I tried to see if me kids wanted to play roleplaying games when they were younger. They seemed a little interested, but did not want to learn the rules. I was not going to push them. I never was into D&D as it did not really promote roleplaying. Well as they got older my oldest daughter (I have 2 daughters and a son) started playing D&D with her fiancé and they started bugging me to play (I think all 3 of my kids were playing at the time too). Well I decided I would give it a try. I made up an interesting character (not big on power gaming or combat focused characters). He was a warlock that thinks he is a cleric. He grandfather was a warlock that made a deal with a demon prince to create a false religion and lure as many people as he could into it. The church was very popular in his village. (his grandfather had passed it on to his son, who passed it on to his son. Eventually another group got. They attacked the village during the ceremony of him become a full priest and my character was the only survivor. His grandfather had faked his death years ago and is like a lich now. Now my character travels the land trying to spread the word of Thrast (the false name of the demon prince). The church is all about penance for sins. He raises the dead... so they can pay penance in the afterlife to give them a better place in the afterworld. The demons he summons are angels that have been twisted by the cruelties and madness in this world. He has an imp that follows him around and he typically does good, but judges people harshly for their sins. He typically gives away most of his money to those in need. Well as soon as I started playing they were amazed at the character and how I played it. It impacted the whole group. They started playing the game different and in later games made much better characters. I got in contact with one of the guys I used to game with who just got divorced and had time to burn now. I convinced him to play as he is a great role-player too. I played a Minotaur that was abandoned as a child for being "too small" and was taken in and raised by a couple of gnomes that could not have children of their own. He turned out rather big and was trained as a Path of Life cleric by the voodoo shaman in his village. Yes he is a voodoo minitour that speak gnomish and thinks he is a "noble" gnome and dislike minotaur. Now we are onto the next campaign and I am playing the grandson of the first campaign and while trained as an acolyte, lost interest in becoming a priest after is father "ran away with another woman" (his grandfather killed him and has him working in the catacombs as a zombie). During his rebellious teen years he rebelled against the control his grandfather had in his life and decided to pursue his passion of music instead of becoming a priest of Thrast. He convinced his grandfather (with help from his mother) to let him go a long way away to a bard collage. It is not that he hates the church. He did take his great great grandfather's book of necromancy (odd Thrast is not in this ancient version of the holly text). Bards (Valor) get to take spells from other colleges. The first 2 were find familiar and animate dead. He is not a warlock or full priest of Thrast. He is a pure bard that dabbles in necromancy. He is an emo douche though with abandonment issues and nothing like his grandfather. He actually dressed and named his zombie after his dad and acts like it is his dad. He makes the zombie pat him on the shoulder or even hug him when other are not looking (usually) and does not realize he is commanding it to do these things. He cries every time his "father" dies... then raises another. I did have a goblin draconic (green) sorcerer that was a rat catcher that heard voices in his head and felt at home with the lowest class of people (mostly beggars). We did change one thing for his character and make his Green Flame blade he uses all the time do acid damage, which as a sorcerer he could cast twice in a turn. I also had a Kobold ranger that rod a huge boar as a steed and used a short sword and shield most of the time. Think Scrappy-Do for his personality. I gave him the Charger feat. He was fun. I guess I just don't like playing "normal" characters. My friend did run a short campaign in GURPS not too long ago and that was fun. Things actually scared the players. That is not something you get in D&D often. I played a lazy street vagrant beggar that broke into a boarded up church and tried to steal some holy symbol. The god "forced" him become a cleric following him and punishes him when he talks bad about the god or tries to do bad things. He is a pretty good healer though and can do weddings and funerals... mostly in exchange for cooked food and maid services because he is so lazy... and a slob. He can't fight basically at all though, but in GURPS healing is huge and being the first time most of them played GURPS I figured it would help. BTW I'm 55 now and have been playing D&D with my kids for about 6 years now. I still think D&D kind of sucks, but at least my kids learned what roleplaying was really like and understand and like roleplaying more. Their cousin and niece's husband also played with our group and both turned out pretty good at roleplaying, but the group was too big and we split it as they lived in a nearby city and it was getting harder for them to come every week.
@@GMCellar Sure. Happy to. Indeed, I came up with a whole 2-page distilled rules set for working with kids aged 4 and up in interactive RPG stories. It's based upon the kids RPG Amazing Tales. Shoot me your email and I'll pass it along.
