Children roleplay every day of the week; it comes naturally to them. In fact, it is a very powerful way for kids to learn and understand their place in society. As a teacher, I often use it as a strategy to help students apply their knowledge to real-world contexts.
I, on the other hand, tend to roleplay every Wednesday night from 8.30 pm to about 11.00 pm (depending on the intensity of the encounter we are trying to escape). Due to the difficulties of getting a party of like-minded adults around a physical table, we play Dungeons & Dragons digitally, using the Fantasy Grounds platform to play and Discord to communicate.
With these two facts in mind, it was perhaps inevitable that at some stage I would end up running a campaign for the kids (I was assuming in their teenage years). Humblewood has brought that timeline forward considerably, due to its thematic accessibility. Having said that, I thought I would share 7 things that I have done to make this an enjoyable and accessible activity for my kids (aged 6 and 8).
1) Character Creation
For younger players, the responsibility of making choices is a powerful hook and necessary in most cases to keep them engaged. I let the kids have a look at the races in the Humblewood book and choose one, with Oscar choosing a Strig (owlfolk) and Penny picking a Cervan (deerfolk). I then gave them a very brief description of each class, with Oscar gravitating towards the Paladin (a warrior who fights for his God and protects the temple), and Penny choosing a Druid (a person who cares for the forest; looking after the trees and animals). Thus, Lloyd the Strig paladin and Bambi the Cervan Druid were born:
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| Lloyd, the Strig paladin |
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| Bambi, the Cervan druid |
I recommend letting younger players make these simple choices themselves, though having a more limited range of choices could be appropriate. Claiming ownership of the character in this way helps them to invest in the game and ultimately remain engaged. Our first session went for 2 hours and they have been bugging me every day since for the next one!
2) Character Statistics
I’ll go out on a limb here and say that younger players care very little about stats. I got them to roll for their stats and assign them, but that was only because they have seen me do it myself before. I would suggest having some numbers ready to go and helping a younger player assign them to the most important characteristics (based on their race and class), or even just writing down the modifier they will be applying to rolls, as that is what they will use the most for a long time. I also gave them their AC and hit points, describing what both meant.
3) Choosing Skills
Using skills is a huge part of roleplaying. I suggested some skills to the kids and we discussed when they could be used. This is something that you will need to help a younger player with during the session, with verbal prompts. I often found myself saying “do any of you have a skill that would help in this situation”. They would then read their couple of skills carefully to see if anything would work and ask me to repeat what some of them did. Having a brief description written on some cards for younger players could be helpful (you wouldn’t need to do many).
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| That one time when Aragorn the human ranger passed his Nature check but rolled really poorly for Perception... |
4) Choosing Weapons
Before we started, I had a discussion with them both about the nature of the game. Fighting is a way to overcome challenges in D&D, but it is not the ONLY way. In a campaign designed for younger players, combat is mostly avoidable; I certainly didn’t want to focus on violence in what I presented to them. They can have a heap of fun without it, or you can use the combat mechanics in novel ways. For example, at the start of our campaign, all characters were invited to compete in an archery contest… joy ensued.
Having said that, I asked them what they would carry if they wanted to defend themselves in the wild. Oscar said, without a moments consideration, a double-bladed scythe. Holy moly! He settled for a sword and shield, as I said the weapon shop owner didn’t carry exotic tools of that type! Penny considered very carefully, suggesting a spear and a short bow. A spear so that she could keep her distance when being attacked and a short bow for hunting. Clever girl. I didn't talk to them at all about the stats of each weapon, so that they weren't at all picking a weapon based on numbers. I wanted them to think of them as tools that fit their character.
5) Choosing a Campaign Theme
Due to their young age, I wanted to choose a theme for the campaign that they could relate to. Something involving political intrigue or revenge would be inappropriate. Even the idea of slaying some marauding monster didn't sit right with me, from a parenting perspective. I narrowed the options down to two main themes: a search for a missing person (which would really push them to talk to NPC’s and be observant) or something to do with ecology (which would push them to use their nature/survival skills and explore the environment). I settled on a combination of the two; the campaign would be about them investigating the disappearance of a certain species of firefly, which should have appeared at the end of a festival their characters attend annually. That way, they could start the campaign somewhere familiar, with some activities designed to ease them into the game mechanics, then nudge them out into the wild. This was my child friendly take on the “meeting in a tavern” cliche. I suggest that if you want to give this a go, carefully selecting a theme that kids can connect with is going to be an important factor.
6) Using NPCs as Guides
NPC’s are important in any campaign, but especially when you have young players who are not familiar with the boundaries of the game (or lack thereof). NPC’s can lead the way in many situations, nudging them in the right direction or modelling how the game can be played to achieve certain goals. If you are thinking of having a go at this with your own younglings, consider carefully the use of NPCs in your campaign. I created a Raptor (well... kingfisher) ranger who would be travelling with Lloyd and Bambi, called Fisk. I would use him to make suggestions when the kids are really stumped for what to do and model how skills can be used, as well as model helpful interactions with other NPCs. I would also use him to guide the kids when some parenting is required, but keep it in-game!
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| "My father named me Fisk. It is the sound a bird makes when it says the word 'fish', whilst eating a fish." |
7) Designing the Home Village
Maps are also an important part of any D&D campaign. To introduce this concept, I encouraged the kids to draw half of their home village each, which I could then put together to form a picture of the whole place. Having played a few RPG games on the Switch (Link’s Awakening and Pokemon: Let’s Go Eevee) the concept wasn’t completely foreign to them, and they did a great job, including a whole heap of places you would hope to find in a functioning village. In Humblewood, these little pockets of civilisation are called “Perches”. Again, this is a rich learning experience for them, particularly in terms of future roleplaying sessions. Having created their own village, they will have some idea of useful places to look out for in other places. They have also made a place in the game for themselves, the first step in feeling like you belong.
With all of this established, we were ready for the first session. The kids were really chomping at the bit to get going, but they also enjoyed the build up. I’ll be writing up their experiences as we progress; it will be interesting to see how we go with all this. The first session was a huge success and everyone is looking forward to the next stage of the journey.
See you across the table,
Marc
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