#dnd for kids

[educationaldm]

Some advice on starting a D&D club at your school from the Young Dragonslayers.

[normalguy77]

never stop blowing up is like if an entire table had only 1 (one) person playing the straight man and it was ally beardsley

[kreigwrites]

Yesterday I ran the first session of my in-progress "DnD for Kids" homebrew of Dungeon World. Not to toot my own horn, but 🎺 it went pretty great! 🎺

I'll share more details later about how the first run went, but the short version is that the kids loved it, and it was really easy to run, even with teaching them about their character sheets (a sticking point for doing a TTRPG with young kids).

I have a handful of notes on how to modify/improve things. But it's off to a great start!

[iddstar]

They did it.

[starkju0]

Riz new design is super dope! 🔫💼💚

[aroacesetitoff]

not romantic not platonic but a secret third thing (in the same adventuring party)

[m-artsoul]

15/05/24

comparison is killing me slowly // i think i think too much about kids who don't know me

NOTE: i had like so many different versions of this. below you can see some other colour variations.

[meamme1]

them 💛

I’m opening up some commission spaces for d&d characters in this style!! drop me a message for more information!

[hairmetal666]

It's 3am. It's pouring down rain. Steve's soaked to the skin, been wandering the city for most of the night, hasn't slept in almost 24 hours, thinks maybe he's on the brink of delirium, and then a truck hits a pool of ponded water, sending a muddy wave cascading over him.

He just wants to go home but Dustin lost his dog and he can't leave a puppy out in this weather.

Steve steps off the curb, and what looks like a shallow puddle turns out to be a water-filled hole. He crashes towards the pavement, nothing he can do to stop it. As fast he's falling, he's miraculously not, arms wrapped around his waist. It takes a second for his brain to catch up, to understand that he's being held upright in an old-fashioned, romantic dip.

"Careful, sweetheart," a deep and smoke raspy voice says from above him.

it sends chills down his spine, the good kind, and warmth slips through him. His rescuer is a solid 10 knockout. Long, curly hair; eyeliner; decked out in leather and studs and chains. He smells like booze and cigarettes and weed, and it's intoxicating. Steve has to fight the instinct to nuzzle the guy's leather jacket. He's beautiful, holds Steve with the swagger only a guy with rings on every finger could pull off.

And Steve is a mud soaked mess in sweatpants and a threadbare Hawkins High tee. But the guy holding him isn't letting go. He stares down at Steve, brown eyes wide.

"Steve!" A voice calls over the patter of the rain.

"Dustin?" He says at the same time that the man holding him says, "Henderson?"

"Eddie?" Dustin asks.

"Wait, dnd Eddie?" Steve gets his feet under him, but Eddie's arms don't drop.

"You're the famous babysitter Steve I've been hearing all about?"

They gape at each other until Dustin reaches them.

"What are you still doing out here?" Dustin shouts. "We found Dart hours ago."

"Dustin!" He thinks he might cry. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"You weren't answering your walkie!"

"Fuck." Steve drops his face to his hand. The walkie. Which is on the table by the front door where he and Robin leave their keys.

Steve swallows his frustration, the misery of waterlogged shoes, having to be up to open the store in a few hours, meeting the hottest guy he's ever seen when he looks like a drowned rat.

"I promised I'd find Dart, didn't I? Now what the hell are you doing out so late?"

"Mom and I were looking for you!"

"Let's get you back to the car, man, okay?" Steve says to Dustin. He wants to end this weird, terrible, embarrassing night before it gets even more humiliating.

"I can give you a ride home," Eddie says. He's got this weird, intense look on his face, staring at Steve.

"I'm only a few blocks away. I'll be fine. C'mon, Henderson."

"Oh, I can walk him. You head home."

He nods, starts towards his apartment, but turns back just in time to see Eddie and Dustin share a look he can't parse.

---

A few days later, Dustin's following him around at work, chattering about dnd as Steve shelves books, and without taking a breath during a soliloquy about owl bears, says, "Eddie's running a one-shot for us next week. You should come! It's a great way to get into the game."

"I'm not playing dnd," Steve answers. He slides a book onto the shelf. "I've told you this."

"Yeah, but you liked Eddie, right? He'd help you out!"

Steve squints at the kid. "I didn't really meet Eddie to know. Anyway, I'm sure he doesn't want a newbie crashing."

Steve is pretty sure Eddie doesn't like him, based on their short introduction, so he's not interested in forcing himself into the guy's dnd club. The night they met was humiliating enough, Steve in all his dorky glory.

"No, he totally wouldn't care. C'mon, Steve!"

"No can do." He ruffles Dustin's hair as he walks away.

He thinks that'll be the end of it, but every few days, for weeks Dustin and all the rest of the kids stop at the store to beg him to join their dnd club.

