RPGs for kids

[mean_liar]

My oldest is now five, and that means that he's started to ask about playing games with me. I can tell he's intimidated by playing tabletop stuff based on the fact that he's only ever seen adults play, but, well... a game based on the idea that he loves Diego and wants to rescue animals with superhero powers isn't terribly difficult to bullshit through.

Looking through the low-hanging fruit, I wasn't really impressed by what I saw. Most of the kid RPGs are all battle simulators of one kind or another. RPGkids and Herokids seem to have done the best job, but even then they mostly center around killing endless hordes of whomevers.

My own stab at things is as mechanically sparse as any game for young kids has to be and will probably suffice, but I was curious if anyone else had some insight into the genre.

[codeGlaze]

Jigo has been working on a supplement for RPGkids. He may have some interesting insight. What exactly are you looking for, though? With kids you sort of need to allow for most RP to be MTP.... you never know what they're going to come ou with.

[Soda]

I like FURPG.

[Leress]

You could try EABAnywhere.

http://www.btrc.net/eabanywhere

[hogarth]

I think Toon is good for kids of all ages.

[OgreBattle]

You could craft the RPG through freeform roleplaying with your child.

It would be a fun experiment

ex:

Confronted with a maze. Ask your kid how he would get through it (like what attribute would he use, his cunning, his endurance, etc.) and then it becomes the rule.

[fectin]

Kantian Procedural RPG?

[mean_liar]

I think in these parts we call that MTP, and I'm totally cool with that.

Right now I came up with a resolution system that's basically Risk.

Three attributes (health, fun, artistry) corresponding to (physical, social, mental) axis of action. Roll dice equal to attribute (2 or 3) against either the difficulty (with a reference chart to determine relative difficulties/probabilities of success) or an opposed roll.

I'm still working out tiebreaks, since I don't want to confuse them but I wanted a little more fidelity.

Mostly they just seem to want to collect artifacts of their triumphs: animals friends more than anything. We're having fun, but the REAL issue seems to be that they're intimidated a bit by playing a game they've only ever seen adults do, and my son doesn't want to "do it wrong"... and so we play chess a lot too, since he never sees me play that with anyone that isn't digital.

[JigokuBosatsu]

Search the Den for "rpgKids". There are a couple of threads about it- as a system for very young chilluns, I highly recommend it, and it's only a couple of bucks. I'm writing an advanced supplement for it. There's an official advanced supplement coming out, and I'm sure it will be great, but mine will be worked over by the Den first, so...


Also, I would say if he is curious about what you're doing but worried about "doing it wrong," involve him in your design process. I've got my 4-year-old writing scenarios. I think she likes that better than actually playing.

EDIT: Sorry, didn't notice your interest in more "puzzle-oriented" processes. Yeah, original rpgKids is pretty much just beating up mooks with a very few skill tests and one or two super simple puzzles. I believe Enrique's advanced rules for rpgKids are going to include more emphasis on puzzles. In my work on CotEotM, I've been trying to factor both room for creativity and more logic/problem-solving stuff in there, as well as non-violent solutions to encounters. As I'm writing more "dungeony" type encounters for different parts of it, the need for thinking puzzles is apparent. Also, per some suggestions in the thread in IMOI, I'll be working in way more space for hand-outs, reward cards, etc.

[Soda]

I really can't recommend FURPG enough. For example:

Character creation:
In your system a character is, Health 3 Fun 3 Artistry 2
In FURPG a character is, "Good at Sports" and "Friend to Animals"

Resolution:
Your system, "What is the DC to climb this tree? 3? 4? Check the chart.
FURPG, "Do I climb the tree? With my bonus die from 'good at sports', I rolled a 4. I climb the tree."

Advancement:
Your system, "My Artistry goes up to 3. Whoopie."
FURPG, "With your master's training, you now have 'Apprentice Blacksmith'."


I know which of those would grab my attention.

[mean_liar]

I see where you're coming from, but the kids don't really see the mechanics. They're just tossing dice and MTPing the shit out of stuff.

There's more to the game than what I tossed up: basically those trophies/artifacts you collect increase your tiebreak ability. Being a "Friend of Faeries" actually mechanically counts. Advancement in a raw, non-thematic mechanical sense doesn't really occur... I figure by the time they care about that we'll be on to deeper systems.


EDIT - I grabbed a copy of FURPG and I'll pore through it.

[ishy]

Resolution:
Your system, "What is the DC to climb this tree? 3? 4? Check the chart.
FURPG, "Do I climb the tree? With my bonus die from 'good at sports', I rolled a 4. I climb the tree."

So how do you know the DC in FURPG? You either have to look it up in a chart as well, or is it pure MTP? If it is pure MTP, well you could do MTP in "Your system" as well. Just ignore what the chart says.

Having a chart of DC's is really helpful, because it allows you to think of similar stuff and set a DC on the fly.

[Soda]

So how do you know the DC in FURPG? You either have to look it up in a chart as well, or is it pure MTP? If it is pure MTP, well you could do MTP in "Your system" as well. Just ignore what the chart says.

Having a chart of DC's is really helpful, because it allows you to think of similar stuff and set a DC on the fly.

It's neither chart nor mtp. It's a single mechanic that I find to be a great medium.

It works like this:

"Does Regdar climb the tree?"
Roll a d6
6: "Yes, and.. [something else good]"
5: "Yes."
4: "Yes, but.. [some downside]"
3: "No, but.. [some upside]"
2: "No."
1: "No, and.. [something else bad]"

If you have traits that would help, roll a bonus die for each and take the highest.
"Does Regdar uses his 'Heroic Strength' to climb this tree?"
[rolls 2 d6, takes highest]

If you have a negative trait or a circumstantial penalty, subtract a die for each. If you'd go below 1 die, instead roll an extra die and take the worst.
"Does Jozen climb the tree despite his heavy armor?"
[rolls 2 d6, takes lowest]



Optionally, you can obtain "FU points" by acting in character or following your character's motivation, etc, that allow you to add bonus dice to your rolls.


EDIT- I also think the character creation is great. You get traits such as 'Unicorn Farmer' or 'Imperial Soldier' and it's left up to you to decide when it applies. You don't need a Ride or Handle Animal skill. It's obvious that your Unicorn Farmer gets a bonus to riding unicorns.

[JigokuBosatsu]

"FU, dad, I've got this geomorph to snip, so why don't you go take a nap?"

[JigokuBosatsu]

Bump for new content in my other thread.