Guild Chronicles
About Us
Our Beginnings
The Guild Chronicles Program began in 2010, when Andrew was working at an elementary school in the Greater Boston area as a special education teaching assistant. During this time, he discovered that many students shared his interest in role playing games, and an idea for an educational RPG began to take shape.
More than ten years later, Andrew has facilitated Guild Chronicles gaming sessions with well over 100 children, teens and young adults. Outside of Andrew’s private practice, the Guild Chronicles Program has been used in public and private schools as well as out-patient hospital settings in Massachusetts.
Our Mission
Our mission is to create a game that fosters social emotional learning and can be used by educators and therapists to provide effective, respectful and engaging interventions focused on building confidence and self-esteem. To succeed in this goal, we are working to design a game that is engaging, flexible, quick to learn, and difficult to master. To fully realize this mission, we must also be able to effectively train other professionals to play the game and realize the therapeutic and educational power of storytelling, game play and role-playing.
Nothing About Us Without Us
At the core of this mission is the philosophy central to the disability rights movement “nothing about us without us”. Andrew’s work is primarily with autistic teens and adults (or individuals with similar learning styles); the Guild Chronicles Program has been especially well-received and effective working with this population. It follows, then, that this community should be integral in the development of the program. To that end, we aspire to hire autistic young people to edit, play-test, illustrate and grow the world of Guild Chronicles. Their creativity, enthusiasm, feedback and insights have been immeasurably supportive in the program’s development, and they will be core to its future.
Research-Based Best Practices
Finally, it is critical to align the development and implementation of the program with best clinical practices. Andrew has worked in close collaboration with educators, therapists and psychologists, co-facilitating Guild Chronicles groups with their supervision and feedback. The program has undergone ongoing action research and been the focus of a doctoral project. Research and ongoing collaboration with other professionals will work to steer the Guild Chronicles Program and demonstrate its effectiveness. Critically, all research will be done in collaboration with the autistic community as well, ensuring that their voices and perspectives are never lost.
Our Team
Andrew Harris Schramme (he/they)
Andrew Harris Schramme is a game designer, therapist, and educator working and living in Lexington, Massachusetts. Their life-long love of roleplaying and gaming led to the development of the Guild Chronicles Program in 2010. He has a Master’s Degree in education from Lesley University, where his studies focused on Autism, Disability, and Facilitating Learning in Virtual Environments. Prior to attending Lesley University, they received their Undergraduate Degree in Community Art Education from Massachusetts College of Art and Design.
Outside of Andrew’s private practice, the Guild Chronicles program has been used in public and private schools as well as out-patient hospital settings in Massachusetts. Before leaving their position at Mass General Brigham’s Aspire Program, Andrew used Guild Chronicles as a means of connecting groups and skill-building with over 100 adolescents and young adults. Guild Chronicles has been the subject of qualitative research and is currently the subject of a quantitative pilot study to assess its efficacy.
Monique Harris Schramme (she/ella)
Monique Harris Schramme is an artist and educator working in the Greater Boston area. She is the lead play-tester, artistic director and organizing force behind Guild Chronicles. In her day job, Monique teaches digital arts, graphic design and animation at a public high school, and teaches other educators about racism, fostering diversity, creating more equitable systems of learning, and disrupting systems of oppression.
Contributors
Lee B. (they/mew) - Keeper of Beasts
Lee is a veteran Guild Chronicles player, artist, gamer, and lover of cats. They began interning at Guild Chronicles the day the company opened its doors in Lexington. Mew is currently working on world building, developing a compendium of creatures (friends and foes!) and creating unique homebrew content.
Mitchell F. (he/him) - Keeper of Guilds
Mitchell is a designer, veteran Guild Chronicles player, and tabletop game enthusiast. Starting out as a homebrewer, he began his internship in the fall of 2022. He is a major collaborator on many projects, including new rules, worldbuilding, and an upcoming system for Factions and Guilds.
Artists
Xuan Chau (she/her)
Elena Serenko (she/her)
Tim Koh (he/him)
Current and Former Interns
Erin G. (she/he/they)
Game design and playtesting
Nick F. (he/him)
World building and playtesting
Sam L. (he/him)
Graphic design
Jade P. (she/her)
Playtesting and character design
Nicolas B. (he/him)
Playtesting and digital development
Sean N. (he/him)
Community development and playtesting
Jo D. (they/them)
Copy editing and playtesting
Rin G. (she/her)
Game design and facilitator in training
Location
52 Waltham Street, Lexington, Massachusetts
The content of this website is protected by copyright; do not reproduce without written permission from Andrew Harris.
© 2024, Guild Chronicles, LLC
