|
Post by rustic313 on Mar 24, 2019 17:46:13 GMT -6
Just wondering if folks have suggestions for a super simple FRPG for kids. My five year old loves Narnia and The Hobbit... we have been playing Amazing Tales but wondering if there are any other good ones out there.
Something where we could hex crawl from the Shire to the Lonely Mountain, maybe running into some unicorns and terrible ogres would be ideal.
Figured I'd see if there is something out there before I knock together something myself!
|
|
|
Post by sixdemonbag on Mar 24, 2019 21:36:15 GMT -6
|
|
|
Post by Finarvyn on Mar 25, 2019 5:20:31 GMT -6
Sixdemonbag -- Nice little doc you threw together there, but I agree about the XP. Why not just divide everything by 100? * Monsters earn 1 XP per HD * XP progression is 0, 20, 40, 80, 160, etc. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rustic313 -- Sounds like you enjoy LotR already, so maybe check out the Lord of the Rings Adventure Game, which was a simplified version of MERP. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_of_the_Rings_Adventure_GameI see that you can a boxed set for around $50 on Amazon. As I noted, it is a lot like MERP but simple. I think there were choose-your-own-adventure books that used the base system as well as the boxed set and maybe a couple of modules. Really a nice little game. Also, I think that someone made a clone of the LotRAG, but at the moment I'm drawing a blank as to what it was called or where to find it.
|
|
|
Post by Finarvyn on Mar 25, 2019 5:23:16 GMT -6
|
|
|
Post by sixdemonbag on Mar 25, 2019 11:02:40 GMT -6
Sixdemonbag -- Nice little doc you threw together there, but I agree about the XP. Why not just divide everything by 100? * Monsters earn 1 XP per HD * XP progression is 0, 20, 40, 80, 160, etc. Thanks. Good question and the main reason is XP division. I don't like fractions when calculating XP. For instance, a party of 6 that earns, say, 4 XP by defeating 4 orcs would each receive 0.67 XP. I don't really like the aesthetics of that. Using the standard book progression, each PC would instead earn 67 XP, which is nicer and tidier to me. It's subjective to be sure.
|
|
skars
Level 6 Magician
Posts: 407
|
Post by skars on Mar 25, 2019 16:56:42 GMT -6
Brave halflings dagger was good and honestly Holmes edition basic has been perfect for my kids and dozens of others in the DunDraCon kids room
|
|
|
Post by Red Baron on Mar 25, 2019 17:16:28 GMT -6
I was also going to recommend Dagger RPG for character creation and Holmes for the DM!
|
|
|
Post by scalydemon on Mar 25, 2019 18:45:46 GMT -6
|
|
|
Post by tetramorph on Mar 25, 2019 18:56:41 GMT -6
Dagger is good.
I think just dropping ability scores does the trick. At least, you could drop them for in-front-of-the-screen stuff.
If you roll everything behind the screen and if you keep track of everything at the campaign level -- like XP, etc. Then all the kids need to do is imagine and play.
That is how I usually roll when introducing folks to D&D for the first time. I just roll everything. That way, they aren't trying to make things "work" through their knowledge of mechanics. They are just engaging the world and trusting me to report things fairly.
Honestly, I think I have more fun that way.
Fight on!
|
|
|
Post by hamurai on Mar 26, 2019 7:04:04 GMT -6
Hero Kids is easy to pick up and run, they have decent maps and missions, too.
|
|
|
Post by Starbeard on Mar 27, 2019 11:42:18 GMT -6
No classes, no ability scores. Characters are either strong, dexterous (they can learn a word here), or wise.
Strong characters get +1 to hit, dexterous characters are +1 to AC, and wise characters get a spell.
Combat uses a 2d6 range instead of a d20 range, since kids have an easier time with numbers 1-12; plus they have fun adding dice together, so that's a bonus.
Surviving a session gets you 1xp. Grabbing some good treasure gives you 1xp. Defeating a monster that's at least as tough as you gets you 1xp. Every 10xp you go up a level, and get another HD.
All characters may wield anything and learn any spell, but only wise characters can have more than one spell memorized at a time.
|
|
skars
Level 6 Magician
Posts: 407
|
Post by skars on Mar 27, 2019 11:53:58 GMT -6
No classes, no ability scores. Characters are either strong, dexterous (they can learn a word here), or wise. Strong characters get +1 to hit, dexterous characters are +1 to AC, and wise characters get a spell. Combat uses a 2d6 range instead of a d20 range, since kids have an easier time with numbers 1-12; plus they have fun adding dice together, so that's a bonus. Surviving a session gets you 1xp. Grabbing some good treasure gives you 1xp. Defeating a monster that's at least as tough as you gets you 1xp. Every 10xp you go up a level, and get another HD. All characters may wield anything and learn any spell, but only wise characters can have more than one spell memorized at a time. I think the kids adding numbers together with 2d6 is the best case for that resolution mechanic I have seen yet. Now I have to try it
|
|
|
Post by Zakharan on Mar 29, 2019 1:20:50 GMT -6
With some prep, "Dungeon!" could work. There's no need to track HP or attributes; you just say "I want to be an Elf" and you're off to the races.
