Course Content
Unit 2: Transformative Leisure Role-playing Game Design
These types of games are not necessarily played for an educational or therapeutic purpose, but they can be designed with specific goals in mind and players might find them transformative in a variety of different ways.
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Unit 3: Therapeutic Role-playing Game Design
These types of games are designed for a therapeutic purpose or to help participants develop social skills.
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Unit 7: Ritual, Symbolism, and Culture in Game Design
In this Unit, we will deepen into specific practices for designing rituals, narratives, and symbolism in role-playing games.
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Unit 8: Role-playing Game Design and Conflict
As with our first class, this unit will cover both conflicts surrounding certain facets of game design within gaming communities.
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Unit 9: Representation and Tech Ethics in RPG Design
In this unit, we will primarily focus on the way disabilities are represented in role-playing game design.
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Unit 10: Framing Transformative Game Design
Welcome to our last unit on your reflections and analysis of the transformative game design process.
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Transformative Game Design 1

Discussion 5: Designing Transformative Leisure Role-playing Games

Watch Westborg’s “Designing the Framing” (13 min).

Read Brown’s “Creating a Culture of Trust through Safety and Calibration Larp Mechanics.”

Choose at least one (1) article to read from the Effects section of the Recommended Reading list in Unit 2.

Review Nesbitt’s explanation of “The Toulmin Method.”

Optional: Watch Sarah Lynne Bowman’s “Safety in Role playing Games II: Before the Game.”

Then, answer the following questions:

  1. Based on the readings and videos this week, how is framing important when designing transformative leisure role-playing experiences? How does safety fit into that design work? Be specific.
  2. Read your chosen article from the Effects section in Unit 2. Apply the Toulmin Method to establish the main claim, the reasoning, the evidence, and any objections and rebuttals presented (4-5 sentences maximum).
    • What specific transformative impacts were studied in this study?
    • Do you find this claim persuasive in the way the author is presenting it? Why or why not? 
  3. In one paragraph (4-6 sentences), brainstorm a game designed around these same transformative impacts that would be played in a transformative leisure setting, briefly describing the narrative, the setting, and the target group.

Finally, respond to at least two (2) of your peers in Ask a Question, Answer a Question format.