Running games on Young Heroes means keeping every interaction with a child within a small set of tools vetted for safety and privacy.
The short version
The only tools you can ask a Young Hero or their guardian to open, join, or use are:
The StartPlaying website, for all messaging with guardians.
The Zoom link StartPlaying provides, for running your sessions.
D&D Beyond, for character sheets and everything else in play.
Anything else is off limits for a Young Hero or guardian to use. You can still use other tools yourself, as long as the child never gets direct access. More on that below.
How to tell if a tool is allowed
Before you use any tool, ask yourself one question:
Will a Young Hero or guardian be asked to open, join, or interact with this tool?
If yes, it has to be one of the three approved tools above. If it is not on that list, do not bring a Young Hero or guardian into it.
If no, it is your own prep and out of scope. Your notes, your dice roller, and the GM community Discord are all fine, because no Young Hero ever touches them.
Sharing your screen is fine
You are welcome to use other tools yourself and share your screen during a session, for example to show a battle map or a piece of art. That is allowed as long as the Young Hero and guardian only ever see it on your screen and never get direct access to the tool or page.
Showing something on your screen is fine. Handing a Young Hero the controls, or sending them a link to open it themselves, is not.
Tools that are not Young Hero facing
Tools like Foundry and Owlbear Rodeo are common in tabletop play, but they are not approved for a Young Hero to use on Young Heroes. You may run them yourself and screen share what you build, but a Young Hero must never have direct access to them.
If you are ever unsure whether a tool is allowed to be player-facing, treat it as not allowed and reach out to StartPlaying before using it with a child.
Sessions and recording
Run every session on the Zoom link StartPlaying provides. Do not use your own Zoom account or any other meeting tool.
StartPlaying records sessions for safety and quality. Do not add any recording tool of your own.
AI and Young Hero data
Never put a Young Hero's messages, interactions, or data into AI or machine learning tools, and do not scrape the platform.
Using a general AI tool for your own private prep is fine, as long as no Young Hero data goes into it.
Why these rules exist
The approved tools are the only ones that have been vetted for a child's safety and privacy. Keeping a Young Hero inside them means every interaction stays within StartPlaying's protections and monitoring, instead of moving somewhere that has not been checked. The point is not to limit your creativity in running a great game, it is to make sure a child is never asked to step outside a safe, monitored space to play.
Quick reference
Situation | Allowed? |
Message a guardian through the StartPlaying website | Yes |
Run your session on the StartPlaying provided Zoom link | Yes |
Use D&D Beyond for character sheets | Yes |
Screen share a map you run in another tool | Yes, if the Young Hero never gets direct access |
Use your own notes or dice roller for prep | Yes, no Young Hero interacts with it |
Ask a Young Hero or guardian to join Foundry or Owlbear Rodeo | No |
Move a session to your personal Zoom | No |
Record the session yourself | No, StartPlaying records it |
Put Young Hero chat or data into an AI tool | No |
Use a general AI tool for your own prep | Yes, if no Young Hero data goes in |
If a situation is not covered here, or you are not sure whether a tool is allowed, reach out to StartPlaying before using it with a Young Hero.