A 2d6 combat system not only allows you to use "Dungeon!" and its monster cards as a guideline, it lets you use OD&D's Reaction table, or "saving throws" derived from Chainmail, or even the 1975 "Dungeon!" Player Combat Table/Spell Combat Table. You can conceivably use the GP requirements to win as requirements to level up, instead.
As for wounds/HP, later editions of "Dungeon!" use a "Wounded" system (foreshadowing "Bloodied" in D&D 4e). When you get hit the first time by a monster, you're wounded. Taking another hit knocks you out. I think this would be very easy to keep track of for kids, and allows healing items to exist in a game that otherwise had no need for it.
The combat system is also simple enough, since you'd essentially copy Dave Arneson's Blackmoor games: players go first. And much like other modern RPGs, monsters only react, and only "kill" on a 2. That's very fast, and doesn't require any math.
|
|
|
Post by Finarvyn on Mar 29, 2019 4:53:37 GMT -6
With some prep, "Dungeon!" could work. There's no need to track HP or attributes; you just say "I want to be an Elf" and you're off to the races. Good catch. I wasn't thinking of board games that act like RPG games, but now that you mention "Dungeon!" I thought I would throw in a couple. (1) The old Milton Bradley board game "Hero Quest" was the tutorial I used to teach my kids early RPGs. Four characters (barbarian, wizard, dwarf, elf) and a simple combat system, spell cards, minimal character advancement, and we played with the rule that if ANYONE completed the mission then the ENTIRE TEAM won the game. My kids still role play that way. (2) The newish WotC board games. Castle Ravenloft Board Game (2010), Wrath of Ashardalon Board Game (2011), The Legend of Drizzt Board Game (2011) and Temple of Elemental Evil Board Game (2015). Sure, they were based off of 4E, but they had cool minis and were a simplified version of D&D. They all had the same rules and could be played together.
|
|
|
Post by sixdemonbag on Mar 29, 2019 12:33:58 GMT -6
I totally forgot about Hero Quest. I still have it in my game closet. Great game and lots of good memories playing it when I was a kid. I remember it having some cool specialized dice pips similar to the "Betrayal at House on Haunted Hill" board games.
|
|
|
Post by Starbeard on Mar 29, 2019 13:12:08 GMT -6
We played HQ well into our 20s, and really only stopped because I moved and sold most of my miniatures collection. Aside from being so simple, it's incredibly easy to create consistent house rules on the fly that don't actually complicate the system any further. That's something that other dungeon crawl board games never seem to manage.
|
|
|
Post by Finarvyn on Mar 29, 2019 14:07:41 GMT -6
I totally forgot about Hero Quest. I still have it in my game closet. Great game and lots of good memories playing it when I was a kid. I remember it having some cool specialized dice pips similar to the "Betrayal at House on Haunted Hill" board games. Not that similar, but special dice: HeroQuest has d6's with skulls on 3 sides, white shields on 2 sides, black shields on one side. When heroes attack skulls hit, and when monsters defend a black shield cancels one skull. When monsters attack skulls hit, but a white shield cancels one skull. This gives the heroes a slight edge in combat. Betrayal at House on Haunted Hill has d6's with blanks on 2 sides, one pip on 2 sides, two pips on 2 sides. You roll dice against the monsters and each hopes to get more pips.
|
|
|
Post by rustic313 on Mar 29, 2019 14:29:35 GMT -6
These all sound great! I will have to look into them. I really want to use something that uses standard dice, preferably involving the players doing some addition (2d6 FTW!). 1) I want my little ones to get more math practice. 2) There is no way that they will let me roll dice if they don't get to roll dice. They won't be left out!
|
|
|
Post by sixdemonbag on Mar 29, 2019 22:32:05 GMT -6
Not that similar, but special dice: HeroQuest has d6's with skulls on 3 sides, white shields on 2 sides, black shields on one side. When heroes attack skulls hit, and when monsters defend a black shield cancels one skull. When monsters attack skulls hit, but a white shield cancels one skull. This gives the heroes a slight edge in combat. Betrayal at House on Haunted Hill has d6's with blanks on 2 sides, one pip on 2 sides, two pips on 2 sides. You roll dice against the monsters and each hopes to get more pips. Oh yeah, now I remember those skulls and shields. That's a pretty novel system and very intuitive. I don't think I ever paid attention to the fact that heroes got a slight edge, but it makes sense. The BaHoHH system is very clever. Both are actually well-suited for kids with the small numbers.
|
|
|
Post by sixdemonbag on Mar 29, 2019 22:38:19 GMT -6
I really want to use something that uses standard dice, preferably involving the players doing some addition (2d6 FTW!). 1) I want my little ones to get more math practice. 2) There is no way that they will let me roll dice if they don't get to roll dice. They won't be left out! 2d6? Hmm. You could convert standard D&D values to the closest 2d6 equivalent, but that sounds like a lot of work. I've never played Dungeon World, but it's 2d6-based and players roll all the dice, IIR. Besides that, if you can find some old Advanced Fighting Fantasy books that might be fun, otherwise, I like the suggestion above of using Dungeon! as a base system.
