I've been pretty successful in my quest to find
rpgs to play with my kids. At least for my 10 year old. We've played one or more sessions of
Supers!,
B/X D&D,
Labyrinth Lord, and
Barbarians of Lemuria. The problem is my 6 year old. He's played with us but loses interest after a while and wanders off. But I have found the solution for this. I was browsing the
Newbie DM website and ran across
rpgKids. This is a little $3
PDF that is intended for kids aged 4-7 and their parents. It is a very simple game. There are four types of characters to play, the Sword Fighter, Healer, Archer and Wizard. Each has there own special ability and there is a very simple skill system. Character creation is simply
choosing the character type, writing down the skills, picking a name and drawing a picture of the character. Most conflicts are resolved opposed d12 rolls. There are three damage levels and nobody dies. They get knocked out.
There is a nifty adventure included and hand drawn playing pieces and maps. Colored in crayon. I printed them out on our color printer and my wife and sons thought I had colored them. We played through the adventure and my son loved it! We played through the entire adventure and he was riveted. Moving the pieces on the map and the simple combat system really hit the spot for him.
The maps are simple one inch grid papers and a blank one is included for further adventure. I am going to break out the crayons and make an adventure for him this weekend.
I would heartily recommend this for parents of young children as an introductory rpg.
