Once upon a time, I was a wizard named Gandalf.
As Gandalf, I knew a few common spells, for protection and attack, and could speak dwarvish.
The game lost my kids interest before their first characters could swing an axe.
Arguing fine print is as much a signature of the game as the crazy dice.
To make my childhood pastime more accessible to my kids, I had to iterate.
The rest relied on our collective imagination.
Keep players engaged at session end.
To avoid costly reference checks, dont play with the parts that prompt research.
When you cant eliminate reference checks, consider making the information you need easier to find.
Create simple one-pagecheat sheetsthat contain only the most useful information.
If something doesnt fit on a sheet, dont use it.
The quicker you might get to the first monster, the better.
There are 9 core races and 12 classes in 5E, thoughmost are rarely used.
In my own kids adventures, we had Oracle Ducks, Toddler Plumbers, and Walking Goldfish Chef Wannabes.
Under the hood, though, is a single D&D archetype.
Some boxes on thestandard D&D character sheetare vital.
You need a name, of course, andan alignment.
(Kids usually choose Lawful Good, but play Chaotic Neutral.)
Ability scores and their modifiers drive most of the game play.
If you replace that structure with negotiation, kids imaginations will create their own constraints.
That makes it easier for them to disengage later or make reckless choices in game.
In FATE, another RPG platform, character traits aretreated as double-edged swords.
Every strength can be a weakness, and vice versa.
This is a valuable perspective to take when encouraging kids to play with bad rolls.
The smartest tactician can overthink a plan, and the dumbest tank can be insightful.
Use Fewer Dice More Often
Rolling dice is the most enjoyable part of an RPG.
It combines player control with destiny.
A 20-sided die is used heavily in battle and in skills checks.
d20 is the signature die for D&D.
Clearly Separate the Context of Conversations
Bored kids get goofy and say funny things.
Within a game, poor behavior can have deadly consequences.
It helps future game play to wrap things up while the players are all paying good attention.
Gaming sessions are like episodes in a TV show.
Doing so generates conversation in between sessions and makes it easier to ramp up the next time we play.
Make Leveling Up Simple
Leveling up a character is an intermittent reward for continued play.
The economics of experience points is such that it takes an increasing amount to reach the next level.
In D&D, point values vary from one monster or action to the next.
Rather than deal with those nuances, I award the same points for each encounter.
Every character who participates earns those points.
Forward movement in the story is still incentivizedthe more encounters, the more pointsbut it de-emphasizes individual achievement.
The last thing I do in a gaming session is award experience points.
Between doodling and injury, a character sheet can become overrun with pencil marks.
A DM should know how to play the full game, even if the players dont.
