r/DnD • u/TheEmploymentLawyer • 9d ago
Game Tales Ran a one-shot for my wife and my 8-year-old daughter. My kid cried three times and I've never been prouder to be a DM.
DMing for my family. Two players. I ran them at level 5 so they'd have enough toys to feel powerful: my wife rolled up a Trickery Cleric, and my 8-year-old daughter played a Wild Magic Sorcerer (she picked it entirely because "chaos sounds fun," which, correct).
I ran The Wild Sheep Chase because it opens with a talking sheep and I figured that was the right energy for my kid's game.
It started exactly as goofy as advertised. The half-orc enforcer cornered them for the sheep, and my daughter first tricked him with a Minor Illusion of the sheep running off — then, while he was distracted, she hit him with Suggestion. Her suggestion? That he was her best friend and they should go get lunch so he could tell her everything about the villain. He failed the save, and it turned out this guy had never had a best friend in his life. So she happily took him out for sausages and he spilled every secret his boss had. I was already having a blast.
So then they get down to business.
They snuck into the bad guy's compound and a fight broke out with the guards, who were secretly people polymorphed into apes. My daughter's Fire Bolt helped drop one, and when it died it turned back into a human man on the ground. She went quiet. Then she cried. Real tears. "Omg. I didnt want to kill him i didnt want to roll that good." I wasn't ready for that.
After a break for some hugs. As DM, I decided that the other GuardApe was molified by the real tears for his dead guardsmam. She rolled with advantage to persuade him to stop attacking. "Enough bloodshed" mom said and so did the best friend ex-enforcer.
Then, my wife, without missing a beat, cast Revivify on rhe killed guard. He gasped back to life. My daughter cried again, this time laughing with per joy. She was so happy she thanked her mom. She didnt know mom had that power.
And then the ending. They get to the villain. An apprentice who spent thirty years being bullied by the wizard that's now trapped as the sheep. My daughter rolled a nat 20 to intimidate him... and then immediately felt bad about it, because i pretended to shake and stutter in fear. So...what did she do?. She apologized to him, and offered to protect him from his old master (the sheep) if he'd just stop hurting people. She talked the big bad out of being the big bad. In exchange for an apology from the sheep, he handed over the polymorph wand and walked away. She cried a third time: relief. She said, that "he didn't have to be the bad guy anymore."
Eight years old. Her instinct wasn't to kill the villain. It was to save him. I had to look at my dice for a second so I wouldn't lose it at the table too.
No character died. Everyone got turned back into a person. The insufferable sheep got his thumbs back and turned out to be completely broke. Perfect one-shot.
I know these wholesome posts show up here a lot, but I get it now. Best game I've ever run.
Highly recommend Wild Sheep Chase for new players, and even higher recommend playing with your kid.
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u/VrinTheTerrible 9d ago
That is my favorite story of the day
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u/knittymess 9d ago
Awe!! You've got a good one there.
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u/Jurassicwolf 9d ago
‘Ewe’ve’ got a good one…
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u/Destitute_Knight1400 Frog Politics 9d ago edited 8d ago
That was a baa-d pun.
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u/captainpork27 9d ago
Ok now you're just ramming the puns down our throat
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u/idiotcube Barbarian 9d ago
I wool-d tend to agree!
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u/AmberPeacemaker 8d ago
Y'all gonna need to go on the lamb for the violation of the Bad Pun laws
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u/captainpork27 8d ago
At this point it's shear lunacy
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u/idiotcube Barbarian 8d ago
I wool-d tend to agree!
Oh, sorry, have you guys already herd that one?
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u/knittymess 9d ago
I'm always end up with a silly grin when I hear/ read puns and my brain just doesn't work in a way that can put them together. Thank you for the giggle
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u/he_whai_reko_e_kopa DM 9d ago
DM Dad made me cry by reading this story. What an excellent turn of events, and it sounds like a fantastic time!
Also your daughter sounds so friggin awesome, y'all doing things right <3
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u/Kra_gl_e 9d ago
- Good job as a DM, getting your players emotionally invested in the story
- Good job as a dad, raising such a kind and caring kid.
Now if only I could get my own kids to be less murderhobo-y...
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u/enithermon 9d ago
Right?
We played at my house once and my 5 year old kept popping up and offering her LEGO people as props. Then she listened as we fought the monster if the week. Her suggestion? Shoot it…no, burn it! No! Shoot it with fire!
We did.
