Board games that I play with my kids that don't require heavy drinking to get through.

Kill me now.

Although I have managed to get in one RPG session with my girls, by and large, we mainly play board games.  If you're like me and have had enough of Candyland and Monopoly Jr., give these a try.  These games are simple enough for younger players, but enjoyable for adults as well. In other words, I can play these with my kids without falling asleep.  At the time of this posting, my oldest daughter (Chaos) is 8 and my youngest daughter (Mayhem) is 4.





Seven Dragons: A domino-like, color matching card game with Larry Elmore art. Link seven dragons of your color and you win. The instructions include several variations of play, including a pre-school rule set (although, after a few games of that, your kids will likely be ready for the full rule set). The advanced game includes use of cards for messing with other players.

Labyrinth: Players shift the tiles of the maze on their turn, trying to create paths to treasure designated by a deck of cards.  Simple to understand, lots of fun to play.

Castle Keep: Each player tries to construct his own keep with tiles that connect based on color or shape. Instead of building your own keep, you can also destroy part of an opponent's keep by playing a corresponding tile on it.

Forbidden Island: A bit trickier than the others, but it is a cooperative game so it is easy to help the kids. After a game or two, they'll have it down.  Players work together to swipe artifacts from the island before it sinks.  You can also scale the difficulty if it gets too easy.

Cave Troll: Each player commands a small band of adventurers trying to gain control of a dungeon. The mechanic is very simple: each room is worth a particular gold value and the person with the most pieces in the room owns the room when it is counted. (Note: I actually own the 2nd Edition which, apparently is hard to find going by the price.  Funny enough, I got it on the cheap during a Fantasy Flight holiday sale).

Tsuro: Each player plays tiles trying to keep their token on a path that keeps it on the board, while trying to steer others off.  Teaches ruthlessness. You got to love it.

Oshi: A chess/checkers kind of game in which you must push all your opponents pieces off the board.  The more tiers a piece has, the more spaces it came move and the more pieces if can push. E.g., a 3 tier piece can move 3 spaces and push up to 3 pieces. Really fun game.

 

Fireball Island: You must grab the gem and get off the island first!  Use of cards to screw over the other players and boost your own play keeps this from being a simple "roll and move" game. I've had this since I was a kid.  A bit pricey nowadays.

Heroica: Probably the best way to relate the whole dungeon-exploration concept to kids.  Lots of fun little parts and sort of includes campaign play.  I have to admit, though, the bloom is coming off the rose on this one for me because it is more or less a roll and move game. However, there is a rule that allows a player to control the monsters... that might kick it up a notch.

The Classic Dungeon: Actually, although I used to love this game as a kid, I no longer care for it much. "I move 5 spaces.  I attack the monster. Rinse. Repeat." Still, nostalgia gets this one some points and if you are going to play a roll and move game, might as well play one with purple worms, liches, and ghouls. It will be interesting to see if Wizards of the Coast improves it all when they re-release it.

Battleground: Crossbows and Catapults: Toys R Us sold these sets dirt cheap a few Christmases back. Now they cost a fortune on eBay, etc.  This version is a revamped take on the classic, with Orcs and Knights instead of Barbarians and Vikings. I haven't tried to use the actual Battleground rules for it yet which are suppose to be pretty decent and more like a war game.  Right now, we just set 'em up and see who can knock down the most figures.

... now with Dungeoneering Kids.

I finally played an RPG with my girls! Since both of them (particularly, the oldest) are fans of Mouseguard, Redwall, etc., we played Harvesters.  Harvesters is Castles & Crusades re-skinned with an anthropomorphic take.

