Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord

When I was younger, Wizardry, Bard's Tale and the Might and Magic series occupied quite a bit of my time (well, that is when I wasn't actively engaged in face to face RPGs).  At any rate, as I work through my first adventure with my son, I've been thinking a lot about these early CRPGs and the value of porting them to a Pen and Paper environment, or more precisely, stealing back elements of them to make the adventure a little more engaging for my six year old.  I was thinking about essentially creating a dungeon with wandering monsters and some key locations with a fairly static town where the party could leave the dungeon, resupply, etc and go back for the delve.  Much in the same vein of Wizardry.  I'll expand it out as he gets the basics of dungeon exploration such as finding traps (suspect everything is a trap!), crazy zones, weird encounters, etc.  It also makes it easier to replace dead/lost characters (remember the adventurer's inn in Wizardry 1?).  I'd be interested in seeing what other folks have done to introduce young kids into the world of RPGs.  I know some folks have run kids through Keep on the Borderlands but I think that is a bit too open ended and free form for a few six/seven year olds.  I'm looking for something that is a bit more confined while still giving them the basic idea of the game.

Comments

  1. AlFebruary 17, 2011 at 8:17 AM

    I always just start them out at the dungeon entrance, with a quick summary of how they got there and why.

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  2. XyanthonFebruary 17, 2011 at 11:37 PM

    I think I'll do something similar but have the inn, general store, etc be essentially right at the mouth of the dungeon. That way they can delve a bit, head back to the town, rest, resupply, etc. Since they are a pretty young group I'm willing to be easy on them ;).

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