Project: Design a Roleplay

Roleplay activities have long been in the repertoire of engaging workshop activities, particularly in situations where learners are encouraged to see different perspectives on issues and problems. In practice, roleplays can suffer from a lack of definition and structure, in Huizinga’s framing, an ill defined magic circle that can leave participants struggling to understand what to do next, what their role lets them do and what their choices are. Fortunately, design inspiration can be found in tabletop Roleplaying Games (RPGs or TTRPGs), a genre that is nearly 50 years old which has developed practices for adding structure to collaborative improvised storytelling.