Here are some highlights:

• We used 3d6 in order for ability generation. I did this mainly to keep it simple and fast, more so than any need to be hardcore or old school.
• Chaos (my 8-year-old) rolled a 3 for dexterity. That' right; three 1s. Ouch. I was tempted to let her re-roll, but didn't. Tough love or being an ass? I haven't decided yet. My concern was that if I let her re-roll that, how would I explain that she couldn't re-roll, say, a to hit roll?
• Mayhem (my 4-year-old) was on fire with 16s, 15s, etc.  I was worried how this would play out with her PC being statistically better, but it actually wasn't a problem overall. There initially was some unspoken jealousy from Chaos, but she took solace in Mayhem's low Charisma score, ha.
• Even the highly abbreviated character creation I used wasn't all that fun for girls, who found it too long. I tried to keep it moving just giving them a quick run down of what the races, classes, etc. were like and simply let them decide what equipment they wanted.  "What kind of weapon do you want?"  "Do you want a backpack?"
• Mayhem had a rather burly badger rogue named Stripe and Chaos had a rather clumsy, but wise, otter druid named Splash.
• To keep things moving, I just gave Chaos an overview of the spells her druid had. 

Splash the River Otter Druid and Strip the Badger Rogue

• Since I didn't have many animal miniatures, Chaos had the great idea to use Little Pet Shop toys. Mayhem opted for the dire badger mini, though.
• I used the default Wheat Hollow setting and just pulled an adventure out of my arse:  rat pirates were stealing fishermen's fish and boats!
• The duo encountered some wolf spiders on their trip south to investigate the piracy. They rolled well and didn't take a hit. Some random treasure scored them some rather juicy loot (ha, valuable  tapestries and books, which they found in the spider lair. "The spiders must have gotten them from merchants they had attacked!").
• After a stop in the White Caps Inn for honey and hot cocoa, they tracked the three pirates to their cliff-face lair and took care of them.
• Chaos's otter went to -2 HP in the combat, but she actually laughed when her PC dropped. Perhaps this is because I had emphasized that their characters may die and they could simply make new ones. Anyhow, -2 isn't a kill in C&C, so Splash survived. 
• Soon into the game, I took down my GM screens because Mayhem was too curious about what I was doing and kept peaking. Ha, and as she pointed out, she can't read yet anyhow. 
• I decided it was best to roll all the dice out in the open anyhow.  Kids are sharper than adults often realize and I didn't want any concerns of favoritism.
• Chaos once said "Are you just making this up?" (meaning the adventure) and I tired to explain that that sort of was my job in the game.

I have 23 arrows left!

• Chaos decided to draw a map and the events of the session on the white board table as the game went on. I hadn't thought of that and it was really cool.  It also was the only way that minis were used in anyway (i.e., I didn't use them for combat at all).
• Getting involved in the story, Chaos started to explain what was happening around them. She decided that it must have been raining on their way to the inn, and that is why she wanted hot cocoa. That was great, so I certainly went with it. But then she decided that there were giants outside the inn.  I gently reigned that in and explained that I controlled the monsters, etc. That was kind of an odd feeling for me, because I certainly wanted the girls invested in the game.  On the other hand, I think it would have resulted in a complete lack of structure if I didn't establish that the GM/DM/CK explains the setting and they control what their characters do in it.
• All in all, it was a blast.  Definitely will be better next time since they have PCs ready to go.  I also think short and sweet adventures are the way to go.

How my girls roll...

This about sums it up:

Prepping for game night

Why do I love WotC’s Pre-Painted Minis?

Because they’re kid-friendly!

