Library Teen RPG Group


Pathfinder First Edition General Discussion


This summer I'll be volunteering to run a Pathfinder group for kids 13-18 at my public library. Initially I'll likely limit classes to fighter, rogue, sorcerer, cleric, and druid. I'm wondering if anybody has any tips about running this sort of a group. The first adventure will be a super simple homebrew quest, but my thinking is that I'd like to mostly be running Pathfinder Society scenarios in the future. Time is very much a factor, making the short nature of Society scenarios appealing. Are there any that are particularly decent, especially with regard to the specific age group?

P.S.-This is my first post on this or any other forum. If this isn't the correct place for this post, please let me know.


I was paid $50/week one summer to run a weekly game for some kids at a college summer program. I had 12 players lol. It was a blast. Good luck!


What about society scenarios which might be interesting and appropriate for this age group? Better still, are there any that can easily be divided in half if necessary? I won't have the full four hours needed to run them in a single sitting.


You can open it up to all the classes. I don't see any reason to restrict to those 5. Most kids today, if they are interested in a tabletop RPG game, have at least SOME experience with RPG-type games and will therefore be able to wrap their head around all the classes. If one particular person is having trouble, then help them pick a class based on how they want to play.

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I would be worried about how much noise you make in the library. Some people ove the grim or gritty but I love the laughs of a game. Be warned even PFS often takes many hours to get through, especially when teaching the game at the same time.


We have access to the library basement storage area and the full blessing of the library, so noise won't really be an issue. As far as time goes, I'm going to do the best I can with what I've got. For the first few sessions I'm asking a friend to come along to help people navigate the rules more quickly. I think the first adventure I run will likely be "Ambush in Absalom".


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Make one pre generated character of each class in the crb, or at least as many as you will need for the first couple sessions. Some of your kids will pick up the rules more quickly and want to make their own characters. Don't restrict it to those five though. Customization is very appealing to some players and it would be a shame not to showcase that.


I would restrict races more than classes really. Keep it to the core.

The pre-gen to start off with is definitely a good idea. Write down what every spell does on a separate sheet. That also goes for the wild shape form of the druid and the familiar stats. It's a lot of busywork but you only need to do it once. Hells, you can use the pre-gens as future characters.


First of all, good luck to you. Teenagers can be a handful sometimes but are generally more helpful and manageable than people give them credit for. I wish I had something to offer you for your original question about society scenarios but I have never played society before (really want to) so I have no insight there.

I have experience running sessions with teens at my youth group (13-19 year olds) so I can at least give some advice on that. I would definitely suggest the second GM/Adult Player to help set the tone for how the game is going to be played. Some games are very serious, others are more humorous, and setting the tone early on is important when dealing with teenagers. Typically those that want to play d20 systems appreciate the serious experience but will more than likely get more out of a humorous tone. I understand your want to limit class selection to the traditional four/five core concepts (warrior, expert, arcane adept, divine adept, natural adept) but make sure the players are able to make characters they want and will enjoy.

Be quick, be witty, and if all else fails remember to have fun.


Good luck.

You're going against a group for who associate roleplaying games with WoW or Skyrim and such, so their expectations might be different than old school gamers.

Besides not knowing the rules and the possibilities, they'll need to realize that killing everything in sight is not always a viable solution, re-spawn points do not exist, that 1st level characters are barely more powerful than peasant NPCs, and that badmouthing the constable or badgering the serving wenches have consequences.

On the plus side, they don't know all of the RPG game clichés that can be used on them and they can be refreshingly amazing roleplayers.


Awesome stuff! A group of friends and I are beginning an RPG day at our local library. (One of said friends is a librarian at said library.) We're going thru the same angst over time at this point. I'm currently working on developing my own little one shot that keeps things really simple.

Looking forward to hearing how yours goes down.


My thought on limiting specific classes is that I would give the Society option of changing the character at the first level up. That way you can play the basic concept of a warrior, spellcaster, etc., but not be bogged down by too many class features right off the bat(smite, rage, favored enemy, performance). Obviously, if a bunch of kids with wide PF experience show up, they can play whatever they want. As far as the dealing with teenagers part goes, I have a fair amount of experience working with this age group in my work setting. As far as being goofy and mouthy goes, I'm going to run the kind of game they want to play. If they want to alienate every town they pass through, they're more than welcome to. I might even build in the opportunities. I'm excited to see what teenager driven stories and characters look like. Thanks for all your input so far.


My first post.

Me and JoCa just did the Library of the Lion module for the event we've been working on (I am the said librarian involved). It worked really well for our little event and we were able to finish the module with some creative timing and improvisation. Our event was 4 hours with probably about 3 hours of actual play time at the table. Our participants were teen to adults, some with experience and some new to ttrpgs. A good time was had by all. I would definitely recommend it. Plus it's library themed!


