Accessible Gaming: Tabletop Roleplaying

 

Accessible Gaming:  Tabletop Roleplaying

Contributed by Matthew Nixon, Business Office Manager

When I’m not working at LBPD paying bills and manning the reference desk, I enjoy reading and playing collaborative storytelling games like Dungeons and Dragons.  So, I was fortunate to attend a recent online convention hosted by Knights of the Braille:

https://knightsofthebraille.com/

And Everyone Games:

https://everyone-games.com/

This convention allowed attendees to play video and tabletop roleplaying games online, learn tools to make gaming more accessible, attend panel discussions and game demonstrations, and help raise money for charity.  Profits from the event went towards developing accessibility options for partially-sighted, blind, and otherwise disabled gamers.

Panels from influencers included the following:

• Introduction to TTRPG’s
• Writing and Playing Disabled Characters
• Accessibility in Video Game Design
• Accessibility in TTRPG Design
• Game Design
• Accommodating Visually Impaired Players at your table
• Running The Game

Many of the games were live-streamed and recorded on YouTube here:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCE4S3VTwnjUVyieMzmjZ86A

Note for parents and patrons, these recordings feature real people in unscripted situations.  Use your discretion when viewing the material.  LBPD has no affiliation with any of the referenced organizations.

This was an excellent education in accessibility from working with sign language interpreters for the first time to hearing people from diverse communities discuss their challenges with and love of gaming.  I will attend next year’s convention (tentatively scheduled for the beginning of October 2022.)

While researching this article I found LBPD has lots of digital gaming material for our patrons.  I remember some of these books from my childhood and some are more recent.  So if you want to see what we have for games and associated fiction, here are a couple titles to get you started:

The original 1981 Dungeons and Dragons by Gary Gygax DB019628.

The 2014 Dungeons and Dragons Player's Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide, and Monster's Manual DB091838, DB091839, and DB091840.

The Young Adventurer series by Jim Zub DB098259, DB098488, DB100316, and DB100317.

Here are 2 series set in the worlds based on Dungeons and Dragons:

The first book in the Dragon lance Chronicles, Dragons of Autumn Twilight DB029171 and the first book in the Legends of  Drizzt series, Homeland DB055948

Though it isn’t a gaming book, here’s J. R. R. Tolkien’s classic epic that made me love fantasy as a child the hobbit DB011497 and the Lord of the Rings trilogy DB010975, DB010976, and DB010977.

Happy gaming.