I just cannot imagine my son playing with my group until he is a twenty something! The group I am in has an age range of 24 to 43, but elements of a sexual nature, and extreme violence sometimes come up in our stories. Its not that I would be afraid to expose my son to this stuff, its just that a certain level of maturity is required to deal with it so that the games does not de-rail.
As other posters have said its not the chrono age that matters in the end, but the individuals maturity level.

But what’s also (and possibly more) important than maturity, is that the group share a common ground. We have been lucky in that we have a common approach to gaming. Our ages are unimportant, but the fact that we all approach gaming the same way is. We all game for the same reasons, so when the game really comes together, we are all happy. That’s what has held us together all these years more than anything else. (Well, that and we totally rock!)

As for mature content, we have had sexual encounters within the game, but because of certain sensitivities, they have been toned down (I’m sure the 17-year-old hears worse at school). The group used to be pretty wild and woolly before a couple of members joined. Surprisingly, it wasn’t the 17-year-old who changed that; it was the 47-year-old, but probably because she is a woman. The guys had a hard time making rude comments around her, so the game became quieter on its own.

Sexual encounters can be handled tastefully. One of our major characters is falling in love (it was not intentionally added to the game; it just happened as a natural progression of who they were). I think because these have been meaningful (how I hate that term) encounters between adults, it doesn’t offend anyone. Even the one night stands that have happened between characters have been handled in a mature manner. I think we would have had a problem with the teenage sort of fantasy, but the way it developed in our game; it’s okay.

Immature “players of a certain age” may often know more than everyone else (or think they do), have more going for them than everyone else (or think they do), and get the point better than everyone else (or…think they do).

I never let a new player into my game (of any age) that I don’t know or that doesn’t come with recommendations from someone else I know. Immaturity in the game can spoil the effect we are looking for…the creation of a complex story in a complex world. Oh…and to have fun.

Finally, if the GM can’t make the story interesting to every age at the table, it won’t matter what the maturity levels of the players are; boring is boring. If the GM tells a good story, weaves an interesting adventure, and knows when to cast “silence” on certain players…everything will be fine.

“Recently on an official chat board for D&D minis I bemoaned that RPG related material is so often left out of the new manuals, such as the 3E MM V doesn’t even list anything like “number appearing” and none of the 3E books provide any of the info 2E devoted so much time to, like diet and habitat.”

This is because they realized that random encounters are dumb! (Don’t hit me, I’m teasing but you can’t see it!) There is a fair bit about diet and habitat in the monster entries in the new books, too, but you have to read the flavor text all the way through to get it. Stuff like the fact that Dragons are not just omnivorous, they can actually eat *anything*, like unrefined minerals and seawater and what-have-you.

Someone else mentioned that younger gamers tend to follow the experienced gamers’ lead: this is exactly what I *don’t* want to put up with in a game. I can’t *stand* players that go with the flow and constantly “me-too” the other players. (Some older players do this too and I find it incredibly annoying that they aren’t coming up with original things for their characters to do and they insist on “getting in on someone else’s action” all the time. Wow that was a run-on sentence.)

But, this is my own personality more than anything. If you have fun with the younger folks, please, please play with them. If you meet an overachieving RPer that doesn’t fit in your group because he/she is decisive and determined, send them my way!

We are all over the age of 20, but it just tends to work out better to avoid it. Some groups can go with those kind of themes easily, but making sure that everyone, young or old, is comfortable with the situations presented in a gaming session is something that is key to making sure everyone is having fun.

I also look back on my very early years of gaming. I remember visiting a somewhat older guy his game session and getting advice. I remember the hobby store owner who introduced me to Glen Blacow who patiently talked to me about gaming (and one time, the hobby store owner even paid me a couple bucks to watch the store for a few minutes while he ran an errand).

Later, at the urging of one of my friends older friends, I went to a game convention at MIT. This friend was enthusiastically recruiting players, mostly college kids (I was a Sophmore or Junior in high school at the time). By the time we started, I had 16 players. It was a great session, and after it, two of the players complimented me on how well I ran the game. A month or two later I started attending the MIT game club, where I came into contact with Glen even more. I occaisionally played in Glen’s games, and Glen played in my game a few times (and enthusiatically wrote up at least one session in the Wild Hunt APA).

Mostly what I have seen in age difference is not game related but general socialization. Sure, some young players (and some older players) might be immature in their play, but by and large, I’ve seen younger players rise to the standards set by my game.

As far as connecting on non-game interests, I’ve found that to be not as much a problem as one might imagine. The likelyhood is that you do have things in common. Music is a lot less ageless than we might think. So are movies. And books. I probably share less interest in books, movies, and music with my fiance than I did with that 11 year old…

On subject matter: I never really felt constrained to limit my subject matter. The reality is that kids today are plenty exposed to more violent depictions than almost anything we do in game, leaving sexuality. But sexuality is so touchy even among peers that I don’t see that as an age constraint (and for what it’s worth, the mother of the 11 year old told me she would be comfortable with his exposure to any sexual themes she would be comfortable with for herself [she played in the game also, though not as often]).

Frank