An international network of researchers into all aspects of role-playing games
David Millians, Editor
Paideia School, 1509 Ponce de Leon Avenue, Atlanta, Georgia 30307 USA
millians.david@paideiaschool.org
LETTER FROM THE CHAIR
With September’s arrival comes another school year for those of us who are parents, but this year is different: my son left for college. His geek journey has been an interesting one.
My son was steeped in role-playing games at the age of 4. I modified his various board games and marbles and cars, building elaborate (to scale) miniature cardboard playsets both to keep us both engaged when we played. Once he was old enough to roll dice and read numbers, I bought him a big foam set of polyhedrals (and later, his own dice sets of course). When my daughter was old enough, she joined us, and then we had a two-person party for me to Dungeon Master.
The first campaign was 37 sessions spanning a bunch of adventures ranging from Lost Mines of Phandelver to Rise of Tiamat. You can read the entire adventure log here. The second campaign was meant to appeal more to my daughter, My Little Pony vs. Princes of the Apocalypse (with several other adventures mixed in) and it spanned 43 sessions. I retold the entire series as a comic, which you can read here. From there, we had a few more attempts at campaigns that fizzled. At that point my son indicated he actually wasn’t really that fond of fantasy.
This came as a shock. His entire room was decorated with knights and dragons. But at eleven-years-old, I had to come to grips that he wasn’t that interested in playing Dungeons & Dragons. So we pivoted to a Star Wars game using the Dawn of Defiance campaign and Fifth Edition rules (it ultimately fizzled out), and then a post-apocalyptic Gamma World-inspired game (using similar rules) called the Exterior that lasted two seasons. By 2019, that was it; that would be the last time my kids would play any tabletop role-playing game with me. My son was far more interested in Minecraft and my daughter in Roblox.
And then, this year, my son suddenly mentioned he was part of an online D&D campaign that was meeting weekly. Then he dressed up in cosplay to go to two local conventions, as Jack Torrance from The Shining. I realized my son had just played more D&D and gone to more geek conventions than I have this year.
It’s tough being a geek parent. On the one hand, you want to share rich, imaginative play with your children. On the other, you have to come to grips with the fact they will not like everything you do, and hopefully find some common ground – my kids and I regularly played Fortnite together for a year, I’ve been introducing my son to classic horror movies (thus his love of The Shining), and I watch Delicious in Dungeon and Demon Slayer with both of my kids, time permitting. But they are now free to make their own decisions, play the games they like, and go to the conventions they want.
As your littles (and bigs!) go off on their own adventures, I wish them all the best. And you, moms and dads and grandparents. We’re all raising geekings, but it’s up to them to find their way. And it will likely look a little (or a lot!) different than what you liked. And that’s okay.
Sincerely,
Mike Tresca
Committee Chair
ARTICLES
Character Development Workshop
Ryan Jones is offering an online workshop about bringing consciousness to the character creation process in order to leverage RPGs for personal development. We use emergence coaching tools to do some self reflection on our beliefs and desires, and then cocreate a setting and some characters in order to playtest new, more empowering beliefs and behaviors. Participants will leave the experience with a template and tools to do it again with other characters.
Adam’s Educational Electrum
September 2025
Hello, and welcome to my column for the monthly CAR-PGa newsletter! For those readers out there who are educators, I am flattered, humbled and grateful for the chance to share a modest trinket of treasure to help you on your instructional quests. This might be a gaming resource, a full out TTRPG, or a particular educator’s story.
As I have looked for examples of using TTRPGs in the classroom, there are always surprises. One of the amazing ones I discovered recently, the World Peace Game, actually began back in 1978 in Charlottesville, Virginia with elementary students – and in the decades since, public school teacher John Hunter has traveled the globe to share the story of the game he created and the students who have played it. Hunter even brought the World Peace Game and a contingent of his fourth graders that had just won it to the Pentagon, to meet multi-star generals and the then-Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta.