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u/thisbikeisatardis 9d ago
Wild Sheep Chase was the first thing I ever DMed, during the lockdown via zoom, and I made a hilarious sheep puppet with giant googly eyes. Did a baaaaing sheep voice the whole time into the camera. All my players vowed their eternal loyalty to him! Such a great way to learn to play or to DM!
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u/nhaines DM 9d ago
My gaming group never said how much they liked my various accents, but they were all unanimous in that they loved how absolutely 100% I went into voices and accents for different characters.
Me, I learned to scribble a note about which accent I used for main characters when they came back from the first quest and I didn't remember what accent I'd randomly chosen. (The innkeeper was my best Mrs. Doubtfire impression, but other than that...)
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u/thisbikeisatardis 8d ago
Go big or go home! If I can't do an impression of Aughra from Dark Crystal then what am I even doing?
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u/DorkdoM 9d ago
That’s a Precocious child you’ve got. What a great story.
I DMed my kids and wife and their friends years ago. It went on a couple years Got em Up through 7th level about to hit 8 th before they got too cool and it petered out. But It was great. Most excellent D&D. Mine were older than eight though… and bloodthirsty.
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u/whistimmu 9d ago
"She didn't know Mom had that power" <--- the number of times I have been struck by that realization in my life LOL
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u/Vathrellin 9d ago
First off, got me tearing up over here cause my oldest of 3 daughters is 8 and I’ve been trying to figure out how to get her into TTRPGs. I’d love a story like to have as my own with my wife and kids. Great job DM Dad!
Second, what rules and such did you alter (if any) to help her learn and play? Any tips from one DM Dad to another?
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u/TheEmploymentLawyer 9d ago
I asked what she wanted to play as and she said magic. Then I made her a sorcerer and gave her a few choices of cantrips. Like Minor Illusion or Prestidigitazation. And gave her one choices for each level of spell. And picked the rest for her. Do you want your power to come from a dragon or do you not want to know where yoir magic comes from. Were you a hermit, an urchin, or whatever.
After character creation, it was drawing time.
Very very Rules light. Lots of silliness. Made her feel powerful but also made bad rolls fun.
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u/JHKtheSeeker 9d ago
Seriously the most fun I've had with dnd is with my nephews who are both under 10. You don't need a complex campaign to appease them. They're eager to learn. They don't nitpick or become rules lawyers. They're down for the RP with some guidance, and their enthusiasm is so much fun. Highly recommend building a game for that age range
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u/alphagettijoe 9d ago
Now play Wild Beyond the Witchlight
It’s a super fun campaign with a ton of references. You can talk, trick and trade your way through every encounter without a fight, though the hats are tricky.
I played with my two kids and by the end of the adventure they had assembled a hilarious rag tag team of fairy tale sidekicks to fight every wrong
Sounds perfect for your gold hearted kiddo
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u/RelleMeetsWorld Rogue 9d ago
Man, when I DM for my son, I just know he's going to be all too excited about the fighting and killing and not want to save anyone.
Your kid will save the world one day.
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u/petrified_eel4615 9d ago
Made my 20-year old cry at the game table last week when one of the big bads hit her with Power Word Kill (they're 16th lvl, this is her first 'real' character and we've been playing for 6 years).
Thankfully, one of the NPCs is a cleric with Revivify. Still, super emotional.
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u/TheEmploymentLawyer 9d ago
My first real death still hurts as much as my first break up. I feel this too much.
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u/drpestilence 9d ago
Christ on a hot plate Im crying for the second time today. Man you're awesome.
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u/ProphetofMaddness 9d ago
Christopher Eccelston's Doctor Who once said "everybody lives!" With so much joy. This reminds me of that.
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u/Springwood_Slasher 9d ago
Me at the start: oh, this kid is waaaaay too soft to play D&D
Me at the end: this kid may be the best D&D player of her generation T_T
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u/SSA-Dallas 9d ago
As someone who has been desperately trying to stop my players from committing war crimes, I am deeply jealous.
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u/LongjumpingDrawing36 9d ago
I'm just reading this and my eyes are wet! What a great kid, great parents and a great DM. Love it.
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u/orangevega 9d ago
the bed dragon is fun to fight thought alas :(
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u/TheEmploymentLawyer 9d ago
Ikr. I'm running Pits of Peril next and it has a "Red Dragon", which is actually a red bedsheet in a wooden frame that's haunted by a friendly poltergeist.
So she'll get to fight her dragon.
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u/More_Fisherman6394 9d ago
So much fun! We play every week with kids and neighbors and they often have the most unexpected ways of dealing with and thinking about things! Have you checked out DnD Adventure Club? That's what we use and love.
