So it’s been bandied around down here in Wellington for some time now…
but what about KIDSLARP, 5-8 year olds we have a plenty off 8 - not so many.
So how would we write it, what rules can we use, anything out there?
my 4 year old and 7 year old both know how to play Heroica (lego board games) as well as playing Fairy (kids table top RPG)
I’m going to mention this on Facebook as well…
Thoughts, anyone interested?
Yeah I will be up for that.
Caitlin has played games like Mouse Guard for RPing. And knows how to use a sword and shield (kind of) and a bow. I would keep the rules pretty simple and maybe use an area like Percey’s reserve or near the beach up your way potentially. And I would look at a time limit of about 1.5 hours - 2 hours max.
The other advantage with kids, is almost every idea is fresh and new to them.
As I’ve said on FB, I’m very up for helping with this, and I’ll put the idea here too: a high, classic fantasy setting, with the grown-up ‘experts’ (the Knight, the Wizard etc) get kidnapped and it’s up to the squire, the wizard’s apprentice, the young Elf ranger, and so on- to rescue them and generally save the day. Perhaps we have a dragon who can assume human form for the kids to meet at the beginning, who then steals away the adults, and appears at the end in a Big Reveal.
Also there should be the thing of low-level spells that turn out to be REALLY useful. And puzzles to solve. And a troll who likes jokes and riddles, and just wants some friends (to allow another adult NPC potentially to be in the fight with the dragon).
We’ve run a number of kids larps here in Auckland. We break the kids into two groups 5-7 and 8+, younger than 5 and it gets a bit freaky for them.
Typically there is a Save the World (or at least, This Part Of The World) by Defeating the Evil
Our approach is to have 4 Character encounters that each has a challenge for the kids (either individually as in “each of you tell a joke”) or as a group (e.g. go into that forest, fight the Monster and get me the Chalice of Beauty). Each group visits each Character so when the 5-7 group is visiting Character A the other group is visiting Character B and then they swap.
In between you have bandits/evil army soldiers to fight.
We have a simple character system:
Everyone gets a weapon
Fighters get shields and more HP
Mages can cast some spells (e,g, Lightning Bolt, Circle of Protection)
Healers can heal the incapacitated (good for kids who don’t want to be in the combat)
Rogues can hide by standing next to a big shrub and putting their hands on their heads. We include a Rogue-only encounter where they have to use the Hide ability to sneak past some guards (they can be seen when moving) and steal an item.
Nobody dies, but the can be knocked out (this lets the Healers do their thing). If the Healers are taken out, then the Fairy Guide (parent GM who guides each group) can heal them up.
After both teams have seen characters A and B we have morning tea, then its on to Characters C and D by which time they have All The Items and can Confront the Evildoer !
Last encounter is a big battle and some kind of ritual needs to be completed while the evil minions respawn and attack. Eventually the kids will win, and great morning had by all.
NB: You will need plenty of parents to act as evil soldiers / bandits.
[quote=“Mike Curtis”]We’ve run a number of kids larps here in Auckland. We break the kids into two groups 5-7 and 8+, younger than 5 and it gets a bit freaky for them.
Typically there is a Save the World (or at least, This Part Of The World) by Defeating the Evil
Our approach is to have 4 Character encounters that each has a challenge for the kids (either individually as in “each of you tell a joke”) or as a group (e.g. go into that forest, fight the Monster and get me the Chalice of Beauty). Each group visits each Character so when the 5-7 group is visiting Character A the other group is visiting Character B and then they swap.
In between you have bandits/evil army soldiers to fight.
We have a simple character system:
Everyone gets a weapon
Fighters get shields and more HP
Mages can cast some spells (e,g, Lightning Bolt, Circle of Protection)
Healers can heal the incapacitated (good for kids who don’t want to be in the combat)
Rogues can hide by standing next to a big shrub and putting their hands on their heads. We include a Rogue-only encounter where they have to use the Hide ability to sneak past some guards (they can be seen when moving) and steal an item.
Nobody dies, but the can be knocked out (this lets the Healers do their thing). If the Healers are taken out, then the Fairy Guide (parent GM who guides each group) can heal them up.
After both teams have seen characters A and B we have morning tea, then its on to Characters C and D by which time they have All The Items and can Confront the Evildoer !
Last encounter is a big battle and some kind of ritual needs to be completed while the evil minions respawn and attack. Eventually the kids will win, and great morning had by all.
NB: You will need plenty of parents to act as evil soldiers / bandits.[/quote]
OH I LOVE IT. This would work so well at Percy’s Reserve.
Ryan ran one for kids recently, he put lots of details about it here: http://diatribe.co.nz/t/help-me-dia-tribe-kenobi/6921/1
My approach was for playing in a backyard and re-using parts of it as different scenes though. If you’ve got a decent space like a park, just doing the locations naturalistically would be better.
[quote=“Mike Curtis”]We’ve run a number of kids larps here in Auckland. We break the kids into two groups 5-7 and 8+, younger than 5 and it gets a bit freaky for them.
Typically there is a Save the World (or at least, This Part Of The World) by Defeating the Evil
Our approach is to have 4 Character encounters that each has a challenge for the kids (either individually as in “each of you tell a joke”) or as a group (e.g. go into that forest, fight the Monster and get me the Chalice of Beauty). Each group visits each Character so when the 5-7 group is visiting Character A the other group is visiting Character B and then they swap.
In between you have bandits/evil army soldiers to fight.
We have a simple character system:
Everyone gets a weapon
Fighters get shields and more HP
Mages can cast some spells (e,g, Lightning Bolt, Circle of Protection)
Healers can heal the incapacitated (good for kids who don’t want to be in the combat)
Rogues can hide by standing next to a big shrub and putting their hands on their heads. We include a Rogue-only encounter where they have to use the Hide ability to sneak past some guards (they can be seen when moving) and steal an item.
Nobody dies, but the can be knocked out (this lets the Healers do their thing). If the Healers are taken out, then the Fairy Guide (parent GM who guides each group) can heal them up.
After both teams have seen characters A and B we have morning tea, then its on to Characters C and D by which time they have All The Items and can Confront the Evildoer !
Last encounter is a big battle and some kind of ritual needs to be completed while the evil minions respawn and attack. Eventually the kids will win, and great morning had by all.
NB: You will need plenty of parents to act as evil soldiers / bandits.[/quote]
This is excellent - really like the feel of this…
the incapacitated is very similar to the FAIRY game…
thanks i think this is a real goer!
As a system, it works really well for the 5-11 age group (by 12 the kids are wanting something more complex).
One time the older kids all got incapacitated and we had to create a situation where the younger kids rescued them, they loved it.
Be prepared for many of the parents to either a) drop the kids off and then leave or b) follow the kids around as spectators. Not all (or even most) parents will want to actively take part.
Anyone who fights the kids will get a very good session on defence. Kids naturally strike hard, they really get into it, so your best defence is, um, a strong defence !.
Also, there are all sorts of cool challenges you can give the kids during the Character encounters .e.g. you could play an elimination game (e.g. Simon Says) to determine who gets to carry The Item etc, or play a Theatresports game or similar.
In terms of theme, we often used Righting the Imbalance as much as Overcoming the Evil. For example, during a Green Party fundraiser one election campaign, we did one on the plight of the eels (which are actually endangered) and the goal was to educate a water elemental.