First, let’s briefly describe what the game is, and how it works. There’s a four level board representing a world like our own, with separate tiers for the sea, land, sky and space. Fictionalized nations and peoples populate the boards, with tokens representing their citizens, armies, military and scientific hardware. The students are put into teams and take on individual roles – a nation has a Prime Minister and its cabinet, but there is also a mercenary faction, a nomadic tribe, a United Nations, and even a Weather Goddess who helps arbitrate outcomes. A facilitator inundates the students with dozens of crises, often happening simultaneously; the goal, in a limited time frame (anything from several days of a summer camp to a period stretched out over several weeks of class), is to resolve all the crises and raise the fortune of every nation/peoples better than how they began, thus achieving “world peace.” While I couldn’t find the use of actual dice in any of the narratives, there are often random mechanics for outcomes represented in play (weighted with advantages and disadvantages) utilizing coin flips and spinners. This, combined with heavy role-play and a co-created narrative, meets at least my definition of a TTRPG!
The story of the World Peace Game has been captured in multiple mediums. A full-length documentary film World Peace and Other 4th Grade Achievements was released in 2010 by Rosalia Films (available for personal online rental, and here’s an extended trailer), followed by a book with the same title written by John Hunter in 2013. Hunter retired shortly after the book was published, but he then founded an organization around the game, which trains others how to implement the World Peace Game in their own learning spaces.
Reading Hunter’s book is a marvelous journey and shows the resilience and brilliance of youth. I was particularly struck by this passage, a beautiful paean to games in general but particularly in my opinion what makes TTRPGs so special:
This, to my mind, is . . . the value of complex games: they expand our perception of reality, forcing us to broaden and deepen our vision in order to achieve what the game demands of us. Some games teach us patience, requiring us to stretch out our rhythms, waiting and trusting in what might emerge. Other games teach us strategy, the ability to think two, three, four, five moves ahead. Still other games teach us teamwork – giving us the ability to cooperate with others or perhaps even the capacity to become so deeply integrated into a group that we and our teammates begin to think, feel, and respond as a single entity. At their best, games demand more of us than we knew we had, forcing us to expand our sense of our own potential and requiring us to let go of self-imposed limits. (112-113)
As we approach the annual International Day of Peace on September 21, let’s remember not only how the World Peace Game shows the immense power and impact of play in the classroom, but also that the energy, enthusiasm, and optimism of even our youngest students can provide hope for us all in the future. Peace for our planet may well be achieved thanks to the problem-solving inspired by a classroom TTRPG.
Special thanks to Tony Dougherty of The Dukes of Highland (a designer of megagames and a co-leader of a Louisville game convention October 31 – November 2) and Dan Burkey who separately suggested John Hunter’s story to me.
Until our next time together at the table,
Adam Watson
Adam Watson is an award-winning public school educator, writer, and frequent presenter of professional development at regional and national conferences such as Gen Con and GAMA Expo. In 2022, he launched Kentucky Educators for Role Playing Games, sharing how TTRPGs can positively impact student learning. His forthcoming book Tabletop Role-Playing Games in the Classroom: Infusing Gameplay into K-12 Instruction will be published by McFarland. For more about Adam, visit his personal site.
CONVENTIONS & CONFERENCES
NEW MATERIAL
This is a compilation of articles and other resources that have come to the editor’s attention over the last month. Everyone is welcome to send bibliographic information about anything you discover that fits the mission of CAR-PGa and this newsletter.
Adams, Abigail (2025 Aug 25) Man Says Friend’s Wife Canceled Their Dungeons & Dragons Session Because He Wouldn’t Take Off His Shoes. https://people.com/man-says-friends-wife-canceled-dungeons-and-dragons-session-because-he-wouldnt-take-off-shoes-11795367. People magazine explores an example of etiquette for in-person gaming.
Baur, Wolfgang (2025 Aug 28) State of Play: Let a Thousand RPGs Bloom. https://koboldpress.com/state-of-play-let-a-thousand-rpgs-bloom. Increasing diversity and fragmentation in new RPGs.
Beyond Solitaire (2025 Aug 11) Episode 203 – Emily Friedman on the Study of Actual Play. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beyond-solitaire/id1514510059. Classrooms and research.
Campbell, Steph (2025 Aug 7) TTRPGkids GenCon 2025 Recap. https://www.ttrpgkids.com/2025/08/07/ttrpgkids-gencon-2025-recap. Kids Room, Trade Day, Writers Symposium, and more.
