Tabletop Roleplaying Game Design

Catalog description

Roleplaying games represent one of the most important design spaces in modern gaming. Beginning in the early 70s, these games quickly took root and influenced games far beyond their own sphere. Mechanisms like levels, classes and hit points have been adopted in a far-reaching swath of board, card, digital and mobile games. But despite their influence, the design of RPGs is largely unexamined. This class walks students through the design process from concept, to testing, to writing and production. At the same time, students engage in meaningful play with historically significant games. From week to week the students experiment with and design systems for roleplaying games with the ultimate goal of designing a complete game as part of a team.