Getting young kids interested in TRPGs : An idea I’m reflecting upon

[williamoak]

Disclaimer: I don’t have any kids of my own, so I’m mainly speculating. But I have done a fair share of babysitting, so I think some of these ideas might be interesting.

So, our hobby of pathfinder is relatively complicated. A lot of math, a lot of decisions, a lot of management. Not something that is necessarily easy to introduce to the average young child. It’s hard enough to keep them in one place for more than 5 minutes of the time (short of TV). How to introduce them to pathfinder while they are still fairly young (let’s say 3 to 10 years old) in a way that isn’t too complex, but still allows them to experience the fantasy? Have them play as animal companions!

The idea came to me recently, when I realised:
-Animal companions have simplified mechanics (simple attacks, no resource management)
-They have natural-built in support in the form of their druid/ranger/cavalier/samurai
-The parent can always be there (as their druid/ranger/cavalier/samurai) playing as well.
-I loved to pretend being a T-Rex when I was a kid. So I can easily imagine others wanting to be horse, wolves, tigers & others.
There would however be certain considerations:
-At first, the parent would need to do their calculations for them. The kids could certainly throw the dice (who doesn’t love throwing dice?). If they show interest, it can be an interesting reason for them to learn numbers & basic addition.
-The GM will need patience. Obviously, this will slow down the game, but I believe it’s for a worthy cause.
-The kid will need to be guided. The questions will need to be well made & more “real” (IE “a monster watns to hurt your mom, and you’re a tiger! What do you do?”) & try to interpret their intent. Basically, avoid too many game terms at the beginning.
So what do the parents of the boards think? I know there seems to be an interest in introducing children to the game before giving them full characters. Do you guys think this is a good way? Have any parents tried something similar? I’m unlikely to use it myself (not for several years at least) but I thought I should put the idea out there.

[Pan]

Hero Quest the board game did wonders getting me into gaming. I think the kickstarter re-launch is dead in the water though. That is the route I would go.

[Aspire]

Good morning -

I'm still running through this myself. My Wife and I play and my daughter (currently 7 y/o) has watched us play. That put in a little interest. We've also tried the indoctrination route by showing her movies like Willow, The Animated Hobbit/Lord of the Rings, and such. Like I said, I don't have a positive or negative outcome yet, but my daughter made a character. I've simplified the decisions for her so far, but a lot of the influence has been from her watching her parents.

I'd turned to this post looking for answers. I'll see if yours works. Hopefully I was able to be of some help, too.

[Aspire]

Just had the first game with the kiddo. It went well (though slowly). I simplified all of the decision (do you want to be smarter or stronger? Do you want to be better fighting with bows or up close? Do you want to shoot him with your bow to draw your sword and wait for him?). Non-caster is ideal, since there are more decisions with caster types.

[Milo v3]

My parents just bought me the beginner set, then later the core rule books. It wasn't actually very complex; me, my friends, and several cool kids, were playing it at school in the third grade without any real issue, though some kids took awhile to understand that it wasn't a board game.

[Crispy Gnoll Fajitas]

My parents always brought me to their gaming sessions, and I kinda learned by watching. The first game I actually played in, I was a human fighter. By 3rd grade I was playing a Gnoll Monk and correcting the DM.

[Tonya Woldridge]

I have two kids. My 8 year old just ran through her first PFS scenario. As a lead up, we did the Beginner Box adventures. She observed lots of games. Now she wants to GM and we are working on the "framework".

May I suggest, if you are around conventions or a FLGS, asking your local VO to add some Kid's Track. They are adventures that start with pregens and then take the kids through leveling up. The mechanics are simplified, as in Beginner's Box, and the stories are great for young minds.