Ideas for playing with a super young player

[gyhujbox5]

I want to be able to play d&d with my son once he is old enough. I have a year, maybe 18 months to get ready. I’m looking for suggestions to ease gameplay for young players who can’t math or role play very well. Also any fun quest ideas I could use would be great.

My intention is to get him to build the world for the first six months or so. Every night when he goes to bed I will have him participate in a story with me that will eventually lead to the main quest of his game when he starts.192.168.0.1 routerlogin 192.168.l.l

[Zacchaeus]

Jolly Good idea.

My youngest was I think 7 or 8 when we started playing, and we gave him a simple character to play (A fighter I think - this was for AD&D) and he had a jolly good time. Of course his two older brothers and their friends who also played in the same group helped him along. They still do even though they are all in their late 30's now

[esmdev]

There is a board game called Dungeon produced by Wizards of the Coast that is designed for ages 8 and up. That is a great introduction to some of the concepts (races, items, dungeon delving, etc.) that can be played over and over again. It is simple and interactive, and also give you a sort of transition point. I used to play this with my friends in the early 80s.

Dungeon is a great transition from regular style board games to D&D as a whole. After playing that for awhile, you can transition from Dungeon to actual Dungeons & Dragons by helping him to make a character with a reference that he's now familiar with. For instance, you can say we are going to make a character like the one from Dungeon but that can do a whole lot more. Go through the character creation process step by step, explaining each aspect so he has a basic understanding of how it relates to Dungeon. Explain that the he now has more control over what his character can and cannot do, and can and cannot have. Just rolling the characteristic scores is a good introduction to basic math along with buying equipment.

I recommend the above method because as a teenager in the 80s, this is how I taught my parents to play D&D.

I'm not sure if your thinking Classic (1E or 2) or 5E but for Classic I'd recommend the Keep on the Borderland, it was the defacto starter module for most of Classic D&D's lifespan. It is cool in that it has a moderately fleshed out starter town but still lets you flesh it out in your own way as well, that will give you an opportunity to introduce the idea of role playing and interaction. The dungeon itself is interesting with multiple access points just about everything you would expect from a level 1-3 dungeon.

For 5E, I'd recommend the Lost Mines of Phandelver. It used to be purchased as part of the D&D starter set but is now a stand alone module. It also has a starter town, several separate quests, and gives a lot of choice to the players as to what they want to do and where they want to go. IMHO, it is one of the best introductory modules ever designed for D&D, and leaves a lot of room to flesh out things if you so desire. It runs from 1st to 5th level.

[LordEntrails]

There are blogs and advice on teh subject. I can't find the one I was thinking about (unless it has gotten a new look) but you might enjoy checking out these;
https://michaeljasper.net/dnd-dad/
https://dmingdad.com/blog/
https://geektyrant.com/news/this-dad...-it-is-amazing

In short; it should be about story and fun. Rules really don't matter. Also, attention span is a thing. Pets and familiars are a great tie in (i.e. a character for the family pet or the favorite stuffed animal).

[Wizards Ghost]

Have a look at the Aborea System, it is easy to understand andplay, and the adventures should fit young players.