Yesterday, as this piece makes its way into the world, I presided over the final session of the initial Dungeons & Dragons for middle schoolers program at my local library. (It’s discussed here, here, here, and here.) In it, the party sought to make its way back to Hanlon, its objective achieved; they were sidetracked by player actions and the will of the dice into an unexpected, ultimately successful encounter. I also, in fact, put into practice my player-commendation bit that I remarked upon last week. Even if things do not resume–much as I hope they will, I cannot rely upon it–I’m glad to have done it; I like to set good expectations with my players, even when they are not so young as the kids with whom I worked these past weeks, and I think it’s important to ground children well.

There are, of course, things I would do differently if I had them to do again. With a bunch of newer players–and most of those at the table were, in fact, brand new to tabletop roleplaying games–I think it might be good to have a more overt authority in the game with them, something of a mentor figure who can, within the context of the game, offer some guidance. I am aware of the perils of the GMPC, to be sure; I’ve seen it go badly and have been guilty of making such a thing happen. But with a markedly novice group, I think it might be a good idea to have, nonetheless.

I think, also, I would try to work in more non-combat encounters and mechanics. I know, with a bunch of kids, that “getting to the good stuff” is a concern. I also know that combat can drag easily, especially if one or more of the opponents actually thinks through the fight (and if one or more of the PCs gets annoyed at the antics of another and vents their spleen). Perhaps a puzzle or two, going back to the old dungeon-delving model, might work.

Some things went well, though. Having the new players address the non-mechanical stuff is almost always to the good, and my players leaned into it even without much in the way of overt background knowledge; I’ll be doing that again, to be sure. Too, going ahead and rolling with them for (most of) their shenanigans resulted in laughter around the table, and since a large part of the reason to play any game is to have fun, things that promote such laughter are to be encouraged. And, finally, I think bringing together people from different experiences was good for everybody involved; if I can, I’ll do that much again.

In all, it was a good experience. I needed the practice in running a game at a table, and I’m glad to have helped some new gamers begin to get grounded in the hobby. After all, the children are the future, and I’d like to keep having one of rolling dice and telling lies…

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