How It Works... An Overview

Goal
Groups of adventurers must escape their burning city, get into boats and sail across the sea to found a new city. The first group to land on the opposite shore is the "Victor," the founder of the city that will conquer all others, subjugate the proud and protect the meek.   

Game Parts 
 RPG Adventures -  4 in all which are spread out over a course of 6 weeks (see time line under "Project Timeline and Dice"  for further details).  These include: Escape from Burning Troy,  Adventure on the Island of the Lotus, Adventure on  the Island of the Cyclops, Challenge in the Underworld. All RPG's adventures are in the Google drive.

Game Board 
 A board that can be projected on the wall using PowerPoint that charts the groups progress from one side (Troy) across the sea to their new homeland.  Roll dice and chart the students' progress across the board.  This is also in the Google drive.

NOTE:  The game board  is not there yet.  I need to collaborate with a better artist to create this. The game board is simply 40 spaces in between the top "land" and the bottom "land."  For the time being, you will have to make your own board. See "Moving the Boats" for a picture of the one I made for my class.

Now it's time for a break down....
Step I:  Teacher puts the students into groups of 5-7 students appointing one student to be the Muse. The muse is responsible to read the adventure to the rest of the group and guide them through the adventure. In gaming terminology, this person is the dungeon master or Game master (GM or DM).  The muse should be a student who reads well and is a leader.  They need to be responsible to do the reading required for the adventure ahead of time and their class attendance should be good.  It is a good idea to talk to potential muses ahead of time to make sure that they are willing to take on the responsibility. Most often students are honored to be asked but occasionally, I find a student who does not want to do it.  I find it is a good idea to put students in groups with their friends for this activity.  I also like to balance shy students with more outgoing students.

Step II:  Teacher announces the groups to the class and explains that everyone will be playing a group of adventurers who are on a quest to found a new city after their city has been destroyed by the enemy.  These adventures are all semi-divine, a la Hercules or Perseus and while not immortal,  will have skills beyond the ordinary person. (Yes, very much like Percy Jackson to answer to inevitable query.) I announce who the muse will be in each group and explain that this person will lead the adventure and will have greater powers than the rest of the group since they will have control over certain aspects of the story.  It is never a good idea to anger the muse.  

Step III: Teacher puts students in their groups and hands out the character creation packets. Teacher also hands out list of Latin agnomens to help name heroes.   Students fall on the packet like hyenas on a wildebeest carcass.  It is a good idea to remind students that they should create characters that have a variety of abilities and skills.  

Step IV:  Teacher meets with the muses after school or during a study hall and leads the first adventure while they play the character.  Teacher then hands out the first adventure to the muses and tells them to read it and then lead the adventure with their players.

Step V:  Students complete first adventure - "Escape from the City."  First part of the adventure is a translation where Hector speaks to the adventurers and explains to them that they must leave the city,  and what they must do before they leave.   All of this is on the Google drive.

Step VI:  Students move their "boats" from the starting position (Troy), roll dice and move out into the open water. Move the boats by rolling die 2-3 times before starting the next adventure.  The game board for this part is not yet on the drive but it's not difficult to recreate.  More about moving boats in other blogs. 

Step VII:  Students complete the second RPG - which consists of a translation and an adventure on the Island of the Lotus. 

Step VIII:  Students get back into their "boats" and roll die to move the pieces further down the board.

Step IX:  Students complete third RPG - Island of the Cyclops.  Again, they must complete a translation before beginning the RPG

Step X:  Students roll dice and move their boats closer to the finish line.  

Step XI:  Students complete the final RPG, Trip to the Underworld and immediately after the group solves the final puzzle and gets out of the underworld, they roll dice and move their ships.  This adventure is different from the other three since in the other three, the moving of the boats can be done the next week.  In this adventure, which ever group emerges from the underworld first gets to move their boats immediately  and sometimes two or even three times before the other groups solve the puzzle. 

Step: XII:  One boat lands on the opposite shore first.  Victory!  The winning team usually jumps around, hugging each other, singing disjointed renditions of Queen's "We are the Champions"  and the game is over.