KyEdRPG Spotlight: Chris Broussard and The DRAGON Codex

I first heard of Chris "Savage" Broussard from LinkedIn.  Over several posts, Chris shared his classroom journey where Dungeons & Dragons is completely integrated into the coursework of his high school English classroom (what I call a Full Infusion from one of the frameworks in my book).  But what was even more intriguing was the location of the classroom: Guatemala. 

I teleconferenced with him to learn more, and after an hour of casual talk, I was determined to tell his story on Kentucky Educators for Role Playing Games.  I then asked Chris if he would be willing to be interviewed for my blog, and I am delighted he said yes.

From Chris Broussard's website "Not Your Typical Teacher."

Chris, welcome to Edtech Elixirs!  Please share your educational journey.  

I always start this conversation by saying I never wanted to be a teacher. I'm originally from Louisiana, and I graduated from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette with degrees in Modern Languages, concentrating in Spanish, and Criminal Justice.

In 2012, I traveled to Guatemala for what was initially intended to be a three-month experience abroad to improve my Spanish skills. During that trip, I fell in love with the country and its culture. I returned in 2013, and Guatemala has been my home ever since.

That same year, I began my teaching career with Education for the Children Foundation, an organization dedicated to breaking the cycle of poverty through education. There, I worked with students across several grade levels, from elementary through secondary school. I taught English as a second language and eventually became the English Program Coordinator.

In 2016, I joined Intellego Bilingual School, where I've spent the past decade teaching high school English Language Arts. Over the years, my role has evolved beyond the classroom to include professional learning and instructional coaching, helping other teachers think more intentionally about how they design learning experiences.

Along the way, I earned my master's degree in Curriculum and Instruction from the American College of Education.

One of the most important things I've learned from teaching abroad is that education isn't confined to a single country, culture, or approach. Working with multilingual students has challenged me to rethink what engagement looks like and how we can create meaningful learning experiences.

That curiosity continues to shape much of my work today, including my exploration of TTRPGs as a tool for teaching literacy.

What is your personal experience with playing tabletop role-playing games (TTRPGs)?  

I actually had no personal experience playing tabletop role-playing games until I brought them into my classroom. In fact, I didn't even know what they were until late 2020!

However, I've been a lifelong gamer, playing video games for as long as I can remember. During my early years of teaching, conversations about video games became one of my favorite ways to get students talking and build relationships with them.

In 2021, I began incorporating video games into my classroom as an engaging way to explore concepts such as character motivation and narrative structure. My old PlayStation 3 is still one of my most valuable pieces of classroom equipment!

Every day during recess, my classroom transforms into an arcade. The first rule is simple: the room is an English-only zone. Students are welcome to come in and play video games as long as they maintain their conversations in English.

Imagine my surprise when some of the students with the lowest levels of English proficiency became the ones who regularly came in to play video games and speak English!

I believe this happens because the environment removes much of the pressure associated with making mistakes. Students aren't worried about getting an answer wrong or receiving a grade. They're focused on playing, having fun, and communicating with their friends. The motivation to participate is immediate, and the perceived risk of failure is much lower.

Through this experience, I've noticed that students who were initially hesitant to participate in class have become more willing to speak up and take risks with their English.

It was this experience that helped me recognize the potential of games as a tool for language learning and eventually led me to explore tabletop role-playing games in my classroom.

A great segue! Tell us more about how your journey began using TTRPGs instructionally.

I first discovered the concept of tabletop role-playing games and their potential in the classroom in 2020. At the time, we were conducting classes via Zoom, and student engagement had become one of our biggest challenges. We were competing with cell phones, televisions, and the newfound freedom students had to mute their teachers whenever they wanted!

Toward the end of that year, I had been binge-watching The Walking Dead, and my ninth-grade students were studying a unit about the end of the world. We had read several works by Ray Bradbury, as well as The War of the Worlds. Having finished our textbook content, I needed something that would keep students practicing their English for a few more weeks.

With zombies on my mind, I decided to create a survival game.

I presented students with a scenario: They were alone at school, and the entire campus was surrounded by zombies. A helicopter would land on our soccer court in five days, but they had to survive at school until then.

My first question was simple: "Who do you work with, and where do you set up your camp?"

Once students established their teams, I placed them into Zoom breakout rooms and visited each group to ask what they wanted to do next. Some ventured into the cafeteria to search for food, while others made weapons and built barricades to protect themselves.

On the second day of our game, something unexpected happened. When I started the session, the Zoom waiting room was full. As I admitted students, they immediately began asking whether they could do certain things in the survival game. They were already thinking about their next moves before class had even started!

Seeing that level of engagement, I knew I was onto something.

Later, while recounting the experience to a friend back in Louisiana, he told me, "You're basically doing Dungeons & Dragons in your class."