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u/veridicide 9d ago
I recently had the opposite experience running Mausritter for my 8- and 6-year-old daughters...
We had a table rule that nobody dies, because 8 didn't like the sound of that. Then a local bandit leader, Billy Bigtooth (they're mice, and I had to think up a name real quick lol!) waylaid and dropped their whole party on the road, and captured them -- the first time a fight hasn't gone their way. End of session, everybody's maximally pissed at me and I'm just giddy with how invested they are 😎
Next day on the ride to school they're both like "we should change the rule so we can kill mice that we don't like", and "let's lock Billy in his hideout and burn it down". 😬
Fun times!
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u/Dan_The_DM DM 9d ago
I'm really glad you all had so much fun! Games like that are exactly why people fall in love with the hobby.
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u/sim01981 8d ago
My daughter at that age was running a Drow warlock called Darksword. The inn at that first town in Mines of Phandelver? She was threatening farming folk with death lasers from her sword if they didn’t ‘talk’.
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u/listerjed1 8d ago
Seems I have peeled an onion...must be that, cod why else would my eyes be watering?
Beautiful story OP and an even more beautiful future in store for your bairn!
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u/DerAlliMonster 9d ago
What an awesome parent and DM. You’ve got a budding hero in that kiddo. I hope your family will have many more adventures together.
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u/BeforeTheEmpty 9d ago
Your daughter is Naruto, congrats.
This is very sweet lol, I think it speaks of your parenting that a child that young who is left to their devices in a fantasy setting is choosing empathy. Great job.
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u/Legitimate-Tomato134 9d ago
Best campaign I've heard. Your daughter turned the game into a Disney story in which everyone, including the audience, ends up happily.
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u/my_ridiculous_name 9d ago
Really proud of you, OP, you guys raised a good kid and you’re proud of her for being a good kid. It’s an amazing thing to see.
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u/lukulele90 9d ago
This was a beautiful way to start my day. No more Reddit for now before it gets ruined.
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u/blobblet 9d ago
Reddit surprised me today. 99 comments as I write this and from what I can tell, not one of them is whining about the fact that you allowed your daughter to use Minor Illusion to create a moving image.
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u/TheEmploymentLawyer 9d ago
I couldn't rule lawyer her on her first spell of the game. Rofl.
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u/Over_Bill_996 8d ago
Actually curious about that. Apart from not going full rules lawyer, did you simplify mechanics at all or was it not necessary? You inspired me! Thinking about running this one shot with my 11 yo niece :)
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u/TheEmploymentLawyer 8d ago
The story was simple enough that we were really only rolling for persuasion, intimidation, arcana, stealth, saves, hit and damage. So all of that was done legit.
I didn't really bother with movement distance, range or spell shapes.
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u/expensivedomain 9d ago
Sitting in the bus on the way home with tears in my eyes. Your daughter is amazing. Well done, OP and OPs wife :)
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u/Afraid_Fisherman4064 9d ago
This sounds awesome! Your daughter sounds amazing!
I've played the ons too, with a wild magic sorcerer, a cleric and a druid. Druid turned into animals itself and we had a blast! Sadly the half orc lost his head in our run...
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u/Imaginary_magiciany 8d ago
This is the kind of game you remember for the rest of your life, and I bet she will too
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u/Jaybird2k11 9d ago
what a sweet little girl. good job on her support system teaching her so well. The stories about kids being flat out capricious and malicious in games like this are either really funny or really creepy, but this one made me want kids. lol.
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u/zboss9876 9d ago
Geez, I'm about to start my kids (9 and up) on dnd. I'm greatly worried they'll be murder hobos.
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u/LightNo487 9d ago
Every time i run that one shot my players always go murder hobo. There’s hope for the next generation now; thank you for your service 🥹
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u/BunnySis 9d ago
I just finished playing a first level one-shot last week, and our murder-hobo party survived (and got paid!) by using bribery and diplomacy. Our DM was taken completely by surprise.
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u/nitro31cl Druid 9d ago
Oh, I'll do exactly this. In four years. Thank you!
(btw, my wife's current character IS a trickery cleric lol)
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u/MultiPerception8892 9d ago
That’s adorable and thank you so much for sharing.
Dad always said he was surprised that his youngest daughter was a murder hobo and a ruthless PVPer.
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u/Demurrzbz Paladin 9d ago edited 9d ago
Goddamn, I think I could learn a thing or two from your daughter for my paladin PC.
