In-Game Learning
The Halls of the Druse Academy are OPEN! What exactly does that mean, and what’s in store for it? What’s in store for Swordsfall??
Swordsfall at this point has become a fairly dense universe in a number of ways. From having multiple products of various types to just the voluminous lore, there can be a lot to keep up with. The problem is that this truly only the beginning. And the amount of lore especially will only rise.
The Idea
[toc]I’ve long been pondering on different ways to make it easier to get into Swordsfall no matter what stage it’s in. For me, it’s really important for every reader to be able to get into the world. And when the Summit of Kings and Swordsfall RPG come out, I want the gamers to easily be able to get into the system as well.I think about how many games I’ve bailed on because the rules didn’t make sense to ME. How many stories I fall out of because the lore didn’t make sense. I’ve come to recognize that those things do in fact happen. And sometimes it’s not even the fault of the creator.
Sometimes just reading and taking something in doesn’t do the job.
When I moved over to this new website one of the things I looked was some sort of functionality to help make this stuff easier. Eventually, I got turned onto LearnDash. Which turns out, was exactly what I was looking for.
Enter LearnDash
LearnDash is essentially a virtual learning system that’s already used by schools like the University of Michigan. Fancy, right? Well, my idea is simple. Take something like the Unversity of Michigan, and apply how they use LearnLab to teach students, to teaching Swordies.
And of course, as is my style, I had to add that Swordsfall meta layer to it. So it’s not just plain boring old courses, they’re Modules at Druse Academy. The school that is essentially the entirety of The Independent Freeland of Teslan. It’s also where all Crystal Priests go to train.
[et_bloom_inline optin_id=”optin_1″]I’m doing my first test run of this through my little website program, Tikor’s Finest. For users to progress to the ranks of Spirit Medium, Invoker or Diviner they have to take this module. As a reward, they get some fun badges that display on the website. Oh yea, the badge also comes with a 10% off coupon.
The module is called Tikor: The Basics of Currency and it basically just explains the digital points they get on the website. I explain it using lore but treat it as history. Then I quiz the user at the end.
It’s graded and everything. They even get a fancy certificate at the end if they get 90% or better.
The Plan
My thought is that this kind of stuff IS learning. Reading lore is in essence, studying history. Just a fictional history. Reading game rules is like studying math and theories. Why not be frank about it, then just gamify the learning.
Learndash lets me actually make a course that is laid out well and clean. Something that doesn’t feel like a drag to go through. I can add video and images and PDF’s and SO much.
The next step will be to develop a “How to Play” module for Summit of Kings. Teach you how to play the basics and such. I think this can help cut down on the number of players that don’t’ approach a game because it seems hard to get into.
As well, I’ve been thinking of using this to make a whole set of modules around lore. Give each nation a module with links to its various World Anvil pages. Maybe that will help diving into the lore easier.
Some of these will be free, some of them will be locked under the membership program (I do have to make money, never going to lie about that), and such. But I’ll also aim for each module to be worth the time, but also RESPECT your time.
The TLDR
I encourage everyone to at least try out this first module below and see what you think. It’ll always be free and only requires you to make a free account on the website. Let me know what you think! I think this could be something really cool for creators and not just educators.
Tikor: The Basics of Currency
A Free and Fun Module from Druse Academy
Module Content
I love this immersive idea of learning at the Academy.
Not going to lie, I got the “deer in headlights” the first time I went to World Anvil. This is going to help considerably for people new to Swordsfall.
Oh really?
I’m starting to see how many people are intimidated by World Anvil at first. I’ll keep working on ways to make that better
After poking around the site and getting some grounding in Tikor World Anvil felt much more approachable, but when World Anvil first got going I went over there and was just overwhelmed by the sheer amount of content (kudos). It felt like trying to drink from a fire hose
This may be the single best idea I’ve ever seen someone use in the tabletop game community! I find that I’m lost when it comes to lore for most long standing realms (Faerun, Warhammer, etc…) so this is wonderful! I hope it helps other people as much as it does me!
Thanks I appreciate that! I’m personally always trying to find new things to play with.
This idea works really well! One problem I’ve ran into (this might just be my lack of knowledge) is the transference of actions into website currency/experience points etc. and how that applies to further community activities.
So for example having ordered the chronicles of tikor off of amazon, I’m not sure how that translates into the website here (even when clicking the link for the flash sale of it!) in terms of experience points etc.
also love the modules but sometimes I get confused about the profession levelling at times and how you gain access to specific modules/professions. excluding the kind of mystery//lore stuff (visiting the oracle was super cool to figure out) sometimes I feel like I misunderstand the requirements to access certain areas in terms of relevant experience currency etc. (specifically the diviner one rn, the module for spirit posession exam is closed but I’m not sure what requirements im not meeting: I think it might be experience points).
Yea, some of that is my fault. I’m having to learn the system as I go. And once something is live there’s no changing it. Diviner, Spirit Medium and Invoker were supposed to all be equal and light up together. But they didn’t. And nothing I can do about it. So if an achievement breaks all I can really do is make it “buyable”.
The rest of it is that I’m basically trying to use the reward system outside of how it was meant cause I have cool ideas. If the membership program does well eventually I’ll be able to hire a dedicated programmer to help make some custom stuff so things can work while I want. Until/if that helps just treat everything as a “mysterious journey”.
As far as Amazon, no way for me to give points cause it all happens off the server. But there’s plenty of ways to get points and this is meant to be something over a long period of time. So no rush!
Definitely! I think the fact you’ve been able to achieve something so sophisticated and full of passion is incredible! I wasn’t sure if stuff off server translated like how its set up with the patreon but knowing is half the battle, unless the Patreon is ending soon (I saw something about that I think) but aside from that really enjoying so far :). If there’s anything to report or comment about I’ll be sure to email the swordsfall email (unless there’s a specific forum for tech issues etc. in which case I’ll hunt it down). thanks for responding :)
If future modules are like this one, then they might be able to act as a “table of contents” or an interactive FAQ for the lore, which will double both as a learning tool and as a reference.
This is the best online tool I’ve seen for a table top game. An immersive and interesting
way to explore the lore and setting of Tikor.
This is the coolest way to teach game mechanics/meta-knowledge I’ve ever seen.
I love it.
Such a cool idea!
Thanks!
As if I wasn’t a nerd already, you gave me a classroom? That I can control? And this first class was extremely useful. I thought I understood how respect and sway worked, but this class really drove it in for me.
Taking them to SCHOOL!
I have to chime in with the others, this is a brilliant idea <3
That's probably the best way to take in the large amount of information of a game world.