A lot of us running Dungeon Crawl Classics have been playing since its inception in 2012, and a few of us can even recall what gaming was like back in 1974. But some of our most fervent players were in kindergarten or preschool when DCC rolled out, and are only now coming of age as tabletop gamers. In preparation for this holiday season when family time is upon us, we spoke with Harley Stroh to see how he runs games for the next generation of reavers, cutthroats, warlocks, and heathen-slayers. Goodman Games: Tell us about your gaming group and how it got started. Harley Stroh: A few years back I started a local game with a friend and his boys. At the time the older boy was in sixth grade and his brother was a third grader. Word about the game got out, and we added a few more kids from school, and then another dad. That morphed into a monthly game held at the local library. Our current group is two fathers and as many as eight kids, schedules permitting. Ages range from 10 to 42. We’re now in our second year of running public DCC games at the library. GG: Did the players have any RPG experience before joining the group? HS: We have one player who runs a 5th ed game for his friends, and the dads played AD&D back in the day. Otherwise, this was everyone’s first tabletop RPG. Fortunately, the character tropes of D&D are so ubiquitous in video games that D&D-like RPGs are second nature to them. You don’t have to spend a lot of time explaining the strengths and weaknesses of the wizard, how to play a thief, or why the warrior has the most hit points. GG: So why run games for kids? HS: It’s partly selfish: I’ve seldom been as surprised by players as when I’m running for kids. They’re not constrained by what a “D&D” game should be like, so they come up with insanely creative (and often improbable) solutions to challenges. Judging is most fun when the players keep us on our toes, and that is never more true than when gaming with kids. The more important piece is the experience of freedom that RPGs have to offer. A contradiction of modern parenting is that we express love...