The Allotted 24: A Legal Justice Dungeons & Dragons Module

Kylie Stives[*]

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Part 1

Introduction

This thesis is divided into two parts. Part I contains the analysis of the module. Part II has been condensed for this journal. In its original form, it was styled using the rules of the 5th edition of Dungeons & Dragons. It contains all the materials needed to run the game, so it can be printed out separately from Part I for use. While the sections may be read in isolation, reading both aids in understanding. For the best experience, Part II should be played out and not simply read. Part I may be read without knowledge of Dungeons & Dragons, as explanations are given within.

While the module constrains branching plotlines and sub-plots, certain aspects should be present in every playthrough. It is these aspects that the module is intended to demonstrate. Additional side quests may present other legal aspects, but these issues are not essential to the construction of the module. The module was created to guide students at the undergraduate level through the different types of legal systems and legal plurality, as considered by Max Weber, the German sociologist, historian, jurist, and political economist. Additional teachings of Weber are touched upon, such as disenchantment. Devising a game to teach was an attempt at re-enchanting learning and combating modern disenchantment, by making education on these topics less systematic and routine.

While there are studies on the use and effectiveness of non-traditional teaching, there are fewer that focus on games and simulations. There are less still that center on Dungeons & Dragons. There are not many, if any, that include the use of a specific module. Realizing this gap, this thesis both develops and analyzes the content of an original module. Specifically, this module was designed to teach players legal concepts. The bulk of the analysis is done on the legal concepts themselves, why they were chosen, how they are presented in the game, and how they appear in the real world. Paired with the background topic of non-traditional teaching, the game portion of the thesis may hopefully be effectively used to teach.

Literature review

A comprehensive understanding of a range of topics is needed to conceptualize and execute this module. The literature review has been formatted to highlight each of these topics. They may not be entirely distinct from each other. However, categories have been divided out for clarity. Sections are listed in alphabetical order.

There was no previous literature on the exact subject of using Dungeons & Dragons as a tool to teach Weber’s typology. As a consequence, the literature review has been drawn together from many different sources. However, there is previous literature on using games for teaching and the effectiveness of moot court in education. I propose that the effect of Dungeons & Dragons may be analogous to the use of role-play or moot court. Both are interactive mediums that promote deeper learning of the subject. Numerous sources from different fields, taken together, may inform one on the topic of this thesis.

Games

A variety of games were examined in relation to education. Games are discussed mainly in relation to teaching. Dungeons & Dragons is a game, just as are cards or tags. “Games” can be thought of as activities involving goals and rules which present the attainment of those goals as a challenge to overcome (Deterding & Zagal, 2018). Some students are shown to prefer game-based learning (GBL), but not all students prefer non-traditional learning methods. Those that do enjoy games found their use in education helpful, more motivating and promoting better retention of the material (Franklin et al., 2003). In their study, Franklin et al. (2003) found that this preference was greater in students than teachers, at 69 percent and 14 percent, respectively.

In classifying GBL, a given game may embody 1 or more of the approaches to teaching outlined by Hammer et al. A behaviorist approach sees games as opportunities for “drill and practice” (Hammer et al., 2018, p. 285). Behaviorism views learning as “the accomplishment of observable learning outcomes” (Hammer et al., 2018, p. 284). A cognitivist approach treats games as a place where existing mental models can be challenged to help students develop expertise. Cognitivism understands learning as “changes in information processing in the mind” (Hammer et al., 2018, p. 284). A constructionist approach emphasizes games as simulation spaces where players can learn through hands-on experimentation. Constructivist practices emphasize learning “through making and doing,” otherwise known as “project based learning” (Hammer et al., 2018, p. 284). A sociocultural approach considers games as affinity spaces that produce collaboration, community, and conversation. Socioculturalists see learning as “developing shared mental models with other learners that are appropriate for a given context” (Hammer et al., 2018, p. 285). D&D mainly utilizes constructionist and sociocultural theories (Hammer et al., 2018).

Studies examining games and teaching more broadly do not relate to the effectiveness of role-playing games (RPGs). In the modern era, RPGs also encompass video games within the RPG genre. Broadly, there are computer RPGs (CRPGs), which are played on the computer or other electronic devices. A popular game format, massively multiplayer online RPGs (MMORPGs), is a subset of CRPGs. Unlike other CRPGs, which tend to be single-player games involving only one user, MMORPGs are played with many people accessing the same servers and experiencing the same world. MMORPG user bases can number into the millions. Dungeons & Dragons is a tabletop RPG (TTRPG). Sessions are traditionally played at a table, using physical representations of the characters and world of the game (Zagal & Deterding, 2018).

There is also a subsection called live-action role-play (LARP), where players physically embody their characters. LARPs often involve the use of costuming and may be likened to historical reenactments (Harviainen et al., 2018). Some previous literature considered the usage of crossword puzzles or card games rather than RPGs (Franklin et al., 2003). GBL falls into the broader category of non-traditional teaching. Games have been used to teach a variety of subjects, from the sciences to the humanities. More broadly, there has been great success in using hands-on experiments to teach the sciences, especially in students with disabilities (McCarthy, 2004). In effect, this includes all forms of teaching that differ from the standard lecture style.

In role-play, participants assume the role of someone other than themselves. This role may be as different as a space pirate from the distant future or as similar as an average student in the modern era. Although performative, these scenarios “help reproduce the social and moral bonds of a group by creating strong experiences of shared emotions, moral sentiments, and belonging” (Deterding & Zagal, 2018, p. 4). In this way, RPGs may be likened to stage drama in the form of theater and plays. Likewise, both RPGs and theater tend to present conflict indirectly. Drama allows participants to answer questions by making choices and seeing what happens (Wagner, 1999). This same benefit occurs within RPGs, in which players make choices befitting their role. Wagner also notes differences between drama and role-play, but her definition of role-playing focuses on conflict-resolution simulations (Wagner, 1999).

D&D is an RPG, but there are more RPGs than just D&D. Studies have been conducted on the effectiveness of the popular online game Second Life, the program escapeED, and others. Second Life is online, but there are enough similarities to make extensions. Writing on Second Life, Warburton characterizes virtual worlds as having “persistence of the in-world environment,” “a shared space allowing multiple users to participate simultaneously,” “virtual embodiment in the form of an avatar,” “interactions that occur between users and objects,” and “an immediacy of action such that interactions occur in real time” (2009, p. 415). While not exactly the same, D&D has many of these qualities in some form. For this module, multiple maps were created to represent the in-world environment, which is continuously acted upon by players. This environment is shared, allowing interactions between students with each other and objects in the world. 3D miniatures and character art has been provided for each character role that students may assume, to heighten immersion. Students may act and immediately feel the consequences of those actions in-game, although there may be some delay needed for the DM to describe these consequences. The module wishes to emulate the “profoundly immersive experience—one that conveys a feeling of being there and a strong sense of co-presence” cultivated in a Second Life game (Warburton, 2009, p. 419).

Given the traits listed above, Second Life may develop components beneficial to education. These include:

• Extended or rich interactions: opportunities for social interaction between individuals and communities, human–object interaction and also intelligent interaction between artifacts
• Visualization and contextualization: the production and reproduction of inaccessible content that may be historically lost, too distant, too costly, imaginary, futuristic or impossible to see with the human eye
• Exposure to authentic content and culture
• Individual and collective identity play
• Immersion in a 3-D environment where the augmented sense of presence, through virtual embodiment in the form of an avatar and extensive modes of communication, can impact the affective, empathic and motivational aspects of the experience
• Simulation: reproduction of contexts that can be too costly to reproduce in real life with the advantages that some physical constraints can be overcome
• Community presence: promoting a sense of belonging and purpose that coheres around groups, subcultures and geography
• Content production: opportunities for creation and ownership of the learning environment and objects within it that are both individual and owned (Warburton, 2009, p. 421). D&D does not exactly align with Second Life, but they share many similar characteristics.

This list is largely applicable to D&D. The module hopes to create a robust fictional world for students to interact with. Aided by input from fellow players, the world of the module can become an immersive simulation with rich interactions, visualization, contextualization, authentic content, identity play, community presence, and content production.

Lessons from escapeED may also be extended to D&D. EscapED is designed around Escape Rooms. Similar to D&D, Escape Rooms have themes and narratives. The Escape Room facilitator is analogous to TTRPG GMs. This module specifically emulates the sense of urgency and risk that is maintained using time management. Taken together, both Escape Rooms and D&D produce a passionate response and investment to complete the task in time (Clarke et al., 2016). Clarke et al. (2016) designed escapeED and implemented it with a small number of participants, similar to this module. EscapeED was run for a University staff training event, targeting educators rather than students. While there are issues with having such a small sample size, the response was largely positive. Respondents could see the educational value of escapeED, especially if the puzzles and themes were worked into their taught subject matter. All respondents also indicated that they would consider using escapeED in their lesson plans, but they were unsure of how to facilitate it (Clarke et al., 2016). Given the narrow scope of this module, uncertainty over implementation should not be an issue. Consideration to usage has already been given, with the tentative proposal that this is to be played in lower-level legal courses at the undergraduate level. One player also noted that the experience may be good as an introduction to encourage getting to know other students (Clarke et al., 2016). Indeed, this module may be effectively implemented as an “icebreaker” that both introduces the students and teaches legal concepts.

Dungeons & Dragons

Specifically, on the topic of D&D, there are fewer papers. Most sources talk of D&D in relation to other concepts, like literature, morality, and education. Dungeons & Dragons was one of the first tabletop role-playing games (TTRPGs). RPGs may occur in the form of video games, but TTRPGs are largely physical rather than virtual. In recent years, there has been a shift to playing D&D and other TTRPGs with the aid of or entirely through virtual platforms. However, D&D originated as a physical medium. While the module has the capability of being played online, the intent is to run it by means of an in-person classroom setting. Thus, when examining D&D, articles on the physical experience have been prioritized.

