DnD For the Kids

I was recently listening to a conversation with Dael Kingsmill & BardicBroadcasts on Questing Beast's Youtube Channel. The discussion was titled, "Why DnD Is So Great", but the group covered many different topics. If any of you spend a lot of your life commuting or driving children all over creation, it's a great conversation to listen to in the car.  Anyway, the topic of Wizards of the Coast's big campaign books came up in the second section of the video, entitled "Most nostalgic module". All of the panelists seemed to make the assertion that they're too big, too cumbersome, and too much of a plot railroad. I think it was Dael who said something to the effect of, "I don't even know what to do with them". I do use Campaign books when running games for the kids, and I'd like to talk about how I think we got here, some of the benefits of the campaign books, what I miss about the old days, and strategies for applying these books...

Today's post is a bit of a deep topic, but I think it's important to understand moving forward, particularly as we bring the next generation into D&D or TTRPG's in general.  What separates the tabletop from the machine? Our kiddos are coming into this game from a completely different context form whence we started 20 or 30 years ago... Good lord, it hurts to say that. 1992, when I opened the black box for the first time feels like yesterday. Anyway, when we (assuming you are nearly as old as I am) got those polyhedral dice in our hands for the first time, we had never heard of hit points or armor class . We may have read a fantasy book or two, but the class archetypes were nothing that we had codified. We had to learn from the rules that mages were squishy but had the potential to deal out massive damage or status effects on our enemies. Our kids know this. They have experience playing a character role, gaining experience, and watching their hit points in a multitude ...

So, a lot has come up recently that I want to talk about, but none of it necessitates a whole post. So, what do you get? You get a little ttrpg tapas table of goodness. Without further adieu, on to glory! New [ish] Products First of all, I bring you product reviews. Understand that my early D&D experience looked a lot like Travis Miller's, as outlined here . That said, I try not to focus too heavily on buying stuff. Sometimes, though, I like to buy things. Don't we all? Then, I like to review those things here. Towns & Taverns For Christmas, my wife got me The Dungeon books of Battlemats , which I talked about in my Holiday Gift Guide . Meanwhile, I pre-ordered the Towns and Taverns set from my friendly local game shop,  Comic Store West  because I do a lot of Urban-ish adventuring. My primary, longest running campaign is Waterdeep Dragonheist, and I also have a Saltmarsh campaign, where we spend a lot of time in town.  Again this is a great set. It's portable, v...

... I was talking to a friend from college the other night. He and I played 2nd Edition AD&D together in 1998... Man, 1998 was 23 years ago! I'm just letting that sink in... Anyway, 1998 was a great year. When my roommates and I weren't playing Baldur's Gate, Diablo, or Final Fantasy 7, we were sitting down to enjoy some serious AD&D. The hobby was still expensive back then, but most folks did not spend near as much as one does today.  Anyway, it just so happens that my college friend, Jim, and I are both running games amidst this pandemic with the folks nearest to us, and we got to talking about the current cost of 5th edition adventures.  During our phone conversation I got stuck on the idea that while a modern D&D 5e Adventure book is around $50.00, you're actually getting great value for your money. I repeated some of the points that Mike Shea often makes on the topic. I keep going back to that call in my mind, though. There are so many great free or ch...

Running D&D or any TTRPG for kids is fun and rewarding on many levels, but at times it can be frustrating, especially when you don't know what they don't know. I'm a teacher, and I have a lot of cues I can use in my Computer Science class to figure out where my students' gaps are. I have a curriculum that contains a scope and sequence for instruction, noting what they will be exposed to at each grade level. I have formative assessments that gauge their performance on distinct skills and knowledge, allowing me to fine tune my instruction to fill in what's missing allowing students to apply a firm foundation of concepts and practice to create their projects.  Often, when running an RPG for a group of newbies, kids or adults, you need to come along side them and help fill in the gaps. The problem is that many of us old grognards have been rolling dice since the 80's and we have years of foundational knowledge that's not necessarily covered in the Players Ha...

Photo by Nathan Lemon on Unsplash Do you have a D&D / TTRPG Gamer or Dungeon Master in your life? Trying to figure out what to get them that goes with their favorite hobby, but they buy every book as soon as it's published?  Are you a TTRPG gamer or DM and have no idea what to ask for?  Well, here's my Holiday Gift Guide for the TTRPG enthusiast in your life. Remember, I DM for kids, on a budget, so I'm not going to be recommending any crazy expensive custom engraved wooden dice boxes, $98 Chardalyn Dragon Minis, or Dwarven Forge setups.  These are all gifts that I would love to get or that I plan to get for the other tabletop gamers in my life. Whether or not you celebrate Christmas, there are numerous gift-giving opportunities this season and those that come after, so enjoy this guide. May it help you buy cool gifts all the year through!  Top Pick: Pretty much anything from Loke BattleMats Okay, I don't know how I made it as far as I did without discovering L...