Where should I start?...

[marineboy]

My 11-year-old would like his old dad to start running an RPG once or twice a week for him and a small group of friends. My 7-year-old also wants to be in on it.

Question is, where do I begin?!!

It\'s been 23 years since I left my last AD&D group. I\'m not really aware of the modern resources available.

Any ideas on where to start? Rules, scenarios etc. that can be expanded upon but that aren\'t too difficult for a younger gaming group to learn (or an older DM-wanabee to digest?)

 

[airhead]

Got the core books? 3.5 D&D

DMG, MM and a PH.

Stick with core at least for the start. Stock races and classes. Don\'t get wrapped up in prestege classes at all, just let them happen later.

Spend a night fleshing out characters. I used to be a strong dice roller, but now lean more toward point buy systems for the initial stats. Eleven year olds can do it, but being skillful Cleric and Mages might be tough. They will want to lean toward fighter and rogues. They can always pick up levels in cleric or mage later (that is way different from AD&D). And they will level faster than you are used to seeing.

Get a copy of the \"Sunless Citidel\" This module is well written for new DM\'s as well as new players. They will have to think a little and may lose a character or two (get them used to that idea as well.).
Read through it at least once so you are familiar with what is happening while they are in a given area.

 

[RedDawn]

Hi MB!

We (i.e. Grumb) just started a kids\' game. (That\'s what our kids\' wanted for their birthday party this fall when they turned 10 and 11.)

We bought the \"Basic\" boxed set and that helped a lot. It\'s a scaled down version of D&D 3.5 with an easy to read (and in COLOR) pre-generated character sheets with corresponding pre-painted resin figures, some map boards and other do-dads.

I can\'t remember if it included dice or not, but at the bottom of the character sheet it had a picture of the dice and what they were called. Then on the character sheets it told what dice to use when rolling for damage, checks, etc. VERY easy to use.

I think there are only four (4) pre-genned characters though and since our first game consisted of six (6) kids we had to create two other characters and change one of the pre-genned chars name. (It was a girl and we had all boys so we went from Lidda to Liddar. )

Once we\'re done with the \"Basic\" module we\'ll ask the kids if they want to continue with the same characters or make new ones. We have the 3.5 character generation software/program so it\'s easy to do.

Oh, we\'ve played 3 or 4 times and still haven\'t finished the quest yet. But, you might get through it more quickly if you only have 4 kids playing and they actually SIT and play. (One kid wasn\'t invited back after the birthday party game b/c he just couldn\'t sit still and \"stay\" with the game.)

If you need any more info just ask myself or Grumb! Good luck and have fun!

P.S. Feel free to ask Grumb about dm\'ing!

 

[DM of Doom]

Tip from the DM: Get a DM screen. Having all the charts handy is much better than flipping through the books for the info. I still use mine like crazy.
If you\'ve got excel on your computer, I can send you the file that contains the 3.5 screen I made. Email me if you want a copy.

I\'ll throw more ideas in here as I think of them/have time.

 

[Drake Farstrider]

Airhead hit it on the head. All you really need are the 3 main books. PHB, MM, and DMG. I have ran the Sunless Citadel for 2 different groups and had previously been run through it. It is a great little adventure.

The DM screen is very usefull. I use mine all the time.

 

[marineboy]

Three of the books I brougth to Denmark years and years (and years ago!) were the AD&D PHB,DMG and MM -- looks like it\'s time to get some new copies! lol

DMoD, I would love to get a copy of your DM screen.

Drake and airhead, I\'ll be looking for the Sunless Citadel as well.

Dawn, both the boys have done some D&D \"lite\" roleplaying in their afterschool thing, it\'d probably good to start off with the full-blown rules -- 7-year-old August is a whiz at learning gaming rules, he beats me all the time at Darby! (danish game involving racehorses, stock options, THE BANK and some weird thing called the Totalisator, don\'t ask!lol)