Any advice for making a child player character in tabletop?
Roleplay? How to make them still useful to the party? Is this even a good idea in the first place?
Bad idea, but at least make them useful as PCs.
Uses *WEAPON* to make up for being small.
Knows *TRICK* that gets party out of trouble
Just fill in those two and you are good.
>>46303698
Child caster is an obvious one, back story up for debate but prodigy son of recently murdered head wizard is an option. Kids can also be fantastic thieves/sneaks/bluffers if you make them a rogue type. No direct combat roles is preferable, cause a massive orc/demon/troll/teenager will kick your ass.
Think why a child would even be going on this adventure. Maybe take some cues from other stories. Be creative, yo.
Child characters can be brilliant to play, especially if you play them either naive, "Why is that orc bending over that elf, Ms. Cleric?" or incredibly cynical, like "Paladin you're a fucking child with your pathetic ideals, let me show you the true horrors of this world" level of bitter.
Children can be practically anything if you're not looking to Magical Realm it up. If you're looking for a place in the Realm, either truthfully, ironically, or with a goal of sabotage, fucking ham that childlike innocence up to 11.
Also, kids can be fucking insane as well and be interesting/terrifying to encounter.
I could go on for days with little quips of ideas for you to steal and flesh out. Thus, being a child PC can't be all that bad of an idea.
Unless you're an anime character. Then everything is absolutely bonkers.
>>46303698
>Is this even a good idea in the first place?
No. Even if the character is useful to the party, bringing kids on an adventure is effectively the same as using child soldiers. If the party does it, they're evil.
Character age alone won't fuck up your roleplaying experience, it's shitty players and shitty GMs
If you are confident you can pull it off, then why the fuck not? Just be wary it may suck ass if you yourself suck ass
I could see some nice roleplay with parental figures. The child could resent the father/mother and hence why they are in the party to spite them. Could make an older member of the party their adopted parent/de facto grandparents and someone they look up to
>>46303698
his persona was outclassed in every way cept for hamoan by the boxer kid whos name eludes me right now. Still better then stupei though.
>>46303698
NPCs will treat you as a child. Your party will (read: ought to) treat you like a child. You will be less strong, tall, etc than a normal adult, so just about everything physical will be harder.
Unless you have a particularly compelling excuse, you probably should not play as a child.
>>46304847
It might not fuck up your roleplaying experience, but it's sure as shit going to fuck up the rest of the table's. You're forcing everyone else to invent IC reasons why their character would be okay leading a child into incredibly dangerous, potentially deadly situations. You're forcing the table to bend their own characters out of shape to allow your concept, which is pretty shitty.
>>46304953
I guess that would depend on the situation, and yeah I agree that unless there's a good reason, it shouldn't happen
But that goes for all types of characters, why would they work with anyone? Why would a child be specifically annoying compared to a monster-race or succubus?
I once ran a game where after finishing up a major story arc, a player had to sacrifice their ranger-type character in the final climax. The next campaign we saw him play as his daughter, which, contrary to what most people may think, was pretty awesome and interesting, not as weird as most people make it out to be. The daughter became the next generation of ranger in the party, and was too young, but was made an exception by the party. In that case, it was pretty fun.
If you can justify it, I don't see why a child character would be specifically annoying, especially in fantasy or generally less realistic settings, where there's fucking magic and shit
>>46303698
Most GMs, from my experience, will let you take the same stats for the sake of convenience. Just play it straight and don't drag your boner into it (or just wank off prior to the session), like all other characters, and you'll be fine.
>>46304892
-4STR
>>46303698
>Does it fit in with the setting/game being run?
This is not a difficult question.
>>46304953
Just make it like one of those dogs that finds its master after being left 2000 miles from home.
>we drugged the little runt and left him in the city orphanage, then left immediately and did the best to cover our tracks and get as far away as possible
>3 days later, we walk into an inn looking for a place to spend the night
>he's waiting for us
Savage Worlds actually has this as an option.
You get far less points to spend on stats and skills, but until you grow up you get an extra luck point.
So yes, you can make a 13-year-old sniper that never misses thanks to sheer luck, or a child spellcaster.
>>46303698
It depends on the setting. If this is a low fantasy medieval setting, have them be noble born and be very clear about it so people of decent standing will respect your rank and giving you grief could cost them their heads.
>>46304816
You just insulted every single victim of warlords who use child soldiers.
Don't do it -that guy will molest you.