Campbell, Steph (2025 Aug 11) Interview with Adam Watson from Kentucky Educators for Role Playing Games. https://www.ttrpgkids.com/2025/08/11/interview-with-adam-watson-from-kentucky-educators-for-role-playing-games. Studying play and playing to study.
Campbell, Steph (2025 Aug 14) Review of Bonds Between. https://www.ttrpgkids.com/2025/08/14/review-of-bonds-between. Playing with kindness and crafting.
Campbell, Steph (2025 Aug 18) The Chemistry Between TTRPGs and EDU: Recording from Origins 2025. https://www.ttrpgkids.com/2025/08/18/the-chemistry-between-ttrpgs-and-edu-recording-from-origins-2025. Bringing games into chemistry class.
Campbell, Steph (2025 Aug 25) Review of Captain’s Log, a solo-journaling Star Trek TTRPG. https://www.ttrpgkids.com/2025/08/25/review-of-captains-log-a-solo-journaling-star-trek-ttrpg. Creating stories in the Federation and beyond.
Campbell, Stephanie (2025 Aug 26) Donate Games, Support Libraries: International Games Month 2025. https://www.rascal.news/donate-games-support-libraries-international-games-month-2025. American Library Association event to expand community game collections and access.
Campbell, Steph (2025 Aug 27) Pixels: cool dice with applications in accessibility. https://www.ttrpgkids.com/2025/08/27/pixels-cool-dice-with-applications-in-accessibility. Listening to feedback to add helpful lights and sounds to dice.
Campbell, Steph (2025 Aug 28) Interview with Josh from Lone Colossus on Wyrmlings and switching genres in TTRPG publishing. https://www.ttrpgkids.com/2025/08/28/interview-with-josh-from-lone-colossus-on-wyrmlings-and-switching-genres-in-ttrpg-publishing. Different creative constraints, different results.
Campbell, Steph (2025 Sep 1) Review of Sugar & Spice, a magical girl TTRPG for first time players. https://www.ttrpgkids.com/2025/09/01/review-of-sugar-spice-a-magical-girl-ttrpg-for-first-time-players. Good introduction for beginning gamers.
Carter, Chase (2025 Aug 18) Stripe admits employee claims of anti-LGBT policy was a mistake. https://www.rascal.news/stripe-admits-employee-claims-of-anti-lgbt-policy-was-a-mistake. Platforms and payment processors continue to try to sort out what gets blocked by the censorial-inclined.
Carter, Chase (2025 Aug 29) Tabletop designers rush to prepare for another looming US tariff storm. https://www.rascal.news/tabletop-designers-rush-to-prepare-for-another-looming-us-tariff-storm. Publishers react and adjust their production and shipping plans.
Clair, Erin (2025 Aug 10) Emily Friedman: Role-Playing Games and Being in Alignment with What’s Yours to Do. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljkHQZ-1yDY. Game and play criticism.
Clun, Rachel (2025 Aug 22) Royal Mail and DHL halt some US deliveries over tariffs. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2p17xypgko. Specific challenge for publishers.
Codega, Lin (2025 Aug 5) Draw Steel sets new standards for alt text in their books. https://www.rascal.news/draw-steel-sets-new-standards-for-alt-text-in-their-books-jen-kretchmer-interview. Creating better, more accessible art descriptions.
Ellis, Caelyn (2025 Aug 8) I review every TSR D&D Starter Set from the ‘90s. https://www.rascal.news/i-review-every-tsr-d-d-starter-set-from-the-90s. Seven versions in the last years of TSR.
Ennie_awards (2025 Aug 3) 2025 ENNIE Winners. https://www.reddit.com/r/rpg/comments/1mfh6vs/2025_ennie_winners. From adventures to the product of the year.
Girdwood, Andrew (2025 Aug 9) Rolling for Connection: How TTRPGs combat loneliness. https://www.geeknative.com/198142/rolling-for-connection-how-ttrpgs-combat-loneliness. Research and resources.
Girdwood, Andrew (2025 Aug 15) US gamers lose out through nasty De Minimus postal fee gotcha. https://www.geeknative.com/198404/us-gamers-lose-out-through-nasty-de-minimus-postal-fee-gotcha. Simplified to $80 flat fee for all parcels, at least until USPS ramps up its systems to manage many more shipments.