That was the first time I learned what D&D and tabletop role-playing games actually were. I spent the next month researching the concept and exploring how it could be used in education.

In 2021, I brought back the zombie survival game with another group of students and saw similar results. Encouraged by the experience, I ordered my first set of dice and a Player's Handbook from the one store I could find in Guatemala City that sold them.

Toward the end of 2021, I was given the opportunity to lead an enrichment program for students who were falling behind in English. I had the freedom to structure the program however I wanted, so I decided to build it around D&D.

Students created characters, designed costumes, and came to class dressed as their characters to introduce themselves to everyone. It was another huge success!

Over the following years, I gradually incorporated more and more elements of TTRPGs into my instruction. What started as a single lesson became an enrichment program, then an entire unit, and eventually the backbone of my curriculum, with TTRPG experiences designed to support and reinforce our textbook content.

That is amazing!  Can you walk us through how your course begins for the school year?

Today, the experience begins with character creation.

I dedicate the first two weeks of school to helping students develop their characters. I want them to become fully invested in who they are creating, from their backgrounds and personalities to their motivations and abilities.

Their first major assessment is a character introduction activity. On presentation day, it's not unusual to see tieflings and elves walking toward my classroom, ready to introduce themselves to their classmates in the Common Tongue!

Once students understand their characters, we move on to worldbuilding.

I take them on a field trip around our school campus, which students from the original 2021 enrichment program transformed into a fantasy kingdom. They created a map of the entire school, turning familiar locations into points of interest within our game world.

The primary school playground became a small, welcoming village inhabited mainly by halflings and dragonborn. The soccer court became the orcs' military training grounds. One of our gardens became a settlement divided by a river, with tieflings living on one side and humans on the other. The two communities don't get along, creating opportunities for conflict and storytelling.

Our school even has a forest in the center of the campus, which adds another dimension to the world students can explore.

During the field trip, students take notes on the locations and their relationships to one another. This helps them understand the geography of the game world when we begin playing through our campaigns.

For example, if their characters need to travel from the village to the city, students understand that they must find a way to cross the river. They might need to locate a boat, negotiate with someone who owns one, or come up with an entirely different solution.

Because the fantasy world is based on a physical environment they know, students can visualize distances, understand where locations are in relation to one another, and make more informed decisions during gameplay.

Once students understand their characters and the world they inhabit, we begin our campaigns.

Each campaign is designed to give students experiences that connect to the themes and concepts they will encounter in our textbook. Rather than simply introducing a topic and asking students to discuss it, I create situations where they can experience aspects of that topic through their characters' decisions and interactions.

After each campaign, students complete a written reflection connecting their experiences to the overall unit topic or essential question.

The goal is for students to have something meaningful to draw upon when we begin exploring the textbook content. They've already encountered ideas, faced challenges, and made decisions related to the topic. Now, they can use those experiences to deepen their understanding.

What began as a spontaneous zombie survival game during the pandemic has evolved into an approach that allows my students to become active participants in the learning process rather than simply observers of it.

How did students react to the game?   How do you know it positively impacted their learning?

Students have reacted very positively to the game, and their enthusiasm has been one of the biggest reasons I've continued developing this approach.

Sometimes, when the structure gets away from me or we become too focused on the textbook, a student will simply ask, "When are we going to use our characters again?" That question immediately reminds me that this is something students genuinely look forward to.

I've even had younger students approach me and ask if I'm the teacher who teaches students how to play D&D. It's exciting to realize that a reputation is being built and that there are students waiting for their opportunity to become part of our shared world.

One of my favorite moments happened this year. I structured our first unit so that students would begin with D&D experiences before moving into the textbook content. At the end of the unit, one student asked if we could reverse the order for Unit 2. She explained that she would rather get the "regular boring stuff" out of the way first so that we could save the fun stuff for later.

What made me smile was that she was referring to writing assignments, presentations, collaboration, and critical thinking as the fun stuff!

These are the very activities that students might normally approach with hesitation, but within the context of our shared world, they become something students genuinely want to do.

I see the positive impact on learning most clearly in students' willingness and motivation to participate. Students seek me out during their free time to talk about their characters and the decisions they've made. Some independently research their character classes even when they haven't been assigned homework. They're choosing to engage with the material beyond the time we spend together in class.

For multilingual learners, I believe this willingness to participate is especially important.

Similar to my experience using video games in the classroom, the fact that students perceive this as a game changes their relationship with the learning process. There is less pressure to perform perfectly, and mistakes become part of the experience rather than something to fear.

When students are focused on solving a problem, developing a character, or communicating with their teammates, they're less concerned about whether every sentence is grammatically correct. They're using English because they have something they genuinely want to communicate.

That willingness to take risks is often one of the biggest hurdles language learners need to overcome.

