The Little Guy finally pestered me into running a roleplaying game
for him the other night. He’s six-and-a-half years old, doing well
in first grade, and has already sampled other games from Daddy’s
varied adventure gaming hobbies, including miniature wargames and
board games. I’ve had
Hero Kids waiting in the wings for a
few years, yet I just haven’t felt like the Little Guy was ready
for something a bit more free-form than some of our other gaming
fare. I ordered a print copy of the rulebook and printed out
character cards, stand-up figures, and the
Basement O Rats
scenario back in August in case we had free time at a convention to
run it; we didn’t, but it meant I was somewhat prepared when the
Little Guy quite suddenly insisted we play it after dinner one night.
So Dad sat down with the Little Guy; Mom was a good sport and
agreed to play so we wouldn’t have an awkwardly solitaire game
session and to demonstrate the idea of an adventuring party helping
each other overcome challenges. They chose characters from those I’d
printed to cardstock. I took about 20 minutes to outline the various
elements of their characters and answer questions, then we dove into
the game. I ran the
Basement O Rats scenario complete with
printed map boards and cardstock character and monster stand-up
figures. Using the recommended number of adversaries for two players
(a helpful, balancing innovation) they explored the caves beneath the
tavern, vanquished the rats, and rescued Roger, all within about 45
minutes (including a few quick asides to look up and clarify minor
rules questions). The Little Guy enjoyed it so much he wanted me to
run another scenario immediately....
I examined Hero Kids when I first got it and, from a basic
reading, was impressed with the resources it offered: intuitive
mechanics using six-sided dice; clear character sheets; lots of
advice for running a roleplaying game for kids (or even newcomers); a
setting focusing on the role of kids rather than typical fantasy
heroes; and map “boards” and pieces for scenarios to help
transition from more traditional games. After actually playing it, I
realized most of my earlier impressions were spot-on, though, of
course, actual play reveals some nuances:
Duration: Kids have limited attention spans, especially in
this age of instant gratification from electronic devices. The
concepts and mechanics behind
Hero Kids took only a few
minutes to introduce to new players, while the scenario itself ran in
less than an hour. This was the perfect length of time to maintain
interest while still offering a significant taste of the game play.
Occasionally the Little Guy’s attention wandered off a little, but
it was more a lack of patience with other players’ turns and the
presence of natural distractions such as errant toys at the dinner
table that tempted him.
Party Teamwork: The Little Guy played a warrior while Mom
ran a healer; the combination, and their coordination during combat,
helped illustrate how different party members could contribute to
success. At times the Little Guy wanted to go off on his own, deny
assistance to his Mom’s character, or even attack her (“Can I
attack other players’ characters?” he asked...something I expect
every gamer asks at some point). At each turn we gently demonstrated
how party members depended on each other – offering coordinate
attacks or healing each other at key moments – or how, sometimes,
his own insistence didn’t matter, such as when his warrior scaled a
wall with the healer’s help, then he didn’t offer the healer
assistance...not that she needed it with a successful skill roll.
Skill Tests: I really liked the die pool system, especially
for non-combat skill tests. In a fight players roll the appropriate
die pool and compare the highest result against the opponent’s
roll; for skills they compare a roll against a difficulty number (4,
5, or 6) for success. Each combat skill (melee, ranged, and magic)
also serves as a skill (strength, dexterity, magic), and each player
also gets a few non-combat skills like tracking or lore. Although the
scenario depended on lots of combat, it also offered some purely
skill-based challenges, like climbing a cave wall or figuring out
which tunnel led to the rats. It offered a nice balance between
hack-and-slash and problem solving.
Lack of Character Advancement: The
Hero Kids rules
don’t offer any mechanics for character advancement, though it’s
easy enough to allow each player to assign an extra die to their
character after several hard-won adventures. Yet the lack of an
advancement system removes the emphasis on killing monsters and
taking their treasure for personal gain and instead focuses on
fulfilling the story elements. Rather than delving into the tavern
basement seeking hoarded rat treasure, the heroes explore the tunnels
and vanquish rats with the goal of rescuing their friend. While it
might seem good to offer some motivation in the form of personal
advancement (gold, experience points), it’s refreshing not to place
emphasis on greed and killing.
Maps and Pieces: I’m undecided about using the maps and
cardboard stand-up figures. They’re useful for transitioning
players from traditional boards and pieces to a roleplaying game
setting. They’re absolutely necessary for introductory
Hero Kids
games. They help everyone visualize what the environment looks like,
where heroes and adversaries stand, and how everyone moves relative
to other elements. Yet the reliance on physical components hinders
the gamemaster’s ability to simply whip up a new scenario on the
spot (at least without having a stock of ready-made maps and
cardstock figures), as demonstrated by the Little Guy’s insistence
I run another session right away. I started mentally fumbling around
for ideas, all of which required me to look up some potential
adversaries, jot down some scenario notes, draft gridded maps on a
large enough scale to use figures, and then find or print said
figures. I think for at least the next few game sessions I’ll have
to either devise my own maps and use figures I have or rely on
printing materials from the
Hero Kids scenarios I have in PDF.
That said, the game could easily transition to a more freeform
system, even one with a purely verbal description.
When the Little Guy expressed an urge for me to run more
Hero
Kids, he demonstrated that he doesn’t quite understand the
amount of preparation that goes into running a scenario. His tastes
tend to run toward whatever electronic media he’s devouring at the
moment. He’s looked at Daddy’s
Basic Dungeons & Dragons
rulebook but really wanted to try the
Hercules & Xena game
he spotted. He’s asked me to run a
Star Wars roleplaying
game session, though he prefers the prequels to Daddy’s cherished
original trilogy. I think we’ll do more
Hero Kids before we
decide what direction to take next. He’ll be seven years old soon,
a good age to continue our exploration of adventure gaming and expand
it with some roleplaying game scenarios.
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