Girdwood, Andrew (2025 Aug 30) Chaosium celebrates 50th anniversary with a ‘Cthulhu in a Castle’ RPG vacation. https://www.geeknative.com/199826/chaosium-celebrates-50th-anniversary-with-a-cthulhu-in-a-castle-rpg-vacation. Collaboration with The Game Theatre.
Girdwood, Andrew (2025 Sep 1) The guilt of gaming: Why many female players feel ashamed of their hobby. https://www.geeknative.com/199975/the-guilt-of-gaming-why-many-female-players-feel-ashamed-of-their-hobby. Cultural attitudes and a contrast with tabletop gaming.
Greenstone, Scott (2025 Aug 7) It started with friends at home. Now Dungeons & Dragons is in its stadium era. https://www.npr.org/2025/08/07/nx-s1-5489813/dungeons-dragons-dimension-20-critical-role-madison-square-garden-stadium. Live streams as cultural forces and gateways to playing.
Helgi (2025 Aug 18) Ten TTRPG Adventures That Changed the World. https://www.questportal.com/blog/ten-ttrpg-adventures-that-changed-the-world. These kinds of lists are always debatable, but no question about these ten scenarios expanding options for adventure forms.
Hernandez, Gab (2025 Aug 17) Generative AI might make DMing DnD easier, but at what cost?. https://www.wargamer.com/dnd/why-you-should-not-use-ai-dm-tools. Avoid weakening cognition and enjoyment.
Hoffer, Christian (2025 Aug 6) Dungeons & Dragons Teams Up With New Holland For New Beer. https://www.enworld.org/threads/dungeons-dragons-teams-up-with-new-holland-for-new-beer.714728. First off, inspired by the dragon turtle.
Hoffer, Christian (2025 Aug 29) Dungeons & Dragons: The Immersive Quest Comes to Dallas. https://www.enworld.org/threads/dungeons-dragons-the-immersive-quest-comes-to-dallas.715064. US debut for multimedia event.
Hoffer, Christian (2025 Aug 30) Will romantasy be the next great crossover for Dungeons & Dragons? Fourth Wing could be the perfect D&D setting, if you ask me. https://www.gamesradar.com/tabletop-gaming/will-romantasy-be-the-next-great-crossover-for-dungeons-and-dragons-fourth-wing-could-be-the-perfect-d-and-d-setting-if-you-ask-me. Crossover may herald expanded options for adventures.
Hutton, Christopher (2025 Aug 9) Paizo+Chaosium Bets on DnDBeyond. https://www.ttrpginsider.news/p/news-roundup-paizo-chaosium-bets-on-dndbeyond-512beda40b9525dd. Major publishers begin to offer material through the D&D VTT.
Hutton, Christopher (2025 Aug 19) Class is in Session: Looking Inside DM University. https://www.ttrpginsider.news/p/class-is-in-session-looking-inside-dm-university. Details and discussion of program in January 2026.
Hutton, Christopher (2025 Aug 23) News Roundup: CRIT Awards and Crit-ical Role Chats. https://www.ttrpginsider.news/p/news-roundup-crit-awards-and-crit-ical-role-chats-e8887bf7ac1d8e59. Honoring small publisher and media contributions to the hobby.
Jones, D (2025 Aug 9) The Dragon magazine covers, 1979–2000. https://fontsinuse.com/uses/57964/the-dragon-magazine-covers-1979-2000. Fonts and design for the covers of the venerable game magazine.
Johnston, Rich (2025 Aug 18) Comic Book Publishers Win Round One Against Diamond Comics In Court. https://bleedingcool.com/comics/comic-book-publishers-win-round-one-against-diamond-comics-in-court. Judge halts liquidation for now.
Lady Tabletop (2025 Aug 28) 6 Bluey Episodes Every Game Designer Should Watch. https://ladytabletop.wordpress.com/2025/08/28/6-bluey-episodes-every-game-designer-should-watch. Examples of game principles and design.
Law, Keith (2025 Aug 27) How Board Games Are Used in the Classroom. https://www.endlessmode.com/article/how-board-games-are-used-in-the-classroom. Eight educators share their ideas for applications.