Although D&D is entering the mainstream, it has not always been so popular. Back in the 1970s, playing TTRPGs was considered a niche hobby. The first edition of Dungeons & Dragons was published in 1974 by Dave Anderson and Gary Gygax. In its time, it was an unusual TTRPG. It used miniatures, but not full armies. A full party of players, about five, was needed to play (Wolfendale & Franklin, 2012). The setting was generally fantastical, reminiscent of fantasy author J. R. R. Tolkien’s works, such as The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy. This contrasts with the wargames subgenre of TTRPGs, which utilizes dozens of miniatures, may be played alone, and offered a historical setting. In essence, wargames aimed to simulate battles from history (Wolfendale & Franklin, 2012). D&D was a marked change. Instead of re-enacting a historical battle, players took up the roles of fighters in a battle that could never have happened, working together to tell a story that had never before been told. Back then, the selection of TTRPGs was much smaller. Today, there is an RPG for every style, genre, and complexity (Wolfendale & Franklin, 2012).

As considered by Zagal and Deterding, D&D is the intersection of play, roles, game, and media culture (2018). In the vein of the media, others have recognized the appeal of popular culture. Incorporating popular culture can increase engagement and enthusiasm, supporting a lively learning environment. When viewed through this lens, people are encouraged to look at the world in new ways and challenge prior knowledge and opinions (Gunderman, 2021). Players may opt to role-play as characters that are representative of and emphasize traits of the real player. Similar to plays, people have spoken, thought, and felt as their characters. Unlike plays, characters are usually of the actor’s own making. D&D is a game usually played in third- person and in real-time. There is no distance for revisions or rewinding or “retconning.” People should not think only as themselves, because that limits the characters. However, it is also not possible to be or know someone else. Instead, a variation on what the player would do in the situation is used for the character. This is done after creating a framework of otherness, a series of lenses and prisms through which a player’s thoughts are turned into a character’s. In this way, people approximate what others think (Crandall & Taliaferro, 2014). This approximation may lead to a broadening of thought and emotion.

In role-play, even in modules that describe a limited set of outcomes, there is no script. Instead, players must rely on the scaffolding of otherness. Playing the character can cause thoughts to go in directions they would not have otherwise gone. The player creates the character, which then influences the player back. The thoughts of the player are all filtered into the character, and the character can never take action beyond the comprehension of the player. In playing characters, people may become aware of virtues they do not know they have. It may be more apparent for some, to see it reflected back in the characters they play. Fully realized characters became stronger after challenges. When players internalize these events, they are also lessons for the player. The character learns and changes, and the player learns more about the character and oneself. When an alien element is introduced to the scaffolding, a player must react. The original concept of the character is within the player’s control, but the events of the campaign are the purview of the DM. When characters react to things such as betrayal, death, and power, the human players may also learn how they would do so. To the extent that people truly portray their characters and allow for character growth, they learn more about themselves. Although the game is fantasy, the emotions felt are often real (Crandall & Taliaferro, 2014).

Most editions of Dungeons & Dragons utilize the alignment system. A character’s alignment “is the way that she ought to interact with the other players and the world created by the DM” (Miles & Hess, 2014, p. 23). Each alignment follows certain guidelines. When acting out characterization based on alignment, one has to know the character’s beliefs, feelings or emotional responses, and typical behaviors. In short, each alignment holds a distinct moral code that determines its actions (Cogburn, 2012). By role-playing as a character, students may come to develop and grow in their understanding of morality. Events experienced by the character are, through the prism of otherness, also experienced by the player (Crandall & Taliaferro, 2014). Alignment also has mechanical consequences, changing the effects of some spells and magic. The original system presented in the First Edition worked only upon the lawful/chaotic axis, in which characters were able to be Lawful, Neutral, or Chaotic. Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (AD&D) expanded this chart, adding the good/evil axis, which allowed characters to be good, neutral, or evil (Miles & Hess, 2014). Taken together, alignment can be described as a chart using the 2 axes of lawful/chaotic and good/evil. This is the most popularized version of the alignment system, as well as the chart currently in use. This chart has 9 categories, 1 for each intersection of the 2 axes. From left to right and top to bottom, these are the alignments: Lawful Good; Neutral Good; Chaotic Good; Lawful Neutral; Neutral Neutral, also known as “True Neutral”; Chaotic Neutral; Lawful Evil; Neutral Evil; and Chaotic Evil (Cogburn, 2012). See Table 1 below for brief descriptions of each alignment, taken from Edition 3.5’s (3.5e) Player’s Handbook (PHB) (as cited in Cogburn, 2012).

 

	Lawful	Neutral	Chaotic
Good	Lawful Good: “Crusader… Combines honor and compassion.”	Neutral Good: “Benefactor… True good. Doing what is good without bias toward or against order.”	Chaotic Good: “Rebel… Combines a good heart with a free spirit.”
Neutral	Lawful Neutral: “Judge… True lawful. Reliable and honorable without being a zealot.”	Neutral Neutral: “Undecided… True neutral. Act naturally, without prejudice or compulsion.”	Chaotic Neutral: “Free Spirit… True Chaotic. True freedom from both society’s restrictions and from a do-gooder’s zeal.”
Evil	Lawful Evil: “Dominator… Methodical, intentional, and frequently successful evil.”	Neutral Evil: “Malefactor… True evil. Pure evil without honor and without variation.”	Chaotic Evil: “Destroyer… Represents the Destruction not only of beauty and life but on the order on which beauty and life depend.”

Table 1. Complete Dungeon & Dragons alignment chart. Adapted from “Beyond chaotic good and lawful evil?” by J. Cogburn, 2012, in J. Cogburn & M. Silcox (Eds.), Dungeons and Dragons and Philosophy: Raiding the Temple of Wisdom, p. 30. Copyright 2012 by Open Court Publishing Co.

 

There is a link between fantasy and morality. Fantasy is possible because humans have the capacity to separate the qualities from the things in which they appear and imagine them in other things that do not have them. According to J. R. R. Tolkien, fantasy requires an inner consistency of reality. Fantasy also respects principles of necessity while simultaneously recognizing contingency, the possibility that these things can be different (Dyer, 2014). Time functions similarly to the real world in many narratives, but some narratives explore the concepts of time travel and time dilation. Internal consistency works with respect to matters of necessity. Meanwhile, enchantments and magic occur with contingency, the hidden connection between apparently related things. Using fairy tales and parables as an example, magic and morality are fundamental aspects. Often, these stories use hidden principles of magic to make happiness conditional on good behavior. Fairy tales are opposed to tragedies, which do not require a happy ending. In tragedy, a noble person is brought low by a character flaw. Fantasies functionally resemble tragedies, but the tragic ends are subverted without breaking the internal principles of the stories. In D&D, this subversion may occur when players roll a natural 20 or antagonists roll a natural 1. In D&D, as part of the fantasy genre, it is important that the internal principles of the story are not broken (Dyer, 2014).

D&D players have been likened to philosophers in their inclinations, habits, and ends. Others have analyzed it in relation to Aristotle, Hume, and Mills. Like exercises of philosophical thought experiments, fiction can refract aspects of reality for closer examination (Littmann, 2012). The type of thought needed to perform thought experiments and the laboratory of the mind is the sort suited for D&D. Thoughtful fans may find pleasure in philosophical reflection. However, these same players have also had less success in saying that their mental exercises could provide insights into the workings of the universe. Likewise, most states imagined by both philosophers and players would be impossible to reproduce in a real-world laboratory (Silcox & Cox, 2012). Even given the difficulty of replication, D&D is capable of provoking deeper intellectual thought. This would indicate the possibility of use for education.

From an Aristotelian perspective, should students choose to play as good-aligned characters, they may become moral agents. The virtuous agent is supposed to exemplify the ideal and give insight into what to do. When rules have added confusion to morally nuanced situations, the moral agent has the wisdom to make the right choices. Aristotle considered being virtuous as a kind of skill. Similarly, D&D includes the development of skills, where experienced characters have an easier time doing things successfully with lower checks and rolls needed. Developing virtue involves training emotions and instinctive responses. Having the right feelings was required for becoming truly virtuous, according to virtue ethicists. Thus, they believed that people could not act morally without having habituated and trained their emotional responses. However, role-play does not require genuine emotional engagement. That is, the player does not need to feel the same emotions that the character felt to guide the actions of the character well. Further, relevant emotional sensitivities and emotional states are not necessary for good judgment about what to do. Under an advice model, Aristotle might find that the right action is the one the virtuous agent would recommend for a player. However, this does create a gap between choosing actions for oneself and giving good advice to others (Merli, 2012). In this way, D&D provokes philosophical and emotional thought.

Legal education

Legal education has its own section, distinct from teaching. The need for legal education can be found in many disciplines beyond law. While not lawyers themselves, it may be prudent for those working adjacent to the legal field to be proficient in the area of law. For example, the professions of journalism, nursing, and architecture frequently interact with the law. Even for non-lawyers, it can be necessary to know the fundamentals of the court system. In teaching law to those outside the field, the aim is not to make those students into lawyers. Rather, they should be able to analyze the shaping force of law as it applies to that field and to know when to ask for assistance from an actual lawyer. As ubiquitous as it is throughout society, law can be a framework through which to view other fields. In some courses, this may be difficult. The proficiencies and skills needed to study law are not the same as those for civil engineering or construction. Even so, the law is a necessary subject of study for many from all different professions (Bennett, 2009).

To impart legal knowledge, moot courts are an effective tool. Moot courts have been utilized outside of law schools, in disciplines such as nursing and psychiatry. When applied to other disciplines, the cases given may be of a sort fitted to that field, such as medical trials centered on involuntary civil commitment and administration of medication over objection for psychiatry classes. Mock trials can give students court experience in a realistic, low-risk environment (Baker et al., 2019). Mock trials can also be used to develop skills in values, ethics, legal concepts, and professionalism. This can be useful even for non-law students (Smith et al., 2012). In legal education, it is a critical skill to practice preparing and arguing legal questions. Moot court lessons can be good for teaching statutes or contracts. When attention is directed at a single problem for a significant period, greater understanding is achieved. Moot court cases can be carefully selected and tailored, allowing for an ideal learning situation (Gaubatz, 1981). In this way, it can be similar to the tailored nature of this module. A moot court should not be used as a replacement for clinics. However, moot court can also be available earlier in education than in clinics, even in pre-collegiate settings (Gaubatz, 1981).

