Early tabletop roleplaying games like Dungeons & Dragons were marketed towards teenagers and young adults, while many modern roleplaying games are designed for adults who enjoy complex "crunchy" rules and mature themes that more kid-friendly RPGs might avoid. These following tabletop RPGs, in contrast, are designed to be both accessible and appropriate for pre-teen children interested in giving tabletop RPGs a try. Their rules are straightforward and accessible, while their fantasy world settings are family friendly, not overly violent, and full of plot hooks that will let kids run wild with their imaginations.
When Gary Gygax was developing the early rules for Dungeons & Dragons, he would play-test them with his son Ernest, his daughter Elise, and their circle of friends; together they created adventuring characters, wandered around the dungeon maps Gygax had designed, and overcame the challenges he presented to them with cleverness, daring, and imaginative thinking. Classic characters from old Dungeons & Dragons campaign modules, D&D magic spells such as Tenser's floating disc or Tasha's hideous laughter are named after the PCs and NPCs created in these very first tabletop RPG game sessions, the product of both enthusiastic grown-up fantasy novel fans and a group of kids with active imaginations. From a certain perspective, tabletop roleplaying games are fundamentally just a more structured version of the many and myriad games of make-believe kids across the world like to play using toy props and the power of their imagination – games like "cops and robbers," "the floor is lava," or "which superhero would beat who in a fight."
Most make-believe fantasy games of roleplaying and acting between children break down when they can't agree about what happens next, but kid-friendly tabletop roleplaying games can give kids a supporting framework for the fantastical stories they imagine. Using dice rolls and straightforward rule, each young player can get their chance in the narrative spotlight, while also learning to enjoy both the failure and success of the characters they create. Each of the tabletop RPGs listed below have game mechanics and character creation rules that are straightforward and quickly learned; this lowers the barrier to entry for kids and adults unfamiliar with roleplaying games like Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition and makes it easier for them to dive right in. The world settings of these games, conveyed through artwork and narrative descriptions, are also very kid-friendly – not just because of their lack of deadly violence, gore, and horror, but also because of how they give young gamers the structure and freedom to weave tales of truly wild adventure and discovery.
Quest Is A Great Beginner-Friendly Tabletop RPG
The fantasy tabletop roleplaying game called Quest, published by the Adventure Guild game studio along with several expansion books and an upcoming "Cosmic Fantasy" edition, was designed from the start to be a beginner-friendly tabletop fantasy game. The core rulebook of Quest describes the game's premise with direct, economical, but evocative prose. Players of Quest use a single twenty-sided die when rolls for challenging actions are required, while the rules for character class abilities and magical items can be printed out onto card-stock to give players a way of quickly double-checking what their characters can or can't do. The main character sheet, rather than containing spaces for players to record their abilities, is a collection of sentences with blank gaps players can fill in with descriptive details about who their D&D-style heroic player characters are, what they look like, and what they want. The fantasy setting of Quest is a self-described multiverse of adventure that encourages players to create their own worlds of magic, wonder, whimsy, and serious struggles.
Do: Fate Of The Flying Temple Recalls Avatar & Other Kid Favorites
Do: Fate Of The Flying Temple, published by Evil Hat Productions, is a spin-off of Do: Pilgrims Of The Flying Temple, which takes place in a "Windpunk" world of endless skies and floating islands. Players of Do: Fate Of The Flying Temple take on the role of young, plucky pilgrims from the (mysteriously disappeared) Flying Temple at the center of the universe. During a game session, PCs travel between different worlds with "Peter Pan" style flying powers, earnestly try to help people with their problems, and work to raise a baby dragon hatched from the egg they wound; the tone of the game is heavily inspired by Avatar: The Last Airbender (also a tabletop RPG), How To Train Your Dragon, and other stories about young people coming of age. The FATE Accelerated rules of Do: Fate Of The Flying Temple, focused around the invoking of narrative "Aspects" tied to characters and environments, is well-suited to the telling of tales about trickster heroes who use their wiles and wit to solve problems and outfox foes.
Kid-Friendly RPG #3 - Amazing Tales
The tabletop RPG called Amazing Tales, marketed to children 4 years and up, is designed to be easy for kids to learn, read, and use to create fantastical stories based on what they're most enthusiastic about. The rules and character sheet for Amazing Tales are concise enough to fit on a single page; when making a character, young players simply describe their character's name, appearance, and background, then give them four skills associated with different polyhedral dice. A large portion of the core book, currently sold on the Amazing Tales website, is filled with a wide range of story settings, plot hooks to get a game rolling, and storytelling tips for children playing with the book on their own or parents reading the book to their kids. There's also a spin-off of Amazing Tales called Amazing Heroes, designed to let players aged 8 and up tell their own superhero stories.
Kid-Friendly RPG #4 – Dungeon & Dragons Monster Slayers: The Heroes Of Hesiod
Available as a free download on the Dungeons & Dragons website, Monster Slayers – The Heroes Of Hesiod is a very simplified version of D&D fifth edition, designed by Susan J. Morris for gamers aged 6 and up. Gamers choose from a pre-made list of heroic adventuring characters who correspond to classic D&D classes such as fighters or wizards, their distinct combat powers and movements abilities boiled down to a few lines of text; when a player wants their character to attack a threat, they roll a D20 or 3 six-sided dice, usually dealing 1 damage to their target if they roll well. The main scenario of Monster Slayers – The Heroes Of Hesiod is charmingly simple, if a little alarming: all the player characters are children from the town of Hesiod, a close-knit fantasy RPG community constantly being attacked by monsters, who are fighting a series of tiny monsters in an arena as part of a coming of age ceremony.
Sources: Amazing Tales, Dungeons & Dragons