WWAD = What Would the Acaeum Do?

Hey Folks,

I am mentoring four 13-year-old siblings (quadruplets, two boys, two girls) who need some old-fashioned fun!  
I've known the family forever.  
Unfortunately, the mom and dad are now divorced, the dad is estranged, *and* the mother has Parkinson's Disease.  
Very sad situation.

The kids are great, though.  
They are highly intelligent, articulate, play sports as time permits, but they are also incredibly stressed out.

So
Keith thinks: D&D!!

They've played a lot of video games, so the concept of role-playing is not new to them.

Just knowing them (and from playing poker and Monopoly with them) I know they love these "rainy day" type games.

So, I need advice on which game system to teach them.
Heres what I've come up with ...

1) D&D 4E Essentials
New, on the market, lots of material available, but they may not like the "wargame" aspect of combat.

2) Pathfinder
Similar to option 1, but has a much better product line.

3) Castles & Crusades
I love this game, but you pretty much have to buy everything on-line.

4) OD&D or 1E
This would be my choice, obviously, but this isn't about me.  Still, it's time-tested and the best of the best.

How does all this tie-in to collecting?
Well ... I could spin it, politics-style, and say it'll help keep me in the loop as a collector ...
or I could be honest (dammit) and just say that I need advice.

So, WWAD?  What Would the Acaeum Do?

Thanks!
Keith   

P.S. -- I'm open to any other options as well, not just the four listed above.

I'd suggest maybe the Dungeon Board game or perhaps any one of the old TSR D&D games with the paper minis to get them started with the concept of paper and pencil RPG.  Have them read various players handbooks to see what they like - either all the options Pathfinder provides or the less rules orientated OD&D/1st Ed, etc

ShaneG.

Dungeon sounds like a really good first option.

However, I've never played the game myself.
What is it about?  Obviously it's geared to an older age group than what I'd thought (would've guessed it was for 6 or 7-year-olds).


C&C or 1E would make it easy to DM, that's for sure.
And that might be a deciding factor because I don't know if I could learn the  Pathfinder rules quickly enough for them to enjoy the game.

Please keep the good ideas coming!
This is already helping a lot.

Thanks
Keith

well aside from the points mentioned, i don't see why you can't run a game, keep the stats simple (ie give them one weapon and a base to hit table for it) and simplify things - check out how tim and frank run their games for instance.

and run a dungeon on the fly. just have a batch of monsters rolled ready and make rooms up as you go along and throw the monsters in as they fit the situations - keep everything rules light and just let them dictate the direction of the game and what they want to do and just have fun with the scenario.

thats how i run a game here for the family who havent got a clue about the game and it works every time.

keeping the game simple, interesting and fun is the trick

Al

killjoy32 wrote:well aside from the points mentioned, i don't see why you can't run a game, keep the stats simple (ie give them one weapon and a base to hit table for it) and simplify things - check out how tim and frank run their games for instance.

and run a dungeon on the fly. just have a batch of monsters rolled ready and make rooms up as you go along and throw the monsters in as they fit the situations - keep everything rules light and just let them dictate the direction of the game and what they want to do and just have fun with the scenario.

thats how i run a game here for the family who havent got a clue about the game and it works every time.

keeping the game simple, interesting and fun is the trick

Al

Al
These are great points.
The kids are basically going to be brand new to RPGs.
They won't know the difference.
Basically, I need it simple and fun.  

Gnat, Traveller, Ashmire, Plaag
Your advice about C&C is very helpful.
I think I've just realized that I'm over-thinking this.

Keith

whatever you choose to do, please let us know what you end up doing with them...would be very interested to hear.

change in plans...i've decided to run I6 for them on halloween, rules-light stylee

Al

killjoy32 wrote:whatever you choose to do, please let us know what you end up doing with them...would be very interested to hear.

Will do!

killjoy32 wrote:
or if you want a bit of mystery for them, sinister secret of saltmarsh is a great one. change some of the stuff so its a stand-alone module and you have a great little adventure - this is the first one my daughter played and she still goes on about it being amazing.

Al

I6 is a good thought, and timely since the girls love the Twilight novels/movies and we have Halloween coming up.

I've never run (or read) Saltmarsh but if it's underwater adventure, that might be a little too exotic for their first adventure.

I need a 1st-level dungeon that we can "add on to" as we go.  
It doesn't need to be overly-complex, but it does need to be interesting.
They are, after all, 13-yrs-old.  And quite well-read.

Keep the ideas coming!
This helps a great deal.

thanks
Keith

Keith the Thief wrote:
I6 is a good thought, and timely since the girls love the Twilight novels/movies and we have Halloween coming up.

I've never run (or read) Saltmarsh but if it's underwater adventure, that might be a little too exotic for their first adventure.

I need a 1st-level dungeon that we can "add on to" as we go.  
It doesn't need to be overly-complex, but it does need to be interesting.
They are, after all, 13-yrs-old.  And quite well-read.

Keep the ideas coming!
This helps a great deal.

thanks
Keith

keith, as souly says, its a "haunted house" kind-of-thing, with a bit of skullduggery thrown in. its an easy one to run for a first-time group seriously. i had the village/town as a kinda supersticious lot, done in a devon (uk) kinda lingo and they went and checked out the house in the end, to see what it was all about. in going back to town etc, i threw some more hooks in about stuff going missing etc and they went back and then found the pirate side of it and then i had them plan out a reccy onto the ship and recover the most valuable items to complete the quest. i ignored everything that would have been relative to hook them into U2, as i wanted it stand-alone. it was done in 2 sessions and was a blast.

i wouldnt advise playing I6 to a first-time group though, as things can get a little OTT at times in the castle, but obviously, it depends on how you plan it out, run strahd, and what you want the group to achieve.

i always play the adventure, that they have to kill strahd....and forget all the original background stuff, as its just done for a stand alone scenario. they never kill him tho...i play my monsters how i think they should be played, strahd is damn hard to beat and thats why they generally die

so yeah B2 is always a good dungeon crawl for them to go and do and U1 is always a great little adventure. they are perfect for a first-time group. and of course, so is B1.

Al