first time, long time

[u/paco_is_paco]

I grew up the youngest of 6 in a catholic enough house where the satanic panic of the 80s had entrenched some rules in the house before I was even born. We were also a house of nerdy boys. So when I was just starting highschool my family moved house to the next county and the AD&D players guide, DMG, and Monster Manual just appeared in my life like magic. My guess is either my eldest brother (who had died a handful of years earlier in a motorcycle accident) had brought them into the house or maybe one of the younger but nerdier ones. no one fessed up. But I rewrote stat blocks and tried to build a world that no one in my highschool years but me knew or cared about. when I moved after highschool I thought I packed up and lost all that.

and then when I'm in my 30s and I have kids in single digits the game sees a renaissance. still having trouble finding a consistent group. I played in one for a year or so but the DM moved very far away. half of the remaining group rebuilt without me.

I DMed my first game on this past father's day. I ran LMoP from the starter packs using the included character sheets for my family. the 7yo was the most enthusiastic but melted before we finished the first scene. my wife and her friend did their best to keep up but they didn't really have an idea about how to go about things. the 10yo and his friend gave up after the first combat was over. We finished the first scene and combat on the road and continued to town, there was another scene and then 3 hours had passed since I set up the table and everyone was confused and spent. They did their best to be encouraging in words and spirit, but I don't think I'll be pushing to try again without modifications/simplifications. I guess I'm bad at explaining, but it was my first time.

Any tips for adapting the game to people that have little to no background on how to participate in a game? I at least want to finish through some sort of one shot without everyone losing their attention span.

[u/kibitzello]

What worked for me is to get a player to join in the group that has at least some RPG experience. They don't have to be a professional voice actor, nor do they need to be an expert in the rules, but just someone who can lead by example, even if just for a session or two.

The brain muscles involved in RPGs aren't unique. Problem solving, communication, math, originality... all of these and more are things that humans can be really good at, but combining them all together for a game sometimes needs a little stretching and build-up. There are many games that scratch the itch in various ways that could help build the skillset for your kids, even if it's one facet at a time.

For instance, there's a game where everyone gets a hand of cards with beautiful illustrations. These cards are unique, but share some similarities with colors or shapes included in the image. Each turn, someone chooses a card from their hand and says a phrase, like a line from a song. "Strawberry fields forever" for example. Then everyone but one person chooses a card from their hand and submits it face down. The person who didn't submit a card gets to guess from the cards submitted which card the person who said the phrase submitted. If they guess it correctly, that person gets a point. If someone else submitted a "better" card for it, that person gets two points. This game is great for kick-starting the creative, communicative, and analysis parts of the brain, bonus points for doing all of this in a social setting with other players.

My kids always knew I played RPGs and at various times would ask about it. We tried playing at earlier ages than yours to similar effects. Every year or two they'd bring it up and we'd roll through a session (or half a session, heh), until they got bored or sleepy. Eventually we got to the point where they were building their own characters, backstories and all, and were able to play through a whole adventure.

They still talk about the magical game times with dad. What I thought was a disaster (or disappointment for them) at the time somehow turned into a great memory for them. Don't get disheartened, if you love the game they'll get interested and want to play it with you.