Hero Kids: The Game

Hero Kids is a ENnie award-winning fantasy RPG for kids aged from 4 to 10.   This game offers a fast and fun introduction to RPGs, perfect for younger kids who are just getting interested in role-playing games.   The game is for sale as a downloadable print and play PDF from DriveThruRPG.


•  Develop your kids' imagination and skills
•  Simple mechanics using only six-sided dice
•  Beautiful presentation, with fully illustrated heroes, monsters, and maps
•  10 heroes, including boys and girls
•  Challenge kids with combat and exploration
•  Playtime from 30-60 minutes
•  Includes a full introductory adventure, Basement O Rats, with more adventures available

Hero Kids has a simple combat and adventuring system which avoids the complex math of full-blown systems.   Hero Kids' opposed dice pool system also keeps the players involved in the game even when it's not their turn.

The combat and adventuring mechanics in Hero Kids are based on six-sided dice, so you don't need to find any unusual dice to play!


The core game comes in a 53-page PDF and includes all of the rules and play instructions, as well as 10 heroes for the kids to play, plus a set of 8 basic monsters (and all of the separate adventures come with additional monsters).   The game includes male and female heroes, including Warriors, Hunters, and Warlocks as well as unique heroes like the Rogue, Brute, Healer, and Knight.   All of the heroes and monsters also come with printable stand-up minis to use in combat encounters.

Additionally, the basic game includes the 19-page introductory adventure 'Basement O Rats', which comes with an extra monster and five illustrated printable encounter maps.   Can the kids rescue their friend Roger from the unusually large rats that have overrun the tavern basement?

Hero Kids has undergone and extensive development and playtesting to ensure the game is as simple, addictive, and engaging as possible.   But don't believe me, listen to the actual players:

"The game was great, we were off and playing within a few minutes of reading the rules!"

43 comments:

  1. Is the version on RPGKIDS version 2.0? I have a friend whose kids dont play anymore so he gave me his old rules which I believe were version 1. I would like to be up to date when I start playing with my kiddos

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    1. Yes 2.1 is the latest version of the core rules. The recent changes/differences from v1.0 are:
      • Updated Monster cards from Monster Compendium
      • Added Role-Playing section.
      • Added more monsters (new redesigned pirates).
      • Updated layout of Hero and Monster cards and stand-ups.
      • Renamed adventuring ‘obstacles’ to ‘obstructions’.
      • Added Knocked Down to glossary.
      • Added Advanced Combat section.
      • Updated Skills to include dark vision.
      • Updated Ability Test Examples for clarity.
      • Added Equipment and Items section.
      • Updated hero cards to improve consistency.
      • Changed Engaged to include targeted by an attack or with another adjacent enemy.

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  2. And drivethrurpg has the most recent copy?

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  3. Yep, DriveThruRPG always has the latest version. And the best way to get Hero Kids is to buy the PDF bundle, which is amazing value:
    https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/115827/Hero-Kids--Complete-Fantasy-PDF-Bundle-BUNDLE

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  4. I will be sure to head over now and by the newest version. I've already bought several individual items for my collection. I spent many years playing G.U.R.P S. And Savage Worlds rule sets. And am now personally breaking into the world of D&D. I have a 2 and a half year old and a 9 year old. My eldest has shown interest in the D&D rulebook. So I started looking around to see if their were rule sets for kids. And low and behold I found your stuff. Thank you so much for everything you have done. You've done a great service to RPG parents everywhere.

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  5. Is there a hard copy of everything or do I just have to buy the files and print it to make it book like.

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  6. I want to buy all the hard and soft copy books that u have and then all the file ones to laminate and make book like

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  7. Hey, Hero Kids is mainly available in PDF, because many of the materials are best used printed out. There are three print books, the Core Rules, the Adventure Compendium, and the Monster Compendium:
    https://herokidsrpg.blogspot.com/2017/06/hero-kids-fantasy-adventure-compendium.html

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  8. Are there spell cards? something similar to the equipment cards. I played a game with my 4 year old daughter and used some old Heroquest spell cards, which were easier for her understand.

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    1. Hi Chris, I'm working on a character development expansion that incorporates additional action cards:
      https://herokidsrpg.blogspot.com/2019/03/character-development-in-hero-kids.html

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  9. Hi!
    Is there some "demo" mission with demo hero, so I can test it with my son and wife before actually buying?
    Thank you!

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  10. There is no demo of Hero Kids, but you can find plenty of examples on YouTube or check out the reviews.

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    1. Is there a European based company to buy them from?

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  11. Justin, thank you so much for creating this system; it is exactly what I was looking for to get my son into tabletop RPGs. And the price for what we get is mind boggling. I’m so excited to get the intro adventure printed so we can play! I bought the bundle so we should have plenty of adventures to keep us busy (I also plan to write some adventures of my own).

    I noticed in a video you posted recently that you had color copies of the rule book, Adventure book, and minis. Is this something you plan to have available at any time?

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    1. The rule books in the video are the normal ones available from DriveThruRPG. The covers are full color, but the interiors are black and white.

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    2. Thanks for letting me know; I figured that was the case after I typed out my message. I plan to order my printed copy as quickly as possible, as nothing beats thumbing through a physical book.

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  12. Just wondering if there is a dedicated forum or message board where we can discuss/post ideas or questions. Or would this be the place?

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    1. We have several places to discuss Hero Kids with the community:
      Facebook Hero Kids Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/herokids/
      Reddit Hero Kids Community: https://www.reddit.com/r/herokids/

      And for official discussion and announcements:
      Facebook Hero Kids Official: https://www.facebook.com/herokidsrpg/

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  13. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    1. Hi Jessopher, thanks!

      For the distance counting, it can be 4 or 6 squares, where you count each square orthogonally or diagonally.

