Jacob Shelby from the Young Heroes Guild Patreon shares his XP from discovering TTRPGs, sharing them with his kids, and eventually creating his own guide to help young GMs! Find out more below, and thank you Jacob for taking time to share your know-how!

The following is a write-in interview conducted between Jacob Shelby (the interviewee) and Steph Campbell from TTRPGkids (the interviewer). This interview is posted with permission from the interviewee.

 What’s your backstory (i.e. what cool stuff do you do/what have you worked on)? 

I have a Patreon where I create drop-in content for fantasy TTRPGs. Things like towns, factions, NPCs, and modular lore elements designed to fit smoothly into any campaign. My focus is on making content that’s easy for GMs to adapt while still feeling fresh and full of story potential. I’ve also written The Young Heroes Guide: Creating Your First TTRPG Adventure, a resource aimed at helping young or first-time GMs build their own adventures. It’s all about empowering new and young GMs with the tools and confidence to dive into the game as creators.

How or when did you start playing TTRPGs?  What’s one favorite story from your games?

Like a lot of folks, I first got into TTRPGs during the pandemic. D&D had never really appealed to me before. I had the usual misconceptions about who it was for and what the experience was like. But during lockdown, my wife and I were invited to play by close friends who couldn’t meet with their regular group. We were all desperate for some kind of safe social interaction, so we gave it a shot and ended up loving it. Within just a few weeks, I was GMing my own games.

It’s hard to pick just one favorite moment, but one that really stuck with me was during a session I ran where two PCs had a serious in-game conflict. The argument was intense, so much so that I started to worry it might be spilling over into real-life tension. But instead of letting it derail the session, the players leaned into the drama and found authentic, character-driven ways to resolve the issue. It was a great example of collaborative storytelling and of players trusting each other enough to explore conflict without disrupting the table. 

What was it like for your first game being an adult running for young players?   Do you have any lessons learned from that XP? 

I play D&D regularly with my two sons, so I’ve had plenty of practice tailoring the game to younger minds. When it came time to run a session for a full group of kids, I felt pretty prepared, or at least as much as anyone can be before diving in! The group was made up of three kids, ages 8 to 11, and as a backup plan, I invited their dads to play as familiars who could appear or disappear from the story as needed. It was a light, fun way to build in support just in case things got too wild, but I never ended up needing them.

Before our first session, we had a session zero where I introduced the campaign idea and we talked about what kinds of stories they wanted to tell. Did they want to explore a mysterious world? Slay a dragon? Befriend a god? It was also a great way for the kids to meet each other and break the ice without the pressure of diving straight into the game.

One thing I’ve learned is that I initially underestimated how well kids can grasp the rules. I spent a lot of time designing simplified class features and custom mechanics, assuming it would be necessary but at least for my table, it really wasn’t. The kids picked up on core mechanics quickly and enjoyed using the full rules. I do think simplified systems can be useful for younger players (under 8) or groups without an experienced adult, but in many cases, kids are more capable than we often give them credit for. 

Can you tell us a little bit about the content you’ve made for young TTRPG players? 

I created A Young Heroes Guide: Creating Your First TTRPG Adventure after my oldest son, Jack, and one of his friends from his D&D group started writing their own adventures. I wanted to give them a simple but solid framework for turning their ideas into playable adventures. The guide breaks the process into two steps: first, outlining the adventure by answering a few simple questions, like “what’s the problem?” and “who’s involved?” and second, designing encounters using a straightforward five-room dungeon structure. It’s a format I love because it’s beginner-friendly and offers a solid structure while being surprisingly flexible.

The guide also includes example prompts and random tables to spark ideas and keep things fun. Beyond that, I’ve been collaborating with both my sons to develop more kid-focused content for my Patreon subscribers, including whimsical monsters, imaginative settings, and adventure hooks designed specifically with younger players in mind. 

Do you have any advice for folks who want to start a TTRPG group for youth but aren’t sure where to start?

The best place to start is by simply asking around. Talk to the adults you already game with, or reach out to your kids’ friends and their parents. When we first got started, we had just moved to a new country and didn’t have much of a social network, so I turned to the internet. I posted in places like D&D Beyond’s forums, Reddit, and a local Facebook group. It took some time, and honestly I wasn’t sure it would come together at first but once we got a group going, interest started to grow naturally.

I’ve also heard great success stories from people who’ve started youth TTRPG groups through schools, libraries, or even churches. The key is just getting the word out. The hobby is more popular than ever, and there are a lot of kids (and parents!) looking for a creative outlet like this. 

Any final shoutouts, thoughts, or advice? 

I just want to say thank you for inviting me to be part of this amazing platform. When I was first getting started running games for my kids, TTRPGKids was an invaluable resource. Even now, as I’ve begun creating my own content for younger players, I still find plenty of inspiration and practical advice in what you share. It’s clear how much care and heart goes into this work, and I’m genuinely honored to contribute.

My final thought is this: if you trust kids and speak to them with the same respect you’d give any player, they’ll rise to the occasion. They are absolutely capable of complex problem-solving, creative thinking, and meaningful roleplay. You don’t need to simplify everything or talk down to them, give them the space to play, and they’ll show you what they can do.

Thank you Jacob for taking the time for this interview!  I’m glad TTRPGkids has been a good resource while you’ve been making your own content, and I cannot wait to try out Young Adventurer’s Guild!  I think it has the ability to help a lot of new GMs.

You can find Jacobs work here on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/youngheroesguild/home

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