D&D in the classroom

[krusader74]

There is a video on YouTube dated Oct 7, 2017 called Engaging students in writing | Using D&D in the classroom. It's about a teacher, Bec West, who uses D&D in her writing class in order to motivate her kids to use their imaginations and write interesting stories. There are 18 kids in her class. They're about 7 years old. The kids really enjoyed it!

This video might interest some of you

• if you are a teacher
• if you have young kids (the kids in her class are only 7)
• if you need to run a game for a large group (she has 18 kids in her class)
• if you want a simplified game mechanic that encourages collaborative storytelling

The video is somewhat long -- 36 and a half minutes -- so I thought I would write up a short summary that you can skim and decide whether to watch.

Character Creation. She had the kids create "group characters", i.e., 3 or 4 kids control 1 character as a group. First they must cooperate to develop a character concept. They went through the following steps (approximate video time-stamp in parentheses):

1. Prewriting activities: The groups brainstorm what kind of character they want, considering characteristics like name, age, class, race, tools, traits, and most importantly how s/he became a hero. Then they organize this information in a mind map. (12:33)
2. Backstory rough draft: In the Poetics, Aristotle wrote that "A story that is whole has a beginning, middle and an end." The groups now translate their prewriting into a one-page handwritten character backstory. They fold one sheet of paper into thirds (13:44) and write the beginning in the top third, the middle in the middle third, and the end in the bottom third. The story describes how the character became a hero.
3. Typing: Next they use a computer to type-up their character backstory. (15:22)
4. Picture: They use the computer to find a picture suitable for their character. (16:00)
5. Editing and Layout: They proofread their stories and lay-it-out on the computer along with the picture they chose for the character. (16:30)

Mechanics. Rather than the usual six abilities, the characters have a small set of skills (fighting, sneaking, thinking, talking). I'm not sure, but I think that they roll a six sided die to determine these skills.

The task resolution mechanic is pretty simple: Roll a d20 (and add any applicable skill modifier). A roll of 20 is success. A natural 1 is failure. In-between rolls are up to the teacher/DM. But the important thing is: The kids get to make up their own story describing how the character succeeded or failed at the task. Keep in mind: This is a writing class, and the goal is to get the kids to use their imaginations and tell interesting stories!

Inventory. The teacher gave the kids a list of 30 items. She had them pick 5 items from the list. The idea was that they had a knapsack that could fit 5 things inside. The kids know they need to eat and camp out, so all the groups chose food rations, flint or magnifying glass to start fires, and tents or bedrolls for shelter.

Character Sheet. The kids combined the main characteristics with the skills and inventories to create character sheets. Here's a plain text schematic of one character sheet:

+---------------------------------------------------------------+
|                    N  A  M  E                                 |
+---------------------------------------------------------------+
|                          |                                    |
| P I C T U R E            | Name: Loradiand Shieldheart        |
|                          | Age: 20 years old                  |
|                          | Class: Bard                        |
|                          | Race: Half elf                     |
|                          | Tool: Custom guitar                |
|                          | Traits: Quiet joker                |
|                          | Hero Origin: Killed a dragon       |
+---------------------------------------------------------------+
|                          |                                    |
| Skills                   | Inventory                          |
| +6 = talking             | Small sack                         |
| +4 = sneaking            | Magnifying glass                   |
| +3 = fighting            | Smallknife                         |
| +2 = thinking            | 3x Food rations                    |
|                          | 1x Bedroll                         |
+---------------------------------------------------------------+

And here's a screen capture (22:00) of another:



Adventure Scenario.

1. Invitation: The characters find a scroll challenging them to find the "puzzle room" hidden under a temple in the city. If they solve all the puzzles, they'll receive a great reward. (22:49)
2. City Map: The kids need to find the temple within the city. (24:01)
3. Temple: They need to find the general location of the secret door in the temple (24:30). A skill roll was used.
4. Secret Door: The kids get a picture and need to find the door hidden in it. (25:42)
5. Puzzle Door: After entering the secret door, they're in a chamber with 4 more doors. An inscription says: One door is the entrance to the puzzle room, and the other 3 open to certain doom. The kids get a picture showing all 4 doors. Each door has unique features. There are also shared features. For example, 3 of the doors have handles, but 1 doesn't. One door has tiles, but the others don't. And so on. DM only: It doesn't matter what door they pick -- whichever door they choose leads to the puzzle room -- what's really important is their justification for choosing. They need to talk it out and articulate reasons for their choice. (26:50)
6. Word Puzzles: Inside the puzzle room, the kids get pictures of word puzzles that they must solve. For example, one puzzle (28:46) has blanks _ _ _ _ _ with a picture under each blank. The first letter in the word represented by the picture is the letter they need to use to fill in the blank. More difficult puzzles follow, including math puzzles.
7. Caged goblin puzzle: In the final puzzle, the puzzle master shows the kids a goblin in a cage (31:48). He is going to release the goblin. The kids must get the goblin back in the cage. But the kids are not allowed to harm the goblin in any way! A skill roll is used. One character tried to push the goblin back in the cage, but he rolled a 1. Loradiand Shieldheart, the Bard (shown above), used her guitar to sing the goblin a soothing lullaby, in order to put it to sleep. She rolled a 20, the goblin fell asleep, and the characters put it back in the cage, winning the final challenge!
8. Certificate of Achievement: The teacher printed up certificates of achievement for each character (33:31), congratulating them for solving all the puzzles.

Future plans. The experiment was a huge success -- the kids were very excited to play D&D, and it really helped them to write more. Next semester, the teacher plans to let each of her 18 kids run their own character instead of using "group characters".

Commentary/Criticism. One might argue that this isn't "really" D&D, but I think it captures the spirit of D&D, and that it's a good adaptation of the game for younger kids. In the beginning of the video, the teacher makes a faux pas and talks about "0" (instead of "1") as the low roll on a d20, but corrects herself later in the video. No a big deal; "chalk it up" to nerves.

I wish this teacher the best of luck in continuing her experiment using D&D in the classroom! I'd like to see her method adopted at other schools, and expanded beyond writing class to math class also.