it could just be luck. Its also likely going to depend on if your child is a light or heavy sleeper.
hope this helps!
sara marie
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5's pushing it. Most kids really shouldn't be at Cons until they are 10 or so. IMO. Jokem is right about talking to the Hotel though, see if they have a room away room away from the convention traffic. Also, consider having some sort of pillow, or activity fo the child. The hours of panels and gaming table events...well, they'll get bored.
You might want to think about what happens if you are spending several hours at one of the many game sessions. Sitting still and quiet for 3-4 hours at a time is tough on a child that young.
At previous 'cons there were some (older) kids which were better behaved than a number of attending adults ;)
Contributor
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Hi, Celestine8!
I think it's great that you want to bring your kids into the gaming scene. Five is obviously a bit young to be playing Pathfinder, but it's cool to start introducing them to a variety of games from an early age.
I've got 11yo girls (twins) and, although they won't be coming to PaizoCon, I am in the process of introducing them to conventions. They attended Condor Con in San Diego about a month ago, and I was pleased to see several young players at Kingdom-Con, this past weekend, with some even playing at the Pathfinder Society tables. It seems the number of us "gamer parents" is growing.
I do find that some people are confused by the presence of kids in the gaming rooms, but I hope that will change over time. My daughters and I got a couple of strange looks as we passed through the organized play area at one convention, but overall, gamers can be a pretty accepting lot, and we tend to reward, and sometimes teach, good behavior at the table. ;)
Please let us know what you find out from the hotel.
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My husband and I are going and will have to take our child with us. I had a few questions about this. Does my child, who is five, need a badge to come with us? Will it likely be too loud or busy in the PaizoCon block of the hotel for my child to easily sleep?
That's fantastic! The year my wife and I were able to attend I truly wish we had brought our oldest, he wants so badly to go to a convention.
I hope you and the kid enjoy the whole experience together, who knows it may just lead to a lifelong love of gaming. :D
EDIT: As for the sleeping thing, I am a notoriously light sleeper, and I had no issue catching a quick nap, or getting a good night sleep when we went.
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Best solution: be responsible.
Neither the hotel nor likely Paizo will want legal responsibility for your child. At some cons, the lifestyle is that children are 'cared for' by fellow con attendees and that these tots are respected. Lifestyle is not reality. Reality is that child monitoring by parents is a legal responsibility. An unattended minor can have real world distress or harm.
Also, a PFS event or convention game event is timed. The GM is vexed enough with that limit, but allowing for diaper breaks, food breaks, and a wide variety of normal child behaviors is not the GM's responsibility. A game is very much an endurance contest requiring toleration. Children are rarely noted to have tolerance amid chaotic adults.
I'm pretty sure that since the child has lived to be 5, both she and her husband can take care of the kid for a weekend. :P
I may run a kid game of Faery's Tale at the con, if there are folks interested in that. It runs for 2 hours.
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Great choice, Christina! I ran a Faery's Tale game at PaizoCon 2010. I only had two players (a mother and her son), but we had a lot of fun.
Great to hear. I am running off grid, so anyone interested, PM me here. I have 2 or 3 kids already. Parents welcome to play as well!
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Contributor
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I wanted to let you folks know that I'm running some demo Pathfinder sessions that are also "off-grid". It looks like most non-PFS events will be in the same situation. The link below provides details about the family- and new-player friendly scenarios I'm demonstrating.
[Open Gaming Event] Demo Games for Clockwork Gnome Publishing products