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I just ran We Be Goblins for my kids (aged 10 and 8,) for their first exposure to tabletop gaming. They, thankfully, loved it, and have asked me to continue them on the path. My son wants to take his goblin onto whatever I run, while my daughter wants to make another character.
I've never ran an AP, and I'm thinking that would be a lot easier for their first real run through. I was just going to do Jade Regent, because it makes some sense to. They have sense decided that I should run something else.
I really want to run Iron Gods, but that's mostly for my own selfish chance to run through it myself. What APs, if any, are slightly more kid appropriate? Our group is mostly just them, and whatever DMNPCs I give them.
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You raised them on good books of fairy tales and mythology before getting them to this point, correct? You should be sure they understand and appreciate the deeper roots of the game.
"If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales."
- Albert Einstein
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I'm starting the last book of Mummy's Mask with my kids (ages 6 and 10). I've softballed a few fights, I've changed an NPC's sexual interest in a party member into friendship with the ranger's animal companion, and I've toned down the gruesomeness of a few enemies, but the changes have been minor. If your kids have any interest in ancient Egypt, this one is a lot of fun.
Honestly....... goblins is prob the best to start off on, cause goblins are alot like children, so all the goofy things they say and do would be right up their alley. That being said, alot of the AP's have fairly mature context so as a parent and the DM you need to find a way to tone it down as you go.
Also, it depends on how much you want them to do themselves. If its just the 2 of them and you, makes it harder for them to make all the right decisions when it comes to the following the path. If you are going to run a semi NPC party with them as the lead however, that gives the feeling of freedom while being able to help them along, throwing useful hints and suggestions from the NPC party.
Dont know if this helps....
I pretty much was just letting them drive through WBG, with my DMNPC just there in case they needed it. I knew some of the APs had some more mature content, but not a lot (I actively try to not read through them in case I ever get to play them, so I can maintain some surprise for things.)
You raised them on good books of fairy tales and mythology before getting them to this point, correct? You should be sure they understand and appreciate the deeper roots of the game.
"If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales."
- Albert Einstein
It's more they got to watch me play with my group, and thought it was "awesome looking!" Then my son made the discovery about d20 Star Wars, and now that's his new focus once he is done with another adventure.
I'm starting the last book of Mummy's Mask with my kids (ages 6 and 10). I've softballed a few fights, I've changed an NPC's sexual interest in a party member into friendship with the ranger's animal companion, and I've toned down the gruesomeness of a few enemies, but the changes have been minor. If your kids have any interest in ancient Egypt, this one is a lot of fun.
Gruesomeness is probably the thing they would be most ok with. My son's favorite movie for the longest time was Lost Boys, and they grew up on zombie movies.
His new favorite movie series (besides Star Wars and whatever Marvel he is leaning towards that week) is the Purge.
Thanks for the advise, all!
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I would recommend finishing out the We Be Goblins Series, (WBG Too & WBG Free!)
Then run them through Crypt of the Everlasting Flame. This is a good module since the story is the PCs have come of age to prove their worth. There are a lot of good encounters that can "flex" the gaming brain muscle. With just the two of them, I would make sure they are level 2 maybe 3 or just tone down some of the encounters as they can be lethal.
After those 3 or 4 modules, then look into either linking modules or an AP. I think running an AP right away can be overwhelming. I have seen new players overwhelmed with a wealth of information APs can throw at you.
As for which AP, I would actually recommend Kingmaker. I would throw out the Kingdom Building mechanic however. Without that, the AP is a series of quests that can be easily accomplished in a gaming session. There are no mature themes to my knowledge. Jade Regent would also be a good choice. While there is a relationship aspect to the game, you can remove that from play. And it is made to have DMNPCs during the trek.
Glad to see there are more little gamers out there. Have Fun!
Dot.
I would recommend finishing out the We Be Goblins Series, (WBG Too & WBG Free!)
Then run them through Crypt of the Everlasting Flame. This is a good module since the story is the PCs have come of age to prove their worth. There are a lot of good encounters that can "flex" the gaming brain muscle. With just the two of them, I would make sure they are level 2 maybe 3 or just tone down some of the encounters as they can be lethal.
After those 3 or 4 modules, then look into either linking modules or an AP. I think running an AP right away can be overwhelming. I have seen new players overwhelmed with a wealth of information APs can throw at you.
Glad to see there are more little gamers out there. Have Fun!
