I have a 4 year old I run short 15-20 minute ‘D&D’ games for. I thought some of you may find how I run these games interesting so here ya go…
The Player Character
The player can play any kind of character. They could be a weird LEGO barbarian, a squirting bath time turtle, or a broken clown doll named Zulu (my kid has issues) they all are viable given the simplicity of the rules.
Every character starts with 3 stress counters at the beginning of each session.
The Rules
To succeed at a task the player must roll a d6 and roll equal to or greater than:
DC 2-easy
DC 3- average
DC 4-hard
In non combat encounter, if a player fails a roll they can spend 1 stress to reroll and decrease the DC by 1.
Ex:
‘Can I convince the ogre to be my friend by making him a pie?’
‘Absolutely! You need a 3 or better.’
‘I got a 1… *hands over a stress* can I put whip cream on it and try again?’
‘Yes you can. You now need a 2 or better.’
‘A 6!’
‘Congrats the ogre loves the pie and thinks of you as a sister!’
In a combat encounter the players are either attacking a foe or dodging a baddie’s attack (the story teller never rolls dice, just the kids). Always assume the players go first in most circumstances.
If the player is hit by a baddie’s Attack they lose 1 stress. If the character has no more stress the baddie wins that fight and the story progresses in a natural way.
Minions lose after 1 hit, and to dodge their attacks or hit them is DC 2. (If there are no villains accompanying the minions you can increase their to hit DC to 3)
Villains lose after 2 hits, and to dodge their attacks or hit them is DC 3. (The villain can escape instead of being defeated for plot purposes if necessary)
Ex:
‘I rolled 2 to zap the goblin with my rainbow laser gun!’
‘You missed. The goblin screeches loudly at you trying to make your ears pop. Roll a 2 or better to protect your ears.’
‘I rolled a 4! I filled my ears with Cotten. Can I try to zap it again?’
‘Sure, you still need a 3 or better.’
‘5! I rainbow blast it!’
‘He is blinded by your radiance, runs into a wall, and knocks itself out.’
Here’s the context: Our party was searching through a cave at the behest of a demigoddess, looking to rescue a number of elves and half-elves that were kidnapped by ogres for use in resurrecting their king. We have stumbled upon several carts with cages full of the people. Some immediately go for safety upon being freed, but a few others remain in the cages, more broken and hopeless than the rest.
Warlock: I’m gonna have Ferret (her weasel familiar) sing for the people so that they cheer up.
DM: Okay, roll a perform.
Warlock: … Nat 1.
DM: *inhales* I… Need a minute to think.
Bard, me, out of character: WAIT. Wait. I got this. *whispers in the DM’s ear*
DM: … Alright. Your weasel sings Deep Throat by CupcakKe for these downtrodden and abused elves. In Infernal. To the horror of literally everyone within ear shot.
Do you think wizards in the d&d world are super salty about bards? Like, you spend decades and decades researching magic at the finest institutions across the lands so you can make fire and conjure ice, and then along comes some random asshole who wanders tavern to tavern telling suggestive folk tales and conning the villagers, some unkempt bastard who can sing so goddamn righteously that they also control minds and teleport places and bend time and fucking space to their will thanks to just a really well-placed A-sharp
My group just uses dice from each player’s set to represent their characters and assorted mini dice for everything else. You could even use bits of Lego pieces if you’d like.
Though if you have the option, getting figurines made through HeroForge is another option to consider. I plan on getting my own 3D printer and simply buying the designs and printing my own.
Hero forge allows you to buy the .stl files so you can print them many times, in case you want to change coloring, take some over to a friends house, break one, or just have 100 versions of this one goblin. Cheaper than buying one, if you have the Printer access. Definitely cheaper than buying multiple copies.
Also much faster, because you aren’t waiting a few weeks for it to come in.
That’s the idea behind printing them if you have a printer, though it’s getting a 3D printer that’s the real expensive part.
I just use paper minis. They’re super easy & extremely cheap. You can find them on DTRPG or other gaming sites. Some are even free. You get an ordinary PDF, and just print it up using an ordinary color printer. So you take something like
Then you cut them out & fold them. Then clip them on the bottom with an ordinary binder clip (super cheap from any office supply store)….
