My wife was going through a pile of papers yesterday and found a dungeon map key that my son had made some time ago. I went through some of my Whitebox campaign notes and found what I think is the corresponding map, at least it has the same number of rooms and the pit trap is drawn next to the right key number. It was probably about four years ago, as it was shortly after this that I gave my kids the tip of choosing monsters close to the challenge level of the party, and you can see this has no such constraints – Sea Serpents, Demons and Yetis cohabit equally with Orcs and Kobolds!
When we first started playing, I told the kids to just pick monsters that they liked from the Swords & Wizardry Monster Book (Word doc). They would create adventures and take turns DMing for me and for each other. Of course at that point I was just happy they wanted to play at all, so I tried to encourage whatever creativity they showed. I have some old maps they drew, but for some reason none of them have the corresponding keys, this is the first map key to turn up. Below is the corresponding map.
Our games are less frequent now as the kids are into Minecraft and other video games, so this brings back some fond memories.
Smoldering Wizard 
Coolness! That does sound like a fond memory. Hopefully, they come back to paper and pencil roleplaying soon. Definitely keep that map and key!
Yep, it was my own memories of playing as a kid that brought me back to it some 20 years later, so hopefully it sticks in some form. I played until I was 18 or so, and my son is 13 now – but there were fewer electronic distractions back then.
I’m twelve, and I still write for D&D, in fact, I have a blog where I put my stuff up, and I DM on Roll20.
It’s too bad that your children stopped playing D&D, however I like Minecraft as well!(And it brings out creative energy). Actually, I got an idea for a dungeon from Minecraft.
Thanks for the comment. I’m hoping it’s just a phase and I can get them back into tabletop RPGs at some point, but for now they continue to prefer computer games. I’m impressed that you’re DMing and blogging at 12, keep it up! That’s about the age I and most of my generation got started with D&D, so it’s good to hear.
Hello again! It feels like so long ago that I wrote, and yet in reality it was only four years. May I ask if they are still into computer games, or have you brought them out of the dark into the light? Personally, I find the idea that non-video mediums are somehow naturally “better” to be incorrect. The important reason to play tabletop roleplaying games is because they offer a totally different medium and feel, and it is important to have as wide a creative palette as possible. Therefore – play both video games and tabletop games, if you prefer one over the other then do that more often. But don’t forget to do some of the other!
I agree, too much of any one thing can be detrimental, to include video games. I’ve played tabletop games with my son on and off over the past few years (including a brief foray into MtG), but infrequently as he still prefers video games. My daughter less than that. You’re right that sometimes people who are exposed to tabletop gaming when they are young continue it when they get older, that was certainly the case for me. So hopefully they will remember the games we played and get back into it someday.
Also, I should mention that I know many people in the past got out of playing tabletop roleplaying games when they were teens. Then, when they were adults they got back into it.
Also, I should write an addendum: I do realize that there are some benefits of tabletop games that video games don’t have, like the face-to-face social aspect, and the more creative ability of it. However, I do believe that there are also benefits of video games that tabletop games don’t have. For example (while I personally dislike when people say this it is somewhat reasonable) computers and online technology is becoming evermore prevalent, and the playing of these computer games can help you navigate this new online world.