#tweenttrpg

[openstorygames]

If you've never played a TTRPG with tweens, you're missing out.

These kids are clever and creative and funny (sometimes in unintentional ways).

They're old enough to grasp complex rules but young enough to not care enough to be rules lawyers (mostly).

They still believe that adventure is just around the corner in their real lives. They love the freedom of making their own choices in a game, but they're still learning how to be a team player.

They break out in song randomly. Or start wrestling each other irl.

They latch onto details you didn't think mattered—and in their own way, that adult groups don't.

They'll make silly and immature decisions because they are silly and immature, in the best way, just like they should be!

They're willing to take risks that adult players often avoid, and when the GM rewards those risks, they are so wonderfully proud of themselves.

They don't mind consequences for bad choices, provided you make it fun.

They speak up when they don't like something (including consequences for bad choices), and they're creative collaborators to find a better a solution.

But most of all, tweens deserve a place where an adult treats them like they're a little more grown-up than they are. Where it's safe for them to try new things (even things like swearing under their breath) without being immediately corrected or squeezed into a box that doesn't feel quite right.

They deserve the chance to discover what it means to be people who care about others, who feel compassion, who recognize dignity in creatures not like themselves (whether that's smelly boys or giggling girls or a geriatric robot who stutters).

They deserve space to practice being human. And TTRPGs can be a beautiful way to give them that space.

Tweens are incredible, creative, valuable humans. Playing TTRPGs with them will make you better, more willing to laugh at yourself, and more aware of the brilliance within those kids you only thought you knew before.