Recipe:
- Burn the corners off of one sheet of paper with a lighter. I used A4, but I’m sure US Letter works too.
- Crumple it some and then straighten it out.
- Make some black coffee, any temperature and pour it into something that can fit the paper laying flat
- Bathe the paper until properly stained (or to taste, I guess)
- Roast the paper on 100 degrees C for 30 minutes with the convector fan running
The result is a perfect “treasure map” for use as a D&D prop during tonight’s session with my kids.
That’s really fun!
Can I ask how old the kids are, and how many are playing? I’ve tried with mine for a while, but it’s been difficult to keep them interested beyond session 0.
My brother got me the new Handbook, and I’m itching to get back into it.
9, 11, and 13. We’re playing D&D 3.5, as those are the books I have, and the ruleset I know the best.
I think the reason why it was so successful with mine is because I decided in advance that I wanted the first session to be action focused. No races, no classes, alignment, etc.
While they cleared the “tutorial dungeon”, they found some weapons that they could choose to use, and depending on what they chose, I used that to nudge them in a direction of a suitable class.
After the tutorial they did some traveling and “stumbled across” minor individual quests that lead them to NPCs that could teach them some stuff. Afterwards they became lvl 1 of their chosen class.
I’ve introduced all aspects that way, as I didn’t want to have them get bored in advance by reading more than playing. I just finished introducing them to arcane spells, and they’re now working with a cleric NPC for divine spells, after which dieties is a natural next step. Then comes alignments.
That’s fantastic! Great idea just jumping in and letting the gameplay decide their roles! My 11 year old seems interested. I better start getting at it before she outgrows me!