A Day Trip to Origins 2010: Part 6 – Miscellaneous and Final Comments

• Origins offers free child care (with purchase of at least a full day ticket).  They had a whole room full of board games, a cardboard castle, and piles of LEGOS for the kiddos.  They also had volunteers that would teach and play any of the games with the kids while their parents were out and about.  I forget the age requirements, but I think Mayhem (nearly 3 years old) might be a bit young for it yet.  Chaos (a sagacious 6 years old) would be fine.  Expecting them to stay there the whole day would be a bit much, but I certainly could see them logging enough time me to get in a gaming event or two. 
• I saw the famous Lou Zocchi school some smart ass kids on dice.  Three young boys (early teens) were at his booth and picked up a d100 and were quite impressed until they saw that it cost $10.  In that oh-so-annoying-know-it-all-teenage-tone, one boy said to his friends, “I know a cheaper version. It’s called percentile dice.”  They all snickered.  The boys hadn’t even seemed to notice Lou sitting there.  They soon took notice as he went onto provide a lengthy reason for the cost, describing how the d100 was made, etc. (it sounded something akin to this: link).  He actually was friendly, but it was funny to see those boys' reactions.  They said nothing, but their faces said “Oh shit, we’ve  riled a beast.”  (On a side note, I found it odd that Game Science Dice had its own booth separate from this guy.)
• If I ever go to a large convention again, such as Origins or GenCon, I think I will reserve a whole day for the Exhibit Hall.  I had a great time and was able to really enjoy the hall without worrying about missing an event.  If you only have time for one day at a con, you might consider getting a cheap “entry only” day pass and just camping out in the Exhibit Hall.  It sort of felt like spending the day at a shopping mall, except it was awesome.
• Origins is too damn close for me to not be going to it each year.  I’m looking forward to next year.

The Care Bear Slaughter

I am having way too much fun with my wife's Flip Camera (which I just happened to get her for her last birthday). The thing is just so damn easy to use. Anyhow, here is another clip of Chaos and Mayhem putting their form swords to good use.

This started off as a duel between the two, but the girls soon turned their collective wrath upon an innocent Care Bear bystander.

Mayhem Unleashed

Chaos isn't the only one enjoying the new foam weaponry in our house. She was quite benevolent and bestowed a sword and shield to Mayhem. Little Mayhem took to her blade with great fervor, as you can witness below. Actually, she liked the weapons immediately, while it took Chaos a bit to warm up to them.

Behold the fury of Mayhem....

[6/15/10 EDIT: Updated with a better quality video]

Child-sized AD&D Books

Mayhem and Chaos learn the Gygaxian ways.

My friend Rob gave me these neat tiny, 1st edition Advanced Dungeons and Dragons books for Christmas.  An Italian company called Twenty First Century Games put these out.  According to this site, the mini books were produced to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the game.  I find that kind of odd given that when D&D hit its 25th year mark, it was well into the 2nd Edition.  Why didn't they make miniature versions of the current edition? Also, if this is true, I'm also kind of surprised they didn't use the original 1st edition art, but opted for the Easley art used in the latter days of 1st edition.  Don't get me wrong, I love the Easley covers, but it just seems you'd go for the original art if you were celebrating the anniversary.



Regardless, they are very cool.   Yes, they do have the actual text inside, although you need a magnifying glass to read it, and a strong one at that.

Here is a size comparison:

(notice the old Toys R Us price tag on the large Monster Manual II.  Ah, remember when that store sold D&D?)

As you can see, Chaos approves.

All in all, I received:
- Players Handbook
- Dungeon Masters Guide
- Monster Manual
- Monster Manual II
- Unearthed Arcana

R.I.P. Pepper the Guinea Pig

It was a rough weekend.  Chaos's guinea pig, Pepper, passed away on Saturday.  We discovered him Saturday morning nearly motionless and with a severe case of diarrhea.  A quick Google search revealed that this is a pretty serious condition for a guinea pig.  Once those little guys dehydrate like that, everything inside them starts shutting down.  We found a vet that saw small animals as quickly as we could, but it was a half-hour drive away.  I had a bad feeling that he wasn't going to make it that long and, unfortunately, I was right.

This would have been tough normally, but it was particularly rough because Mrs. Frost and I just gave our daughters the guinea pigs for Christmas (Mayhem's little guy, Henry, seems to be doing fine). We've had other pets, but this was Chaos's first.  It was her pet and no one else's. She loved that little guy.

I know that some might think, "Buddy, it's just a guinea pig."  Trust me, when it's your five-year-old daughter's guinea pig, it's not "just a guinea pig."

It’s a girl! Here is your pink d20.

