On the Fly Role Playing with Kids: The Zombie Fountain and the Mountain of Mystery
Today has been an incredibly lovely day. I decided to try something a bit different and do some gaming outside. Bear has been bugging me to get a game started. Unfortunately, he is only reading in Italian at this point and the academic advisor recommended that we hold off teaching him to read English until he has a better grasp of reading in Italian so as to not confuse him. So, I decided to come up with a very basic on the fly RPG system using percentile dice as the resolution mechanic and my D&D minis to create a 3d "dungeon". It actually turned out to be quite fun. The key here was to be free form enough so as to keep Bear's interest while having something of a structure. I created a four class system so Bear, my daughter Rosa, and their "cousin" Marco had a field of characters to choose from. I had a hobbit, wizard, warrior, and amazon princess. Each character had hit points, a percentage chance to hit in melee, a percentage chance to block an attack, a percentage chance to parley, and spells. No further atributes were given. I wanted to stress maximum imagination, so I did not tell them what kinds of spells they could cast, only the number availiable and would assign a percentage chance of effect/success on the fly. Further, they could parley in order to gain information, barter, befriend, or bamboozle their oppposition. They had a choice to either fight, flee, or parley upon initial contact with a creature. I was pleased to note that in every case they chose to parley in order to try to make freinds and influence people. The quest was essentially to explore the Mopuntain of Mystery and try and avert the zombie fountain from overflowing and spreading a zombie wave throughout the Mountain. Along the way they encountered freinds and foes, all the while having a great time. While not D&D, this reminds me of how I used to play "Dungeons and Dragons" when I was roughly around Bear's age (I was about 8 when I first encountered the game). I only had a couple of dice and the Official Advanced Dungeons and Dragons Coloring Album from which to extrapolate everything else. Two years later I'd recieve the AD&D Monster Manual and would add this to my rather free form dungeon explorations. It wasn't until I was around 12 that I really played in my first real games of D&D. I still really enjoy the free form nature of my early gaming experiences. Apparently Bear, Marco, and Rosa had a great time and are clamoring for more. Here's some pictures documenting our session:
Organizing the Pieces
Selecting Characters
Looks like much fun was had!
ReplyDeleteIndeed--it sounds like a great time--and I nice little system for kids you came up with, there.
ReplyDeleteA fantastic read, thanks for sharing that Johnathan.
ReplyDeleteThis is very similar to my early game play as well. Sitting on gigantic solid hardwood game tables in my Italian villa, nary a care in the world ...
ReplyDeleteOr not so much, actually. Looks like a great time! I especially like you incorporating the mini-limestone landscape into the play. It's fun when you can take it off the table, so to speak. Good stuff.
I think the most interesting part was how they handled encounters. There seemed to be a running competition going as to who could gain more "pets" so the first option for all of them was to attempt to parley and curry favor. If that didn't work, they would cast a spell and try to charm them into becoming followers. Combat was usually the very last option for all of them. It ended up being great fun!
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