Recently, my four year old daughter has been showing interest in the "rolling dice game" her father and mother play. I briefly considered using an extremely simplified Hero system, but I couldn't pare it down enough for the pre-literate crowd. I decided dice pools were easier to comprehend and also had the benefit of using manipulatives (dice).
To that end, I wrote up a rough draft of a pre-literate RPG. I'd like some feedback. Keep in mind, I want to make this as simple as possible. Complications can be introduced as time goes on. I have also included a character sheet.
RPG for pre-literate children.
TRAITS
All characters have three traits:
STRONG
This is for things like breaking or lifting objects or overcoming physical difficulties. It can be used in fighting monsters, opening doors, climbing a rope, etc.
FAST
This is how fast your character can run, but also how good they are at something physical. If they want to hit something with an arrow or walk a tightrope, this is the trait to use. IT is also how fast you can move, if using miniatures.
SMART
This is how intelligent you character is. It can be used to figure out problems, convince other people to act how you want them to act, to invent things or to fix things.
The player gets ten dice to design their character. They get to decide how many dice to assign to each trait. Thus if a child wants a strong hero, they could give 4 or five dice to that trait. No trait may have fewer than 2 dice.
DIFFICULTIES
An RPG is basically overcoming a string of difficulties. You could be trying to convince a King to help you against bandits, you could be facing a dragon, or trying to get out of a maze. Some of these things are more difficult than others, so the person running the game decides how difficult they are.
To overcome a difficulty, the game master tells the player whether it is a Strong Difficulty, a Fast Difficulty or a Smart Difficulty. The player then rolls one die for every point in the matching trait. Difficulties range from:
2 Simple
3 Very Easy
4 Easy
5 Hard
6 Very Hard
for tasks more difficult than "Very Hard" (say, lifting an elephant), multiple sixes may be required.
After rolling the dice, the player looks to see if they rolled the difficulty level or higher on any of the dice. If they have done so, they succeed in the task. If not, they have failed. Generally, failure means they may try again another way.
Example:
The character tries to get through a locked door. The game master says that the door is very strong and heavy, and would be Very Hard to open. The character has three dice of strong and rolls 2-3-3. None of these is a six or higher, so the door does not budge. They then decide to pick the lock. The lock is Hard to pick, but not Very Hard. So they need to roll a 5 or higher on any of the dice. They roll a 1-3-6. The "6" give them a success and the door opens.
A good gamemaster should try to make difficulties that can be solved in more than one way.
FIGHTING
Combat is part of many stories. Characters fight giants, dragons, bandits or monsters. If combat is part of a story, the game master should work out the opponent by designing them as if they were a character. Weak opponents should be built on 4-7 dice, strong oppononets should be built on 8-11. Very dangerous opponents should be built on more.
To defeat an opponent, a player should decide whether they are trying to out-Strong them (with swords or wrestling), out-Fast them (by running away or using arrows or guns), or out Smart them (by convincing them to give up, or to distract them).
Once they have decided how they will fight, each character rolls their dice, one at a time. The higher die steals the lower die (ties are won by player characters. They are the heroes after all). Once one character has stolen all the dice of another, the fight is over.
Fights should be as non-gory as possible. A player character never dies, though they could be captured or knocked out as a result of losing.
WEAPONS AND TOOLS
A fighter with a sword is more effective than one without. It is easier to climb a mountain with rope and grappling hook than without. Tools give you bonus dice for the appropirate action. A rope could give an extra 2 dice to climb a wall. A knife could give an extra die in a fight. Going to the library could give you extra dice to solve a problem.
Characters should be allowed to carry their favorite equipment with them. If a player can think of some reasonable tool to acquire or action to perform, they should be rewarded with bonus dice for the difficulty. Help the child come up with innovative ways to get those extra dice. Special equipment ( a magic sword or a flying carpet) could be given out on index cards with a picture of the item and a big number nearby to remind the child of the bonus.
Keith "indulgent father" Curtis
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I think it was episode 41. Sorry to be so vague. 
Originally Posted by Cancer
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