I regularly work with teenagers as a high-school theatre teacher. Though I wish I could just lecture them into learning life skills, it’s unfortunately not that easy. Teens, like all humans really, need a story worth stepping into to effectively learn how to live.
I wholeheartedly believe that roleplaying games like Ealdsmyth aren’t simply entertainment. They’re emotionally immersive training grounds where teens can rehearse empathy, courage, adaptability, and collaboration.
When Roger, Greg and I were designing Ealdsmyth, we sought to create a game that uniquely leaned into the power of collaborative storytelling. The goal was growth–both for characters and the players who control them–instead of providing yet another vehicle for gameplay.
The Psychology of Play as Preparation
Roleplay simulates real-life dilemmas in a safe container. Aristotle picked up on this fact more than 2,300 years ago when he wrote what would become Poetics. According to the ancient philosopher, tragic plays are powerful because they give us the cathartic experience of empathizing with the onstage characters’ sorrows and joys. Actually putting oneself in the shoes of that character, as we do in tabletop roleplaying games (TTRPGs), takes that immersion even further into experiential learning.
With TTRPGs, the age-old question of “What if?” becomes “What now?” as the roleplayed scenarios simulate real-life dilemmas (but in a safe container). I won’t get bogged down in the science of this as I’ve already addressed it in my document for Patreon patrons titled “Why Storytelling Can Create Empathy”. If you want to dive more into the fascinating world of mirror neurons and the like, I highly recommend that you give it a read.
Four Real-Life Heroic Traits Strengthened Through Ealdsmyth
By now, it should be no secret that I believe in Ealdsmyth. It’s a TTRPG system that continues to connect with players in fascinating ways, and it’s something of which I’m incredibly proud to be a part. Though I’m sure there are other great gaming systems that address the following heroic traits, I can only vouch for how they show up in Ealdsmyth.
Empathy
The simple act of roleplaying another perspective develops both compassion and emotional literacy. It’s hard to become a character who’s different from you and, eventually, not feel concern for real-life people who fit into that demographic in some way. The more you lean into your character, the more astute you’ll become at embodying certain emotions and, as a byproduct, the more astute you’ll become at reading those emotions in others.
Ealdsmyth includes emotion-driven mechanics simply because emotions often drive motives, which drive character choices, which drive stories. The more we focus on stories, the more players get to work on the building blocks of emotions. The game also tends to include nonplayable characters (NPCs) that serve as vehicles for social-emotional learning (SEL). In interacting with these NPCs, player characters (PCs) are encouraged to reflect on the NPCs’ impact and intention toward the ever-shifting narrative. Understanding the emotions of one’s character and the characters around them is vital to building empathy.
Courage
Every time your player sits down at your gaming table, they’re facing emotional risks. It doesn’t matter if they’ve been playing with the same group for more than a decade, or if they’re playing with perfect strangers. Either way, there is some risk involved every time they choose to speak up, to stand out from the party, or to fail forward (turning a perceived in-game failure into fodder for future success). Actively playing TTRPGs without allowing the rest of the party to steer all your decisions takes courage.
In Ealdsmyth, we encourage dynamic narrative storytelling that’s more than mere hack-and-slash combat. When you’re not mindlessly mowing down the perceived enemy, you’re forced to think. You’re encouraged to exhibit moral bravery, and you’re prone toward more introspective choices that require in-game courage. The more your players stretch their introspection and moral bravery muscles, the more likely they are to transfer these skills to real-life scenarios.
Teamwork
Seasoned TTRPG players will agree that developing synergy at the table is essential to enjoying yourself and telling a great story. My favorite tabletop experiences involved finding that synergy, and my least favorite experiences included in-fighting or unbalanced participation. Every successful mission is built on shared decision-making and alignment as a group.
Ealdsmyth encourages teamwork by starting out the adventure on some variation of the “Read First” section of the Steward Session Guide. Everyone at the table is invited to immerse themselves into the adventure, to work collaboratively, and to share the adventure equally. The Stewards who facilitate Ealdsmyth sessions are encouraged to play up to different players’ strengths or motives so that no one or two players steer the entire adventure. Through these methods, every successful mission is built on shared decision-making and group alignment.