While I wouldn't claim that enthusiasm alone proves measurable improvements in academic achievement, I can see meaningful changes in how students approach learning. They're voluntarily practicing English, engaging with complex ideas, and showing greater confidence in their willingness to participate.

For me, that's an important indicator that the approach is making a difference. Students aren't simply completing assignments because they have to. They're becoming invested in the learning experience itself.

As a native American English speaker teaching in Guatemala, were there any student language or cultural challenges you had to overcome?

Language hasn't been a major challenge. Most of the time, I'm simply reminding students to use their English.

Culturally, the biggest challenge I've faced as a foreign educator has been navigating traditional expectations of what teaching and learning should look like. Guatemala is a country with strong traditions, and education is no exception.

During my early years in the classroom, I spent a lot of time trying to fit in and avoid making waves. I followed the established routines and taught in ways that were familiar to both students and colleagues.

Eventually, I started thinking more critically about the student experience. I considered what it must feel like to spend every day moving from one classroom to another, listening to teachers lecture and copying notes from the board. Period after period, the same routine. I began to understand just how bored students must feel.

I knew there had to be a more engaging way for them to learn.

As I started developing and embracing my own teaching style, I encountered resistance. I received criticism from colleagues, administrators, and even some students because my classroom didn't always look or function the way they were accustomed to.

That was challenging, especially as a foreign educator trying to establish myself in a different educational culture. I had to learn to trust my instincts while remaining open to feedback and demonstrating that my approach had a clear educational purpose.

The turning point came when teacher evaluation results began to show that I was among the top-performing teachers at my school. Suddenly, the unconventional things I was doing in my classroom began to be taken more seriously.

That experience taught me an important lesson: Sometimes, you have to be willing to challenge expectations before people can see the value in a different approach.

It also helped me understand that innovation isn't simply about introducing something new or exciting. It's about creating meaningful learning experiences and being able to demonstrate why they work.

Today, I see my approach to teaching, including the use of TTRPGs, as an extension of that philosophy. I'm not trying to abandon traditional education or suggest that everything we've done in the past is wrong. I'm simply asking whether there might be another way to help students connect with what they're learning.

And sometimes, that means being willing to teach a little differently.

You mentioned initially encountering resistance from your school leadership.  Can you tell us more about how your administration reacted to your use of TTRPGs in the classroom, and how it evolved?

When I first started experimenting with TTRPGs in my classroom, I think my administration assumed I was simply putting on a play or something. After all, students were walking around dressed as wizards and druids.

They didn't fully understand the scale of what I was doing until late 2025, when I was accepted to speak at the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Annual Convention. My presentation focused on how I use Dungeons & Dragons in the classroom and introduced The DRAGON Codex, the framework I developed to help educators approach campaign design with an instructional mindset.

Before I left for the conference, my administration asked if I could deliver the presentation to the English teachers at my school.

That turned out to be a turning point.

During the presentation and workshop, I was able to explain the difference between simply playing a game in the classroom and intentionally designing a game to support student learning. I walked my colleagues through the framework, the planning process, and how the campaigns connect to our curriculum and learning objectives.

After the workshop, one of my administrators stayed behind to speak with me. She told me how impressed she was because she hadn't realized just how much went into the system or how deeply I had planned these experiences.

That conversation meant a lot to me. For years, people had seen students dressed in costumes, creating characters, and playing games, but they hadn't necessarily seen the instructional design happening behind the scenes.

It was an opportunity to show that what might look like an unconventional classroom activity is actually a carefully planned learning experience.

What was the biggest thing you learned last year that you are doing differently this year?   

One of my biggest takeaways from this experience has been the importance of consistency in my planning.

I dare say it's much easier to pick up a textbook and follow along with the teacher's guide. Designing campaigns takes a tremendous amount of time and effort, and that's not always time I have available.

In previous years, when I was only experimenting with the occasional campaign or TTRPG-inspired activity, I could treat each experience as a one-off lesson. There wasn't necessarily an expectation that another adventure would follow.

But once I began fully integrating TTRPGs into my curriculum, I realized I'd opened Pandora's Box.

Students look forward to the campaigns. They ask about them even when I've gotten caught up in other responsibilities and forgotten that we were supposed to continue. They enjoy the challenges, and overcoming those challenges becomes part of the reward.

I've come to realize that inconsistency can be disappointing for students. When they become invested in their characters and our shared world, they expect opportunities to return to them. If those opportunities become too infrequent, that excitement can gradually turn into disinterest.

This year, I'm focusing on making the approach more sustainable. Rather than constantly creating new campaigns from scratch, I want to build a library of experiences we've already used, refine them based on what worked, and have several additional campaigns ready to go.

That way, I can spend less time reinventing the wheel and more time adapting the experiences to meet my students' needs.

What advice would you give to a teacher who wants to start using TTRPGs to improve literacy in their own classroom? Or for someone who wants to use TTRPGs with multi-language learners?