      If the defender is on top of an obstacle (such as standing on a table), then this does not give them any cover. They would have to be behind the table to gain cover. As the GM, you're empowered to decide whether a character's position provides cover.

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  14. Great system, played first game with my two kids last night. They asked this morning if we are playing again tonight. I suppose I had better get the full bundle for more adventures, whilst I work up my own.

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  15. I'm getting ready to order the pdf bundle. So its about 700 pages? If i take it somewhere to have it printed are some pages going to be left blank intentionally to be cut out...etc. or will it be one continued book?

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    1. Hey stranger. Most of the Hero Kids PDF products have a number of pages that can only be printed single-sided so that they can be cut out. This varies from product to product, so you can't simply print all of the products double-sided. However, you can print every product single-sided, and there will be no blank pages. If you have the time, you can print the first pages of each product double-sided, and then print those last few pages single sided.

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  16. Hello Justin, im thinking to buy this game for mmy 2 sons (6 and 8 years). We are italian and dont know if different tongue can be a problem. Do you think that Adventure's story is easy to translate? thanks

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  17. Hey Max, you can probably translate the adventures on the fly, as they have very little spoken text. There are free translations of the Hero Cards available in Italian (on DriveThruRPG). Unfortunately, the Hero Kids Creator's Guild translators haven't yet released any translations yet. Stay safe.

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  18. Hello!
    I want to say THANK YOU for your work.
    I bought your "Hero Kids" for my 5yo son and we like it very much! 🙂 After basic adventure with rats we need more :D Is it possible to make bundle with adventures only (without expansions) on drivethrurpg.com? We are playing Polish version translated by Janusz Strzelecki.

    Thank you in advance,
    Krzysztof

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  19. This is such a great game, thank you for creating it! I play it with three kids 8-13 and they love it. I'm absolutely bagged by the end of our campaigns as they last about three hours and are FULL of energy. thanks again

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  20. I just recommended this to a few friends, so thought I'd post in case other folks are looking to break younger kids into RPGs during lock-down. This system is fantastic. I bought it to play with my niece and nephew a couple years ago when they were 5 and 7, and the loved it. It scales great for different ages, and keeps things accessible for kids without sacrificing all the great tabletop RPG stuff - exploration, combat, skills, inventory, roleplaying, etc. The materials are well-designed, and the system is superb. They never wanted to stop playing. If you're looking for an entry-level tabletop RPG for kids, you should stop reading and go buy in on Hero Kids.

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  21. Hi Justin! We just recently bought Hero Kids and. My 4 year old son loved basement of rats! I have since come up with a few other simple adventures as Basement of Rats seems to be the only Easy adventure you have. But I’m new to table top rpgs and needless to say my adventures just weren’t as fun as Basement of Rats. Do you plan on making any more Easy adventures for younger players or do you have tips to make my home brew adventures more fun? Thanks!

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    1. Hi Kelly, there aren't more Easy adventures. However, you can easily adjust the difficulty of adventures by reducing the number of monsters the heroes face or reducing the difficulty target of ability tests.
      The difficulty of each of the adventures is listed here:
      https://herokidsrpg.blogspot.com/p/hero-kids-adventures.html

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  22. Just purchased the Hero Kids bundle pack from Drivethrurpg. It's a great package for an amazing price. Using it to teach English to students in Korea and they are loving it. Their English is improving just by playing the game. Are you going to publish more modules for the game in the future? Or am I going to have to write my own stories?

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    1. Thanks for posting! There are a bunch of adventures, which you will have gotten in the bundle. If you are after more adventures, then there are a bunch available through the Hero Kids Creator's Guild Adventure Bundle:
      https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/282048/Hero-Kids-Creators-Guild--Adventure-Bundle-BUNDLE

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  23. Hey Justin! Just bought Hero Kids Complete Bundle on Drivethrurpg. I love the content and it is definitely easy to understand! Appreciate what you have created. I have not played DnD nor have I ever GM a RPG. I have played board games like Gloomhaven and such. I am planning to play Hero Kids with kids in a Student Care and was wondering how many players can play each campaign? Can it be played with 8-10 kids or is it recommended for 4 only?

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    1. The encounters and maps are designed for 1-4 players. For more players, you'll need bigger encounter maps and more monsters!

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  24. Hi Justin,

    I recently purchased the basic book, Hero Kids: Fantasy Role-Playing Game for Kids from DriveThruRPG. My understanding was that I was supposed to receive both the physical book and the PDF but I can't find any instructions in my order for where to find the PDF. Can you help?

    I have written to DriveThruRPG, but I'm writing to you too, in case that is faster. This is a holiday gift for my kid, and I'd like to have at least one ready-made adventure available so that we can try things out.

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  25. Ok, looks like DriveThruRPG was able to provide me the links very quickly, so I think you can disregard my first comment. Apologies.

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    1. Hi Alex, sorry I didn't see your message. I hope everything worked out!

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  26. My kid just got home from their first session of this game out on by my local library. I wasn't in the room, but I could hear the laughter, they all had a blast.

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  27. I just purchased the PDF bundle from DriveThruRPG but the discount link for the Hero Kids Fantasy RPG softcover book is not valid. DriveThruRPG said to contact you about it.

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    1. Hi Catling, the print version of Hero Kids is unavailable at the moment while I update it to the latest version. It should be available in a couple of weeks, and your discount code will work then.

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  28. Hi Justin, I’m Ghiznuk, a professional UN translator as well as the Ninth Age: Fantasy Battles (voluntary) global translation coordinator. Would love to help you translate your game into French – I bought it for my kids, and i’m convinced there is a market :)
    Is there anyway we can contact by e-mail ? :)

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    1. Hi Ghiz, drop me an email at justinhalliday@gmail.com

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