Adaptability
As poet Robert Burns would say, “The best-laid plans of mice and men oft’ go awry.” This is as true in life as it is at the gaming table. No elaborate character plan survives contact with the person facilitating the game. This is not cruelty but rather an important component of telling a good story. If players get every single thing they want with no pushback, they’ll soon get very bored and lose interest in playing again at your table. We’re wired to recognize and respect conflict in story. When things don’t go your players’ way, they learn adaptability. The brick walls in the way of players’ success empower them to think creatively, to pivot, and to respond with resilience.
Ealdsmyth really leans into teaching adaptability through the mechanic of Motivations. If players want to do something significant in this system, they’re asked to roll a d20 die based on what motivates them (Will, Fear, Lore, Fame, or Fate). Should they roll 11 or higher, they’re successful. Roll lower and they’re not. These rolls ensure that even the Steward doesn’t know where the narrative will go, because the dice results are completely random. Ealdsmyth goes even farther in allowing the player to narrate what happens after rolling a “1” or a “20.” In other systems, rolling a 20 is often met with enthusiasm, because this critical success results in some added perk. By allowing players to also narrate their 1’s, it leaves room for enthusiasm as they get to narrate just how terribly they botched things up.
Through each of these mechanics, Ealdsmyth encourages improvisation, experimentation, and the mythic reframing of failure. The common denominator? Adaptability.
Ealdsmyth is a Growth Engine, Not Just a Game
Ealdsmyth was designed by a theatre teacher, a religious minister, and a graphic designer. We brought our distinct perspectives to the table for the shared goal of enriching our players through TTRPGs. It was designed from the ground up with reflection, transformation, and emotional fluency in mind. Ealdsmyth emphasizes narrative symbolism, self-discovery, and ethical agency throughout the gameplay process.
Because of these emphases, our sessions become more than stories–they become mirrors and maps. They’re mirrors in that they reflect how one’s decisions affect the world around them, and they’re maps in that they provide recognizable landmarks along the journey to real-life heroism.
Why This Matters for the Real World
If you read my work often, you’re probably just as unsatisfied with the actual world in which we exist. It seems that the bad guys get most of the wins, compassion is demonized, and the storytellers who narrate our real-life world often neglect those who need attention and aid the most.
In such an uncertain world, teens crave emotional intelligence, moral clarity, and the ability to navigate complexity with others. TTRPGs like Ealdsmyth create low-stakes rehearsal for high-stakes life, much in the way that Oedipus Rex offered horrific events onstage as a warning to the ancient Greeks of what not to do. TTRPG players leave the table with more than arbitrary experience points to level-up their fictional characters. They also leave with growth, voice, and vision.
For Educators, Parents, and Mentors
When running a TTRPG, it’s always best practice to invite inquiry. After each gaming session, don’t just ask the players questions about their characters. Ask what they learned about themselves through the gameplay. You’ll be surprised at how seamlessly young players can relate their in-game experiences with real-world counterparts.
TTRPG Stewards should also model reflection in every session when possible. When you inspire your players and then leave it to them to process on their own time, they’re quickly met with real-world distractions. If you get into the habit of debriefing as a group, however, the lessons stick. Reflective processing can work miracles in your players, so don’t rob them of that experience!
Facilitators of TTRPGs should also normalize emotion. You’ll likely get pushback from this endeavor, as many teens–particularly teen boys–have been conditioned to bury their emotions. It’s easier to get players onboard with exploring emotions when these explored emotions are incentivized by increased success during gameplay. Don’t get so caught up in the outer quest of each session that you miss opportunities for teens to connect to their inner heroes!
Raise Heroes, Not Just Characters
If we want a world full of brave, thoughtful, collaborative humans, we need to give them practice arenas. Ealdsmyth is one such arena where youth don’t just pretend to be heroes. They rehearse becoming them.
Whether or not you choose Ealdsmyth as your TTRPG of choice, I want to encourage you to explore the nature of heroism in your gaming sessions. Tabletop gaming can effectively transform your school, your group, or your family through this pursuit of heroism. Should you need any modules, d20 tables or other resources for your gaming endeavors, check out my Patreon, where I regularly release new products designed to equip your aspiring heroes!
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