Trying Out 5th Edition Dungeons and... Ponies? #1

Like every other woman in America, my wife normally hits a Zumba class twice a week.  Recently, she's been taking one of the kids with her, since they demand to go to "Mommy's Dance Class."  That leaves me at home with the other, and I've done my best to spend some 1-on-1 time with them, whether we're painting, playing outside, watching TV...

Or trying out the D&D Starter Set.

With Maja home on Tuesday, I broke out the giant pad of engineering graph paper, color-coded the stats on a a character, and did the next obvious step.

I asked Maja to bring down her box of My Little Ponies.   Unless I had Oz figures, she would be indifferent with them.  And after going over all the "pluses and minuses" of Daddy's new game with her over the weekend, we both realized the stats for the pre-gen wizard in the starter set were perfect for Twilight Sparkle.

Not wishing to start using spells and special abilities out the gate with a five-year old, I took out Apple Jack and ran a smaller version of the first scenario in the set to get our feet wet. 

For some reason, Princess Cadence and Twilight Sparkle were to escort a pony wagon full of gifts for the festival in Canterlot.  Apple Jack was travelling an hour or two behind them and found Twilight Sparkle motionless on the road.  As she rushed over to her friend, she could hear rustling in the surrounding woods.

Finally, two goblins emerged from the woods and attacked!  Despite overwhelming odds (and a critical hit), Apple Jack managed to scare the two goblins off, revive her friend, and find Spike the Dragon, who was hiding in the woods.  Next time:  Time to find Princess Cadence and all the festival gifts!

Apple Jack chased of the one goblin, and turns her attention to the leader

Fun was had by all.  I used the cleric pre-gen for Apple Jack's stats, but the goblins scoffed at her Armor Class 18 with some phenomenal rolls.  Dear old Dad did fudge one roll to keep her from hitting 0 (the goblins did have pistols, I should have made them 4-shot and following crossbow rules from the start.  They were goblin marksmen)

By and by, it felt like D&D in 1st-3rd Edition. I was raised in the high AC = bad generation, but for a five year old it was much easier.  Ability checks, skill checks, and passive versus active skill checks all worked great. 

For the next game,  I'm hoping to throw in Millie and dear old Mom to play in the next encounter.  Maja will get to play Twilight Sparkles, and I'll have index cards with the name of the spells and a little picture to help her along.