Lucas, Daniella (2025 Aug 28) Esoteric Ebb: a Dungeons & Dragons-style campaign that lets you be as stupid as you like. https://www.theguardian.com/games/2025/aug/28/esoteric-ebb-a-dungeons-dragons-style-campaign-that-lets-you-be-as-stupid-as-you-like. Computer game allows blundering cleric to investigate detailed fantasy city.
MacDougall, Nico (2025 Aug 1) July 2025 TTRPG Crowdfunding Retrospective. https://ttrpg-spider.blogspot.com/2025/08/july-2025-ttrpg-crowdfunding.html. Fewer campaigns, less money, more AI, though the latter are less likely to succeed.
Manuel, Thomas (2025 Aug 4) The Man Who Bought And Sold D&D. https://www.rascal.news/the-man-who-bought-and-sold-d-d. Peter Adkinson interview, focusing on the 1990s.
Manuel, Thomas & Rowan Zeoli (2025 Aug 11) We can’t let the market decide what we remember and forget. https://www.rascal.news/we-cant-let-the-market-decide-what-we-remember-and-forget. Interview with Emily Friedman and Evan Torner on the importance of research and recording history.
Manuel, Thomas & Rowan Zeoli (2025 Aug 12) Exploring queer analog games with Edmond Chang. https://www.rascal.news/exploring-queer-analog-games-with-edmond-chang. Third Wave Game Studies and beyond.
O’Brien, Michael (2025 Aug 19) Vale Bud Baird (Bud’s RPG Review, Bud & Griff’s Gaming Creepshow, co-author of Viral). https://www.enworld.org/threads/vale-bud-baird-buds-rpg-review-bud-griffs-gaming-creepshow-co-author-of-viral.714889. Obituary for esteemed reviewer and explainer of RPGs.
Oxley, Dyer (2025 Aug 20) Dungeons & Dragons and disinformation: How gaming can combat the misinformation age. https://www.kuow.org/stories/dungeons-dragons-and-disinformation-how-gaming-can-combat-the-misinformation-age. Professor Jin Ha Lee’s games to expand awareness and discussion of truth and falsehood.
Rose, Christiana (2025 Aug 18) EDINBURGH 2025: Review: TARTAN TABLETOP: A DUNGEONS & DRAGONS COMEDY, Bramley, Gilded Balloon, Appleton Tower. https://www.broadwayworld.com/scotland/article/EDINBURGH-2025-Review-TARTAN-TABLETOP-A-DUNGEONS-DRAGONS-COMEDY-Bramley-Gilded-Balloon-Appleton-Tower-20250818. Improvisation within unpredictability during live RPG game on stage.
Wieland, Rob (2025 Jul 21) Expand Hot KPop Demon Hunters Summer With These Role Playing Games. https://www.forbes.com/sites/robwieland/2025/07/21/expand-hot-kpop-demon-hunters-summer-with-these-role-playing-games. Half a dozen fun recommendations.
Watson, Adam (2025 Jul 25) Serious Play Conference 2025. https://watsonedtech.blogspot.com/2025/08/serious-play-conference-2025.html. Play-full speakers and presentations.
Zeoli, Rowan & Chase Carter (2025 Aug 19) What we miss when play is only pleasurable. https://www.rascal.news/what-we-miss-when-play-is-only-pleasurable. Interview with Professor Aaron Trammell on the nature of play in all its messiness.
Ziegler, Hannah (2025 Aug 23) A Wild Card for the Board Game Business: Trump’s Tariffs. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/23/business/small-business/board-games-trump-tariffs-china.html. Uncertainty around production and shipping. Commentary from Chase Carter.
© Copyright 2025 by the Committee for the Advancement of Role-Playing Games (CAR-PGa), ISSN 1071 7129. The CAR-PGa Newsletter is a monthly publication. For more information contact David Millians, Editor, Paideia School, 1509 Ponce de Leon Avenue, Atlanta, Georgia 30307 USA, phone (404) 808-1070, fax (404) 377-3491, email millians.david@paideiaschool.org. Back issues are available. Contributions of material from the membership are urged, and the byline is responsible for content. Deadline is the last weekday of the month, email preferred. Permission is granted to copy anything in the Newsletter, provided we get a credit line in the publication copying it, and it doesn’t have someone else’s copyright on it. Information, including details on joining CAR-PGa, can be obtained on the Internet at car-pga.org.