I tried to see if me kids wanted to play roleplaying games when they were younger. They seemed a little interested, but did not want to learn the rules. I was not going to push them. I never was into D&D as it did not really promote roleplaying. Well as they got older my oldest daughter (I have 2 daughters and a son) started playing D&D with her fiancé and they started bugging me to play (I think all 3 of my kids were playing at the time too). Well I decided I would give it a try.
I made up an interesting character (not big on power gaming or combat focused characters). He was a warlock that thinks he is a cleric. He grandfather was a warlock that made a deal with a demon prince to create a false religion and lure as many people as he could into it. The church was very popular in his village. (his grandfather had passed it on to his son, who passed it on to his son. Eventually another group got. They attacked the village during the ceremony of him become a full priest and my character was the only survivor. His grandfather had faked his death years ago and is like a lich now. Now my character travels the land trying to spread the word of Thrast (the false name of the demon prince). The church is all about penance for sins. He raises the dead... so they can pay penance in the afterlife to give them a better place in the afterworld. The demons he summons are angels that have been twisted by the cruelties and madness in this world. He has an imp that follows him around and he typically does good, but judges people harshly for their sins. He typically gives away most of his money to those in need.
Well as soon as I started playing they were amazed at the character and how I played it. It impacted the whole group. They started playing the game different and in later games made much better characters. I got in contact with one of the guys I used to game with who just got divorced and had time to burn now. I convinced him to play as he is a great role-player too. I played a Minotaur that was abandoned as a child for being "too small" and was taken in and raised by a couple of gnomes that could not have children of their own. He turned out rather big and was trained as a Path of Life cleric by the voodoo shaman in his village. Yes he is a voodoo minitour that speak gnomish and thinks he is a "noble" gnome and dislike minotaur.
Now we are onto the next campaign and I am playing the grandson of the first campaign and while trained as an acolyte, lost interest in becoming a priest after is father "ran away with another woman" (his grandfather killed him and has him working in the catacombs as a zombie). During his rebellious teen years he rebelled against the control his grandfather had in his life and decided to pursue his passion of music instead of becoming a priest of Thrast. He convinced his grandfather (with help from his mother) to let him go a long way away to a bard collage. It is not that he hates the church. He did take his great great grandfather's book of necromancy (odd Thrast is not in this ancient version of the holly text). Bards (Valor) get to take spells from other colleges. The first 2 were find familiar and animate dead. He is not a warlock or full priest of Thrast. He is a pure bard that dabbles in necromancy. He is an emo douche though with abandonment issues and nothing like his grandfather. He actually dressed and named his zombie after his dad and acts like it is his dad. He makes the zombie pat him on the shoulder or even hug him when other are not looking (usually) and does not realize he is commanding it to do these things. He cries every time his "father" dies... then raises another.
I did have a goblin draconic (green) sorcerer that was a rat catcher that heard voices in his head and felt at home with the lowest class of people (mostly beggars). We did change one thing for his character and make his Green Flame blade he uses all the time do acid damage, which as a sorcerer he could cast twice in a turn. I also had a Kobold ranger that rod a huge boar as a steed and used a short sword and shield most of the time. Think Scrappy-Do for his personality. I gave him the Charger feat. He was fun. I guess I just don't like playing "normal" characters.
My friend did run a short campaign in GURPS not too long ago and that was fun. Things actually scared the players. That is not something you get in D&D often. I played a lazy street vagrant beggar that broke into a boarded up church and tried to steal some holy symbol. The god "forced" him become a cleric following him and punishes him when he talks bad about the god or tries to do bad things. He is a pretty good healer though and can do weddings and funerals... mostly in exchange for cooked food and maid services because he is so lazy... and a slob. He can't fight basically at all though, but in GURPS healing is huge and being the first time most of them played GURPS I figured it would help.
BTW I'm 55 now and have been playing D&D with my kids for about 6 years now. I still think D&D kind of sucks, but at least my kids learned what roleplaying was really like and understand and like roleplaying more. Their cousin and niece's husband also played with our group and both turned out pretty good at roleplaying, but the group was too big and we split it as they lived in a nearby city and it was getting harder for them to come every week.
I will be using some of these ideas for my D&D Club at school.
Let us know how it goes and if you have any more tricks you use!
Great tips!
Shamazing! I’m totally trying these things with my kids.
Thanks so much! Please share anything else you find works well for you!
@@GMCellar Sure. Happy to. Indeed, I came up with a whole 2-page distilled rules set for working with kids aged 4 and up in interactive RPG stories. It's based upon the kids RPG Amazing Tales.
Shoot me your email and I'll pass it along.
That would be great, we’d love to see it!
gmcellarproductions at gmail dot com!
Unicorse!!!!
“Aaaaaand why should I care?”