Designing an RPG With Kids: The Character

Big Hat-Tip here to Geek Dad and the Geek Dad Book, where I saw a much more elaborate version of this idea that reminded me of the days back in high school when a segment of the population spent a huge amount of time playing Dungeons and Dragons and of my own love of game design and gaming.

At our house we’re designing an RPG or Role Play Game. The origin of this game was to add something on top of the Walk!Woof!Wag! cards, although in our case it has expanded well beyond that. But here’s how we got started.

The Character.

Each player gets to create a character, which is a very talented dog. You get to pick the breed and give it a name. Your dog has a class, which is Mystic (seeing-eye dog), Warrior (working dog), Minstrel (show dog) or Thief (stray dog).

My kids picked out their dog’s name, breed and class pretty quickly – my daughter’s is a Pomeranian Mystic, and my son’s is a German Shepherd Warrior.

Your dog has attributes to which you will apply your points. These are: Doghouse, Treats, Tricks, Toys, and Love, and a Bank for all-purpose points. Your dog wants to lead a balanced life, so you try to keep all the attributes pretty close in value.

The points will be used to “buy” things for your dog, which fall into all those categories. For example, a dog bed for the Doghouse, a special ability under Tricks (like maybe going invisible), and other fabulous things. You can also “bank” points to decide on later.

Here’s a free Character Sheet PDF to get started with. Next we’ll look at how you earn and spend points… and remember, this is a framework but you’re welcome to add your own ideas that work for you and your family and friends.