Mock trials utilize active and transformative learning. Transformative learning encourages students to continually rethink their assumptions and redefine their understanding. This process of reflection and reconstruction allows students to address the assumptions that may put practical learning above theoretical learning (Smith et al., 2012). Tang asserts that there is a gap between theoretical legal education and sociolegal practice, which moot court exercises may be used to bridge. Moot court is affected by student enthusiasm; cultivates debate skills and ways of thinking; promotes cooperative learning and mutual aid learning; integrates knowledge and action; and fosters the simultaneous development of theoretical knowledge, practical ability, and professional ethics (Tang, 2021). Transformative learning may be seen as similar to constructionism theories, to which D&D belongs. One could also argue that moot court is an attempt to re-enchant learning. Instead of procedurally studying and memorizing case books, students get to immerse themselves in the case to elicit empathy and emotional connections. A study by Baker et al. showed that 88 percent found moot court simulations to help them understand the role of mental health court, 91 percent received useful tips for testifying, and 94 percent could apply the skills they learned in future court appearances (2019).

Teaching

Teaching is the broadest category. Most other topics in the literature review relate back to this concept. Within this section, the main ideas of other sections as they relate to education may be reiterated. In understanding teaching as it applies to this thesis, one must understand the elements of D&D. D&D utilizes non-traditional teaching to combine aspects of simulation, role play, and drama in an active learning environment.

Hammer et al. believe that learning may be viewed under the 4 families of behaviorism, cognitivism, constructivism, and sociocultural theory. Behaviorism treats learning as “the accomplishment of observable learning outcomes” (Hammer et al., 2018, p. 284). Behaviorist theories posit that learning occurs through conditioning and reinforcement. The learner responds to stimuli with behaviors, which are reinforced with rewards or punishment to shape future behavior. Cognitivism was formed in response to behaviorism. Cognitivists understand learning as “changes in information processing in the mind” (Hammer et al., 2018, p. 284). This theory viewed the mind as an inaccessible and somewhat irrelevant “black box.” Those who change their cognitive strategies without producing the correct answer have still learned something. To teach, cognitivists target information at known misconceptions, break down information for easier processing, and raise students’ awareness of their learning strategies. Cognitivist theories focus on integrating knowledge into mental models, which students use to reason differently in the future. Like cognitivism, constructivism emphasizes the development of models and the integration of information into knowledge. However, constructivists argue that mental models are “idiosyncratic” rather than universal. For learning, students must construct their own understanding based on prior attitudes, beliefs, and experiences. Constructionism is a closely related theory. Constructionism also argues that the construction of internal models works best when accomplishing real-world tasks. It promotes learning through “making and doing,” also known as “project-based learning” (Hammer et al., 2018, p. 284). Proper learning gives rise to the ability to reconstruct knowledge. The sociocultural approach understands learning as “developing shared mental models with other learners that are appropriate for a given context” (Hammer et al., 2018, p. 285). Learning is always social. Even when experts in the field are not physically present, their points of view shape all aspects of knowledge, from organization to best practices. Sociocultural mechanisms include collaboration between peers, observation and imitation of experts, and participating in the field. RPGs are primarily understood using constructivist and sociocultural theories (Hammer et al., 2018).

Lecture-style is “a teaching practice that is often associated with more traditional, didactic or teacher-centered” learning (Schwerdt & Wuppermann, 2010). Traditional teaching often involves textbook-oriented learning. Many teachers rely heavily on a selected textbook, reading and answering questions from it. Reading and memorizing facts from the textbook reduces students to passive learners, rather than active learners (McCarthy, 2004). Likewise, lectures disseminate knowledge through listening, which can be disadvantageous for some students (Schwerdt & Wuppermann, 2010). Non-traditional teaching tends to promote active learning, wherein the students are observing, comparing, and inferring (McCarthy, 2004). It should be noted that active learning has not unanimously been found to be better than passive learning. However, there is some evidence that active learning is more effective. Specifically, active learning may be more effective for achieving specific goals, such as application to real-world problems. Yet, passive learning may be more effective in other areas, such as learning economic theory (DeNeve & Heppner, 1997). As used for education, D&D utilizes active learning, as the students are participants in knowledge acquisition.

Simulations have been utilized for teaching, as they allow instructors to tailor the experience to a curriculum. By constructing the lesson, one can include otherwise disparate topics that may not be found in standard exercises and would take more time to teach separately. Simulations are particularly adept when used to teach multidisciplinary and cross-disciplinary subjects. When used for multidisciplinary training, the different disciplines need to be integrated, not self-contained and separated out. This complexity is more reflective of situations encountered in the real world (Bennett, 2009). Furthermore, students report that role-play simulations were more applicable than traditional lectures to real-world jobs. Recall ability was also better for information learned through simulations than traditional lectures (DeNeve & Heppner, 1997).

Role-play is similar but distinct from simulation. While often used in conjunction, the two are not the same. Both are forms of active learning and non-traditional teaching. Role-play has been used in education since the 1950s. It was first practiced using Situational Language Teaching, where students apply language in real-world situations by engaging in conversations and pretend scenarios (Hammer et al., 2018). Role-play allows for the practice of learned material, the development of a concrete basis for discussion, and fostering an increased awareness of feelings. Role-play also aids teamwork and enthusiasm. Simulations are more structured and time-consuming. They include guiding principles, specific rules, and facilitative relationships (DeNeve & Heppner, 1997). Acting in the theater could be considered role-play but not simulation. Specifically, there is an aspect of performance present in role-play that does not exist for simulation. Often, role-play transforms the social world, presents an ideal order, or represents a question to the actual current social order (Deterding & Zagal, 2018). In RPGs, the real world forms the primary framework, supported by the game context of the participants as players following game rules, and the game world of the participants acting as characters (Williams et al., 2018).

Writing on drama as used in education, Wagner illustrates the strength of drama in education (DIE). Students “seldom confront moral dilemmas in a context that illuminates issues and provides an opportunity for reflection and guidance”, but a safe and supervised environment is cultivated for DIE (Wagner, 1999, p. 1). Although there is variability in D&D through player choice, it is not unlike DIE. Drama can be aided by improvisation, allowing for authentic responses to the situation. Wagner states: “The goal in these improvisational dramas is to transform students’ understanding of human dilemmas and conflicts, rather than to provide simple practice in how to solve social problems” (1999, p. 4). Although the module does not aim for a better understanding of human conflicts, Weber’s typology requires a still deep understanding of the material.

D&D may be conducive to the development of experiential subjects, such as morality. The fictional world created can allow for the study of concepts from the real world, as they are reflected back in the game (Littmann, 2012). Role-play does not require genuine emotional engagement, in which the human player feels the same emotions as their character (Merli, 2012). However, to the degree that players embody their characters and vice versa, the two learn and grow in tandem. Although there may be a distance of otherness between a player and their character, the events are still being experienced. Characters are created by players, but developments of character can push influence back onto the players (Crandall & Taliaferro, 2014). Good role-play should involve the mind, leading to the development of empathy and emotions.

Weber

Max Weber was born in 1864 and died in 1920. He lived during a time when Germany was politically united and extending its influence. Broadly, Weber supported this expansion. He was concerned with the nature of Europe’s quickly changing societies and wondered about the future of countries committed to economic growth, military aggression, and bureaucratic efficiency. Weber’s mode of thinking can be categorized into the traditions of rationalist and idealist thought. He made contributions to the fields of history, politics, economics, religion, education, and law (Henricks, 2016). Weber has been called the last “universal genius of the social sciences’ ‘ (Wrong, 1970, as cited in Henricks, 2016).

Related to his typology, Max Weber also wrote on the topic of modernization and disenchantment. He argued that modernity is characterized by a disenchantment with the world. “Disenchantment” may be defined as follows: A process of modernity in which secularization, rationalization, and bureaucratization replace beliefs in magic and religion with beliefs in science, and people experience less mystery, wonder, awe, and “deeper meaning.” As part of disenchantment, rationalization describes how rational motivators of behavior like formal rules, calculations, and an instrumental means-end logic replace tradition, values, emotions, or individual charisma (Williams et al., 2018, p. 234). Commitment to the game can strip it of emotions and values, making play a routine and automated chore instead of something enjoyable. In D&D, this may be experienced if the gameplay is reduced to formulaic mathematical calculations. In response to this, there has been a counter-movement of “disenchanted enchantment.” White et al. give this definition: A cultural response to disenchantment, beginning with late 19th- and early 20th-century fiction authors like E.A. Poe, J.R.R. Tolkien, and H.P. Lovecraft and manifest in contemporary RPGs and science fiction and fantasy fandom. Grounded in a secular, rational lifeworld, people delight in imaginary worlds filled with wonder, awe, magic, and gods, thanks to an ironic consciousness of their “as if” status (2018, p. 235).

Rationalization is not necessarily opposed to enchantment. Disenchanted enchantment uses rational means to re-enchant the world. Fantasy authors often include quasi-scientific maps, glossaries, and appendices to heighten the immersion of their fictional worlds. Likewise, RPGs and D&D use modern statistical and quantitative techniques to format play filled with imagination and wonder (White et al, 2018). In relation to the typology, formal rationality leads to disenchantment, by assuming that the world is completely knowable. However, formal rationality can be re-enchanted from within or become the vehicle of re-enchantment. Even so, the rational aspects of play, such as rolling dice and calculating damage, are not excluded from the enchanting elements of play. D&D and other RPGs “demonstrate a resistance of disenchantment, a transgressive turning of the structures of disenchantment towards the ends of (re)re enchantment” (Mizer, 2019, p. 27). D&D aptly displays the relationship between disenchantment and re-enchantment (Mizer, 2019). Indeed, this module also represents both. While making learning less formulaic through the use of a game, outcomes in the plot are often reduced to the numbers of a skill check. The final fate of the players, whether they live or die, is also decided through the use of charts and numbers.

