Sunday, 30 October 2011
Females and Daughters
My daughter picked up my WFRP 2e core rulebook two days ago and wounded me.
"There's nothing cool in this book," she says.
On the surface that hurts. Deeper though, knowing my daughter--nigh 11 years old--I might not hurt so badly. It's not that there was nothing cool in the book... it was there were no pretty girls in the book. Pretty === cool.
Yet it brings up something that I struggle with often, making my distraction appealing to both my daughter and my wife. My wife likes to tease me about "the game I play" where a fictional "maiden in the woods" takes a central role. But my daughter expresses interest. Not just in whether there are princesses--or a maiden in the woods--only more of a what is the story interest. This is the bond we have: stories. Not necessarily the grim and perilous kind, but the fantastic kind.
It is a seed.
How to nurture it?
I'm looking at the Pathfinder Core Rule Book. You read that correctly.
Two reasons, 1) the WFRP setting is not the demographic of the 11 year old female and 2) the high fantasy world of Golarion and colorful art of Pathfinder (D&D 3.75) might be in the right demographic--not to mention I'm not going to nurture a 4e player.
This development only strengthens my resolve to both complete my WFRP Starter Character Sheets and actually buy the Pathfinder Core Rulebook (having the PDF is not tactile enough; moreover while my daughter has long mastered the MacBook trackpad, most PDFs would bore her in form not necessarily content).
Interesting times. How do you foster younger players already familiar with XBox, Wii, and PS3? Especially how do you capture and hold those that would inherit your interests or hobby?
"There's nothing cool in this book," she says.
On the surface that hurts. Deeper though, knowing my daughter--nigh 11 years old--I might not hurt so badly. It's not that there was nothing cool in the book... it was there were no pretty girls in the book. Pretty === cool.
Yet it brings up something that I struggle with often, making my distraction appealing to both my daughter and my wife. My wife likes to tease me about "the game I play" where a fictional "maiden in the woods" takes a central role. But my daughter expresses interest. Not just in whether there are princesses--or a maiden in the woods--only more of a what is the story interest. This is the bond we have: stories. Not necessarily the grim and perilous kind, but the fantastic kind.
It is a seed.
How to nurture it?
I'm looking at the Pathfinder Core Rule Book. You read that correctly.
Two reasons, 1) the WFRP setting is not the demographic of the 11 year old female and 2) the high fantasy world of Golarion and colorful art of Pathfinder (D&D 3.75) might be in the right demographic--not to mention I'm not going to nurture a 4e player.
This development only strengthens my resolve to both complete my WFRP Starter Character Sheets and actually buy the Pathfinder Core Rulebook (having the PDF is not tactile enough; moreover while my daughter has long mastered the MacBook trackpad, most PDFs would bore her in form not necessarily content).
Interesting times. How do you foster younger players already familiar with XBox, Wii, and PS3? Especially how do you capture and hold those that would inherit your interests or hobby?
Posted by at 1:49 AM in d10
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Comment: at Wed, 2 Nov 7:23 PM
If your goal is to get your 11-year-old daughter interested, it might be smart to check out the Pathfinder Beginner Box, which just released last week. We designed that version specifically to be easier for younger gamers to get into, and it is filled with color art and lots of neat tactile pieces.
Good luck!
--Erik
Comment: at Thu, 29 Dec 5:29 PM
@Erik... wow. A real honor. :) Thanks for reading.
And yes, I bought the PFBB last month. Still in the shrink wrap. My daughter and I will open it together.
@Magnus, good link!
I found this link a while ago, DND for 8 year olds. Maybe it's too young a target group for your daughter to relate to, but it might be worth a look.
http://jamesstowe.blogspot.com/2011/09/dnd-for-8-year-olds.html
Cheers!
/m