‘Rosemary RPG as a study proposal for the history teaching of the Hundred Years’ War’

https://twitter.com/MidAgesModGames/status/1278317859949760518

1 #MAMG20 Rosemary RPG (PT-BR: @alecrimrpg, ENG: @rosemaryrpg) is a tabletop roleplaying game I created as a tool to discuss and teach history in a cost-free, accessible and engaging way. Initial development stages are focused on the Hundred Years' War for analysis and testing.

2 #MAMG20 Current main point: how to develop this type of game in a way that brings academic research closer to basic education, thus avoiding reinforcing misconceptions without hindering the imaginative aspects of RPG? I'll try to show main results from data collection.

3 #MAMG20 Components of analysis: 1) The game itself (theme, educational and in-game goals, material components such as play sheets, dynamics/how it's played, layout). 2) Play tests (in which context it was played, how it was received, future adjustments and possibilities).

4 #MAMG20 Though it is intended to be expanded as a tool for all history subjects, narrowing the theme to focus on the 100yrs War aimed to help understand how big the scope should be for each session and play sheet. For now the biggest success relies on a balance.

5 #MAMG20 I.e. Larger scope for play sheets with concepts we consider key for students/players and work as a prompt for them to further research the subject, while the actual sessions cover nuances (how these concepts work in a smaller scale) - tabletop RPG does that really well.

6 #MAMG20 Play tests happened in brazilian public schools, which showed it was vital to keep the format mentioned. COST-FREE: always free plus providing a guide for academics, teachers and history students who are interested in creating play sheets based on their research.

7 #MAMG20 ACESSIBLE: taken to a large audience (social media, events, etc); requires only pen, paper & 1 person having access to the content; easily applicable and adaptable; research being done on specific formats for people with disabilities, such as Braille play sheets.

8 #MAMG20 ENGAGING: game dynamics + layout. Game dynamics data collection suggests shifting the focus from re-enactment to free roleplay is positive as long as players understand they aren't trying to repeat history and that there are limits to the use of the concepts available.

9 #MAMG20 The text comes from academic research and though the outcome of the war might be different they can't use contemporary weapons, for example. Regarding layout, a big part of development consisted in making the design appealing while trying to avoid harmful stereotypes.

10 #MAMG20 Play sheets for the 100yrs War were divided between England and Frace, Paulo Rudas was the designer for the initial format shown here, and Joana Fraga was the illustrator for both the logo (tweet 1) and the project's cover (tweet 11).

11 #MAMG20 Play tests show graphic design isn't just a desirable plus, but deeply associated with accessibility, engagement and the rupture of inaccuracies and stereotypes we are used to see, therefore should be as heavily built from historical research as the text.

12 #MAMG20 Data gathered already points to significantly positive results as well as future adjustments, which include the discussion of the concept of violence in the context of war and its relation to history teaching, the translation to english and the expansion of the game.