I could simply say, "Just start!" But I know the next question many teachers would ask is, "Where do I start?"

The good news is that you don't have to be an expert in the rules of tabletop role-playing games to bring them into your classroom. To get started, all you really need is the outline of a story, a way to determine whether students' decisions succeed or fail, and a clear learning objective.

For example, in an English class like mine, we could read Romeo and Juliet, or we could have students take on the roles of two rival families whose children have fallen in love. Through role-playing, students could explore the motivations, conflicts, and consequences that drive the story. They would still be engaging with the same literary concepts, but from a different perspective.

History and social studies offer similar opportunities. Students could step into historical scenarios, explore different perspectives, and consider how decisions might influence the events unfolding around them.

Subjects like math and physics might require a little more creativity when developing a story, but that doesn't mean they can't be incorporated. Imagine students discovering a locked door hiding a treasure. To unlock it, they must solve a series of equations or apply their understanding of a scientific principle. Suddenly, the problem has a purpose within the experience.

For multilingual learners, I believe the most important element is creating an engaging situation that gives students a genuine reason to communicate. The story itself doesn't have to be elaborate. It simply needs to capture their interest and encourage them to speak, ask questions, explain their decisions, and interact with one another.

When students are invested in what happens next, language becomes a tool they use to accomplish something rather than simply a subject they're studying.

To help teachers get started, I've developed a framework called The DRAGON Codex, which breaks the process into six steps:

• Design the World: Create the setting and establish the learning objective.
• Role Creation: Identify the characters or roles students will take on.
• Apply Through Play: Place those characters into the world and introduce the challenges they must overcome.
• Guide Through Story: Facilitate the experience, allowing students' decisions to shape what happens next.
• Observe and Adapt: Monitor student progress and adjust the experience based on their needs.
• New Perspective: Give students an opportunity to reflect on what they learned and how the experience changed their understanding of the topic.

The framework helps me approach TTRPGs as an instructional design tool rather than simply a game.

My biggest piece of advice is to start with something small and manageable. You don't need an elaborate campaign, expensive materials, or an encyclopedic knowledge of D&D rules. Start with a single scenario connected to something you're already teaching.

See how your students respond, reflect on what worked, and build from there.

You might be surprised by how much learning can happen when students are given the opportunity to become part of the story.

That DRAGON Codex is amazing!  Chris, I’m so glad we met and talked online!  If people want to reach out to you or follow your story, what’s the best way to do so?

First, thank you so much for inviting me to share my story with Edtech Elixirs! I've really enjoyed our conversations, and I appreciate the opportunity to connect with other educators who are exploring creative ways to make learning more engaging.

You can connect with me on LinkedIn or through the company page for Not Your Typical Teacher, where I coach and support educators in developing engaging, student-centered learning experiences. My work focuses on helping teachers move beyond traditional instructional approaches, rediscover their passion for teaching, and create classrooms where students become active participants in their own learning.

The best way to reach me directly is by email at chris@nyttcoach.com.

You can also find me on Instagram at @savagedragon1047, where I share a mix of education, travel, and everyday adventures.

This year, I'll be presenting a review of a year of D&D classroom integration at the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Annual Convention. [Editor's Note: the NCTE conference will take place in November 2026 in Philadelphia.] I'm always excited to connect with educators who are interested in game-based learning, teaching abroad, or simply trying something different in their classrooms.

I hope my story encourages other teachers to take a chance on an idea they've been curious about, even if it doesn't look like traditional teaching. Sometimes, all it takes is a little imagination and a willingness to try something different.

Thanks to Chris for taking the time to be interviewed and for sharing his insights! For more with Chris's story, check out his guest appearance on the Area of Effect:  A TTRPG Show for Parents & Educators podcast, hosted by Allison Kunz of The Kids' Table.  Listen to Episode 36 (54 minutes) on Spotify or your favorite podcast platform, and consider a subscription! 

My Recent Intersections with the University of Louisville

The University of Louisville has always held a special place in my life.  In my youth (and currently as an adult!), I rooted for the Cardinals in sports.  My wife and I were married on campus at its Rauch Planetarium in 2003.   (Sadly, the university's plan for the planetarium -- not open since the pandemic -- is to remain permanently closed.)  It was at U of L where I earned my Bachelors (2005) and Masters (2007) degrees and began my teaching career through its Alternate Certification program.  

This year, I've had three intersections with U of L that I wanted to share.

