I’ve invested in Dungeon World in the hopes of getting my Autistic 11 year old boy into the RPG experience.
The challenge I’m having is finding suitable pre-made adventures for such a young audience. I need something age appropriate, this is heavily led by the GM.
Does anyone have any recommendations for full DW adventures I could play with kids 12 and under?
DW doesn’t really have a lot of “published” content, so that’s going to be tricky. That said, a large part of what makes Dungeon World good is that you don’t need a lot, since in theory a lot of it is made up on the fly.
Part of the mindset behind Dungeon World is to “ask questions and use the answers.” So most DW adventures try to leave plenty of room for the players to fill in the blanks in the fiction. In my personal experience playing DW with my 11 year old son, I’ve found that this didn’t really appeal to him the way it does to older players.
One thing I’ve done is just to answer some of those questions myself and make that part of the setup for the adventure. He still gets to make the decisions that come in when certain moves are triggered. I still present him with hard choices. I just don’t require him to fill in the backstory.
Looking through some of the dungeon starters by Mark Tygart or Marshall Miller (can’t seem to link) might be a good way to go. Some of them are probably not what you’re looking for but there are some really cool ones for younger people.
These come to mind:
Raiders of the Forsaken Temple – Mark Tygart
The Sky Chain – Marshall Miller
The Shallow Sea – Marshall Miller
You can leave out any impressions or monsters that seem too much and still have a cool evocative setting to explore.
I shared some links with you via Google+ Cary Stein. You may have to go into Notifications to find it since it’s a me-to-you private post.
Ray Otus did you share Pack World? That would be awesome. 11 year-old-me would have been hooked.
That’s awesome! I sponsor a gaming club at the high school I teach at and it’s amazing to see students with autism who are normally very shy come to life when they describe their characters and what they are doing.
Dungeon World is a great system for new players and new GM’s because there’s a lot of just making stuff on the spot and you create your own lore.
My friends have run Tower of the Black Pearl, which is a pirate game.
drivethrurpg.com – Dungeon Crawl Classics #79.5: Tower of the Black Pearl
My friend Daniel Kwan does gaming as therapy and for fun with younger kids and also adults with ASD, and might have some specific tips. He’s also got a blog with a few posts about this as well: https://danielhkwan.com/blog/
If you’re curious, I wrote a small adventure/dungeon that focuses around delicious food and sleeping spells and a magical crystal dungeon, and you can grab a copy for free or PWYW here if you like: drivethrurpg.com – Keep on the Shining Isle
It’s not specifically DW in its stats, but I’m a DW addict and it’s fully compatible. It’s not the most robustly written dungeon but it might at least inspire some fun?
drive.google.com – Tygart Dungeon Starters – Google Drive
Logan Howard
drive.google.com – Raiders of the Forsaken Temple.pdf
Maybe the Slave Pits of Drahzu? That’s a good intro oneshot. But does age appropriate mean no killing, or something different like no dark themes type thing…
It pretty much tells you what to do in each room, so there is no real “prep” beforehand. I’m not sure if that is what you are looking for.
https://img.4plebs.org/boards/tg/image/1394/12/1394129397859.pdf
Never forget: fc0ea96b-a-62cb3a1a-s-sites.googlegroups.com – john.aegard.com/indigo-galleon.pdf
Slave pits and indigo!
Two of the best. And can be reskined if it’s not ‘age approved’
A HUGE thanks to all of you for your assistance. You’ve all given me great advice and links to some great resources. I can’t wait to explore them all with my Son. Thank you DW community!
Ray Otus Hey Ray, unfortunately I didn’t get the links for some reason. If it’s not too much trouble, would you mind sending again?
Logan Howard What is “Pack World”? I couldn’t find anything on it in my searches.
They are still there in a post to you on Google+. Go to your notifications page (not just this pull down thing) and see if you see them. If not, give me an email to use or, if you prefer, I can send them through Google chat.
atom weis It’s great to hear about your success with Autistic kids! Gives me hope for mine 🙂 Tower of the Black Pearl looks like a great start for us. Thank You!
Rachel Kahn Thanks so much for the info and Links 🙂
Samuel Aguirre I’m not too worried about dark themes and killing as I can easily tame that down when required. The link you sent looks like a real winner. Thank You!
Ray Otus Ah Ha! I found ’em! Sorry, but I’m only now starting to use Google+. Those are some fantastic links Ray! Thanks so much!!! I can’t wait to dig in this weekend!
Cary Stein Cool. You’re welcome. If you get time I think we’d all love to hear how it goes for you, no matter what source material you use. I have played with many different groups. Some lap up the ability to collaborate, others get a little confused and defensive or embarrassed if you ask them to many questions about their characters or the world. All I can say is that DW holds up really well either way you go, though I find it much more fun to play (as a GM or player) when there is more, rather than less, collaboration.
Ray Otus I’ll definitely keep you and the group updated on my progress. If it goes as well as hopped, I may even startup a Meetup group to GM for other special needs kids.