|
|
|
Post by hamurai on Apr 2, 2019 22:23:06 GMT -6
Pits & Perils is a really simple 2d6-based RPG. (NOt only for kids ) The makers (Olde House Rules) have other games which play similarly, and Blood of Pangea, for example, is even simpler as it doesn't use classes but a short narration which explains what a character can do.
|
|
|
Post by Red Baron on Apr 4, 2019 9:04:45 GMT -6
I totally forgot about Hero Quest. I still have it in my game closet. Great game and lots of good memories playing it when I was a kid. I remember it having some cool specialized dice pips similar to the "Betrayal at House on Haunted Hill" board games. Not that similar, but special dice: HeroQuest has d6's with skulls on 3 sides, white shields on 2 sides, black shields on one side. When heroes attack skulls hit, and when monsters defend a black shield cancels one skull. When monsters attack skulls hit, but a white shield cancels one skull. This gives the heroes a slight edge in combat. Betrayal at House on Haunted Hill has d6's with blanks on 2 sides, one pip on 2 sides, two pips on 2 sides. You roll dice against the monsters and each hopes to get more pips. I have similar dice with 3 skulls, 2 shields, and a blank. I think they're from a game called heroscape. No special advantage for heros with those.
|
|
|
Post by owlorbs on Apr 4, 2019 10:10:10 GMT -6
I'm using a blend of Dungeon! and OD&D for these two. I keep everything behind the screen except for their gold coins (treasure/xp) and their dice (they roll their own saves and combat dice).
|
|
|
Post by Starbeard on Apr 4, 2019 10:12:00 GMT -6
You can find online custom sets of HQ dice, with different ratios of symbols; I think they just use PoD dcustom dice services.
So, a defense-heavy die might have 1 skull, 3x white shields, and 2x black shields, and a "monster hero" die could have 4x skulls and 2x black shields, or 3x and 3x, either way even better than a hero's normal probabilities. By color-coding them, you can create a vast range of nuanced dice codes, and they're easy to handle because you simply refer to the color. For example, a broadsword might attack for 3 white dice, but the class ability of a barbarian might be to change one white die into a red die; cheap armor might give you +1 white die defense, while a large shield might give you +1 purple die.
If you put a bit of thought into it and invest the time and/or money into the dice, you can come up with a pretty elegant system.
|
|
|
Post by Finarvyn on Apr 4, 2019 12:00:54 GMT -6
HeroQuest has d6's with skulls on 3 sides, white shields on 2 sides, black shields on one side. When heroes attack skulls hit, and when monsters defend a black shield cancels one skull. When monsters attack skulls hit, but a white shield cancels one skull. This gives the heroes a slight edge in combat. Oh yeah, now I remember those skulls and shields. That's a pretty novel system and very intuitive. Agreed. I've often thought about building an RPG system around those dice because they are so visual and so intuitive. I saw somewhere where you could buy them, but they are sort of expensive... www.etsy.com/listing/590581959/heroquest-6-sided-dice-6-dice
|
|
|
Post by murquhart72 on Apr 4, 2019 14:52:12 GMT -6
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Apr 5, 2019 11:55:06 GMT -6
I started playing RPGs with my daughters as soon as they turned 5. It was an ad-hoc system that I made up on the go. As it was set in a traditional fairy tale world, there was very little combat. The second campaign, once my youngest turned 4, was based on the old Pokemon RPG which is very simple (to the point of being incomplete).
One thing I found was that XP wasn't really necessary as there is not built in need for character advancement. Having better items through treasure is good enough.
Also, as I try to encourage first-person role-playing, I had my girls dress up in fairy tale costumes and took pictures. I printed these photos on their character sheets. For the Pokemon game, I had them wear backpacks and hold Pokemon toys (I have a few stuffies and some Pokeballs).
|
|
|
Post by stonetoflesh on May 3, 2019 8:25:27 GMT -6
Hero Kids is good if you want something published and polished with adventures, maps, etc.. I ran it years back for my nephew (8) and niece (5), it was pretty fun.
Not D&D/OSR, but the old Prince Valiant RPG looks like a very kid-friendly game. I haven't actually played it yet, but the rules are pretty straightforward (two attributes, simple skill system, coin-pool resolution), and can probably be tweaked for play outside the Arthurian setting.
My oldest will be 5 in August, and I'm looking forward to introducing him to RPGs. Not sure what I'll start with, but I really like the Dungeon!/OD&D crossover idea.
|
|
|
Post by sixdemonbag on May 3, 2019 10:24:32 GMT -6
|
|
|
Post by Porphyre on May 4, 2019 15:21:58 GMT -6
Searchers of the Unknown Microlite Far Away land Fighting Fantasy
|
|