Bespoke Gaming: Flexibility in Narrative Driven Storytelling

A brief overview of tools, techniques, and examples of client focused storytelling. Unlike the pre-made adventures like the ones you see in books, videogames, and TV, tabletop roleplaying games (TTRPGs) offer near unlimited flexibility if you are confident in your own Game Mastering (GMing) approach enough to create your own "homebrew" setting. It is the purpose of this workshop to learn to navigate through the negative space of storytelling, how to mindfully craft a setting to reach therapeutic goals, and how to foster an atmosphere of compassion and acceptance in shared narrative experiences.

Learning Objectives:

1. We will analyze and access the typical structure of a prewritten TTRPG adventure (otherwise known as a module) and contrast that to a therapeutically driven TTRPG session.
2. Compare different approaches to suit setting needs and therapeutic goals for each individual client and group.
3. Prepare an outline for an adventure or setting that is mindfully crafted with negative space for the client to exercise a sense of autonomy within the session.