In spring 2025, I taught my first online, asynchronous, graduate-level course for U of L.  At the end of last year, the College of Education and Human Development reached out.  A series of blended learning classes had been shuttered when the original instructor retired.  CEHD leadership asked: Would I be willing to teach additional courses, in order to revive the blended learning track?  I enthusiastically said yes.   The fourth and final course of my current commitment begins next week, and I'm thankful to give back to my alma mater as well as help future and early career educators!   I plan to begin the cycle again in 2027, so if you're interested in enrolling (you can still try to register for the upcoming fall term!), here are the titles of my online classes:

• EDAP 688 Designing a Technology Integrated Curriculum (last taught spring term 2026)
• EDAP 585 Digital Methods for Teachers to Design and Deliver Instruction (last taught summer term 2026) 
• EDAP 587 Digital Methods for Students to Demonstrate Learning (last taught summer term 2026)
• EDAP 690 Teaching with AI (begins August 17, 2026)

You can visit this page for more information on U of L registration.

When I was a U of L student, I always enjoyed the Ekstrom Library as a place for study, collaboration, and research.  When I was recently on campus, I discovered to my delight that my book was part of its third floor collection!  

When I looked up the book's entry in Ekstrom's database,  I also found out that Tabletop Role-Playing Games in the Classroom is located at several other university libraries, including Vanderbilt, University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign), University of Mary Washington, SUNY Geneseo, University of Southern Maine, University of Nevada (Las Vegas), Loyola Marymount, The King's University (Edmonton, CN) and the University of Saskatchewan.  I'm humbled that my book sits on so many shelves.

My book leads to my last University of Louisville connection.   For its recent Spring and Summer issue of U of L Magazine, I was featured in a two page spread!  The photo shoot was particularly fun -- members of the magazine staff came to our OVEC Middletown office, and in one of the setups, I lay on a table surrounded by my personal TTRPG materials as a photographer stood above and over me and took the picture.

Special thanks to Audrie Lamb and the rest of the U of L Magazine staff for the feature article!  

As I wrap up this entry, I want to share a heartfelt moment of my gratitude to many people -- some of which I haven't met, but left replies on my social media -- for showing their love my way.  I mentioned at the beginning that my wedding was held on the U of L campus.  The person I married was April Lynn Watson, another Cardinal graduate.   April was a beautiful, beloved, brilliant wife and my best friend.  I talked about her original battle with cancer here in my blog in 2019.  Tragically, the cancer came back after several years of remission, and April passed away on July 1.   Writing her obituary and eulogy was incredibly hard, but I was honored and privileged to share how wonderful she was to me and so many others.   Thank you to every single person who has expressed their condolences.  I will repeat what I said in a LinkedIn post: "It seems strange to breathe without [April], much less eat, laugh, or post online about work or writing accomplishments. I ask for two things. Firstly, your warm thoughts and support for myself and my family in the painful journey ahead. Secondly, for your grace and understanding as I post in the days and weeks to come. I know April wanted me to thrive, not just subsist, even as I now struggle in the tilted frame of my new 'normal.' I hope to continue to use my social media voice to uplift the topics I love: education, technology, game-based learning. Doing so helps me live, and endure, and honor April's life by trying to make a difference in others."

Origins Game Fair 2026

Back in January, I was flattered to be asked by Maryanne Cullinan and Jennifer Genova to present at this year's Game-Based Education & Therapy Conference (GBET), which occurs simultaneously with Origins Game Fair in Columbus, Ohio.   (Origins is the main "open to the public" annual event ran by GAMA, alongside some retail-only conventions throughout the year.) Despite the fact that Columbus is not terribly far from where I live -- about three hours -- I had never been to Origins before, so I was thankful for the opportunity when I attended last week.

GBET runs over three days (Friday through Sunday) in a dedicated area of the convention center, mere steps away from the exhibit hall and other gaming opportunities.  I ended up presenting two sessions on Friday, June 19.  

Much of what I shared was parts of the professional learning on educational tabletop role-playing games (TTRPGs) I've been doing over the last few years, although clearly I moved quickly past the "What are TTRPGs?" with the crowd at Origins!  I was grateful for all those who attended, as well as their enthusiastic participation.  A special thanks to several members of The Hills Have Nerds (Aaron! Cody!) who came to my first session -- in particular, a shout out to Josh Damron who took several pictures and videos:

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A post shared by Kentucky Educators for Role Playing Games (@kyedrpg)

(Josh also ran a wonderful Call of Cthulu one shot he created, which allowed me to play that TTRPG for the first time -- my character even survived!  More gratitude for Josh's generosity of time and service.)