---

Steve is working the register and he hears the shuffling clank of a customer, looks up and finds Eddie. He's staring at Steve with that same look from the night they met, intense and piercing, cutting straight through the heart of him. He feels himself start to blush.

The first thing out of Eddie's mouth is, "Wait, this is your store?"

"Yeah?" Steve asks. "Is that--is that weird?"

"No! Not at all. It's a good store. Cute." His nose wrinkles when he says it and Steve's blush grows hotter. He knew Eddie thought he was a dork.

"Cute. Yeah. Right. Can I help you with something?"

Eddie rocks back on his heels, hands going to the pockets of his leather jacket, sending his chains jingling. "Oh, so, actually I wanted to see if you were busy?"

"Yeah, man. I'm busy." He laughs, doesn't intend to be mean about it, but he and Robin only opened the store six months ago and both take night classes at the local community college. Plus, everything he does with the kids.

Eddie's face flushes bright. "Oh, sure, of course. Yeah, I--I'll see you around."

The door thunks to a close behind him, and a voice immediately pops up to ask, "What the hell was that?"

He turns to find Max Mayfield hands on hips, glaring up at him, Robin close behind.

"Shouldn't you be in school?"

Max rolls her eyes and strides up to the counter. "Why were you an asshole to Eddie?"

"He started it!"

"I highly doubt that."

"Okay, Ms. Know-it-all, why don't you tell me what happened?"

"I know for a fact that Eddie came in today to ask you out. So, tell me, Steve Harrington, why he rushed out of here looking like a kicked puppy?"

"What?" He yelps. "Eddie doesn't even like me!"

She glares. "Doesn't like you? He's been pathetic about you since you met."

He gapes at Robin. "Don't look at me," she shrugs. "But that guy was definitely here to ask you out."

"Fix it." Max commands as she stomps out the door. "He bar tends at that metal place on 68th."

---

It's just after 9pm and he's at the metal bar on 68th, decidedly out of place in the yellow t-shirt and jeans he wore to his business accounting class.

It's fairly busy for a weeknight, but Eddie's not hard to find. He's obviously in his element, bobbing his head to a song Steve's never heard as he mixes a drink.

With a hard swallow and a healthy dose of humility, he walks up to the bar.

"Be right--" Eddie starts, balking when he notices Steve.

"Can we talk?" he shouts over the music.

Eddie's eyes widen a little, but he nods, slips out from behind the bar to guide him to an employee exit.

"What's up, Steve?" Eddie asks. His hands are in his pockets, shoulders bowed in.

"I wanted to apologize."

"What for?"

"Earlier, I--when you said the store was cute I thought you were making fun of me."

"But--why?"

"I thought you didn't like me." Steve cringes at the admission.

"What?" He laughs.

"I don't know. We met in the middle of the night and I was covered in mud looking for a dog that wasn't lost anymore."

"Steve. Holy shit." Eddie shakes his head. "You looked gorgeous that night. The way your clothes were sticking--you know what? Never mind. Did you think I wanted you to come to dnd because I hated you?"

"You wanted me to come?"

"Dustin didn't..."

"No! And he's been asking me to play dnd weekly for the past five years."

"Jesus Christ," Eddie slumps agains the brick wall at his back. "No wonder you turned me down today."

"To be fair," Steve slumps next to him. "If I had realized you were asking me out, I wouldn't have turned you down."

"No?" Eddie asks. His brown eyes gleam.

"Definitely not. I've had a crush on you since that night. Sort of devastating since I thought you didn't like me." Steve runs his hand through his hair, watches Eddie track the movement.

"The store is cute, Steve. I--uh--I've been a few times. Back before I knew you were the owner! I just kept seeing a hot employee with great hair and a perfect ass, and the vaguely mean lesbian barista gives me free drinks."

"That's Robin," Steve says. He's smiling so hard.

"I know that now," Eddie smiles back. "Sorry for being an idiot."

"Me too." Steve nods. "Do you--could I still come to dnd? Or take you out sometime?"

"Why not both?" Dimples pop on Eddie's cheeks, and Steve's heart flips.

"I like both." They're still against the wall, but drifting into each other's space.

"So Dustin said."

It surprises a laugh out of Steve. "I'm gonna kill him."

"Too bad. He's a nice kid."

"Eh, we've got six more to choose from."

"I have a few more hours here, but there's a diner down the street that does some of the most mediocre pancakes I've ever tasted. Meet me there? Around 2?"

"A thousand lost puppies wouldn't make me miss it."

The next time Steve is out at 3am he's pressed against a building, Eddie kissing him so thoroughly he knows he's never recovering from this one.

[metaphoricallyrose]

The bad kids!

[thechekhov]

TTRPGs really looked into the universal playground issue of “I hit you with my super special arrow-shotgun and kill you!” “No you didn’t, I dodged it!” and solved it by giving us some math rocks to roll about it, huh. 

