Course Calendar
- For detailed requirements for assignments, see the Schedule & Instructions link.
- All assignments are due the end class on the day assigned, i.e. Mondays at 11:59pm in your time zone. When possible, please post the night before to make sure your peers have time to comment upon your posts.
Week 1 – Unit 1
Monday
Introduction to Role-playing Games
Homework:
- Read “Preface” and Bowman et al.’s “Chapter 1: A Brief Introduction to Role-playing Games and Cousin Activities” in Transformative Role-playing Game Design (pp. 19-47) in Transformative Role-playing Game Design, edited by Sarah Lynne Bowman, Elektra Diakolambrianou, and Simon Brind (14-17).
- Optional: Watch Sarah Lynne Bowman’s “Introduction to Tabletop Role-playing Games” (43:34) and “Introduction to Action Role-playing Games (Larp)” (39:12).
Wednesday
Introduction to Role-playing Games
Activities:
- Complete Discussion 1: Introduction to Role-playing Games by 11:59pm in your time zone.
Friday
Introduction to Role-playing Games
Activities:
- Complete Quiz 1: Role-playing Games by 11:59pm in your time zone.
Week 2 – Unit 2
Monday
Introduction to Transformative Role-playing Game Design
Homework:
- Read all sections until the end of section “2.6 Populations Overview” in “Chapter 2: Transformative Role-playing Games: Types, Purposes, and Features” in Transformative Role-playing Game Design (pp. 49-64).
- Optional: Watch “Introduction to Transformative Game Design” (58:40).
Wednesday
Introduction to Transformative Role-playing Game Design
Activities:
- Complete Reflection Journal 1: Transformative Game Design and You by 11:59pm in your time zone.
- Read instructions for Major Assignment 1: Transformative Nano-Game Design Document. You will write Major Assignment 1 toward the end of the course.
Friday
Introduction to Transformative Role-playing Game Design
Activities:
- Complete Quiz 2: Transformative Game Design by 11:59pm in your time zone.
Week 3 – Unit 3
Monday
Transformative Role-playing Game Design in Practice
Homework:
- Read all sections until the end of “4.5c, part ii: Narrative Design: Specific Scenes” in “Chapter 4: Practice: Transformative Role-playing Game Design and Research” in Transformative Role-playing Game Design (pp. 140-161).
Wednesday
Setting Brainstorming
Activities:
- Complete Discussion 2: Setting Brainstorming by 11:59pm in your time zone.
Friday
Transformative Role-playing Game Design in Practice
Activities:
- Complete Quiz 3: Transformative Game Design in Practice by 11:59pm in your time zone.
Week 4 – Unit 4
Monday
Character, Culture, and Mechanics Design
Homework:
- Read the remaining sections starting at “4.6c, part iii: Character Design” in “Chapter 4: Practice: Transformative Role-playing Game Design and Research” in Transformative Role-playing Game Design (pp. 156-179).
Wednesday
Character and Relations Design
Activities:
- Complete Discussion 3: Character and Relations Design by 11:59pm in your time zone.
Friday
Character, Culture, and Mechanics Design
Activities:
- Complete Quiz 4: Character, Culture, and Mechanics Design by 11:59pm in your time zone.
Week 5 – Unit 5
Monday
Myth, Symbolism, Ritual, and Magic
Homework:
- Read until the end of “6.5 Narrative and postmodern magic“ in “Chapter 6: Key Concepts, Techniques, and Purposes for Transformative Role-playing Game Design” in Transformative Role-playing Game Design (pp. 223-235).
Wednesday
Myth, Symbolism, Ritual, and Magic
Activities:
- Complete Discussion 4: Myth, Symbolism, Ritual, and Magic by 11:59pm in your time zone.
Friday
Myth, Symbolism, Ritual, and Magic
Activities:
- Complete Quiz 5: Myth, Symbolism, Ritual, and Magic by 11:59pm in your time zone.