And, tah-dah… your own minis for practically pennies!
The DM has everyone get their gear together etc as they enter the dungeon. The rogue takes out his torch as he’s leading the way. This becomes important.
Later on the rogue encounters the sounds of enemies ahead.
Rogue: I hide in shadows.
DM: ok roll and subtract 20.
Rogue: WTF why the modifier?
DM: you’re trying to hide in shadows with a lit torch on your hand.
The table pretty much died laughing and it continues to be brought up to this day.
Hi! I’m Olivia, and I’m the current DM for a DnD 5E podcast called Cast About. After years of work, our first short campaign The Hian Mighty is finishing soon and is a great place to jump in!
What makes us worth lending your ear to?
We are a series of short campaigns: Each about 24 episodes long, and each a fully contained story.
Each episode is ~1 hr: We cut out a lot of the really boring DnD bits – like arguing about rules – for easy listening.
Editing, Editing, Editing: We spend a long time editing each episode to make it enjoyable to listen to for the sake of our listeners’ experience!
We’re not a bunch of straight cis dudes: The first DM is me – a lesbian – and all together, we represent every letter in LGBTQ. Expect gay jokes. Lots of ‘em.
It’s pretty funny: At least, I think so. If I can’t be funny then what do I even have going for me??? Good looks?? Intelligence??
Okay, you say, that all sounds great. But what is it ABOUT?
Our first campaign, the Hian Mighty, started as a self-imposed dare to play an entirely evil campaign. We then realized that we’re all too nice and dumb to play purely evil. Instead, we ended up with three rather selfish people seeking divine power for their own personal reasons and – oh, whoops, was that always broken like that? Uhh, we should move on, it was great to visit, and good luck with cleaning that up!
Featuring:
Florian Andromeda Mars: EVERYONE knows Florian Andromeda Mars! He is your IDOL – nay, EVERYONE’S idol. A nobleman unfairly framed for a crime he didn’t commit! Will he regain the status he deserves? You should read his book about it.
Julian [one million middle names] Markeley: “Revenge” is probably one of those middle names. A cleric who used to make maps, he’s lived enough to act like a 70-something in the body of a 20-something.. He was homeschooled, so he doesn’t understand your pop culture references.
Boris [Redacted]: Just here to fight. If you are a strong opponent, please raise your hand – and don’t be afraid of his many muscles and his very large sword! You might die, but you’ll die with honor. And he’s tender underneath that muscle (but he wasn’t kidding – please fight him).
A Host of Great NPCs: A horse named Owen Wilson, Rascal Flatts himself, an untenured mathemagician professor, a persistent purple prose journalist, Florian Andromeda Mars, Jr., and…………Ray……………
Our play philosophy is that DnD is about collaborative, experimental storytelling between DM and players. We’re using DnD as a framework for a good story and a fun time, which means sometimes we make up our own rules or toss the handbook out the window.
…And if you’re not interested in any of that, we’ll have a new short campaign beginning soon. Stay tuned for more info! But we promise we’ll play just as fast and loose with 5e rules as we do in the first one (if not more so).
We’ve put A LOT of hard work into editing and writing this so please give us a chance! Even a reblog so this can reach others who might be interested would be appreciated – Thank you!!
*The audio quality in the first 4 episodes is a bit rough since – we were dummies and recorded them all on the same mic – but it gets MUCH better. We’re learning in this first campaign and improving in every episode!
Hey folks!
We recently just finished our first story Hian Mighty and are releasing our new season/story: School of Prophecy!
If you didn’t listen to the first one for some reason, this story is a great place to jump in. Our editing and podcasting skills are miles better and Pat has taken over as DM, a role he was bred in a laboratory for.
The story follows our cast, Alba, Johanna, and Lucas, through their senior year at the Pelolas School for Prophecy. If you’re interested in roleplay and character driven short stories by a queer cast then give this podcast a listen!
Verliese Und Drachen 