I'm running PF for a bunch of early 20s kids (my son and his friends). They've all got some RPG experience (4e, CoC, Star Wars) but I've got 30 years of dirty tricks that they never see coming, so it keeps things exciting. I'm having a blast running for them.

Our library won't allow games to be played because they can be "controversial".


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I've done this before.

Advice:
- Preroll all the characters. "Be prepared"
- Have all the equipment on the lists. Have your NPCs ready with simple choices. "Keep it simple"
- Keep the action moving. Especially when they're in town, you've got to keep the story hooks going. If players become frustrated/bored, they'll start shenanigans. Go around the table and ask each player what their character is doing. Then go on to the next scene. "Keep it moving".


I have never GMed for anyone above the age of...21?
i play with an older group, but its relatively new and they dont believe in my dming abilities
but i agree, once the players get bored, they will start messing around
if you have too many , you may want to keep that other experienced p-layer around
he/she will be essential in answering questions while you focus on the game-play
i will say this
i agree with the owl on his third tab, and the others seem like theyde be good if since you don't plan on running a long campaign
if you do start up a continuous campaign, id let them make their own characters

i do not think you should underestimate your players
teenagers AKA "kids" are not as bad as people make them out to be
iv'e seen kids i DM do better RPing and be more intelligent than the aging players in my "adult" group
adults tend to downplay the intelligence of "children" because they want to think that age makes you better.
i will admit that "children" wont have the life experience of the adult players, but i don't really know if that's a bad thing, and the game itself allows them to really show that they aren't just babbling video-game monsters

also
if the characters have an interesting and intelligent way of dealing with situations other than "i kick in the door and stab something" then maybe explore that option
let them be creative
i know one of my players craft the magic item that pumps out a geyser of water at like a gallon a round and used it to force the inhabitants of a basement to come out and fight in the open, or risk being flooded


I'm 50, and this "don't believe in your DMing abilities" thing really hacks me off. I'll let anyone take a shot behind the screen.


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I ran my first session tonight. Only two kids showed up, but they had a blast. They're both on board for next week, which is as good a sign as one can expect. It started off slow but all bets were of once they hit the kobold infested sewers. To my mind, this first session was a surprise success!


That's awesome good luck with getting more players


As it turns out, I've had about as much luck as I can handle finding new players. A new kid joined last week. Much to my surprise, three newcomers showed up yesterday! That puts me at six players, making it a fairly crowded game in a fairly short time slot. Luckily, the original two kids are really getting the hang of things and two of this weeks newcomers are old pros. We'll see what happens!


Well, this week I'll be wrapping up our initial campaign. It's been a blast. I'll be switching the kiddos over to AD&D second edition for the rest of my time with the group. The primary reason for the switch is that I find that game easier to run. The secondary, but still important, reason is that Pathfinder relies a bit too much on player knowledge for this particular group. They had a very hard time keeping track of things between skills, feats, combat, saves, etc. My hope is that playing a more DM driven system will allow them to focus more on playing their characters, which seems to be their favorite part of the game anyway. The other switch I'll be making will be going to xp from a system of leveling up every three sessions. My hope is that it will help them stay focused during our limited play time. Overall, however, things have been super fun so far.


It's awesome to hear about stuff like this. Reminds me of my days organizing Magic the Gathering games and tournies for kids at the local Library. :)

Too bad about the shift to AD&D second edition. Fun game, but they've spent what, 5, 6 months working with Pathfinder? Surely there's a means to make most of the mechanic-y stuff fade into the background?


Skills and feats just seem like such a chore to them. Equipment managements is tough for them as well as me. Leveling them up takes at least half a session. A lot of it also has to do with it being easier for me to run. I'm expecting a baby in the spring and want to maximize the convenience of running the group in the meantime. For me, the simplest way to do that is to move to a system that's, if not simpler, easier for me to hand wave and house rule. I also have a bunch of published material for 2e around, which will make less work for me while quite possibly providing the kids with better, more cohesive adventures.


Why not buy a Beginner Box then ? and or use the beginner SRD?

2E is a lot easier of course and you could get a used 2E PHBs cheap or use the OSRIC retro clone.


Mostly because I have all the stuff I need for 2e and supplements are cheap used. I'm not huge on spending money, so that's a pretty big plus. Also, I happen to really like how 2e plays.


How do the kids feel about switching to a different system?


Excited once I explained why. They definitely feel as though the game is a bit complicated for them and also seem to understand that my volunteer time is going to be at a bit of a premium in the upcoming months.


Have you introduced them to PCGen, they might find character management a lot easier when doing it on a program. Regardless of whether your switching, I have found that younger/newer players adapt and learn easier if you utilize technology.


I will second PCGen both because I'm biased and it's free. A good option is HeroLab

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