Wisconsin Games + Learning + Libraries Cohort

I'd love to hear from libraries where this has worked.  We just tried an event at one of our Brown County Library branches this past Saturday for ages 8-13 and no one came.  Now, we don't have an adult D&D group either, so it could just be that people aren't looking at our libraries as a place to play, maybe it's the holidays and people are busy, I dont' know.  We've got it on the calendar for January and February, so we'll see what happens. 

File this under "two cents worth," but here's some thoughts....

Starting with group size, the ideal group would be 4 to 6 players.   However, even six players can be a bit of a slog while they wait their turn (especially in combat), and with the burden on a DM to give each player a chance to shine at least once per session, it can be tough.  With fidgety young players, a smaller group would likely be better.

As far as ages go, I think D&D can certainly be scaffolded/simplified for a younger player, but 9 or 10 years old (4th grade) seems the sweet spot.  Asking second graders to play with eighth graders can be an excellent lesson in kindness, compassion, and teamwork, but if they're strangers, it can also be a stretch.  I would encourage early icebreakers and perhaps some expectations that older players will look out for and help the younger ones.   This also may require some nuanced ways to pitch to an age range so wide, and it may be good to put in reassurances in your fliers, emails, newsletters, etc.  Parents may fret about their youngest playing with teens, and teens may grumble about playing with those so young.   Maybe pitch two different slots (one elementary, one middle) and see if that yields any more interest?  

Again, I acknowledge a lot of this are ideal thoughts.  It's a good problem to have when interest grows beyond 4 to 6 players.  With time, a survival strategy would be to "train up" a player to DM, or even better, see if you can recruit a teen to DM for either their peers or the younger crowd -- within your eyesight and supervision, of course.

As an interim, you might want to try out some products that either make the D&D experience more self-guided or perhaps try a TTRPG more suited for younger players.  Here are three:

• Venture Society (9th Level Games).   This is truly suited for ages 6 and up, has a much simpler game mechanic (called the "Polymorph System"), and the box set has some great materials, including an educator/librarian/therapist guide.  
• Limitless Adventures have some "DMless" adventures that use a card system where players take turns leading through the adventure.  It uses the 5e system and probably best for middle school ages and up.
• Obvious Mimic is another independent game publisher that works within the 5e system.  They publish gamebooks for solo play, so they might make a great addition to your shelf to check out!  They are a bit like "Choose Your Own Adventure" but you still roll dice, track HP, etc.  Nice way to learn D&D on your own, or practice between sessions.  Another plus:  the books seem to range from what would appeal to younger players ("The Secret of Oki Island") to teens (such as "The Wolves of Langston," which I have personally played and can attest I had a fun time!).  

Hope that helps!
 

--Adam Watson

Kentucky Educators for Role Playing Games

Hopping in to second so much of this! Any age can play, but I find the experience levels are what trip my players up. I market my monthly teen program as beginner-friendly, and make sure that's an expectation set at the beginning of the session. Icebreakers can be really fun, and an easy way to figure out about how much experience/confidence players have. I also personally find that 4 is a pretty ideal party size; if I have more attendees than that, I might ask someone I know to be more experienced to play as an enemy, or lend some more flavor to a character I was going to run as an NPC. And then, if I have enough experienced players, I'll see if someone wants to DM a separate, more experienced group, so those players don't get bored, and newer players don't get frustrated. It's definitely ideal to have players support each other, but sometimes with the TTRPG crowd I am often trying to manage experience levels, neurodiversity and some accompanying behaviors, expectations, and the snack table, so I'm not always able to make those connections in the moment. 

Thanks for sharing these resources, Adam, I'm borrowing some for myself!

My library offers regular D&D for our teen room kids, but there is enough demand that we occasioanlly run one-off adventures for our younger patrons. One group's age range was about 8-11 and was very successful, although I suspect we had a batch of particularly bright kids (one of them layed out exactly how to find a expedition camp by virtue of the fact that they are usually built next to water and need lots of lumber). I had a table of seven which is teetering on the edge of too many players. I would reccomend keeping it 5 players so every one has an easier time sharing the spotlight and combat doesn't take too long. We ran a different program that had a similar age range but a table of 8-9 and even with a volunteer helping kids on thier turns and answering questions it got a little unwieldy.

To help things stay a little focused we had premade character sheets they could choose from. I, as the DM, made basic notes for myself on each character's strengths. Then to help them stay focused and share the spotlight, I would turn to them at appropriate times and prompt thier character to take action or ask if they wanted to interact with something in the scene. EX:

• To the party ranger (High Nature and Survival) - While in the camp you notice all the birds here are ravens which aren't native to the forest. "Are they flying anywhere?" Yes as you watch them it looks like these are messenger birds and you can see one that has just been released from a tall stone tower looking over the courtyard you're in. It has a bright red ribbon tied to its leg and is rapidly climbing in the sky away from you. What do you do? "I shoot it down, maybe it has a message!"
• To the party paladin (High Religon and Investigation) - As you relax after the last skeleton collapses you notics strange markings on its bones. "Can I look closer? What do they look like?" Kind of like swirling mists with teeth painted on the bones. You recognise them as magical but aren't sure what they mean or do. Would you like to roll for it? "Yes! 9 Dang it" That's okay, it takes you a second but you realize they're symbols used by a necromancer to control undead, but they necromancer has to be nearby for it to work. "Lets go back to that waterfall! I told you there's gotta be a cave there!!"

We also had a few handouts detailing in simple terms what players can do on thier turn. Since we made the character sheets we also left off alot of smaller details to not distract them (languages, some equipment, minor features).

Since D&D is largely a game about fighting and killing monsters we found that it becomes very important to choose or write adventures that feature non-sentient foes like skeletons, zombies, golems, oozes or other enemies so things don't get graphic. Our adventure was about a search for a necromancer in a haunted woods, (I may share the document if there is enough interst in it) so there was only one human enemy they could fight.

Hope this is helpful and I hoep your program goes great! Make sure to get word out to your local game stores and schools (especially any existing after-school groups)!

Thanks so much for this question, Mackenzie! I'm more of a video games guy, so I'll defer to the Tabletop RPG experts on this (like Adam & Simon). Looks like they've already offered some terrific info and responses -- thank you both, you cool geniuses!

I've also posted your question to our Games-Learning-Libraries email list, so we might get some more info trickling in. Excellent use of this discussion board, so thank you for your post! :D

Best,

~Chris

Another group dynamic aspect that might help frame this question is not just how old players are but what kind of player they are, or what kind of game are they hoping for. This article lays out some of the most typical player types.

To put it another way, if you have a 12 year old Power Gamer, they and the 8 yo Slayer are going to get along great, but the 10 yo Actor is going to be a bit miserable in a deathtrap dungeon crawler. (People, especially kids aren't usually just one of these, but knowing what really makes a game enjoyable for them can go a long way towards allowing you to harness their enthusiasm.)

Consider having a "session 0" where you have kids take a player style quiz, and tailor your adventure (and group expectations) similarly. Or maybe a series of quick oneshot adventures with premade characters to choose from can help you gauge who in your community is interested, and what sparks the interests of your audience.

My experience with this is coming off a long running game where combat was the main focus and storytelling took a backseat, into a game where the GM tolerates combat but emphasizes roleplaying and puzzle solving. Both are fun, but the contrast was startling.

I think the youngest player I've encountered was a 4 year old, but it was a family game so their parents were there with lots of help and scaffolding, and they played a barbarian, one of the simplest characters to play.