Oh, I forgot to mention - in case anyone remembers, some time ago I had planned a small D&D game with my brother, our wives and his eldest son.  It never came together, and that was the source of some depression for me.

But my brother and I never lost interest in doing a D&D game, and we've managed to score some baby sitting from my parents for this coming up weekend.  I'm hoping we can make this a monthly-ish thing, but even if it only happens once, it will be a good thing.  We'll spend the first part making up characters (as always), though I have a few ideas on how to streamline the process some.  Then I'll get them "stuck in" with a little adventure I found on the WoTC site involving a terrible thunderstorm and what at first appears to be a safe cave to ride it out in. :-)

We're actually playing "Castles and Crusaders", which is an OGL D&D "spin off" that takes D&D back to 1st edition complexity (that is, MUCH easier to deal with) but adds a few of the better ideas to come along in the last few decades of gaming, like attribute checks and such.  It's still D&D at the core, but a very rules-light version that should play nice and easy.

For character generation, you roll 6 sets of 3d6, arranged however you like for the basic stats.  Rolling low is not that big of a problem however, since you get to choose 2 or 3 of your attributes to be "primary attributes", which means your character is more focused on using them.  So a Strength 14 Fighter may not be that strong, but he really knows how to use what he has, and will be more successful at using that strength than a burly Strength 17 guy who hasn't specifically trained to use his tremendous strength.  Each class has a required "prime", and players pick one more (two for humans - that's their "edge" in the game) to help flesh out the characters.  In practice, using a non-prime attribute is very hard for low level characters, so the prime system helps players pick the right characters for the right jobs.

I'm putting together some "adventuring pack" equipement lists with costs so the players can just spend (say) 40gp and get their backpack, bedroll, travelling cloths, etc.  And then I'm going to have a weekly "burn" cost for food, etc.  That should make things very easy for the players - they can focus on weapons and armor, and just pay the flat rate adventuring goods "tax".

I'm pretty excited about DM-ing this, as I haven't DM'ed a game in decades.  I've seen some good DM's at work though, so hopefully I can create a good experience for my players.  I'll naturally blog how it turns out.