D&D and my 7 year old nephew

April 12, 2020 8:43 PM

My 7 year old nephew (in whose house I am currently living) reeeeeeeeeally wants to read the Dungeons & Dragons Player Handbook. He has the reading skills (can read The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion on his own). Is there anything in there that might be inappropriate for a seven year old? Inappropriate in this case means sex and drugs more than anything else. Fantasy violence is okay (otherwise there’d be no point, right?).
posted by ocherdraco to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (9 answers total)

No, there is zero sex or drugs in the players handbook.
posted by lollusc at 8:53 PM on April 12, 2020 [5 favorites]

There is mention of demons and devils (in a very fantasy sense), in case he's from a family that worries about that.
posted by lollusc at 8:54 PM on April 12, 2020

The most recent PHB is totally acceptable for a child who has read Tolkien, in my opinion. The art has been skewing toward more equitable in rep for fem-presenting humanoids (specifically less sexualized) and there’s no discussion of drugs or sexually charged situations at all—they’ve even cleaned up the half elf and orc sections of rape, instead using language of “marriage alliances” which was a nice surprise.
posted by zinful at 8:55 PM on April 12, 2020 [3 favorites]

You're in the clear.
It's not exactly the official PHB, but this is how D&D manuals usually read.
They'll be lost for days in reading up on the nuances between gnome and halfling, wizard and sorceror. PHBS are meant to give some storytelling prompts, and the technical rules, so the content is really just a framework of lore to build on.
Clean stuff.
posted by bartleby at 9:48 PM on April 12, 2020 [2 favorites]

The basic edition of the player's handbook is a free download from the official website. It is literally compiled from excerpts from the full book and covers all of the rules and about a third of the character options. It lacks the full colour art, a ton of character content, and some other bits and pieces.

Why not give it a read so you know what your nephew will be getting? The printed book is just more of the same, so you will have a good handle on exactly what he will be consuming.
posted by forbiddencabinet at 9:57 PM on April 12, 2020 [1 favorite]

Have you seen the Young Adventurers Guides? Its four books (Warriors & Weapons, Monsters & Creatures, Dungeons & Tombs, and Wizards & Sells) aimed directly at that age range.
posted by anastasiav at 10:04 PM on April 12, 2020 [3 favorites]

If by drugs you mean the use of things like potions & poisons then yes their is drug use. There is is no more sex in it than would be in the Lord of the Rings. If I knew a 7 year old that had read those books I'd let him read the Players Handbook without a second thought.
posted by wwax at 6:18 AM on April 13, 2020

Response by poster: Thanks! This is exactly the guidance I was looking for!
posted by ocherdraco at 9:25 AM on April 13, 2020 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: We have graduated to full on obsession. We're doing a little D&D every day: some days just character creation, some days one on one battles with a monster or two, and proper adventuring on the weekend when my brother in law can participate in the party. The 5 year old joins in then, too, and is playing a level-flexible multiclass fighter/spellcaster* called Pete the Dwarf Boy (it delights me that he named his character in this way).

*aka "I get some weapons and some spells, and daddy and Aunt Margaret will help me."
posted by ocherdraco at 12:44 PM on April 27, 2020 [2 favorites]