Learning history through roleplaying.

[Skadi]

Our family uses roleplaying games that we've customized for children to teach:

 

- history by using realistic settings

- math skills (rigorous addiction and subtraction; basic statistics)

- creative writing by means of helping them develop a character concept

- critical thinking from a mystery plot (political intrigue, murder mystery, treasure hunting, etc.)

- psychology and ethics issues -- how would a person different than you act, and how would you make the hard choices this character had to make?

- improvisational acting skills are honed as they endeavor to speak and act the way their character might

 

Is there any interest in homeschooling families buying affordable roleplaying games we've created with classical curriculum in mind? If we made these available, each game would consist of a teacher's guide, a player's handbook, a set of dice, character sheets and a resource list of children's books that are related to the game's setting. The historical settings of different games might include:

 

Ancient Egypt

Ancient Rome

The Vikings

Medieval Europe

Colonial America

Victorian England

 

For those of you who are unfamiliar, a roleplaying game consists of two major components. The first and most important aspect is the creative aspect. The Storyteller (that's the parent) decides on the setting, uses the suggested storyline in the book (or creates their own), and helps the kids with their character creation. The Storyteller will be the third-person narrator for the game, describing with imagery the places and people the kids will encounter. The Storyteller will also roleplay the characters the kids will interact with, perhaps using different voices or mannerisms to give flavor to the different personalities. A teacher's guidebook would provide character concepts for the parent to roleplay, along with many helpful pointers.

 

The players of the game begin by creating a character. Do they want to be a big, strong fighter or an orphaned street urchin? A politician or a pirate? There are some ready-made character ideas for the time period presented to the child that they can customize, or we can help them make one from scratch. Draw or find pictures online of what the character might look like, as well as the details of their lives like what kind of horse they have or what their home is like. They may even choose one special item to wear or hold while they roleplay to help them get into the character, such as a toy sword, cloak, crown, treasure map, etc. We also talk about the character's motivations. Is he desperate to find a lost treasure and get rich? Is she searching for her abducted father? Does he want to become a knight more than anything? The game can consist of just the parent and one child, but the game is even more enriched when other siblings play characters as well. A lot can be learned about group cooperation this way, as the party decides which of them is best suited to different game activities (scaling a wall, convincing a guard to let them pass, etc.).

 

The second component to roleplaying games are the mechanics. After coming up with their character idea, the parent helps the child decide what class and what attributes of the character should be. A character can't be good at everything, so they have to decide which qualities are most fitting to that character (strength or charisma, for instance). I won't go through all the technical material, but the parent helps determine the character's abilities so that when, for instance, the child is trying to gather information about a lost scroll, whether the scribe will confide some important information to the character will depend on what attributes that character has. If the character is charismatic (a politician, master of rhetoric, beautiful noble lady, etc.) then they will much more likely gain the scribe's confidence.

 

There are many roleplaying games made for adults, but most of those take place in a fantasy world (not a historical setting) and the rules are too advanced for kids to comprehend. These simplified rules, introduction to roleplaying techniques, sample character ideas and teacher's guide should be elementary enough for children ages 7 and up. We'd love to provide other families with the material we've created, but we're just not sure how much of an interest there is for it. What do you think?

[Caitilin]

I know my boys would LOVE this idea! Please let us know if you decide to share it!:D

[Jen+4dc]

My kids would LOVE that! That's how they play anyway, but I would love to be able to put some structure to it!

[King Alfred Academy]

In a word...YES!!! :thumbup:

[Sue G in PA]

Absolutely! My boys would LOVE something like this. They already do this type of stuff with Star Wars characters anyway. Please share when you get a chance.

[Skadi]

Wow, I'm blown away by your support! We're going to start compiling our rules and background information right away. We're torn between using the more simple mechanics we used for young children (4 - 6) or the more sophisticated one for ages 7 and up. I think we're going to provide the rules for both and let the parent decide which fits their child best. We also want to do a little more writing so that parents have a variety of character concepts and storylines to choose from.

 

If you'd like a PM once we have everything ready, please post to this thread. :) It could be a little while, but we are going to work very hard on perfecting it as much as we can so that it's something any family can use!

[Rosie_0801]

Lol, a simplified version of D&D? My dh has been writing a campaign based on Ancient Greece, with a bit of poetic license taken. He was using a blend of GURPS and some other system I've forgotten the name of. I would suggest you have a look at GURPS Lite, at least. It doesn't have classes the way D&D does, so it might help you simplify even further.

 

I'm sure my dh will be bummed that you had the idea first, but good luck with your adventures!

 

Rosie

[Adrianne in TX]

Wow -this sounds like fun. Do keep us updated

[Wee Pip]

Very cool! Keep me posted!

On a side note, anyone see the movie Gamers - Dorkness Rising? If you like role playing games, you'll get a kick out of this movie:lol:

[Caitilin]

Very cool! Keep me posted!

On a side note, anyone see the movie Gamers - Dorkness Rising? If you like role playing games, you'll get a kick out of this movie:lol:

 

 

I am ashamed to admit this, but I HAVE seen it, despite the fact that I am not a gamer myself (DH is). It's spot on!

[*Jessica*]

That sounds amazing! Any idea what the cost would be yet?

[Melissa H. in GA]

:D

 

It sounds wonderful!! Please keep us updated.

 

Melissa

[JeneralMom]

I'm sure my children would love something like that. Please keep us informed.

[Skadi]

That sounds amazing! Any idea what the cost would be yet?

 

At this point, we can't say for sure. It depends on how long the player's handbook and storyteller's handbook turn out being, along with the annual costs of having a website and so on. Roleplaying books are usually priced a bit more than other types of books because of the amount of research that goes into them -- it seems like $25 for the player's handbook and $25 for the storteller's handbook are the average prices of similar games on the market. However, we're going to keep it priced as modestly as we can, plus give discounts if you buy both the player's handbook and storyteller handbook together. We can't foresee charging more than a total of $30 for the player's handbook and the storyteller's handbook combined, and we'll do everything we can to make it even more affordable if we can. :)