Find a D&D-esque Game Designed for Kids

I have zero experience with "real" D&D (or any tabletop RPG) but I like what little I know about it and have recently been more interested in playing. In addition, I wanted to get my own kids involved in the hopes that starting early would let them grow up playing something I missed out on at that age. Starting from scratch, I googled "D&D for kids" and found several options. Most of them seemed designed to give the feel without getting too involved in detailed mechanics. Not knowing where to start, I went with what was - for me - the very first result.

1. Monster Slayers: The Heroes of Hesiod

   • Designed for kids 6+
   • Contains all the rules for DM and players
   • PDF includes player tokens, map, character sheets, and monsters (also badges to hand out to the players if/when they win)
   • I took the time to cut out and "laminate" (with packing tape) all the pieces to keep them from being destroyed, but you could just reprint if you want to play again
   • Each PC has a little different setup but it's really 3 things to keep track of and I, as the DM, helped the kids remember when to roll and what it did

2. Monster Slayers: The Champions of the Elements

   • Made by the same person/group as the previous so the setup is much the same
   • Essentially a sequel to the previous in that the characters are the same but it's more developed with more intricate monsters, nicer map, etc.
   • If you play Heroes of Hesiod first, this one will be very familiar.

We played through both those "campaigns" in that order. For Heroes, I was the DM, my 7 & 5 year old were players, and my 3 year old helped me DM (they picked which player to attack next). To help it be a little more fair fight, I gave both players two characters to choose. We would pull out whichever character was next and they could read the sheet to know their options. For Champions, we invited over another 7 year old and their parent. This time, each player only got one character since we doubled our players.

At the start of the first game, nobody at the table had ever played any tabletop RPGs. By the end of the second game, the kids were drawing their own character sheets and adding ludicrously over-sized weapons to their depictions. I have all the pieces saved and will be playing both a few more times this summer until they get used to it and then we'll look for something more complicated.

This is all anecdotal so my experience will likely not translate into your experience. However, I was completely ignorant and able to get all the kids laughing in glee as they vanquished each monster. I hope you get the same experience.

Don't roll for plot

There are lots of quality answers on this post but I'm going to try to address an issue that you mention in several comments. You said:

I'm concerned my players might see through it when they inevitably have to do certain rolls around her due to her skills, such as her Charm.

I'll challenge the "inevitably" part of that statement. You are the DM, players dictate their actions and you decided on the outcome. Roll only if required.

You are correct that continually rolling deception and charm checks behind the screen will raise suspicion. Even non-genre-savvy players will notice if you start playing one NPC different from all the rest. Instead, set static DCs for insight and perception checks against her, probably DC25 or higher if you don't want her to get caught. If the players/characters try anything that might see through her disguise, let them roll against this. Never ask them for the roll, if they don't think to check her out then you have already succeeded.

Something I try to live by when running games is: Never roll if you aren't prepared for both outcomes. This means that if your plot requires the players succeed at a certain point or it will ruin the whole session, they succeed, no roll required. It also means that when the NPC has to pass that stealth check to leave a foreboding note next to a sleeping PC, they succeed, don't bother rolling.

Hindsight is a natural 20

Do evil people constantly do large evil things? No, they do small everyday things that add up to an evil whole. A clever villain knows not to show their hand too early.

Craft your NPC such that no single action of their can be called into question on its own, but after the reveal the players can determine the clear path of evil actions. Some things you can try along this line:

• Help the PCs in combat, but once it's over feign a serious wound. Depriving the party of healing resources.
• Send the poor beggar boy off to a 'boarding school' at their expense. Post reveal they will realise this was code for slavery.
• In the lead up to the reveal, offer to enchant some weapon or item the party relies on. Savour the look on their face when the betrayed fighter reaches for his sword only to realise he willingly gave it up the night before.

Whatever you do you need to ensure that nothing the NPC does raises the eyebrows of your astute players. They are a master of hiding their true nature and their morals are beyond reproach. Szega's answer on playing her as almost two completely different NPC is great. The well-mannered noble could never be connected with the devious crime lord.

Personal Experience

I'm not going to reveal how I've done this as a DM as the campaign is ongoing and I don't one of my players stumbling onto it. However I have also played in a game with a great DM that did this well.

It was a game of Shadowrun and the NPC in question was our boss (quest giver) Abby Road. At the start of the campaign the GM needed to show that Abby was far stronger than us. He didn't even bother rolling for attack or defense, we couldn't hit her and she couldn't miss us. (I'm not suggesting this by the way but it made the point.)

Initially all our missions were for good beneficial things for both us and our crew. Retrieving supplies, stopping rival crews, freeing the innocent that sort of thing. As the campaign went on there were a few missions that seemed questionable, but we trusted Abby because she looked after us from the start. She had gotten us out of a few bad scraps before and would never hurt us.

Time went by and our missions became even more suspect, we were breaking into important peoples home to steal documents, planting false evidence and destroying weapon shipments. We assumed this was a building tension in the world rather than the advancing machinations of a nefarious villain.

I will admit that I was a little suspect of this seemingly benevolent leader, but I was the only one and some of it stemmed from a personal disagreement my between my character and her (she gave me a beatdown early on) rather than actually knowing she was dodgy.

Eventually at the end of the campaign we came to a confrontation against the leader of the city that she had secretly been plotting to bring down with our help. In the reveal I turned against her and my party as they took her side and it lead to an epic final session.

The point of this story is that using these techniques the party were so convinced she was on the right side that even when it became clear she wasn't they still sided with her.