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(TFT) How far I have fallen
Here is a post from 2003. A sample of how I used to be. It has really come home to me lately how harsh, critical, and un-understandable I have become.
> From: Greg .....
>
> Hi there. I'd like to introduce my 8-year-old nephew
> to fantasy role-playing (he's been clamoring after
> "Dungeons & Dragons" for a while now, without really
> knowing what it is).
Hi Greg. Thanks for writing. Everyone I know, who started role-playing, saw an increase in their math, english, and history grades. For us in the late 70's public education at our jr-high was slowing to a trickle at the pump head, and we were thirsty for more knowledge than that. D&D was a huge influence it our finding our particular fields of study early. Astro physics, Polymer physics, Architecture, Political Science, Etcetera. Now one has launched his own rocket carrying his team's experiment from white sands, NM, one works on a particle accelorator in pitsburg, one a political palyer in the muslim-american community, one who closed down his home building company to become a high end custom cabinet maker that makes more money than anyone else, and one is a movie producer in hollywood who's worked on star treck, Kiano Revees movies, and countless comedies. The most important thing about D&D for us was that one person got to be the teacher, also known as the Dungeon Master, and our learning could accelerate unimpeeded. In fact a lot of the personal style of a DM should give one the impression of how they would run a school, or class. Qualities of a good teacher are usefull; terse wording, efficient, impartial, fair, and aware come to mind. But you have already said that your nephew is interested, so lets move on to you taking him on an adventure.
> I was wondering if you, or anyone
> you can point me to, has some simple scenarios (1 or 2
> hours of play for 2-3 PCs) that you could share. I've
> got my old rule books, but have long since lost all my
> old pre-generated characters, maps, and so on.
I do have some adventures to point you too. But the best adventures are always hand made. Take 6 first level monsters. Roll a D6 and give one of them a +1 weapon. Then fight all the monsters till only 1 is left with the sword. Do this alone and keep track of their experience. The survivor is your bad guy. Now you are ready to run. The rest is as you say "characters, maps, and so on." Try to run combat frequently and with lots of dice rolling. This developes their addition and subtraction muscles. Once they get to where they can read the total on a 3d6 roll without adding up the individual numbers, then learning for fun becomes just like breathing air. But the most important thing about combat is you want to be open, inclusive, and give reasons why you are doing certain things. You want to groom the nephew to become a DM in their own right. There is no greater gift you can give a student than the abilty to create their own world and attract their own group of players. Peers can learn from each other exponentialy faster than from an older teacher. They understand each others non verbal cues instantly. And they have a thorough knowledge of what their friends already know, and what they don't know.
Now for the scenarios. These are written in a ...
Greg thanks again for writing, and good luck!
All the forums I have participated in over the past 6 years have really taken their toll on me. I have less faith in humanity and have become more reactionary. This doesn't help anyone, and evidence shows it has caused some harm. So consider this my formal announcement that I have become a lurker.
David Michael Grouchy II
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