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If you want to get your little ones into d&d, drop everything. This is where to start. Animal Adventures uses the 5e rule set, but has been amazingly simplified and streamlined for kids. They have the 6 main stats, and it all feels very d&d. Simply put, it is a full RPG campaign straight out of the box with maps, mini and story all ready to jump straight into.
Theme
This game is dripping theme, which is amazing for helping kids really fall into the campaign. The whole story is based on cats and dogs. But not just any old pets, no, full-blown, sword-wielding, spell casting four-legged friends. Complete with back stories and armour to suit. The art still feels like d&d even with the core audience being children, and the dm board is covered in images of the heroes. The screen is packed full of all the info you need, including enemy levels and attacks.
The base set comes with minis of all the heroes, which I must say are awesome and further bring the story to life. The pets are in full gear and really show their unique characters. In the box you also get a set of maps for each chapter in the story, the maps are full coloured and have an amazing grid to help with movement and attack. You also get a load of boss and enemy tokens. Each character comes with its own illustrated player sheet, each has everything laid out in an easy to read fashion. It's got your weapons, items and any spells you can use. The sheets are really eyecatching which massively helps when playing with young kids.
Story
The story follows a group of heroes trying to stop The Evil Doktor Krankensteen. The tyrant has been stealing cats and dogs for his experiments and it's your job to cut down his hoards of rat minions, and put a stop to his evil plans. On your journies you'll face off against vicious goblins, swarms of mutant rats, encounter huge hidden beast and the evil doktor himself. You will be exploring dark forests, creepy old mansions and ofcoarse the hidden laboratory.
This is a full RPG campaign made for beginners, it comes with a full story included in the box that helps the dm walk you through the story but also allows for little minds to really dip into them fantastical imaginations. There is tons of room for exploration and discovery throughout the story, which the kids I played with loved the freedom of.
Final Thoughts On Animal Adventures RPG
I played the full campaign with a group of children at our local forest school. They ranged in age from 7 to 12. It took around 5 weeks playing one chapter a week. None of the kids had any prior knowledge of d&d but picked it up so fast. It was an amazing experience to watch the wonders of children, to watch how their minds fully merged with the story and characters. I've played a fair amount of d&d myself , and I know adults can sometimes have reservations with regards to voices or large dramatic actions.
Well children don't, they were leaping around, barking, physically throwing spells. It shocked me some of the paths they chose and actions they wanted to do, most of them never crossed my mind. I remember in one part of the story, the heroes were surrounded but there was a balcony above them with no clear way of getting up. So the young boy asked if he could do a check roll and tie his rope onto his sword, then swing it up so they could get a better vantage point.
It was questions like this that were thrown at me throughout the whole campaign, and they just made me smile. It was so wonderful to see, no experience, the minds of children in full imagination mode. I think d&d on a whole should be introduced to young children as it is great for confidence, team work and imagination. I also noticed the 4 kids that played seem to have a stronger bond afterwards like they had been bonded in battle. The fact someone has made such an excellent streamlined version of d&d, that's full of adventure, dripping with theme and just makes getting into the hobby so easy and streamlined.
I personally really enjoyed the story, and the kids wanted more when it ended which is always a good sign. Playing through this story with the kids was one of my favourite gaming experiences and I'd recommend grabbing this box, getting your kids together and jumping straight in.
