Discussion 2: Tabletop Role-playing Games — Design Basics
Watch Sarah Lynne Bowman’s “Traditional Tabletop Role-playing Game: Design Basics” (41 minutes) and “Indie Tabletop Role-playing Games: Design Basics” (54 minutes).
Familiarize yourself with Sarah Lynne Bowman’s and Kjell Hedgard Hugaas’ “Transformative Role-play: Design, Implementation, and Integration.”
Optional:
Read William J. White, Jonne Arjoranta, Michael Hitchens, Jon Peterson, Evan Torner, and Jonathan Walton’s “4 Tabletop Role-Playing Games” (21 pages).
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Then, answer the following questions (general guidelines 1 paragraph per question unless otherwise specified. A paragraph is 4-6 sentences):
- Have you played any of the tabletop role-playing games mentioned in the materials this week or tabletop role-playing games similar to them?
- If so, please describe an experience with one (1) of these games. Which parts did you find enjoyable? Were any parts not enjoyable? If so, why?
- If not, which tabletop role-playing games would you be interested in exploring, if any? Why or why not? Be specific.
- After familiarizing yourself with Bowman and Hugaas’ article, choose two (2) games mentioned in the tabletop materials. Then, choose two (2) transformative impacts mentioned in the article. For each game, write one (1) paragraph including the following information, for a total of two (2) paragraphs:
- Games provide affordances to perform specific actions. In role-playing games, alibi is a specific mechanism that provides affordances for certain types of behaviors. What types of alibi do you think each game affords for player behavior and exploration? Be specific.
- Brainstorm how you might design a scenario or component for each game to facilitate a transformative impact, i.e. Game A with Impact A, Game B with Impact B.
- Consider what conditions might be most helpful in encouraging these impacts to occur, i.e. the gaming environment, the player group, the facilitator’s skills, the framing of the game, etc.
- Consider what conditions might hinder these impacts occurring. Be specific.
Finally, respond to at least two (2) of your peers in Ask a Question, Answer a Question format.