 

METHODS

Selection and inclusion of topics

Categories in this section have been listed by importance. Ideas that occurred both in planning and those that made it into the final version are considered here. The inclusion of discarded ideas may help to appreciate the thought process and planning that went into the making of this thesis.

This project started off with a much broader scope. In the initial planning, any and all legal topics that could be brainstormed were included in the game. This ranged from ecological justice to courtroom procedure. In development, this selection was pared down. Consideration was given to topics based on what would make a good “plot” for students to experience. While riparian rights and the like are arguably important, they do not make for the most exciting gameplay. Likewise, a traditional courtroom drama or such may be more effectively played out in mock trials or moot court. Since the teaching was using the format of a Dungeons & Dragons game, certain topics were better suited to this game format than others. As an experiential learning device, it was quickly decided that the environment of the game would take place in a fictional setting. This avoided the risk of offending particular governments and institutions. It also allowed for the crafting of specific characters and interactions for the purpose of teaching. The “districts” in the game could each be tailored to the needs of the game, distinct from real world scenarios. Indeed, each district represented a different type in Weber’s typology.

Weber’s typology

The decision to format the game around this was made later, once the thesis course started in the first semester. The inclusion of disenchantment and re-enchantment came later still, as the literature review was being written. The previous framework was not entirely discarded, but things were revised to fit the new focus. As a classification system, it was determined that it would be easier to teach in a game than with more specific terms. There could be multiple encounters, at least one for each type, if not multiple. Planning for multiple interactions made it less likely that player choice would circumvent the direction of the narrative. Although there are more than 4 areas in the city to visit, it was roughly determined that there should be 1 area corresponding to each of the 4 types. The city was initially planned with 4 distinct districts, each representative of a different justice system under Weber.

Pro Se litigation

This is one of the three originally planned concepts. Like the others, it is no longer the focus of teaching. However, the idea is still present in the plot. In the fictional setting, lawyers do not exist. All defendants must go before the high court pro se. Under normal circumstances, the ability to pursue pro se litigation may be advocated for. However, this exaggerates a good feature, twisting it into something harmful. Here, pro se representation is not a choice, but an obligation.

The right to a speedy trial

This is one of the three originally planned concepts. Like the others, it is no longer the focus of teaching. However, the idea is still present in the plot. The characters receive 24 hours between their arraignment and trial to settle their affairs. This waiting period is extremely short. Although speedy trials may be desirable, 24 hours is too speedy. This exaggeration has turned an otherwise good practice into bad. This is a concept in US law, although the country the game is set in is fictional. As such, the implementation of a speedy trial differs from US conventions.

Aggravating and mitigating factors

This was one of three concepts originally planned for teaching. Along with the other two, it was discarded for being too specific. Although no longer the focus of teaching, its original effect on the story has remained in the module. In drafting, the party was to encounter a lack of either. The absence of the term was to strengthen its effect as understood by the students. The player characters would be accused and charged. They could either be found entirely not guilty or face full punishment for the crimes they were charged with. No matter the evidence or defense they presented, the charge would not be altered from its original form. This complete absence of mitigating factors was supposed to show students the benefit of having them. Likewise, there were no aggravating factors. If the party committed more crimes before their sentencing, the sentence would not be made worse.

Concepts demonstrated in the module

Due to the nature of a Dungeons & Dragons game, not every topic will be encountered in every playthrough. However, the module was designed so that certain ideas would always be taught, namely Weber’s typology. Furthermore, the game as a whole was devised to re-enchant the learning experience as a way to combat the disenchantment of life in the modern era observed by Weber. Additional material may be encountered in a game, depending on how the players act. Below, it is described how and if a legal topic is demonstrated through the intended gameplay. Like the previous sub-section, topics here have been listed in order of importance.

Weber’s typology

Weber uses two axes, contrasting substantive with formal, and irrational with rational. Broadly, substantive systems consist of norms, whereas formal systems consist of rules. Rationality occurs when decisions are internally consistent and theoretically predictable. Irrationality is opposed, in that principles are not internally consistent or predictable. Substantive irrationality occurs when decisions are contradictory and based on norms or qualifications other than laws. Substantively irrational law may be based on observable criteria but still be unpredictable, such as empirical findings based on concrete cases. Formal irrationality utilizes rules or formal criteria to arrive at decisions, but the results are not applied in a systematic basis and not logically understandable. The common law system, while not necessarily irrational, is less rational than a codified system. Substantive rationality utilizes pragmatic social and political considerations within consistent systems. A call to open the legal system to the application of norms would be a call for substantive rationality. Formal rational systems determine using rules which are internally consistent and predictable. Law under classical legal thought is “portrayed as a gapless system or rules, concepts and norms, which determine[s] legal results independently of substantive political and economic considerations” (Shamir, 1993, p. 51).

Weber most values formal-rational legal orders, like those he experienced in the legal political reality of turn-of-the-century Germany. These can only develop when there is both 1) a codified system of written laws, and 2) a group of legal experts who may develop law autonomous of political or economic pressures. However, it is through substantive rationality that change and progress are introduced. Once the changes are in place, it returns to formal rationality. There is a cycle of formal rationality, to internal contradictions, to substantive rationality, to routinization, and back to formal rationality (Shamir, 1993).

Substantive irrationality may be illustrated by the biblical story of King Solomon. King Solomon decided the case of two women claiming to be the mother of the same child. He ordered that the child be sliced into two and divided between the women. The first woman agreed, but the second protested that the child should not be harmed. King Solomon decided in favor of the second woman. It was decided on a case-by-case basis, making it substantive. He also did so without the use of legal rules, making it irrational (Walsh & Hemmens, 2014). Substantive irrationality is not necessarily bad. Here, King Solomon showed justice and wisdom. Formal irrationality is characterized by things such as religious dogma, magic, oath swearing, and trial by combat or ordeal. While there are certain procedures to be followed, they are not based on reason or logic. This may be seen by the use of oath swearing in some Islamic courts (Walsh & Hemmens, 2014). Principles are applied uniformly, making it formal. However, the principles are not legal, making it irrational. Substantive rationality occurs when the logic of religious, ideological, or bureaucratic sets of rules are applied on a case-by-case basis. The Code of Hammurabi and much of American administrative law are examples of this (Walsh & Hemmens, 2014). Applied case-by-case, these are substantive systems. Although not based in law, principles that are logical and internally consistent are rational. The most rational and ideal system is formal rationality. This type allows for a high degree of independence of legal institutions, along with a set of general rules and procedures applicable to all. Those making the decisions have also been legally trained. In general, Western legal systems fall into this category (Walsh & Hemmens, 2014). By applying the same rules to everyone, a system is formal. Basing the decisions on law or another internally consistent body makes it rational.

Weber’s typology includes four categories, on the axes of substantive to formal and irrationality to rationality. In the game, the fictional city has four major districts, each corresponding to one of Weber’s types. There are additionally more areas within each district that the players may visit. The majority of interactions in a single district are characterized and built around exemplifying Weber through gameplay. There are additionally important areas that the students may visit which are not whole districts in themselves, those being the Castle, the Harbor, and the Colosseum. However, the content of interactions relevant to an understanding of Weber are marked on the map with a court symbol. Each district has its own form of courts, and these correspond to Weber. Interactions in the additional areas, such as the Harbor, should not be taken as representative of Weber. These areas have been added to the game for narrative reasons more than teaching purposes.

Substantive irrationality is represented by the Court of Public Opinion in the Market District. All members of society in the city may participate in this court, but it is controlled and headquartered in the Market District. Citizens of the merchant class in the Market District are the most important voices in the Court of Public Opinion. They are wealthier and more influential than the commoners, and they are more numerous than the nobles. The merchants subscribe to the leaflets and newspapers put out by the two competing news offices. The editors, Albert Abercrombie of The Abercrombie Alert, and Balthazar of Balthazar’s Bugle may not always take diametrically opposed views. During the game, the initial disposition of both newspapers is against the attacks, with one focusing more on the supposed perpetrators and the other more on the monster that was summoned. Both quickly publish reports following the attack. The speed with which this was done was to indicate the reactionary nature of irrationality. Further commentary by the populace and possibly the editors show students the political and emotional basis of these reactions. Having the two newspapers take different lines on the incident illustrates the case-by-case nature of substantive justice. Taken together, students should learn that substantive rationality is when non-legally trained people make reactionary decisions following principles other than the law on a case-by-case basis.

To allude to this, the buildings of the Market District are colorful and inconsistent. The colors clash, and buildings use uncoordinated styles of construction. One house may have terracotta and shingles and straw on the same roof. The exterior may alternate between pink and orange stripes, with a blue door. The colorful nature relates to the reactionary nature of irrational systems. The inconsistent architectural styles relate to the case-by-case nature of substantive systems.

Formal irrationality is represented by the Truth of the Noble District. The wealthiest citizens live here. Officially, the Truth is the high court of the land. It is the court that is sanctioned by the monarchy. Although it is the highest court, there are also no lower courts on the main peninsula. The Truth also rarely sees cases, choosing not to prosecute on most matters. The Truth is staffed by those with magical training, as opposed to legal training. There is a great reliance on magic in making decisions. Verdicts are made with the aid of the spell Zone of Truth. The court also enforces oath swearing, placing importance on rituals. Although not based on law or reason or logic, the Truth follows these formal procedures of magic and oath. The court is consistent in its application of magic to cases, tending to depend on the Zone of Truth spell to ascertain guilt. In reality, the court hides behind this procedural consistency to mask more malicious intent. Under the influence of the corrupt arms of the monarchy, the Truth is directed to use magic to reach certain judgments. Despite the name, the Truth is not concerned with seeking truth. The few cases that it does see have predetermined outcomes. Even so, the Truth will go through the motions in a uniform manner, using magic rather than law to justify rulings.