A conference like Origins/GBET gave me the chance to not only meet several people in person for the first time, but to learn.  Some highlights:

• Adam Davis (an early and influential person who used TTRPGs in therapy, currently with foundry10) presented on the importance of gamemasters sharing power with their players to make a truly co-created story.
• I finally met Steph Campbell of TTRPGKids face-to-face! (Their website is full of resources and self-published materials, and I am still thankful to have been interviewed last year.)  I got a copy of Making a Tabletop RPG for YOUR Particular Kid: A Guide for Families, Friends, and Facilitators. I look forward to reading it.
• Carolyn Noe (of Superheroines Etc) had a session on how disabilities are represented in games.  It's an important topic, and one that reminds us that as we know better, we should do better.
• Zachary Reznichek has been in the educational TTRPG space for several years, running workshops on the topic and self-publishing his book Teacher-Gamer Handbook, although I learned of his work only recently.  After connecting on social media, I was thankful to meet him in person when he attended one of my sessions.
• Back in March, I was a guest on The Twenty-Sided Gamified Podcast, hosted by Jared Fishman.  Jared and his organizational partner Kelly McManus had a session on "Designing Classroom Games and Game Based Learning," which included a chance for me to play a few rounds of Diplomacy (and meet Jared face-to-face) for the first time!
• For pure fun, I had the chance to playtest (alongside Josh) an upcoming rules-light TTRPG called Further Adventure to be published by Limitless Adventures.  (They have always been a big supporter of educators in various ways; one of their resources is highlighted in my book.) You can follow when their new TTRPG launches on Kickstarter later this summer.
• Besides Maryanne, I was also thankful to meet her organizational partner Garrett Monroe in person.  Maryanne and Garrett's Tabletop EDU has resources, self-published books, and ongoing engagement opportunities to learn from others on educational TTRPGs (follow them across social media for the latest).

I really enjoyed Origins, and the city of Columbus.  The convention center and connected hotels allowed for a conference that was large with lots of options, but still inviting and not overwhelming.  In particular, I was impressed with the sessions and presenters offered by GBET, and I believe its value for educators and therapists will only grow in the years to come.

Did you attend GBET this year, or in the past?  What are your thoughts on Origins?  How do you think it compares to other game-related convention opportunities such as Gen Con's Trade Day?  Please share in the Comments below!

For more pictures from Origins 2026, see my KyEdRPG Facebook Page post here.

KyEdRPG Spotlight: Teaching Science Through TTRPGs with Cara Rupp

Cara Rupp's name first came up in a direct message exchange I had with Geoffrey Sperl.  Sperl wrote an excellent article for Roll20 about using TTRPGs in his high school English class, and after reading it, I introduced myself virtually.  It turns out that Sperl had heard of KyEdRPG already, through a meeting with Cara at a gaming convention.  When I saw her name again as a registrant for an upcoming "Dungeons & Desks" session that happened back in March, I looked forward to meeting Cara, and I was not disappointed!  After Cara told me how she has implemented science TTRPGs across elementary and middle school grade levels, I knew her story needed to be celebrated, and was delighted that she agreed to be interviewed for Edtech Elixirs.  

Students from Cara Rupp's classroom designing a game.

Cara, welcome to Edtech Elixirs!  Please share your educational journey. 

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, I began my education career as a 5th grade teacher in Yuma, Arizona circa 2011. From that point on I have primarily taught middle school science. When I moved to Kentucky in 2016, I experimented as a long term substitute, elementary interventionist, and even a high school science teacher. However, I quickly went back to teaching middle school science. To me, middle school science offers a unique challenge due to its interdisciplinary nature. At any given time I am not only teaching science, but also incorporating math, language arts and even social studies.  Currently, I work for Warren County Schools as an advanced science teacher between Warren East Middle and Moss Middle School, but next year I will start teaching at Bowling Green Junior High School, part of the Bowling Green Independent district. 

What is your personal experience with playing tabletop role-playing games (TTRPGs)? 

I am fairly new to TTRPGs as I started playing D&D in 2022. A co-worker invited me to her husband’s group in Bardstown. My character was only supposed to be there for one session but she was so memorable they continued to play her as an NPC for the remainder of the campaign. While I have not had much luck with a regular D&D group, I have been GMing for Lurking Fears [a professional gamemastering organization that works on behalf of game publishers at conferences] almost a year now. I have also GMed games such as Magical Kitties for my own children in addition to hosting a TTRPG club at Moss Middle. 

What inspired you to bring TTRPGs into your learning space? Can you share some examples? 

Since beginning my education career, I always tried to incorporate engaging activities into my curriculum. Starting out in middle school social studies, I would have students write and act out historical scenes as skits. This further developed through teaching elementary and science to include more game based learning. After attending Chaosium Con, I met fellow teachers who used TTRPGs in their classrooms and decided to include a wider variety of games in my classroom as well. It was also at this point I realized that I would need to create my own version of TTRPGs to match district curriculum and state standards. So down the rabbit hole I went! I started off developing games that were extremely mechanics heavy. One of my first TTRPG experiments was with Food Chains. Students would create their own animal with varying adaptations and trophic levels. They would then role play as that animal and try to locate food, survive and reproduce by rolling dice. From that point, for some insane reason, I decided to go even more mechanics heavy and create my first Natural Selection game. 