[educationaldm]

With libraries increasing seen as obselete, I love seeing them using these spaces for engaging activities. Few activities are more engaging than D&D.

[aryci]

the dancing king...young and sweet...only 17(lie)....

[kreigwrites]

Dungeon Kids - The Cleric

Here's the first modified class playbook from my in-progress "DnD for kids" homebrew

This is intended as a rough draft and should only be used for playtesting purposes (this one is a VERY rough draft)

Hit Points: 8 plus your Constitution modifier, times your Level

Starting Moves

Choose one of the following starting moves:

Bookworm Cleric

You're a smart cleric who's all about learning and wisdom. You have a special connection with your god, and you can ask them for help 2 times per session. Choose a domain and its bonus from the list below:

Knowledge Domain: Whenever want to Know Something, you succeed as if you had rolled an 18+.

Life Domain: When you use Magical Healing, you heal the target for +Wis HP.

Light Domain: When you roll a 10+ to Defend, you can blind attackers with bright light, stopping their attack.

Nature Domain: Your body can sprout a coat of brambly thorns that deal 1d6 damage to any creature that hits you up close.

Warrior Cleric

You're a strong cleric who's ready to fight and protect as well as doing magic.

When wearing armor or carrying a shield, you gain a +1 to your Armor.

Choose one of your weapons to give holy power from your god. Its damage die size goes up by one step (a d6 to a d8, a d8 to a d10, etc.) up to a d12 at most.

You also start with these moves:

Use Magic

You have magical powers from your god that you can use with special spell slots. You start each adventure with 3 spell slots (more when you Level Up).

When you use a spell from your god, roll +Wis and mark off one spell slot. On a 18+, the spell works great. On a 10-17, the spell is cast, but choose one:

You draw attention or put yourself in a tough spot. The GM will tell you how.

Your god is unhappy with you—take -1 ongoing to Use Magic for the rest of the session.

If your spell is an attack, roll 1d6 +Wis to Deal Damage.

Magical Healing

Your god's magic lets you heal your friends. When you touch someone, you can heal them for 1d8 HP.

Guidance

You can use your god's magic to help your friends. You can give one friendly creature you choose +1d4 to a single roll. They can use this bonus any time during the current session.

Go Away Creepy Things

When you call on your god for protection from creepy things, roll +Wis.

On a 10+, no scary or creepy things may come within reach of you.

On a 18+, you also scare smart creepy creatures and cause dumb ones to run away. Smart creepy things will still bother you from far away. They’re clever like that.

Advanced Moves (Level 2+)

When you gain a level from 2 to 10, you may choose from these moves:

First Aid

You you heal someone with magic, they are healed for an extra +2 HP.

Don't Give Up Yet

When someone near you rolls to Stay in the Fight, they take +1 to the roll.

Super Magic

When you Use Magic, on a 18+ you can choose from the 10-17 list. If you do, you may choose one of these, too:

The spell’s is twice as strong

The spell’s hits twice as many targets

Holy Protection

When you wear no armor or shield you get 2 armor.

God's Help

Once per session, you can ask your god for extra help for you or a friend. If you do, you or they take no damage.

Stay Calm

When you Use Magic, you can ignore some of the things that make it hard to use magic or do other stuff. Ignore one -1 penalty or one source of Disadvantage.

Magic Symbols

You can add special symbols to a weapon, shield, or armor to make them even better. When you do, it gets a special bonus on top of any other bonus it has:

Armor or Shield: Grants +1 armor

Weapon: Grants +1 to Deal Damage rolls

Advanced Moves (Level 6+)

When you gain a level from 6-10, you may choose from these moves:

Holy Armor

Replaces: Holy Protection

When you wear no armor or shield you get 3 armor.

Super Duper Magic

Replaces: Super Magic

When you Use Magic, on a 18-19 you can from the 10-17 list. If you do, you may choose one of these, too. On a 20+, you get to choose one for free.

The spell’s is twice as strong

The spell’s hits twice as many targets

Mega Healing

Requires: First Aid

You you heal someone with magic, they are healed for an extra +1d4 HP.

Unstoppable Help

Replaces: God's Help

Twice per session, you can call on your god for extra protection for you or a friend. If you do, the harm is negated by a manifestation of your god's domain.

Magic Energy

Requires: Magic Symbols

With magical energy, you make your special symbols more potent. When you add a magical symbol to a weapon, shield, or armor, you can choose this bonus instead.

Armor or Shield: Grants +1 armor, also deals 1d4 damage to any creature that hits you (close up or from far away)

Weapon: Grants +1d4 to Deal Damage rolls

[crystaiskiess]

my favourite bad kids 💕

[starkju0]

It’s the old lady from the store!