To additionally convey the formal and irrational qualities of the justice system, the buildings are nonsensical but uniform. The courthouse is in the shape of an hourglass large at the top and bottom floors, but thin in the middle. Other buildings are similarly fashioned, in the shapes of symbolic objects. The castle is arranged in star formation when seen from overhead. A noble may fashion a house after a heart, or a sphere, or a shoe. The nonsensical construction relates to the non-legal source of irrational systems. The consistent application of these shapes relates to the uniform treatment in formal systems.

Substantive rationality is represented by the Beggar’s Council of the Common District. Most members of the Common District are poorer, being part of the lowest socioeconomic class in the city. These systemic inequities often necessitate illegal activity for survival, particularly theft. Thieves are generally part of the Beggar’s Council, a guild for the regulation of thievery. The thieves pay no heed to the law of the land, but they are not lawless. They are all bound to follow an unwritten but known code of honor. While not law itself, the Code functions like law and is similarly internally consistent. First and foremost, the Code values taking from the rich to give to the poor. Although the party is wanted by the high court, the Beggar’s Council cares not for their guilt or innocence under the law. As long as the party agrees to assist the thieves in a burglary, in accordance with the Code, the Beggar’s Council will provide compensatory information to the party. This valuation of the Code above formal laws shows the rationality of justice. While the beggars follow their Code, the decision was made on a case-by-case basis. The head of the Beggar’s Council elected to assist the party, but similar assistance may not be provided to others in the future. The decision to cooperate was based in the Code, supported by the belief that the party wished to overthrow the monarchy. If those rumors had not circulated, the response of the Beggar’s Council may have been less favorable. In total, students should understand that substantive rationality views cases following internally consistent principles other than law and on a case-by-case basis.

The Beggar’s Council requires that all houses follow a set of rules, but homeowners are free to design around these constraints. All homes must have at least one secret room, but this could be any room in the house. Some have simple closets, others have whole basements hidden away. All houses must additionally construct at least some part of the exterior in materials easily marked in case thieves need to leave messages for each other. Some may have a wooden window sill, others may utilize a soft stone wall. The set of rules relates to the rationality of a system. The variability in the application relates to a substantive nature.

Formal rationality is represented by the Ministry of Magical Matters, Department of Justice of the Magic District. This is a formal legal system meant to be most analogous to modern Western courts. Unlike all the others, the Department of Justice follows principles of logic and reason, backing rulings with actual laws and legal codes. Judgments are made by legally trained individuals from the Department of Justice. The Ministry of Magical Matters is the parent governing body of King’s Key, which is also formal and rational. There are other departments, legislative and executive branches that help make the laws in question. Furthermore, once passed, the laws are applicable to all residents. The Ministry of Magical Matters is an example of formal rationality because the law is applied uniformly to all by legally-trained professionals.

Legal pluralism

In the game, players encounter 4 different court systems. However, of those 4, only 2 are formalized. The issue of legal pluralism occurs between these 2, the Truth and the Department of Justice. As the name suggests, legal pluralism is the existence of multiple legal systems for a given area. The Truth is the high court sanctioned by the king. The Department of Justice is technically deferential to the Truth. In practice, the inhabitants of King’s Key ignore rulings of the larger city-state of Lex. They follow only the laws and judgments laid down by the Ministry of Magical Matters, the larger body to which the Department of Justice belongs. Although this is done in practice, the Department of Justice is still technically a lower court to the Truth. Judgments passed by the Truth should be binding upon King’s Key. Conversely, judgments made by the Department of Justice are not binding on Lex. The monarchy is content with allowing King’s Key to remain largely autonomous. However, the Truth could have grounds to see a case out of King’s Key, as it is still part of Lex.

In the game, players may visit the Department of Justice. They can receive materials from the Ministry of Magical Matters that may help bolster their case. Relevant case law on the usage of summoning spells can be procured. The party may obtain this evidence, but it is only persuasive authority to the current case. As the Department of Justice is a lower court, case law from it is not binding upon the Truth. However, evidence may still be submitted as a compelling item to help bolster the argument. Given the legal plurality, the high court does not need to follow the case law from the lower court. However, the case law may help guide the judgment of the Truth.

This coexistence of 2 formal legal systems illustrates the concept of legal pluralism. With an additional 2 substantive systems, there are multiple systems interacting. Students will encounter all of these in the course of the game. The coexistence and the uncertainty it creates should be made clear through experience. Officially, the Truth is applicable to all. However, the other systems do not pay much attention to its rulings. This is especially clear with the Ministry of Magical Matters, Department of Justice. The lower court acts independently of the high court, although the high court is technically binding upon the Department of Justice.

 

MATERIALS

Module

The module contains the plot and narrative of the game. This section has been removed for publication. It may be found under Module in Part II. It is designed to be read by a DM. The DM follows the instructions within the direct gameplay. Certain passages are designed to be read aloud to the players. Other sections are meant only for the DM to read. The module accounts for some but not all actions that players may take. For scenarios not specifically described, enough detail is given to allow improvisation from the DM. A module is meant to be flexible and adaptable to the choices made by the players. Inspiration for the structure and format of the module was taken from many published works, official and unofficial.

Maps

Two maps have been created for the module. These have both been removed for publication. They have been digitally rendered by hand in a graphic illustration program. Liberal use of puns and references has dictated the naming schemes. While the Political Map is useful for context, the City Map is the one most utilized during gameplay. See the Maps section of the Appendix in Part II for smaller reproductions of each map.

The first and larger map is the Political Map. It is approximately 21 by 14 inches. The scale used is 1 inch to 1 mile. It shows the broader area of the fictional setting. In addition to showing Lex, where the game is set, it also displays 2 nearby countries. “Lex” translates to “law” in Latin. The city-state of Lex is a small peninsula on the Pithac Gulf. “Pithac” is supposed to be a play on the word “pithy.” It shares its southern border with the Thalosian Empire, of which it is an autonomous city-state. “Thalos” is a reference to the Greek mythological figure of Talos. Talos was an automaton that protected the borders of Europa and Crete. It is incredibly difficult to leave Lex, as it is surrounded by physical and magical barriers. Thus, it is also difficult to breach the Thalosian Empire. Bordering the Thalosian Empire is the Republic of Celos. “Celos” is a play on the word celerity. This was named in reference to the speed at which the game’s trial is set. Between the two countries is the Pithac Tributary. A river in the middle creates the border between them. Each has an approximately even share of the tributary. On the Thalosian side, there is Lake Nyr. “Nyr” is pronounced as “near.”

The second and smaller map is the City Map. It is exactly 18 by 18 inches, in the shape of a square. The scale is 4 inches to 1 mile, more detailed than the Political Map. It shows a basic layout of the city-state of Lex. Each district has been labeled in a larger font. As the party only has 24 hours until the trial, travel time is of great importance. For ease of addition, 1 mile by foot takes 0.5 hours. The ferry takes 1 hour between the harbor and the Colosseum, 0.5 hours between the Colosseum and King’s Key, and 1.5 hours between King’s Key and the castle. Distances between locations should be rounded to the nearest half of a mile. For example, the Court of Public Opinion is approximately 1.5 miles from the Incursion Site. Travel between these 2 points will take 45 minutes. This scale has been modified several times, in response to feedback from the students.

Districts have been divided by socioeconomic class. The smallest section at the northern tip of the peninsula is the Noble District, representing the upper class. The largest section encompassing the Main Road is the Market District, representing the middle class. The section to the left of the Main Road is the Common District, representing the lower class. The Magic District is labeled as King’s Key, which is the proper name for the island. The Magic District is representative of the intelligentsia. “Key” is a reference to both the geographical formation and the adjective. A geographical key is usually a small, low-lying coral island. While King’s Key actually floats, it is still a small island. The adjective key suggests crucial importance. The Magic District of King’s Key is the key element to the king’s geopolitical influence. The intelligentsia congregates there, elevating the status of an otherwise small and insignificant nation. The Colosseum and Harbor are also marked. Both are considered to be part of the Market District, as a working middle class may be found there. The Colosseum is, as its name suggests, a large stadium utilized for entertainment. Gladiatorial combat and other competitions are conducted there, populated by performers and other fighters. Those at the southern harbor specialize in water-related commerce. A ferry is operated out of the Harbor.

For each major district, there is a corresponding “court.” Each court has been marked by the symbol of a courthouse, at approximately the location that the players must visit. The court for the Noble District is called the Truth. This name alludes to the fact that rulings are handed down from the monarchy as fact. As the highest court, there is also no place to appeal to. No one may dispute the Truth, granted authority by the monarchical government of Lex. The court for the Market District is The Court of Public Opinion. The name of this court is a play on the phrase of the same name. Characteristically, the news media of the game is used to influence public support for the party’s case. This technically marks 2 locations, the headquarters of the opposing newspapers. They sit across from each other on opposite sides of the Main Road. The market has been placed in the middle of the Main Road to reflect this. The court for the Common District is the Beggar’s Council. The thieves that comprise the Beggar’s Council may be found throughout the lower class. However, the most prominent interactions with the Beggar’s Council all occur at the Severed Head. The Severed Head is the tavern where the party meets with the anonymous leader of the Beggar’s Council. The name refers to the expected sentence for the party, death by beheading. The court for the Magic District is the Ministry of Magical Matters, Department of Justice. The Ministry of Magical Matters is the governmental body that organizes King’s Key.

The title was chosen for its alliteration. Specifically, the Department of Justice deals with matters of law. Listing the full title of the governing body and department is a nod to the generally long titles of governmental institutions found in the real world.