[Here is the complete folder for the Natural Selection TTRPG, with all its iterations and materials. Note the docs marked ORIGINAL indicate the first version Cara made.  – Adam] 

However, the following year, finally learning from experience, I created a simpler role playing activity that can be used throughout the year. In this one, students chose a science career and create a character based on their science field with subsequent stats. Students use their character to accomplish missions but also to discuss our current science topic as their scientist would envision. Besides using standard dice mechanics, I have also created a STEM project where students role play as racoons and use playing cards to swap for “garbage” to create the best gadget.

All of these TTRPGs are amazing!  You mentioned working with elementary schools as well.  Did you implement any TTRPGs with younger students?  

During the past few summers, I have taught at a summer literacy academy for elementary English language learners. Drawing on my early teaching experience in 3rd and 5th grade, I created TTRPG activities for these younger students. I started out with a water cycle activity. Students role play as a water molecule and travel through the water cycle. Initially, they walk around the room to do this with large foam dice. I place posters of the parts of the water cycle around the room and students use a paper with tables to roll and see where to go next. They walk around the room (or stay in the same spot) depending on their role. We then discuss as a class how it went, did they get “stuck” on one part of the water cycle, did they make it to all the parts of the cycle, etc. Next, I have a printed “map” of the parts of the water cycle. Students roll again, but this time they draw arrows and label the phase change. I also made a table for rolling a d10 instead of a d6. Both tables are weighted to model how water molecules move and stay in certain parts of the water cycle. From that point, I modified the water cycle TTRPG to create a rock cycle TTRPG. These ideas can be translated into similar activities and topics such as ecosystems and human body systems (future TTRPGs I plan on creating). 

[The water and rock cycle TTRPG materials can be found here. – Adam]

 

You recently attended a “Dungeons & Desks” PD facilitated by Kalli Colley and myself, which is where we met!  Clearly you were already strong in Polyhedral Pedagogy, but did anything you learn that day help you back in the classroom?  

Attending “Dungeons & Desks” was incredibly insightful. After experimenting with TTRPGs, I realized that I needed a simpler approach especially in the middle school classroom. The original games I developed, while educational and fun, were mechanics heavy and overly complicated. I immediately latched onto using random events tables like the one from Mayflower II. [The TTRPG is one I adapted from a simulation scenario created by Teach Democracy; the simulation is also described in my book. -- Adam]  The following week I came up with a different Natural Selection TTRPG with similar random event tables as the Mayflower II.  I created two event tables that followed a broad storyline.  

[Here is the complete folder for the Natural Selection TTRPG, with all its iterations and materials. Note the docs marked REVISED indicate the latest version Cara made.  The two “Events Tables” in the tabs of the Doc offer different focal points of environmental change – one has fire and volcanoes, the other has flooding and use of dams –  but from a play perspective are otherwise relatively equal.  You may decide to have groups that are side by side play two different tables to ensure variety, or have all students use the same table to better fit your instructional needs, or have the group choose the table they want to play – whatever you think is best!  – Adam]  

In this game students create their own organism and then in teams of 2-4 roll for events within a realistic, fictional ecosystem. They have to record their rolls and how it affected their organism then write a reflection at the end. For the creation of their organism, they were given a set of dice modifiers. Whatever they believed their organism was good at, got the highest dice modifier and vice versa for the lowest modifier. I had students play this twice with two different sets of dice modifiers. One set was designed to make it harder for their organism to survive certain events. The other set was more lenient and allowed for greater survival chances. At the end of both games we had a class discussion about how survival can be drastically different given certain advantages or disadvantages. 

First page of a student example, revealing how unicorns survived the random events of natural selection.

The second page.  Note the reflection at the end -- a highly important step after playing an educational TTRPG!

I also teach a Science Methods class. This class allows me to have more freedom in instruction. With that freedom, I decided to have a unit where students play and design educational games. While I allowed for all types of games, I focused on TTRPGs in my instruction, since most students did not have prior experience with that type of game. I initially started with the same Scientist RPG character creation and used a simple scenario for the whole class. I had each table (2-4 students) play together and I was the GM walking to each group. I would give information to the whole class at the beginning then go to each table and ask what they would like to do. I had them roll the appropriate skill, give them the information they learned from that role, then tell them to talk and think about what to do next. I would go to the next table and repeat. When I made my way around the room, the first table would be ready with their next move. This at first was helpful, but it did concede a significant amount of down time between groups. However, I used this as a teaching opportunity. As a class, I talked about what I did as the GM and had them reflect on what they did as players and how a GM interacts with them as a player. I shared what I did as a GM when they wanted to make a specific roll or had a question. I ended with asking the class if anyone thinks they could do what I did, but only with the people at their table. Several raised their hands and I told the class that they would soon be doing this as well. The next day I picked one student from each team and spoke with them as a group. I gave them a one page scenario with potential information and rolls. I told them to give their table the beginning information (background on the event) and ask them what they wanted to do next. I explained that all their team needed to do was discover the ending information on the scenario. The potential rolls and other information in the middle did not have to be followed exactly. If their team wanted to go in a different direction, they could come up with the skill to roll and the difficulty (we had already talked as a class about what different difficulties mean). I told the future GMs they could be creative and just have fun.  In the first scenario the GMs used the middle information almost word for word, but by the second scenario they took off with their own ideas! All students were engaged and having fun! One student was so nervous and unsure of himself, but by the end of class he was a pro and begged to be able to GM again. 