>>46304111
>child caster
>not child soldier
pleb
>>46303698
Unless it fits the fluff it's a terrible idea. If you are playing a undead/shape shifting X it might work, but it's still creepy, and i would give you major stat drawbacks for doing it (say bye bye to beaing the party face, or str). If you really have a need to play someone underage, polay a 15+ teen, it allows you to get into all the shenanagins while at the same time you could pass for a very unmanly 20 something year old if you play your cards right.
>>46303698
Don't strain credulity. If you're going to be a child, you should pick a power set that relies on raw power and gifts rather than skill. For example, a child cleric, sorcerer, or warlock in 5E - all of these are things that depend on factors outside of your character. Meanwhile, classes like fighter, monk, or wizard assume serious training, which you just wouldn't have. It also gives an excuse for why the party would travel with you - they want your patron or power, you're just part of the package.
Don't.
>>46306473
A dex based fighter would probably be fine for a child.
You can. It's just that in my games you'll have the following advantages and disadvantages.
Advantages:
>Cute
>+1 DEX
>Bonus to charisma checks to avoid punishment.
Disadvantages
>-4 STR
>-4 CON
>-4 INT
>-4 WIS
>50% EXP penalty
>Restricted level limits
>Restricted class options
>Move speed of 20
>Takes the disadvantages of small size with none of the advantages
>Will be ignored by NPCs
>Will be ignored by PCs
>>46306696
Okay. What other stats would you give to a prepubescent child with 0 life experience and lack of skills whatsoever?
>>46303698
>Roleplay? How to make them still useful to the party? Is this even a good idea in the first place?
Depends on the system. It's not as easy to pull off in D&D if you follow all the rules for aging and maturation.
>>46306707
Nothing. Because that kid isn't a PC.
By nature of being a PC, the kid must have skills and experience. Their class abilities rely on them having them. Perhaps they're blessed by a god, perhaps they've gone through some shit that even most adults haven't, perhaps they're magical prodigies. Whatever way, they aren't just your average bumfuck kids, same way adult PCs aren't just your average bumfuck peasants.
>>46303698
Honestly, I'd advise against it simply because there's a lot of stigma behind playing a child character, and also because so many people decide to play a child character and they basically end up the same as the rest of the party except on their sheets it says 10-12 or so. If you do play a child character, play it straight and actually think about how a kid would react in the situations the party finds themselves in. Odds are a twelve year old is going to be scared shitless by most of the stuff PCs fight, so what stops him from running away? What's his motivation, what principles does he have that makes the little shit stick it out even though he wants to run away and hide under his blanket? Besides that, make the character likeable. No one likes having to cart around some annoying little twerp, give him a personality and make him likeable, talk to the other players and think about some connections you can make between them so they and their characters have a reason to like them. Got an old man in the party that used to be a teacher? Maybe the kid grew up in the backwoods and doesn't know how to read, and the old man might decide to teach him. That's a connection to a party member, and that's how you go from dumb pointless child character to a memorable, fun character that the party's okay with having around.
(Cont.)
>>46306778
Still. Children don't belong as player characters in any tabletop game that isn't made for autistic weebs
>>46307135
And why not? I'll accept that it can be hard to pull off, but flat out bans are a bad idea.
>>46303698
Yeah
Pic related
>>46307132
>>46307155
Whoops, fucked up the copy+paste. Let me try that again.
I've only played two child characters before, but here's some personal examples of how to do child characters right.
>Monsters and Other Childish Things: 10 year old kid whose dad collects comics. He got into his dad's hobby and loves to watch Saturday morning cartoons on top of that. His monster was this cloak-looking monster that would wrap around him like a costume so he could become a super-hero. Loveable dork with a big heart that would make friends with the school's nerds and beat up bullies. Technically doesn't count though since the whole party was kids.
>Exalted 3e. Zenith caste kid, 11 years old, grew up on the streets with two dead parents and a hungry younger brother. Exalted after an uncontrolled wagon nearly ran over his brother and he jumped in the way, pushing his brother to safety while the wagon hit him instead. Exaltation kicked in, along with the Resistance charms, and he walked away unscathed. No combat skills (at first), Resistance supernal, and put max points into Presence and Integrity so he could be a decent face. Our Night Caste from Nexus took a shine to him due to mutual street rat-ness, and taught him how to defend himself with Snake Style. The Twilight decided to give him and his younger brother an education since neither of them had ever been to a school before. The Dawn lost his child in his backstory, so he sort of adopted him and became really protective of him, to the point where he actually beat an abyssal to death with his own arm after said abyssal knocked my character down to Incapacitated. Probably a perfect example of how to do a child character, since everyone in the party actually liked him IC and OOC.