Also marked on the map are other landmarks. At the very tip of the peninsula, there is a purple dot that denotes the location of the castle. Near the Harbor is the Incursion Site. This is where the monster first makes land. Although it continued to travel before being repelled, most of the damage is localized to the red marker. The Main Road is represented by the orange line running through Lex, from the entrance at the city gate to the castle at the top. The boat route of the ferries is represented by the dashed green line. Service begins at the harbor, stopping at the Colosseum, King’s Key, and the castle. Once reaching the castle, the boat route is completed again in reverse order back to the harbor. The Great Wall surrounds all of Lex. Physically, it is stone, 100 feet high and 10 feet thick. The only gap in the wall is at the southeast corner, where the City Gate is operated. The gate consists of massive wooden double doors, 50 feet on each side. It is situated on the coastline where water and land meet. One side may be opened to allow ships to pass through. The other side connects to the land, allowing passage by foot or horse.

Uniform application of a modified version of the spell forbiddance along the Great Wall prevents magical travel across that border. As supplied by the SRD, here is the relevant text of forbiddance: You create a ward against magical travel that protects up to 40,000 square feet of floor space to a height of 30 feet above the floor. For the duration, creatures can’t teleport into the area or use portals, such as those created by the gate spell, to enter the area. The spell proofs the area against planar travel, and therefore prevents creatures from accessing the area by way of the Astral Plane, Ethereal Plane, Feywild, Shadowfell, or the plane shift spell (WotC, 2016, p. 146).

For the thesis, the spell has been modified to increase the duration from 1 day to permanent. This interpretation is supported by similar effects in other spells. Repeated casting every day at the desired location for a year creates a permanent effect for the spells Guards and Wards, Private Sanctum, and Teleportation Circle. The modification also ignores the stipulation that areas of forbiddance may not overlap (WotC, 2016).

Characters

Characters in Dungeons & Dragons are traditionally represented through the use of character sheets and/or 3D miniatures. 8 total character sheets have been created, with 1 for each character. See Character Sheets under the Appendix of Part II for the sheets. 3D miniatures have also been printed and painted. The miniatures were designed using the Hero Forge program. Digital STL files were then purchased from Hero Forge. These STL files were used to 3D print the miniatures. Two sets of miniatures have been made, for a total of 16. The college intends to keep and display a set, and I am allowed to keep the other set.

In anticipation of not being able to 3D print miniatures for the characters, 2D graphic art was also made. The design of the 2D miniatures was based on the 3D miniatures. The 2D art has been added to the Character Sheets and the Character Biographies handout. See the Character Biographies in the Appendix of Part II for large versions of the 2D renderings. A Character Biographies section was added to aid students in selecting the character they wish to play. It includes each character’s title, race, age, and class. This is followed by a brief biography paragraph, summarizing pertinent experiences and that character’s relationship to the city. Lastly, 2D art has been added to aid in visualization. While the art is not always androgynous, the characters do not have set genders. They were designed with the intent to allow players of any gender to play any character.

Assessment Tool

The assessment tool was made to measure the educational value of the module. It was created after the game with Group 1, and it was given to students in both Group 2 and Group 3. It may be viewed under the Assessment Tool section in the Appendix of Part II. Students are first provided with a brief description of Weber and his typology of justice systems. Each type is then defined. Definitions have been adapted from the textbook Law, Justice, and Society: A Sociolegal Introduction by Walsh and Hemmens (2014) and Shamir (1993). Although players will encounter these concepts during gameplay, this is the first time that they are presented with concrete definitions. Students are then tasked with filling in the blanks of two identical charts, to show that they can apply this knowledge. Chart 1 should be filled with examples from the game. A word bank has been provided with the title of each court. Chart 2 should be filled with examples from the real world. These examples may be fictional, so long as they are representative of the selected category.

Definition list

Following the feedback of Group 2, a definitions list of legal concepts was created for Group 3. This page has been deleted from the published version. The handout gives definitions of the various legal terms and concepts that may be encountered during gameplay. The definitions have been adapted from Black’s Law Dictionary (1980) and simplified to be understood at the undergraduate level. During the session with Group 2, I occasionally stopped to explain the legal concepts at work. This detracted from gameplay by breaking immersion. With the definitions list, students may review the terms at their leisure. This speeds up gameplay, as time is no longer used to explain legal concepts.

 

FINDINGS

Using Dungeons & Dragons to teach

Benefits of the format

RPGs have previously been shown to be effective in teaching, particularly around complex topics needing a deeper understanding. World building can be considered a form of moral expression. With each choice, development reveals more about the mind of the DM. DMs communicate their moral assumptions to their players through the nature and action of the world, where the DM is responsible for establishing the boundaries of reality. Players also express moral assumptions through individual characters. Players generally expect that characters are worthy of success, so the characters they build express their assumptions about what is worth rewarding in life. In a game of D&D, DMs and players work together to create the world and the characters that inhabit it (Dyer, B).

Imagining can engage what feels like real emotions, and that can have real effects. The moral character of a student may be improved by training emotional responses to align with moral judgment (Cooke, 2012). D&D inspires the development of complex thoughts, moral and emotional. Ethical dilemmas can result in meaningful choices and character development. Well-designed ethical dilemmas should not have obviously right choices, and the decisions have lasting consequences (Miles & Hess, 2014). Per Aristotle, art was vital to a life lived well.

Through art, people could experience emotions and sympathy for imaginary people, morally purging the negative. He called this “catharsis,” and D&D is a way to experience that. Aristotle also believed that good fiction could improve understanding of humanity by allowing people to imagine alternatives to the way things actually were. Good fiction could be fantastical and need not closely mirror reality, per Poetics. D&D is a distorted lens through which some aspects of reality could be reflected (Littmann, 2012).

There may also be an appeal to using D&D and other popular games. Incorporating popular culture into education may help to make students enthusiastic about their learning. They may be more eager to learn when it involves the fun of playing games (Gunderman, 2021). Games in themselves may be valuable. As described by Aristotle in Politics, he recognized that an activity could be justified for the sake of pleasure and enjoyment. It was also supported by Nicomachean Ethics, which states that the best life for humans was one of intellectual activity. D&D has elements that may be ascribed to the intellectual domain. Even the combat mechanics rely heavily on rules and numbers. Combat is not simply mindless violence. Fights are resolved by rolling dice and consulting tables. In this way, D&D may be considered a strategy game where players control one piece and the DM controls the rest. Some players treat D&D purely as a logic game, where the goal is to best utilize the numerical combination of race, class, and gear. These players view the story, cooperation, and even their own character as largely irrelevant (Littmann, 2012). D&D may better be seen as setting an objective with multiple solutions, like “a logic puzzle, one that models hypothetical situations according to formal rules” (Littmann, 2012, p. 6).

D&D groups are also small and suitable for extended engagement between students. Parties generally consist of 3-8 players, with one DM. In TTRPGs, the optimal party size is about 6 players and 1 DM, for a total of 7 at a table. This carries into MMORPGs, with the median group size of guilds being 6-9 in WOW (Betz, 2011). Parties of smaller or larger sizes exist, but it may become more difficult to run. In small parties, there is more reliance on the ability of each player and their ability to facilitate role-play. In larger parties, there may be too many people to adequately devote focus to interpersonal relationships. Studies have shown that the ideal team has 8 roles and a specialist, as needed (Betz, 2011). The module consists of 8 available characters and 1 DM, in light of this data. While the game need not run with all 8 characters, it has the capacity to do so. Furthermore, fewer than 5 members in a group result in decreased perspectives and diminished creativity. Groups in excess of 12 result in increased conflict and a greater potential for subgroups to form. Groups in excess of 8 have shown a decrease in the average cooperation rate (Betz, 2011).

Drawbacks of the format

Made under time constraints and by one person, many things could not be included in the module. Some things that were initially considered had to be removed to put greater emphasis on Weber. Using D&D as it has never been used was far more time-consuming and effort-intensive than writing a standard research paper. Furthermore, as this specific application of D&D has never before been published, there was little guidance in adapting it for teaching. Trying to include standard aspects of a TTRPG, such as maps and characters, has even been challenging. To avoid copyright infringement and other intellectual property issues, the fictional setting and characters are all of an original design for this thesis. The maps were drawn by hand with a digital paint tool. The characters took time to design and realize, physically and mechanically. Although some parts of Dungeons & Dragons are covered under the Open-Gaming License (OGL), it is not wholly free to use. The OGL is “a public copyright license that game developers and publishers can use to allow others to modify, copy, and redistribute content from their games (usually the game mechanics)” (White et al., 2018, p. 77). Wizards of the Coast (WotC) publishes material available for use in the Systems Reference Document (SRD), which is covered under the OGL. The initial versions of characters included aspects that were familiar, like subclasses and subraces commonly used in other D&D games. The SRD lists many things, including the game mechanics of how to run a game, which has made the publication and use of this module possible for educational purposes. However, not all of these elements have been included in the SRD. Revisions had to be made to Part II to bring it into compliance with the SRD. Backgrounds, a core component of a character, have all been modified for the thesis. There are many different backgrounds available in the core and expansion books, but only Acolyte is listed in the SRD. It neither fits the characters nor was mechanically sound to have all players use the Acolyte background. Thus, backgrounds were made by selecting proficiencies in skills useful to the module, with starting gold relative to each character’s role or occupation. For lack of time, features and suggested characteristics were not included.

Historically, D&D has been the subject of moral panic. During the 1980s and 1990s, fear of D&D and other TTRPGs fueled the Satanic Panic (MacCallum-Stewart, 2014). Religious groups, law enforcement, and even psychologists spread panic about the game, claiming that D&D indoctrinated the players to the occult by way of its fantasy elements (Williams, 2019). While this has subsided, some people may still have negative associations surrounding TTRPGs. D&D has become popular in certain spheres, but it is still a TTRPG. Even if D&D no longer strikes fear as an appendage of the occult, it may simply be considered uncool to play. The end result is that some people may have objections to playing the game.

This moral panic is not entirely unfounded. Hume and Plato hold against engaging with morally flawed art, as would be the case when students play as evil characters. Morality can be developed by training in emotional responses. However, ethical development may go wrong when these responses are out of alignment. Further, Hume held that one could not enter into an imaginative agreement with flawed sentiments and that it was wrong to do so. When players take enjoyment in the imagined evil deeds, emotional sensibility is warped. This occurs even when the nature of a game is maintained, as long as the player derives actual pleasure from the imagined scenarios. Bad character influence, such as role-playing an evil character, could then lead to bad actions. Despite this, actual studies have not shown links for similar phenomena that supposedly caused negative behaviors, like video games and their supposed propensity to promote violence. Repeated studies have not found a link between bad behaviors and D&D, video games, pornography, and the like. Playing as evil may even be educational (Cooke, 2012).