[I love this as an example of how to quickly “train” student gamemastering in a way that is uncomplicated and light. It’s a great model of a Student-Led game experience, the highest “degree” from my book’s Degree of TTRPG Facilitation Framework. – Adam]  

Also, at the end of class I held a whole class discussion to talk about the game and game mechanics. My science methods class also played the newest Natural Selection TTRPG. The class talked about how the random event table was easy, enjoyable and helped them learn more about the topic, Natural Selection. However, having a GM was even more enjoyable and allowed them to be creative and engaged. They did say they felt the Natural Selection game was more educational due to the tables, but also the scenarios for the GMs were not in depth and could be why it didn’t feel as educational. If they were to play longer scenarios, it would give more in depth learning. I was very pleased with their thoughts and ideas. Of course, the purpose of these games was to expose them to different game mechanics so they could create their own game. Several students decided to make their own TTRPG game. One student even created a map and cardboard minis to go with their RPG! Having students run TTRPGs and create their own scenarios gives them autonomy in their learning and allows them to demonstrate their leadership and creativity abilities beyond their academic knowledge. 

Additionally, at Moss Middle we have clubs during the school day. I run a TTRPG club which meets about every two weeks for 45 minutes. When I first started the club I soon realized the varying levels of my students, not only their role playing abilities but also language skills. Moss Middle School has a variety of international students. Given this I had to scaffold how I approached TTRPGs with my club. First, I gave students a simple line they could read. Then I gave a chart with different characters so they could say the same line as that character. I modeled each character before we began. After each student said the line as the character they rolled, we all guessed which character we thought they were playing. I also played games like Werewolf and Coup with them to introduce deception and displacement. This progression helped them immensely with role playing. From this point, they can also run and write their own scenarios. 

Have you had any challenges creating TTRPGs around your science academic standards, or for younger students?  How did you overcome those challenges, or upon reflection, think of ways to modify an educational TTRPG the next time you implement it?

The biggest obstacle with TTRPGs in the classroom for me is not aligning them with the standards but finding the time to create all the ideas I have. TTRPGs are flexible, creative and allow for many different uses in the classroom. As of now, there are not a lot of pre-made games and scenarios for middle school science that address my specific standards. I am hoping each year I can take one or two units and develop TTRPGs for those units. Until then, I can use the Scientist RPG to have students role play as scientists and discuss unit topics. For instance we might be in a genetics unit and a student is an astronomer. That student would need to role play and think of why their astronomer scientist would be interested in the genetics we just learned. Maybe the scientist is thinking about potential genetics of alien life forms yet to be discovered or how DNA exposed to space is altered. 

How have students reacted to your educational TTRPGs?  How do you know their learning is more vibrant, deeper, memorable?

TTRPGs are often defined as collaborative storytelling, this very definition lends itself to relevancy and authenticity in the classroom. Our lives are shared stories. TTRPGs model life as we combine our stories with each other everyday. To me, there is no greater vibrant learning I can incorporate into my classroom. Students themselves talk about how engaging the lesson is and how they can’t wait to do it again. With the Natural Selection TTRPG, students were writing CER responses without even thinking, or complaining. They were so busy having fun, they didn’t even realize they just answered reflection questions using test taking techniques. It’s like sneaking in vegetables with spaghetti. 

Cara, thank you so much for sharing your story!  I usually end these KyEdRPG Spotlight interviews with a variant of the same question:  What advice would you give to a middle school teacher who wants to start using TTRPGs in their own classroom?

My first advice is to just jump right in! It’s a learning experience for teachers as well, but you will get better each time you use a TTRPG. My next advice is to be proactive and intentional with student teams. I already used team leader grouping before I began using TTRPGs. This allowed me to have student leaders already in each group that could help me facilitate gaming in the classroom. Your students are your best resource to help you in your journey with TTRPGs in the classroom. 

I’m so grateful Cara gifted me the time to answer all of my questions, and so generously provided her cornucopia of instructional materials!  Be sure to check out the Google Drive folder with copies of all of Cara’s TTRPGs, as well as visit her professional teaching Google Site.

Kalli and I will be leading our next educational TTRPG session as a FREE two day workshop at the Frazier Kentucky History Museum on June 11 and 12, 2026.   For more details and a registration link, visit here.  Hurry -- seats are limited!