So the days of the expectant father sitting in a smoke-filled lobby are long since gone.  Still, the tradition of handing out a cigar or some other token remains.  There are all kinds of crap for this now: candy cigars, personalized chocolate bars, etc.  Like anything else these days, a once informal gesture has been turned into a marketable “must.” 

Well, what does the proud gamer father give out?  Dice, of course.  Before my oldest daughter, Chaos, was born, I was pondering what to hand out and my wife suggested a die.  Brilliant.

Finding pink dice was a bit tricky and the d20s I handed out for Chaos’s birth were borderline purple.  For Mayhem’s birth, I found some nice pink ones at dicepool.com (and the price was reasonable, too).

My good friend and fellow gamer just welcomed his daughter into this world and, for the first time, I was on the receiving side.  It was a really cool feeling.  Now, I’m not delusional enough to believe that I was the first to do this, but I do think it’s a fun tradition.  My buddy handed out these pink d20s to gamers outside our immediate group and they loved it. 

Hopefully the idea will catch on and one of these days I’ll receive a blue d20 to go with the pink ones.

My Daughters: Chaos & Mayhem

Mayhem (2 years old) plots a PC's demise

I've written a good bit about dungeoneering, but nothing about being a dad. I am the proud father of two girls: my five-year-old, Chaos, and my two-year-old, Mayhem.* I love these little two to death. It's funny. I'd never imagined I'd still be playing D&D as a parent. When I was a kid, I always figured when I finally grew up, I'd hit some point when I would only do grown up things. Suddenly, D&D wouldn't appeal to me, no more video games, and I'd start listening to adult contemporary music. Yet, here I am, 33-years-old, married with kids, and I play D&D almost as regularly as I did in high school, I play video games whenever I can (granted, which isn't much), and I just received the Black Tide "Light from Above" CD for Christmas.

Chaos (nearly 1 year old in the photo) awaits a TPK

Suffice it to say, my girls are used to seeing all sorts of odd books in their dad's office. They love playing with my dice and I've bought them each their own big d20s. The plastic minis from Wizards of the Coast are a bit of a godsend, as I don't have to worry about them playing with lead or ruining a paint-job. I have to admit, I'm pretty protective of my books (and by "pretty protective," I mean "borderline OCD"), but they really haven't gotten into them anyhow.

My daughters were born into a gaming. When Chaos was born, my good friend, Steve, gave her her own copy of the 3rd edition D&D Player's Handbook and I wrote her name in the cover (come to think of it, I should probably give that book back to her... I commandeered it for my own purposes via Fatherly Right). On top of that, a few of my players hand-made a set of giant, soft dice for her. They made the whole set and picked colors to mimic those of an old-school dice set. They have bells inside that jingle when they roll. A lot of time and effort went into those dice and my girls have gotten a good bit of use out of them (they like the big d20 and d12 the most).

Chaos (3 years old in the photo) enjoys her big dice

My daughters look forward to D&D night as much as I do. That's when their "uncles" and "aunts" stop by, loaded with sweets. They feast on cookies, cake, chips, and whatever else my health-conscious friends bring. I love it and so do they. It's a bit taxing on my wife who has to handle bedtime duty solo those nights. Normally, I put young Mayhem to bed while Mrs. Frost handles the elder Chaos (and even then, I'm usually on "clean up" with Chaos, telling her a Hercules story and singing her a song or two after she's had time with Mom). On game night, my wife has to round them up and get them to sleep on her own. No small feat when you have two girls as rambunctious as mine who have main-lined sugar for a half-hour or so.

On a side note, my wife isn't a gamer, but is very understanding and supportive of my hobby. I'm blessed in that way. She gave D&D a try and had some fun, but decided it really wasn't for her. On game nights, she usually hangs out with the other D&D widows and catches up on chick flicks on the DVR.

I'm not sure how much my girls grasp what I actually do down in the basement, but they do know I'm playing some kind of game. They don't seem to care too much, just as long as they get to devour the goodies. Like I said, there is nothing quite like game night.


*Obviously, these aren't their real names, but I don't feel comfortable posting that info.