Even those who will want to play may have difficulties. D&D is not the most complex system, but it is also not simple. To those who have never played, it can be confusing. It may take time to teach, further stretching the length of the game. With all of these learning hurdles, it may not be possible to fit the game within 1 or even 2 class sessions. All previous trial runs of the game have been conducted with people who already knew how to play D&D. They could focus on the game itself and what it teaches. For those unfamiliar with D&D, there will be the dual challenge of instructing players on legal concepts and how to play D&D. This divided focus may take away from the intended learning experience.

I have personally moderated all previous games. It is easy for the creator to react to unexpected scenarios and adapt. While the writing of the module does consider different options the players may choose, it is impossible to account for all possibilities. If someone else were to DM the game, they may not be sure what to do when faced with an unexpected choice. As it is intended to be taught in classrooms, but classrooms can be far larger than the ideal group of 3-8 players, the class will need to be divided up into different groups. If there are students present who are familiar with D&D that wish to DM, that is great. They will still be running a game that they have never played before. If there are no suitable DMs, the assigned student will have the triple task of learning to DM, learning to play the module, and learning about legal concepts.

Results of the assessment tool

The sample size is small. While the data is valuable, the sample is not representative of the general population. Reliable conclusions cannot be drawn from a sample of this size. All groups were previously familiar with D&D or other TTRPGs. No time was wasted trying to explain the game, and they did not experience confusion with the format. Furthermore, none of the groups were very familiar with the legal concepts presented.

Of the 12 total players, only those in Group 2 and Group 3 received surveys. Combined, 9 people were given surveys. Of those 9, only 6 returned the survey. Of those 6, only 3 fully completed the survey. The construction of Chart 1 and Chart 2 is identical, but different answers are expected for each. All 6 who returned the assessment tool filled out Chart 1. Chart 1 should be completed by identifying the in-game examples of each Weberian typology. A word bank has been provided to the students for assistance. The 4 incomplete responses neglected to fill in some or all of Chart 2. Chart 2 should be completed using examples from the real world. These examples may be works of fiction, such as The Scarlet Letter or Star Wars. The evaluation of Chart 2 is subjective, and qualitative data is being measured. While Chart 1 should have only a single response for each, multiple responses are encouraged for Chart 2. Chart 2 was more often left blank than Chart 1. An incomplete chart, as it initially appears on the Assessment Tool, may be seen below.

 

	Irrationality Rationality
Substantive
Formal

Blank Chart. Sample of chart used in the assessment tool. Adapted from “Assessment tool,” by K. Stives, 2022.

For Chart 1, 50% were completely correct in matching the Weberian category to the justice systems encountered in the game. The other 50% were partially correct. All partially-correct responses matched 1 of 4 pairs. In each, the Court of Public Opinion was accurately attributed to substantive irrationality. The 3 partially correct surveys all have identical answers, mistakenly pairing the Beggar’s Council with formal irrationality; the Ministry of Magical Matters, Department of Justice with substantive rationality; and the Truth with formal rationality. These responses were all gathered from Group 3, which met in person to play the module. Given the similarity of the answers, the assessment tool may not have been filled out with full independence of thought from each player.

For substantive irrationality in Chart 2, all 5 respondents wrote an answer. Of those, each answer has been accepted as correct. Examples chosen were “90% of fictional courts,” a mob,” “Twitter,” “Social Media,” and “Witch Trial.” A mob is an untrained group of people making decisions in a manner that is usually reactive emotionally, politically, or religiously. They often fall prey to mob mentality, wherein a set of standards applicable to all is not being considered as the mob is inherently disorganized. Social media and Twitter arguably foster mob mentality in users. Witch trials may arguably fall under formal irrationality, as there were certain tests performed on the witches to ascertain their guilt. However, under the consideration that these trials were a result of fear by the populace, this too may have suffered from a mob mentality. The tests were also not uniformly applied. The percentage of 90 may be high, but courts in fiction often do not operate like real courts. The untrained juries may make reactive decisions without consideration for the matter of fact. Decisions may also be made on a case-by-case basis based on the whims of the authors or their fictional juries.

For formal irrationality in Chart 2, 4 students gave a response. 3 have been accepted as correct. There were two instances of “Salem witch trials,” as well as 1 response of “Most religions.” “U.S. Courts” was debatably not marked as correct. Although “Witch Trials” were above argued for substantive irrationality, it is also reasonable to categorize them under formal irrationality. The tests given to determine whether someone was a witch constituted an amount of formality, given that rules were being followed and applied to all. As these judgments were based not on law, they were also irrational. Regarding religions, most uniformly apply their holy books as rules, a source other than law.

For substantive rationality in Chart 2, there were 3 responses. All 3 were accepted. These were “Catholic confessionals,” “Internal Review Board,” and “The Jedi Order deciding not to train Anakin.” The Catholic Church, the internal review board, and the Jedi Order all follow internally consistent principles other than law. However, they make case-by-case decisions upon those principles. Each person and case before the confessional and board will be reviewed separately. Regarding the Jedi Order, the student gave the specific case of their treatment of Anakin. While the Jedi Order has its own consistent rules, consideration was given separately to Anakin and his circumstances.

For formal rationality in Chart 2, there were 3 responses. All 3 were accepted, being “Modern Court”, “US Judicial Branch”, and “US court system (in general)”. This is debatable, but it is generally true that the US and other modern courts follow principles of law and apply them to all through legally-trained actors. One respondent was careful to specify that this is a generalization. While not all modern justice systems follow formal rationality, this can again be said as a generalization about many.

Considerations for the future

Mechanically, the Dungeons & Dragons 5e system was used without modification. It may be prudent to modify the game elements to promote further learning. Clarke et al. (2019) did not use D&D to teach sociolegal concepts. However, various aspects of the game system were modified to better relay the information being taught. For example, the core attributes of Strength, Dexterity, Wisdom, Charisma, Intelligence, and Constitution were replaced respectively with “Motivation, Multi-Disciplinary Working, Creativity, collaboration, Subject Knowledge, and Mental/Physical Wellbeing” (Clarke et al., 2019, p. 104). If the ability scores are replaced for this module, the skills may also need replacing.

All of the skills in D&D correspond to one of the ability scores. Unless proficient in a skill, each modifier is equal to the bonus for that ability score. Grouped by the corresponding attribute and then listed alphabetically, here are all 18 skills in D&D 5e:

• Strength
• Athletics
• Dexterity
• Acrobatics
• Sleight of Hand
• Stealth
• Intelligence
• History
• Investigation
• Nature
• Religion
• Wisdom
• Animal Handling
• Insight
• Medicine
• Perception
• Survival
• Charisma
• Deception
• Intimidation
• Performance
• Persuasion (WotC, 2016)

Despite this long list, the same handful of skills was reused in the game. The module has written provisions for certain actions performed by the players to be resolved using one or two different skills. While skills such as Perception and Investigation may see much use by players, other skills like Animal Handling and Performance have no provisions in the text of the module and have not been used when the game was run. It may also be more engaging to replace little-used skills with custom skills made for this thesis. While the player characters are not lawyers, it may be thematic to include skills like “Objection” or “Deduction.”

Regarding backgrounds, it may be useful to further customize this aspect of the character sheets. Level 1 characters are fairly weak. Giving each character a feature specific to the thesis may help to empower these weak players. Backgrounds also help to add flavor and personality to a character. With the purely mechanical implementation in place, the cast may seem lackluster. This puts more onus on the students to bring the character to life. The lack of background may be problematic for some, as it helps to give direction for characterization.

One might also be able to use the alignment system to greater effect. While all beings in D&D fall somewhere along the axes of lawful/neutral/chaotic and good/neutral/evil, it was not relevant during gameplay. This could be modified for greater learning. The corrupt members of the government were implied to be evil. However, there was no in-game effect. In some games, a character’s alignment shapes their moral views. Alignments may be used as amplified ways of identifying a character’s values, providing some guide to actions that a character might choose (Merli, 2012). Some DMs require that a good character not suddenly start acting evil and that characters must act within the scopes of their alignments. Law vs. chaos has been discussed in the literature using Kant as a framework for understanding. Willing involved a combination of the elements considered in characterization. Using will, a character could then take a side along the dichotomy. Neutrals willed to neither side. Mainly, Kant’s views on morality and moral law were considered. By Mill, a good character would try to decrease the pain and increase the happiness of the greatest number of people around them. Examples using real and fictional people were given for each of the types (Cogburn, 2012). Should the scope of the module be expanded, it may also be possible to teach other philosophies.

CONCLUSION

This thesis was devised to try and make education fun, using Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) as the teaching method. Effort was made to have the module reflect a normal D&D experience, involving the creation of maps, character sheets, and miniatures. This faced some hurdles, as awareness was given to intellectual property rights. While the mechanics are based on the freely available version of D&D Fifth Edition in the Systems Reference Document, the plot concepts and characters are original. The maps and art were made by hand for this thesis. While research has previously been done on D&D, non-traditional teaching, games, legal education, moot court, and Weber in isolation, there have been no studies like this that combine all of these topics. As D&D has not often been used in education, comparisons to more studied forms were made to support its effectiveness. D&D was compared to other non-traditional teaching methods more broadly, including moot court and drama in education. The former has a long and storied history in legal education. By these comparisons, the analysis develops the notion that D&D fosters mental growth, particularly emotional and moral capacities. This module should be used to teach Weber. While the module itself aims to teach Weber’s typology of justice systems, there is also the intent to re-enchant learning. In the modern world, life is full of disenchanting measures, making all knowable through statistics and formulas. By presenting content through the use of a game, wonder may be injected back into education. The sample size for the study was relatively small, at only 12 students. While too small to draw reliable conclusions from, the results were promising. Half of the respondents correctly completed Chart 1 of the survey. At the least, the module seems to have had some success in its intended objective. Less completed Chart 2, but the majority of the responses could be construed as “correct.” Successful completion of Chart 2 indicates that the students learned well enough to extend their knowledge to external scenarios. Feedback from the playtesters was largely positive. Students enjoyed the experience as a regular D&D game. The novelty of playing a module made for an academic thesis was also intriguing to many. This suggests that the format of D&D for teaching may be something to pursue in the future. Part II as it currently exists has gone under many revisions since the project’s inception. While it may be used in its present form, there may be more revisions in the future. There is always room for improvement. Given more time, it could include more topics. Time is the main constraint. Class sessions are only so long, and the module should ideally not take more than one class.