Week 6 – Unit 6
Monday
Culture and Conflict
Homework:
- Read the rest of the chapter beginning with section “6.6 Culture in RPGs and Communities” in “Chapter 6: Key Concepts, Techniques, and Purposes for Transformative Role-playing Game Design” in Transformative Role-playing Game Design (235-263).
Wednesday
Culture and Conflict
Activities:
- Complete Discussion 5: Culture and Conflict by 11:59pm in your time zone.
Friday
Culture and Conflict
Activities:
- Complete Quiz 6: Culture and Conflict by 11:59pm in your time zone.
Week 7 – Unit 7
Monday
Designing Safety Structures
Homework:
- Read all sections until the end of “5.5c: Core Components of Safety” in “Chapter 5: Safety and Community Container Setting” in Transformative Role-playing Game Design (pp. 180-201).
- Optional: Watch all five (5) Safety in Role-playing Games videos by Sarah Lynne Bowman:
-
- I: Introduction (20:16)
- II: Before the Game (27:21)
- III: During the Game (23:02)
- IV: After the Game (12:42)
- V: Cultivating Safer Communities (13:55)
-
Wednesday
Designing Safety Structures
Activities:
- Complete Reflection Journal 2: Designing Safety Structures by 11:59pm in your time zone.
Friday
Designing Safety Structures
Activities:
- Complete Quiz 7: Designing Safety Structures by 11:59pm in your time zone.
Week 8 – Units 8 & 9
Monday – Unit 8
Game Technologies and RPGs
Homework:
- Watch the first 28 minutes of Taisto Suominen’s “Game Technologies in Larp and Tabletop RPGs — Taisto Suominen” until the end of the section on augmented reality.
Wednesday – Unit 8
Game Technologies and RPGs
Activities:
- Complete Reflection Journal 3: Game Technologies and RPGs by 11:59pm in your time zone.
Friday – Units 8 & 9
Transformative Nano-game Design Document Writing
Homework:
- Work on Major Assignment 1: Transformative Nano-Game Design Document., informed by your brainstorming throughout the course
Week 9 – Unit 9
Monday
Inclusion and Sensitive Content
Homework:
- Work on Major Assignment 1: Transformative Nano-Game Design Document., informed by your brainstorming throughout the course.
- Read the rest of the sections starting from “5.5d: Community” in “Chapter 5: Key Concepts, Techniques, and Purposes for Transformative Role-playing Game Design” in Transformative Role-playing Game Design (pp. 201-222).
Wednesday
Transformative Nano-game Design Document Writing
Activities:
- Complete your first draft of Major Assignment 1: Transformative Nano-Game Design Document.
- NOTE: Do not submit your first draft under the Major Assignment link. You will only submit your final draft at that link at the end of the course.
- Complete Discussion 5: Transformative Nano-game Design Document Feedback by 11:59pm in your time zone.
Friday
Inclusion and Sensitive Content
Activities:
- Complete Quiz 8: Inclusion and Sensitive Content by 11:59pm in your time zone.
Homework:
- Revise your first draft of Major Assignment 1: Transformative Nano-Game Design Document based on feedback from your peers provided in Discussion 5.
Week 10 – Unit 10
Monday
Transformative Game Design Revisions
Homework:
- Revise your first draft of Major Assignment 1: Transformative Nano-Game Design Document based on feedback from your peers provided in Discussion 5.
Wednesday
Transformative Game Design and You
Activities:
- Complete Reflection Journal 4: Transformative Game Design and You by 11:59pm in your time zone.
Homework:
- Revise your first draft of Major Assignment 1: Transformative Nano-Game Design Document based on feedback from your peers provided in Discussion 5.
Friday
Transformative Game Design and You
Activities:
- Submit final draft of Major Assignment 1: Transformative Nano-Game Design Document by 11:59pm in your time zone.
Course schedule is subject to change at the discretion of the instructor(s). Please note that schedule changes may occur during the semester.