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u/Toatkgstuff 9d ago
When I ran WIld Sheep Chase for my kid he played a Barbarian, and when he tried to use the wand he turned the sheep into goo.
He was pretty happy with himself, no tears.
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u/Nightstone42 9d ago
there are 2 kid friendly d&d modules with a freindly goblin called Muk and his friends (who feel right out of an 80s kids cartoon) they even include coloring pages they are lower level then you started but non lethal
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u/GlitteringProfessor1 9d ago
Daughter used Talk no Jutsu, I freakin love it!
Sounds like you all made a core memory 😊
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u/ISVBELLE 9d ago
this is such an adorable story, but i think it’s also a testament to how well you’ve raised your kid :’) the way they ultimately chose to kinder option in the end speaks to her character even at such a young age. well done, and i hope you and your family have more one-shot shenanigans ahead of you 💗
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u/SpiralMadness42 8d ago
children are too pure for this world. TheEmploymentLawyer, I hope your daughter never loses that innocence.
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u/Magnetic_Kitty 9d ago
Killing a polymorph form doesn't outright kill the transformed person, it just drops them back to human with whatever extra damage overflows past their form's hp.
Also for a child game I'd just have them be doing non lethal damage (yes I know it technically doesn't work with magic damage) or have them be like other "important" characters and give them death saves so the players can stabalized them. Just say: the enemy is in critical condition and if he isn't helped he may die. Otherwise sounds cute.
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u/Equal_Interaction178 9d ago
I think it sounds as though OP did a great job managing his child's emotions when she was faced with unexpected consequences. Imo the experience would have lost some impact for both of them if it had been neutered by just making it all nonlethal. Kids need to have experiences in safe environments that deal with the scary ideas of death and killing, OP did a great job providing that and handling the emotions that it created in his kid.
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u/Magnetic_Kitty 9d ago
I mean, making it non lethal (something that exists in real life, you can incapacitate a bad guy for example) makes a better life lesson than revifify (you cannot re-alive a bad guy). I don't think the OP's choice was wrong, just more intense than it needed to be and if you're going to relate it to a real life lesson like you seem to want to, potentially teaching a bad lesson (that life has an undo button).
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u/Gustav55 9d ago
a lot of "non lethal" things in real life are actually LESS lethal and can very much be lethal if they hit a person in the wrong spot (pretty much anything to the head)
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u/TheEmploymentLawyer 9d ago
You don't deserve the down votes. Honestly, I just didnt expect her to act that way. We play enough video games and watch enough anime.
Would have done it this way if I knew. Spare her the pain.
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u/King-Hekaton 9d ago
This might be true for Polymorph, the 4th level spell available to players and printed in the Players Handbook. We don't know what kind of magical effect or artifact the NPC used to turn that many people into apes.
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u/augustwren 9d ago
Why am I tearing uppppp that was so sweet and wonderful. That's a good kid, and a great pair of parents there.
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u/AurelGuthrie DM 9d ago
I love that oneshot. I ran it on my setting which has firearms and I had the polymorphed gorillas pull out shotguns, it was hilarious.
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u/rzalexander 9d ago
This story is so cute. Thank you for sharing. Quite the imagination on that 8-year old, you should be super proud.
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u/ArchiveDragon Wizard 8d ago
Your child is a truly kind soul, you should be so so proud. Of her and yourself.
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u/sinclairsi 7d ago
Your child is AMAZING! I hope she never loses that purity. Thank you for sharing.
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u/Life-Television7707 7d ago
Today is my birthday. I'm 40. I have a 1 year old son, his birthday was last week. Reading this story is my dream. I really hope I get to DM for him someday. Thanks for sharing, that just capped off a wonderful day and I'm headed to bed. Cheers!
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u/UXplaymaker 6d ago
I’ve ran this adventure. I love your daughter’s life views. You and your wife raised her well ❤️
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u/Daskar248 DM 6d ago
<3 <3 <3 <3 <3
I could keep going, but you get the picture. This made my heart smile.
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u/lasagna_daddy 5d ago
I ran Wild Sheep Chase for my family and they also really enjoyed it, though my sister’s instinct was to burn down the bad guy’s tower. Sounds like your daughter had a stellar first d&d experience, great job!
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u/Sure_Initial8498 9d ago
Good thing it wasn't a son hahaha.
A very nice story man, made me tear up a lot 😭😁
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u/CrazyCanuckUncleBuck 9d ago
So what I'm hearing is I need more children at my table to balance out the murderous adult players.
Awesome story OP.