Just some examples for you OP. TL;DR - Don't be creepy, actually give your character some character, and play him like an actual child rather than a baby-faced manlet and boom, you have a good child character.
>>46307149
Because of the following reasons
>Stigma against playing prepubescent children.
>Unrealistic (non-magic affected) idea of a child not running away and staying home when a beholder or owl bear attacks the party
>Kids just don't have any skills beside +2 to drawing on walls
>Kids have no physical means of assisting in a fight, unless major magic or traps are involved at every encounter.
>Kids are generally ignored by adults when mildly important things come up.
>Kids are generally seen as easy prey by literally everything so that character will not last long against a random encounter table.
>Kids get tired quickly and will probably Sleep half the time.
>>46307218
>Stigma against playing prepubescent children
Only autists actually care in my experience.
>Unrealistic (non-magic affected) idea of a child not running away and staying home when a beholder or owl bear attacks the party
>Kids just don't have any skills beside +2 to drawing on walls
>Kids have no physical means of assisting in a fight, unless major magic or traps are involved at every encounter.
>Kids are generally ignored by adults when mildly important things come up.
>Kids are generally seen as easy prey by literally everything so that character will not last long against a random encounter table.
>Kids get tired quickly and will probably Sleep half the time.
"It's unrealistic" is not a real argument. First of all, RPGs generally occur in a world in which every PC can achieve feats impossible for regular humans, even without using magic. Nothing says a kid can't either. Secondly, see what I said before about how ordinary kids, much like ordinary adults, aren't PCs.
>>46306616
I'd take that template and power-game my way into still being useful, just to spite you. If you don't want someone to play a concept, just say so. Don't do this faggoty passive-aggressive shit or I'm going to run with it just to see you fume when the character isn't absolutely useless.
>>46304816
What's wrong with child soldiers?
>>46304111
>No direct combat roles is preferable, cause a massive orc/demon/troll/teenager will kick your ass.
depends on the tone of the game, it's not much different from playing a gnome/halfling fighter (except for the lack of experience, but that would apply to casters/rogues too). in the D&D cartoon the youngest character was a barbarian.
>>46303698
In the medieval era, 12 was considered the point where you should have adult responsibilities. Adolescence is a modern concept. So just take that to heart.
>>46307262
>Only autists actually care in my experience.
Only autists actually try to play as tiny children in my experience.
>>46306616
>>46307306
Well with my dex bonus and the fact I'm ignored by everyone I could make a pretty good thief. There I found a way to make this crappy ruleset usable. It just seems like there is way too many negatives that don't make sense, also why the hell do I not get the bonuses for small size?
>>46307698
Even then they generally have a more acceptable level of autism than the guys who cry about it in most cases.
>>46307726
Because passive-aggressive autist GMs that are too beta to say "You can't do that" and so instead just say that you can but then punish you for it, that's why.
>>46303698
There are tons of rules and tons of examples in fiction. What is your problem?
>>46307726
No no anon, that's not how you do it. If your GM wants to be a passive-aggressive fuckwit, you go Juju Oracle and max out Charisma. Boom, now I have a gorrillion skeletons and the fact I'm behind on XP no longer matters because fuck you, Action Economy. Plus, he can't really restrict oracle because oracle is like sorcerer, in that it's innate and requires no training.
>>46304111
That's a pretty good writeup.
The big problem with child characters in a lot of systems, though, is that you usually get pretty massive penalties to everything. That makes perfect sense: children are far weaker than adults physically, and usually aren't as good mentally either (although some kids can be very smart for their age). However from a gameplay purpose a player who want to play a child for roleplaying reasons ends up being mechnically a big burden for the rest of the players.
The best solution I've heard for that would be to give child character a negative level adjustment (or equivalent), ie. you count as being lower level than you actually are when determining how much xp you need to reach next level. That way while characters would still have far worse stats, you'd have some mechanic to compensate for it (like regular LA exists to make races with higher than normal stats balanced with standard races by making them level slower), making it less of a pure "shoot yourself in the foot for RP reasons" option.
I kind of want to play a child warlock now. A warlock's magic comes from their patron, so there needs to be no correlation between the caharcter's age and their ability (while a wizard needs to spend a long time studying to learn how to casr spells, a warlocks just has some powerful entity on speed-dial), and I think it could be a fun concept. Like a child of a wizard who one day finds some old book in their father's library and makes a deal with the nice man with the big horns to become a great spellcaster like their dad, or a child whose imaginary friend turns out to be an actual fairy creature who befriended with her.
