Student-centered Role-playing Scenarios

This document describes the role-playing game workshops and offers 25 scenarios developed for students in Higher Education by the ROCKET team in collaboration with the ROCKET Advisory Bard. This document is also part of a larger Open Educational Resource (OER) that includes the entire trainings for students, teachers, and administrative staff. The scenarios focus on short, easy to play role-playing games with minimal details so that players can easily engage without feeling cognitively overwhelmed. The scenarios focus on common, everyday conflicts that occur in higher education settings. The characters are usually students, faculty members, and/or administrative staff.
In terms of conflict related to DEI, we have decided upon a careful approach. Because of our emphasis on intercultural communication, some scenarios integrate common conflicts that arise as a result of language, cultural, belief systems, or religious differences. In some cases, characters will have caring responsibilities and other pressures related to diverse backgrounds.
Details like the character’s demographic characteristics, e.g., age, gender, sexuality, ethnicity are usually not included as they can lead to stereotypical or even harmful behavior. Also, scenarios that prompt players to engage in micro- or macroaggressions toward one another are avoided.
The scenarios are basic: no more than 2-3 lines. They feature 3 characters: Character A, who is confronting Character B and possibly also Character C about a conflict situation. Character B is sometimes directly involved in the conflict; other times they just happen to be the person delivering information or handling the situation.
These scenes are intended to be tightly facilitated: one facilitator for every 3 characters.
The appendices of this document contain the slides of workshops covering the ROCKET themes in which these role-playing scenarios can be included.