Adventures for young players should be simple, to help them get to grips with the game. It should have some sort of limit or containment on it, so they don’t feel lost/get too caught up on the background ceiling. Ideally, it should be silly.
Fables & Fantasies 2 – A Tiny Potion Problem is definitely all of these things, especially the last one.
Continue reading “TTRPGs with Kids – Tiny Potion Problem”Laboratories are a great place for horror. So are hospitals, anywhere that’s clean and white and sterile makes for a great contrast with whatever gore you want to paint on the walls.
That is the basis of Layer 3 in the megadungeon. A pristine living area, whose residents constantly fight back against the growths that fill the neighbouring laboratories.
So last week I finally got to invent and draw the icky part of this two-tone dungeon layer.
Continue reading “Dungeon23 – Week 12”I realise that my current naming convention could lead to spoilers. Most Disney villains are obvious from the outset, but occasionally we get a plot twist. I don’t care how old a movie is, I don’t like giving spoilers if I can avoid it.
So if you haven’t seen Atlantis: The Lost Empire, go and watch it. Now. Seriously. You should go and watch it immediately, it’s great. Then come back here, and we’ll talk about how that villain would make a great Big Bad for your Table Top game.
Continue reading “Atlantis: TLE– Greatest Disney BBEG?”The last few weeks I’ve been handing out thoughts and advice on playing Table Top Games with students, family and young friends. This week, I’d like to show you what I’ve made for my groups in the past.
I write a series called Fables & Fantasies, and the first in the series is called Masks of Mini Beasts.
Continue reading “TTRPGs with Kids – Masks of Mini Beasts”If it wasn’t for the ever-present danger, the rooms I’ve been making this week would be rather cosy.
In direct defiance of the idea that every room in an adventure should be a threat, I’ve gone completely the other way and made the first half of layer 3 entirely habitable. Sure, if the adventurers again the residence it could quickly become a bloodbath, but if they play their cards right, the heroes will have a rather nice spot to rest.
Continue reading “Dungeon23 – Week 11”Young players can be the best players at your table. Whether you’re hosting a game for a group of students, one or more young family friends or your own kids, you’ll witness some great moments.
Young people have a way of seeing through problems in a way grown ups don’t. They are far more likely to think outside the box instead of trying to work out what ability is best to solve the problem or what rule they need to play on to win. They are not usually the best at the Role-Playing part – specifically doing what their character would do rather than what they would do – but they excel at coming up with awesome ideas for what their characters can do in the moment.
So what do we do to reward the awesomeness?
Continue reading “TTRPGs with Kids – Rewarding Play”Beginning the third layer of my dungeon, I wondered whether the people living here should be evil. I’ve had two layers where you can be friends with those living there, but it’s a challenge… and whether or not it’s worth it is debateable.
I pulled back on having the next group be monstrous, because I wanted them to cooperate with those above. They have their own quirks, dangerous if treated the wrong way, but there’s common sense in them.
In the end, that has led to the general feel of this layer. It’s a world of two halves. In the north, the scientist crew lives in ordered, gleaming, clean rooms, dedicated to keeping the otherworldly growths constantly spewing from the overgrown laboratories in the south.
Continue reading “Dungeon 23 – Week 10”Well I hardly think we need look any further. Clearly we have found the most ultimate villain Disney has to offer. Who better to inspire the Big Bad for our TTRPG!
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Alright, let’s get this over with.
Continue reading “Edgar – Greatest Disney BBEG?”Not matter what Table Top Role-Playing Game you are a part of, chaos is always just around the corner. One joke, one poor roll, one mischievous player can send the narrative off the rails. Depending on the group you’re with, the errant tangents and loss of thread might be what makes the experience all the more special. Eventually though, too much chaos can begin to chip away at the fun for the whole table.
When young people play Roleplaying Games like D&D, Pathfinder, Call of Cthulhu, etc all the behaviour you can expect at the table with adults can appear in extremes. Students of mine have often been the best sort of players I have run games for, but they can also be the most challenging.
We must be careful with the “your fun is wrong” sort of mentality, but we can all be at fault of poor gaming from time-to-time, and its especially true for young players with less experience.
Continue reading “TTRPGs with Kids – Mischief Abound”A little sentimentality for your Saturday afternoon:
At some point in your life, you were the best thing to happen to someone that day.
They may have had an incredible day, and you were the person that elevated it. They may have had an awful day, and then you did something that broke through.
It may have been deliberate or you may not have realised it at the time. Something monumental you sacrifice, or a small gesture that resonated.
Whether you ever really knew it, or not, someone somewhere once said: I’m glad they were there.
Gamer Peak 