Re: HQ followup for kids?

From: zomben <zomben_at_...>
Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2005 16:03:46 -0000

A couple of things:

(Please note, I am not a parent. However, I spent 3 years working for a technology company which was dedicated to assisting teachers and parents to educate children through new technologies. So, most of this stuff is based on personal research done while working for that company.)

I would go to great lengths to stress the things that parents are interested in their children being exposed to in school:

  1. Reading and writing
  2. Arithmetic (the game is simple, but does use some math, and should be noted)
  3. Social development.
  4. Confidence-building exercises

So, as an example, instead of saying "build attributes based on the 100-word description" perhaps you say, "The game shows the kids how to turn the 100-word description into a simple mathematical formula. These formulas are the 'engine' that makes the game go."

Lastly, if you're not planning on doing so already, I'd prepare a simple scenario for the parents to play. You'll mostly want to decentralize the fighting aspects. Play up the social aspect of the game, show them how they have to work together to overcome the problem at hand. You want them to see _exactly_ the kind of game that their kids will be playing.

ALSO! Make sure that whatever the characters have to do, it's _heroic_ or at least _positive_ in nature. Perhaps there's a plague being visited on The Kingdom, and the PCs have to go to the Haunted Forest to find some sort of magic item to stop it. Therefore, whatever the characters are doing is for the "good of the clan" so to speak. Perhaps they struggle with a gang of horrible trolls in the forest, but soon find out that the trolls have been affected by the same plague. In the end, they are able to work _with_ the trolls to solve the problem.

It should definitely _not_ be, "Okay, there's some monsters over there. You've decided to kill them and take their stuff."

And much as we all love it, I'd say take the focus off of Glorantha. Maybe set the story in a generic Fairy Tale kingdom, or Arthurian Britain, Middle-Earth, whatever. For people who've never played an RPG before, it might help them to get their footing more quickly, and get into actually playing the game.

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