Role-playing games (RPGs) are so much fun to play, and they give your children a chance to work on their problem-solving skills, math skills, and story-telling abilities all while letting their imagination run wild and free.
RPGs tend to be a bit involved to set up, because, unlike a video game where someone else does the story creation and character designing for you, you have to do everything yourself. So if you want to help your budding adventurer and her buddies to go on a quest of epic proportions, here are seven steps to guide you along your way to being an amazing game master (GM).
1 | Know your players
First of all, you need to get to know your players. Are they into sports? What TV shows, movies, or video games do they think are the greatest? Do they prefer Han Solo or Rey? Are they nitpicky when it comes to rules? Knowing this kind of information will help you design a campaign that’s interesting to all of them, because you can draw on stories and characters they already like.
When my husband was just starting to play D&D, his friend’s father set their campaign in Middle Earth because “The Lord of the Rings” movies just came out, and my husband and his buddies were enthralled. While they didn’t destroy the One Ring like Frodo and the rest of the Fellowship set out to do, they were able to go on other adventures in a familiar place with familiar people (or elves and dwarves).
2 | Pick your genre
There are so many different role-playing games out there, and they each cater to a different genre. For instance, D&D v.5 and Pathfinder are your medieval quests with dragons and knights. whereas Chronicles of Darkness is good for people who are into horror films.
If your players are “Star Wars” fans, they’ll probably appreciate Force and Destiny. If they’ve always dreamed of being a superhero, like Batman or Captain America, you can try Mutants and Masterminds.
Finally, if you are running a campaign for a younger crowd, RPGs designed for ages four to 10 like Hero Kids and Mouse Guard are great options.
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