Fantasy Grounds & Younger Players

[The High Druid]

I've been asked by my sister about possibly introducing my 7-year-old nephew to D&D. I'm trying to get my head around the best way to do this - whether a skype chat at TotM will be sufficient, or if it will be easier to keep his attention with a map and tokens, while keeping character sheets (if we even bother with them) at my end of things. So, I am seeking advice/experience/dire warnings etc. from anyone who has used fantasy grounds with younger players.

[LordEntrails]

I started FG when my son was 13, he had no trouble at that age. But 7 & 13 are very different ages.

I think maps and images for the monsters and scenics when you can will be very helpful in them envisioning what's going on. I would not have him bother rolling, instead you a standard array and handle things behind the scenes. I would in general try to make character creation conceptual (you worry about all the mechanics behind the scenes) "What do you see your character like? Do you use magic or a weapon? What type? etc" You can even find a cartoon or movie character to base it on, so that they they can more easily imagine their character. (Don't expect a great deal of originality, though also be prepared to be surprised!)

The other thing to keep in mind, attention span is probably going to be something like 30 minutes. And always end the session with them wanting more. And on a positive if you can (or an exciting cliff hanger if they can handle that).

[esmdev]

My general experience with kids is they are often more visually oriented and like to move things around. Think of younger board games like Candy Land and such.

So a visually attractive map with some cool pogs would probably do a lot to keep the attention on the game. Additionally kids don't like to wait so probably keep things quick and simple.

[damned]

Ive just started running a fantasy grounds based game for my sons and nephews 11/12/13/14 and even at that age attention span is a challenge.
Keep the games short. He may need an adult to sit with him for at least the first session.
Keep the action flowing and call on the kids by name to act.

[Sarteck]

I can't give FG/FGU-specific tips, but I can give some advice about kids and VTTs in general.


At most, include one or possibly two other players of the same age.
Hide and fudge rolls. At that age, while they may be interested in the mechanics, they're a lot more interested in the story and (most especially) the individual characters.
Don't plan out a long campaign. Go with the flow and let the kids really run the story. Pay really close attention to their descriptions of stuff, because a lot of the times kids will get hung up over a single word or phrase, and sometimes you can even make an entire adventure off of that. (Like a little description of how they use a spell or how a monster is supposed to act.)
There is no 4. THere is never a 4.
Make heavy use of NPCs, and be very consistent and descriptive with them. Kids like characters who repeatedly act out certain traits, and the more you can flesh out the character, the more your nephew (and maybe friends) will remember and want to include them. (Just don't make them rely on the NPCs!)
You would think that starting them at Level 1 would give them a better chance of learning the system; don't. They'll be a lot more interested if they can whip out several abilities per combat. At first, you will have to heavily suggest tactics for them, but sooner or later you'll start hearing them come out with their attacks as soon as you announce an encounter.
Don't worry too much about getting your voice-acting juuust right, but give all of your NPCs a different voice from yours. Kids love that stuff, and it focuses them into understanding that someone else is speaking, and they tend to pay more attention.
See if you can get that adults to enforce a "no other devices" rule. Sometimes, you just can't hold their attention. If the parents can make sure they don't go and play Pokemon when "it's not their turn," try to make it happen. Otherwise, things will quickly get boring.

[dragonheels]

About one year ago, I had to prepare a game for my daughter's birthday. She wanted to play "Moana" with her friends.
I made a little scenario to play about an hour. I used the SW ruleset with a personalized decal. I also purchased big foam dice online so the chilfren could throw the dice on the floor and then I entered the result in FG via the manual dice entry function. I had a player view displayed on the TV.
All characters were pregens I had created on FG, but each kid also received a real character sheet on paper with a different color for each dice.
They had fun, but the game has to be short. Max one hour.

[Nylanfs]

I can recommend Playground Adventures for tips and tricks for getting kids into RPG's and kid centric modules.

https://www.playgroundadventures.net/product-category/store/after-school/

[LordEntrails]

https://geekdad.com/ has some articles. But I can't find them at the moment. The site looks very different from what I remember and is so flooded with ads I'm not sure where to click. But, if you can find the articles, I remember them as being worthwhile.

[TheVirtualDM]

Lots of great advice here. My addition to this conversation would be to talk to your nephew to better understand his interests. It may be that D&D does not fit his interests at all. If it doesn't, it is going to be hard to keep him engaged. Instead, he may be interested in superheroes or outer space. If his RPG experience is within his personal interests, you will keep his attention much longer.

As for the gameplay itself, using Fantasy Grounds in my mind is a must, and don't worry about game mechanics much if any. The game needs to be visual. Share lots of interesting maps and images to help keep them visually engaged. Make sure he gets to move his character's token around to explore the map. I would suggest adding music and sound effects as well. Let's face it. You need to basically create a video game to keep your nephew engaged for any length of time and that is OK.

Finally, don't worry too much about where the session goes. Just wing it based on what grabs his attention. You may find he spends the whole session trying to make friends with a dog you happened to mention was in the street. :) If he has fun doing that, mission accomplished.

Cheers!!

[TeddyQ]

Just to add another option... https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/106605/Hero-Kids--Fantasy-RPG?SRC=FeaturedProduct&motds_id=6227&from_home=0&filters=0_0_44530_0_0
Although it is not on FG.

[ruedas]

My daughter started playing AD&D tabletop when she was 7, of course you have to be supportive and accept some issues in the face of adversity, but in my opinion the game is suitable for most ages, as to FG might be a little harder to keep a kid focused but who knows?