- Daddy ?
- Yep ?
- Are you sure I can only have 'Brawny', 'Quick' and 'Force Sensitive' on my sheet ?
- Why ? Do you think it's missing something ?
- Yes ! I want 'Starship piloting' !

Here we are : my 7-year old has just informed me that my ruleset wasn't crunchy enough.

I should have seen it coming : before the game, I agonized over whether adding Force Points would be too much. The little demon mastered their use in two seconds.

Quote from: Weekly;1128620- Daddy ?
- Yep ?
- Are you sure I can only have 'Brawny', 'Quick' and 'Force Sensitive' on my sheet ?
- Why ? Do you think it's missing something ?
- Yes ! I want 'Starship piloting' !

Here we are : my 7-year old has just informed me that my ruleset wasn't crunchy enough.

I should have seen it coming : before the game, I agonized over whether adding Force Points would be too much. The little demon mastered their use in two seconds.

Greetings!

*Laughing* Such fun! Kids are great!:D

When I first got my two nieces into D&D--they were tweens then, 10 and 12 years old--they went nuts getting into the game. They read and read, asking me a thousand questions, and learning concepts from the game easily.

It was kind of surprising though. Compared to adults, the kid's enthusiasm was frenetic and relentless. They eagerly read the rule books, and wrote all kinds of details down for hours! Then actually playing, it was hilarious! So many of the most mundane activities, like traveling through the countryside to visit another village--was somehow turned into something adventurous and immensely entertaining. Awesome stuff!

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK

Quote from: Weekly;1128620Here we are : my 7-year old has just informed me that my ruleset wasn't crunchy enough.

  Remember, it's kids who take naturally to things like Pokemon. The looser, less crunchy rulesets seem to have a bigger following among adult players.

Quote from: Armchair Gamer;1128624Remember, it's kids who take naturally to things like Pokemon. The looser, less crunchy rulesets seem to have a bigger following among adult players.

Greetings!

Ahh, yes, that's a great point, Armchair Gamer!:D Isn't it kind of weird? I've noticed that kids can often be very obsessive in learning and mastering crunchy rules. They often love laborious writing and researching through the books, and even become crazy competitive in arguing with each other over RAW and obscure minutiae. Adults often want simplicity and roll their eyes at writing, reading, or rules mastery. Kids often approach the game and rules with an unbridled enthusiasm for every detail!

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK

Quote from: Weekly;1128620Here we are : my 7-year old has just informed me that my ruleset wasn't crunchy enough.

I dunno. Maybe. But maybe they just didn't understand how the stats you already had listed already covered starship piloting and a little chat could have cleared it all up.

Kids are sponges, man. They sop up data like nothing else.

My best buddy's oldest is learning fast how to play Battletech like a boss, and he's still in the single digits. Biggest issue he's had has been remembering that turning costs movement.

Quote from: GeekEclectic;1128654I dunno. Maybe. But maybe they just didn't understand how the stats you already had listed already covered starship piloting and a little chat could have cleared it all up.

Not in this case. I had already clarified this. He really wanted to be better at piloting and he wanted it written on his sheet.

So, I introduced 'specialties' and 'experience points' to buy them. He got them and loved them at once. You know, I've been taking these mechanics for granted for decades and now I rediscover how cool they actually are.

Turns out he's a bit of a munchkin, too :
- So, you're buying 'starship piloting' with your experience point ?
- Yes, I already told you so.
- Because there's also 'speeder piloting' and...
- Oh, no no ! I'll just take 'piloting', so I won't have to worry.
- Oookay (shit, pwned again).
- And next, I'll take 'Shooting' !
- Okay, but it'll only work with blasters and other personal weapons.
- If you say so... But after that, I'll take 'Shooting starship guns' !

Most kids I've seen seem to really like heavily complex but very clear rules.

Quote from: RPGPundit;1129532Most kids I've seen seem to really like heavily complex but very clear rules.

I wonder if it's because they associate complexity with adulthood? Everything is very simple when you're a kid, after all. It's only when you get older do you start seeing the shades of gray in reality.