This morning, my daughter and I finally sat down to play a little D&D! I’m playing this very loose— I rewrote the attributes to use words she was more comfortable with and, maybe, a bit more representative of what they mean and how we’ll use them:
- Strength (stays the same)
- Dexterity became Quick
- Constitution became Tough
- Intelligence became Learning
- Wisdom became Wits
- Charisma became Personality
She created a rather grand backstory but she accepted easily that her character, Olimpia Casconova, is living very humbly. Her dream is to be a hero but her now is boarding with a kind fisherman in the town of Dragons Cove.
Her family has a very storied past. It is, in fact, her ancestor, who gave the town its name by defeating the dragon who once dwelt here. More recently, her mother is half-fairy, half-witch (I’ll need to figure out what that means!)
All the names, including the NPCs, were her creations. She named them as we went along.
Having established her character’s details, I asked my daughter what her PC wanted to do. I guided her by prompting about what Olimpia might do to start down the road towards her dream of being a hero. She decided heroes ought to stop bad people. Therefore, Olimpia would be a bounty hunter!
Olimpia talked with Mayor Matthew McCluts and was given her first job: Henry Hutchins, a local farmer, has had some of his chickens go missing. He fears it isn’t the predations of an ordinary animal. She agrees to go help the farmer.
She arrives at the farm and questions the farmer. My daughter asked a lot of good questions. Did the farmer have any enemies? Did the farmer know anyone who loved eggs? When did the thefts happen? Did he see anything or anyone? Were there any clues? There was only a trail leading into the dark woods that bordered the humble farmstead so off she went.
At the border of the wood, she heard moaning noises but she was undeterred. A bit further in, she heard some noises and discovered a makeshift set of wind chimes hanging from a tree branch. She then picked up a stick and threw it ahead of her on the trail and set off a snare trap ahead of her.
Olimpia descended into a narrow glen. On the far side, there were some caves that cut into the slope. From one of them she saw a shadow moving. She heard more moaning and banging sounds, like someone or something striking rocks together.
She used the trees for cover and then made a final dash towards the cave with her axe held high, ready to strike! An old disheveled man quailed before her and begged her to hold! The chicken bones on the floor of the cave revealed him to be the thief she sought!
Olimpia told the man, whose name was Artemis the Great, that she had to take him to town but she promised he wouldn’t get in trouble and even offered to share some of her reward money so he could get some food. He made a counter-offer: he knew who she was and who her family was— if she let him go, he would give her something of her family, something valuable.
My daughter was wary (she said she felt that he might be a bad guy) but, ultimately, she took his offer. He gave her a pendant that showed the symbol of her family. My daughter drew it (see the photo). She asked several times if they would meet again but Artemis was vague and didn’t promise anything.
Olimpia Went back to town, first talking to the farmer, who gave her a humble reward, and then the mayor. They both expressed shock when she mentioned the name, Artemis the Great. Wasn’t that a once great wizard? They were sure that it was, at least the name. We ended the session there.
My daughter was sad to stop there but I didn’t want to go over=long for a first session and I need to think about what to do. She said she had a great time but the proof will be how easy or hard it is to get a second session. That said, it was fun to game with her and I hope there will be plenty more adventures to come! 