I thought about finishing off the Goblin series. My son planned on running his character he made (Gibblin Catcrunch, the feral gnasher) in whatever else I ran for them, while my daughter was on the fence about using hers in another AP (Chee Catcrunch, Heaven Shaman with a Kakapo Spirit.)
They hit level 2 by the end of WBG, so I was going to use that in whatever continuation we decided on.
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I've seen several threads on this very topic. The consensus seems to be that the two most kid-friendly Adventure Paths are Kingmaker and Legacy of Fire. You may have to tone things down from time to time, but for the most part you should be good to go with either of them. I would agree that running an AP might be daunting for a kid, and that you might do better finishing the Goblins series, but then again there aren't many of them.
Kingmaker is actually pretty decent so far - I've played up to part five (I've not finished part six).
Several significant parts of three and five should probably be censored a bit (because of references to both how citizens are oppressed and several people associated with "adult" entertainment (notably one priestess in the first and one monster in the second), plus a few smaller edits throughout, but I think it's mostly pretty good.
Bear in mind, this is based off of memory, and also I'm not a GM, sooooo... salt, grains, take with. :)
(That said, my five-year-old loooooooooooooovvvvvvves "playing Kingmaker" - by which I mean, he plays as Link or Zelda or both, my wife plays one PC (or two!), and I play another, and we go on a random adventure at one site related to the AP. Currently, the Nomen Heights.)
I don't know much about APs, but I've seen several threads about running Kingmaker for a group of kids going well.
That seems to be a safe consensus. I'll throw the idea of finishing the Goblins arcs with them first, and then going into King from there. I'll probably even let them just continue with their characters now, unless they want to rebuild with something new.
Oh! A friend of mine is running Serpents' Skull for 13-15 year olds: as far as I recall (as a GM for that one), there are two NPCs that should be removed for ease of parenting; that said, there are some things that are kind of gross or weird or suggestive for kids age 10 or 8. Still, it could be legitimate, you might want to look over it.
At that age, I would consider a system designed for children that age. No thank you evil! is supposed to be a good one.
Also, Hero Kids is a fun, easy system to use. I enjoyed it!
I think I have kind of a unique perspective on this, so I'll jump in with my experiences and maybe they'll help you (and maybe they won't.)
A huge part of the reason that I got into D&D was because of my dad. My dad and uncles used to play pretty regularly, and my cousins and I were welcome to observe, and we were always intrigued.
Once we got a little older, my uncle surprised my cousin and I by purchasing Hero Quest - a board game developed by Games Workshop in association with Milton Bradley (what can I say, the late 80's were awesome to be a fledgling D&D geek, what with awesome 80's fantasy movies, fantasy adventure board games, and the terrible-but-awesome D&D cartoon.)
Hero Quest served as our introduction to the fantasy roleplaying genre, and it did an outstanding job in that regard. My cousin and our friends eagerly devoured the content that was available, and before long, we were jumping into our first D&D campaign, back in good ol' 1E. We were also 8-10 during this time.
Now, I'll back up a step to mention that 80's fantasy adventure movies were quite a bit more... intense? than modern fantasy adventure movies (I'm looking at you, Harry Potter! Still love ya', though.) Neverending Story features heavy themes of loss and despair, Legend depicts scenes of ritual sacrifice, corruption of innocence, and a fantastic "Devil" in Tim Curry's Darkness. Willow has intense action sequences, places children and infants in mortal danger, shows gross "body horror" (for a young audience)/transformation sequences, and The Dark Crystal features mysticism, some of the most incredible terrifying puppetry ever to grace our screens, and subjects cute, innocent creatures to having their souls sucked out and turning them into withered husks.
The 80's didn't pull punches, I guess is what I'm getting at.
Now, if your kids have watched and loved most/all of those movies, my opinion is that they're ready for more than you probably think. I wouldn't hesitate to tone down overtly sexual sequences, but on the same token, our first D&D experiences included some of the really horrific 1E monsters like Rot Grubs. Kids are pretty prepared for "gross" monsters, so don't feel like you can't include them.
That said, having just started Book 6 of Iron Gods, I can't in good conscience suggest the AP for a young audience.
As many have suggested - and I agree - I think interlinked modules would be much more welcoming for a younger audience than a full-fledged Adventure Path. Modules have the advantage of offering a "Monster of the Week"/serial adventure style of gaming, which can be great to keep young minds interested while exposing them to a broader swath of what TTRPG's have to offer. This style of gaming also echoes our young gaming experiences with Hero Quest, which absolutely galvanized our interest in TTRPG's - a passion that has continued to this day.
I hope that's of some help. Good luck with your game!