Overall, this endeavor has been successful and informative to both myself and others. Much was learned in simply compiling and annotating the previous literature. As an unconventional thesis, it may serve as inspiration for future students to challenge themselves and think outside the box. Now it can be said that the intersection of Weber, legal education, and Dungeons & Dragons has been addressed in academia. Further, D&D unmodified mechanically from its published form was successfully used to teach. It is not perfect, but this thesis achieved its stated goal.

 

PART II

INTRODUCTION

This module is designed to be used with the Fifth Edition of Dungeons & Dragons. Premade characters at level 1 have been provided in the Appendix of Part II. Most have been removed for publication, but there is still one left to show readers what a D&D 5e character sheet looks like. It can accommodate up to 8 players. It may be played with as little as 2 players and 1 DM, for a minimum of 3 to a group. Play time may take anywhere from 1.5 to 4 hours. This module was designed as part of an undergraduate thesis for the Law & Society major at Ramapo College of New Jersey.

DM Instructions

Set up by placing the maps at the center of the table. The visibility of the City Map should be prioritized if there is limited space. The Definitions List should also be placed at the center of the table, within reach of all players. The Assessment Tool should remain hidden until the completion of the game. Upon completion, pass out the Assessment Tool to each player and encourage its completion. There are 8 available characters. It is recommended that the respective character sheets, character biography, and miniature be placed at each spot for which there are players. If there are less than 8 players, leave the extra materials at the center of the table, so that the players may review that character.

MODULE

The module text has been removed for publication, but the explanatory text below remains unedited. Play must always start with the Cell and end with the Sentencing. The other scenes have been indicated in bold and may be visited in any order. Keep track of the time spent in-game. The rate of 30 minutes to 1 mile should be used while walking. Round to the nearest half miles, if needed. When traveling by boat, the ferry takes 1 hour between the harbor and the Colosseum, 0.5 hours between the Colosseum and King’s Key, and 1.5 hours between King’s Key and the castle. Interactions with NPCs take 1 hour, unless otherwise specified. The Sentencing will start after 24 in-game hours have elapsed. If the party has not completed their objectives by that point, the scene should be interrupted to start the Sentencing. To determine the fate of the party after the Sentencing, consult the Table of Evidence Points on the last page of the module. A score of 10 or higher will result in a royal pardon. Otherwise, the original sentence of death by beheading will be carried out.

 

APPENDIX

Maps

2 maps have been made, the Political Map and the City Map. Both have been removed for publication. Play is centered on the City Map. If there is limited space, prioritize the City Map. The maps have been reproduced below in a smaller scale. The Political Map is rotated for better viewing. The Political Map should be printed to about 21 by 14 inches, specifically 20.83 by 13.89 inches. The City Map should be printed to an 18 by 18 inch square. Printing in color is preferable.

Character Sheets

There are 8 Character Sheets, 1 for each character. 7 of the character sheets have been removed for publication. The Character Sheets include the mechanical details needed to play a character. The sheets are all SRD compliant. Some descriptions of features and traits have been truncated to fit the page. Sheets may be 1 or 2 pages. The spellcasters have a second page. If possible, print the sheets on 1 piece of double-sided paper for the spellcasters.

Character Biographies

There are 8 Character Biographies, 1 for each character. Each player should be given their respective page. The Character Biographies include each character’s title, race, age, and class. This is followed by a brief biography paragraph, summarizing pertinent experiences and that character’s relationship to the city. This section has been included to help players choose which character they wish to play.

Assessment Tool

The Assessment Tool contains 2 pages. 1 should be printed for each player. If possible, printing on 1 double-sided paper is recommended. The Assessment Tool should be handed out only after players complete the module. Discussion of the game should be reserved for after the completion of the Assessment Tool. Collaboration in answering the questions should be discouraged.

Definition List

The Definitions List contains 2 pages. These have been removed for publication. If possible, print double-sided on 1 piece of paper. 1 copy of the Definitions List will be sufficient for running the module. However, more may be printed, if desired. The Definition List contains brief explanations of legal terms and concepts that may be encountered during the game. This should be available to players during the game. If a question regarding one of those terms is asked during gameplay, players should be referred to the Definitions List. The DM should not interrupt the game to explain.

Apprentice Wizard

Variant Human, 18, Wizard

An apprentice wizard. Recruited at an early age, has spent years studying at King’s Key University. Nearly ready to start working for the kingdom, but still tasked with apprentice duties. Proud to be an apprentice wizard, one of the best careers in the city. Cannot wait to start doing high-level magic, of which there is some secrecy. Has a fondness for the Common District of town that is kept secret. Will sneak out to explore and get away from the strict life of learning.

Arena Hopeful

Half-Orc, 16, Barbarian

Raised by a human parent, tried to learn more human characteristics. Even so, orcish background calling. Picked up a flair for showmanship and a desire to please after being shunned and rejected. While reluctant to let one so “young” go, adventure was better than staying home. Utilizing orcish appearance, has been traveling the arena circuit since leaving. Has come to the city to participate in the annual tournament. Rumors among the circuit hint at illicit activity, but gladiators are no strangers to illicit activity.

City Urchin

Half-Elf, 33, Rogue

A half-elf born out of wedlock, cast out by both the human and elven parent. With little else, took to the streets and became a thief to survive. Member of the Thieves Guild. Is familiar with tales of the catacombs, as elite illicit business is rumored to be conducted there. However, lives above ground on the outskirts of the city. Is aware that the city hides many secrets, not all of them good. Has a desire to uncover them.

Inn Keeper

Dark Elf, 72, Sorcerer

An employee of a small inn. Originally from the Continent, was abducted as a small child and forcibly brought to the kingdom. While taken for magical talent, kicked out of King’s Key once wild magic revealed itself. Now lives and works in the Market District. Keeps only the bracelet worn during abduction, now too small to wear. Now, tries to live discreetly, dutifully ignoring the more questionable dealings in the city. Has some hopes of returning home, but memories of home are so faint.

Merchant Guard

Brass Dragonborn, 22, Fighter

Pressed into service on the continent at a young age. Draconic ancestry proved useful on the battlefield. After 5 years as a soldier, was released from service. Although no longer in service, some experiences stick. Spent the past year working as hired protection. Came to the city on a job to protect merchants. Had heard of the city for its magical prowess in tales swapped by comrades. Some stories were fantastical and sinister, pointing to experimentation and augmentation beyond worldly means.

Tournament Competitor

Lightfoot Halfling, 63, Ranger

As it is told, an ancestor once fell victim to a strange and alien aberration resembling a brain. While defeated, it wasn’t without cost. The bones of that ancestor are kept as a reminder of the past and a warning for the future. Although many descendants have taken up the cause against the Illithid, the community is dwindling. Posing as a competitor in the tournament, the true objective is to seek out and eliminate the aberrations. There have been certain rumors about the city, but nothing has been verified.

Traveling Merchant

Hill Dwarf, 137, Cleric

Skilled in various arts, as befitting of dwarves. Uses these skills for employment, crafting wares to be sold. From a neighboring country, the annual festival brings great profit to the guild. Have been sent to assist in demonstrating the craftsmanship of the guild. Not a young dwarf and participating yearly, keenly aware that not everything is as it seems in the city. Speculation amongst the guild suggests that there may be another city below the surface, but indulging these ideas has been highly discouraged.

Wandering Bard

Tiefling, 25, Bard

Although some find the tiefling appearance off-putting, charisma in spades makes up for it. Utilizing said charisma, learned how to charm people with words and song. Talented in music from a young age, left home to become a wandering bard. Sometimes traveling as part of a troupe but often alone, the diverse skill set allows a solo act. Have come to the city to entertain during the 3-day festival. Simultaneously small yet powerful, something seems strange about this walled-off hub of magic and commerce.

 

Post-Game Questionnaire

Please read the definitions below. Max Weber formulated the following typology of legal systems.

Substantive Irrationality: The least rational of the four types, it is characterized by decisions made by non-legally trained individuals on a case-by-case basis. Decisions are guided by political, religious, or emotional reactions, rather than a set of legal principles. Formal Irrationality: Decisions are based on formal rules. However, these rules are not based on reason or logic. This includes decisions such as superstition, magic, ordeals, and oath swearing.

Substantive Rationality: Decisions are guided by a set of internally consistent general principles other than law, such as religious, ideological, or bureaucratic rules. These principles are applied on a case-by-case basis.

Formal Rationality: The most rational of the four types, it is characterized by decisions made by those trained in the law following a set of general rules and procedures applicable to all. The legal institutions generally have a high degree of independence.

Each court encountered in the game corresponds most closely to a single Weberian legal system. Using the provided word bank, please fill in the chart to the best of your ability.

The Beggar’s Council (Common District)

The Court of Public Opinion (Merchant District)

Ministry of Magical Matters, Department of Justice (Magic District)

The Truth (Noble District)

	Irrationality	Rationality
Substantive Formal

 Again, fill out the chart below. This time, use examples from the real world. The entities selected may be fictitious in nature. You may list more than one example in each box.

	Irrationality	Rationality
Substantive
Formal

 

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[*] Kylie Stives is a 2022 Law and Society graduate, currently a law student at Albany Law School.