Children at conventions

Anon Adderlan · October 19, 2016, 08:57:02 PM

Quote from: jux;925305@OT: I would tune down the "mature" stuff. 12 year old girls, come on. As a third player, I would be uncomfortable when the GM goes full "mature" on this group.

Nice use of quotes, but that still doesn't get you out of defining 'mature'. In fact nobody has bothered to identify the elements which might be harmful to children during this entire discussion at all.

America for example is a tremendously infantilizing country and has consistently raised the age limits for legal sexual activity, drinking alcohol, and tobacco use. Strangely they haven't done so for military service or gun ownership, which means The State considers you emotionally mature and responsible enough to kill other human beings and wield a deadly weapon before it does with you having sex, drinking, or smoking.

And that's pretty fucked up.

So for the sake of the children, what concepts are we talking about when we say mature?

NascragMan · May 23, 2017, 10:32:21 AM

You need to be really clear up front about the expected age and maturity level of a convention event. If you aren't willing to specify adults only, don't write an adventure with mature themes. As to the relative maturity level of a 12 year old girl, that's completely subjective. One kid might be quite worldly, and the next might have led a very sheltered life.

Voros · May 24, 2017, 06:14:44 AM

Regardless of how 'worldly' a 12-year-old is there are certain subjects best avoided if you're an adult and dealing with them: sex, extreme violence/gore and drug use. Putting aside posturing doing so would likely get you in shit with their parents and/or labelled as a creep.

S'mon · May 24, 2017, 08:12:19 AM

Quote from: Voros;964030Regardless of how 'worldly' a 12-year-old is there are certain subjects best avoided if you're an adult and dealing with them: sex, extreme violence/gore and drug use. Putting aside posturing doing so would likely get you in shit with their parents and/or labelled as a creep.

Zzonga abuse in the Alphatian empire featured quite bigly in the Mystara game I run with my 9 year old... He seemed to cope ok - his PC Princess Hope Karameikos swiftly informed on her drug-dealing fellow Sundsvall University students, who were expelled.

As for gore, he's much less squeamish than I am - but this is one of those areas that vary by child, so if your Convention game is going to be R-rated you definitely want it adults only, or at least require parents present.

Shawn Driscoll · May 24, 2017, 08:58:59 AM

Still waiting for the rush of fresh new tabletop RPG players that got their start in the hobby just recently from playing in convention games.

Anyway, seems odd that parents would not want to meet GMs who are running games for their kids.

tenbones · May 24, 2017, 12:50:27 PM

Quote from: Gronan of Simmerya;925162I like children at conventions provided they're properly cooked.

This is what happens when you become a Methuselah.

(I feel the same way).

Gronan of Simmerya · May 24, 2017, 04:55:05 PM

I like children at my games, I just can't eat a whole one by myself any more.

Darrin Kelley · May 24, 2017, 05:21:38 PM

I have run a lot of games at cons.

But in general? I keep the material I use fit for public exposure. I don't dip into purely adult topics at conventions. Nor anything that would be considered obcenity.

Cons are public venues where you never expect who might join the games you are running. And that's how I treat them.

RPGPundit · May 26, 2017, 01:19:30 AM

I think usually kids are both less 'sheltered' and less prone to being in any way 'traumatized' by the things we imagine will traumatize them (at least in terms of depictions on tv, much less in RPGs) than people think. The real problem isn't the kids, it's the parents who will freak out if their kid hears a dirty word.