Guild Chronicles Educational Program
The Guild Chronicles Educational Program is a small group, therapeutic, skill building intervention that utilizes a cooperative tabletop storytelling game. It is primarily used with teens and young adults to address identified goals in the social-emotional realms, and to increase social motivation and connectedness.
Check out our Apply for Services page for more information on how to apply to join a group, workshop, or engage in one-on-one mentoring.
Guild Chronicles in the Media
Our founder, Andrew, was interviewed about the Guild Chronicles Program by Nichole Davis at WBZ – you can listen to Leveling Up Together: “Guild Chronicles” of Lexington Empowers Neurodivergent Youth, here.
Andrew’s most recent interview was with Dave Eng, of UniversityXP. You can listen to Dave’s interview about how Guild Chronicles is designed for learning here.
Andrew was also interviewed about the Guild Chronicles game by Jessica Hancock of EnPublishing – you can listen to the Not DnD podcast episode here.
You can read about our company’s first year and our mission on the Boston Herald website here.
How the Guild Chronicles Program Works
The Guild Chronicles Program is being used in educational and therapeutic settings to foster social-emotional skills and connectedness. During a session, a group of participants (typically 4-6 teens) cooperatively plays Guild Chronicles, with the group facilitator acting as the Storyteller.
If you are interested in using Guild Chronicles in your practice, please contact us at guildchronicles@gmail.com
Sessions
Sessions focus on playing Guild Chronicles and typically last between one and two hours. A minimal amount of time is spent on direct instruction of skills or engaging in other structured activities; playing the game is motivating and a chance to practice skills, receive feedback, and learn through doing. During game play, challenges and conflicts will inevitably crop up, and these are seen as opportunities for growth. The group’s facilitator fluidly shifts between roles as coach, referee, narrator of the story, and fellow player of the game.
Players
The Guild Chronicles Program is a flexible intervention, appropriate for addressing many types of goals and being used with many types of learners. The intervention is most often used to foster social emotional skills, making it well suited for autistic* teens and adults. It has also been used with participants who have experienced trauma, have struggled to connect with their peers, or are socially anxious.
When selecting this intervention for use in a therapeutic or educational setting, the participants’ interest in the activity is far more important than a clinical diagnosis. The game and story themselves should align genuinely with what is intrinsically motivating for the participants.
Finally, when building a group of 4-6 participants, strive to create a group that has many things in common, but is also diverse. Strive to align their interests, learning styles, and personalities. A group that has many things in common is often easier to facilitate and commonality lays a foundation for peer connections. Diversity within the group, at the same time, will allow for different perspectives to be shared, and for participants to learn from one another more readily.
*Note: we use identity-first language (autistic teens, not teens with autism) on this site; this reflects the preference of the growing majority of participants working with Andrew.
Why the Program Works
Participants, parents and professionals agree that the Guild Chronicles Program is an effective way to foster growth and make progress towards goals. We are early in demonstrating the efficacy of the program. To read about initial research into the program, look for links in the media section below.
Intrinsic Motivation
The most important difference between the Guild Chronicles Program and many other interventions is that it is designed, at its core, to be intrinsically motivating and fun. Playing Guild Chronicles does not feel like therapy or learning. Players are eager to attend group each week, excited about the story, and cannot wait to test their group’s mettle against new enemies. To succeed in playing the game, players will need to use the skills that they are working to develop. Their motivation to practice, learn and grow is intrinsically linked to their desire to play and succeed in the game.
Authentic Learning
Playing Guild Chronicles successfully requires many complex, interconnected social, emotional and executive skills. Players must constantly communicate with one another, consider each other’s perspectives, forge compromises, and deal with frustrations. The cooperative nature of the game rewards prosocial behavior, allowing groups that coordinate and collaborate to achieve victories that divided groups could not.
Throughout the sessions, the facilitator has control over the narrative flow of the game. With a goal in mind, they can create story elements that provide the participants with an opportunity to practice specific skills. When necessary, the facilitator can step into the role of coach, offering feedback and advice to players that are struggling.
Guild Chronicles Research
Currently, Guild Chronicles is part of a pilot study at the University of Virginia. The study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of Guild Chronicles, an RPG-based social skills intervention, among a sample of autistic adolescents.
Guild Chronicles has twice previously been the subject of research. Initially, the creator undertook action research to explore the efficacy of an intervention within the Program intended to decrease interruptions during game play. This methodology and feedback from the community strongly influenced the direction of the program’s development. Second, Emma Nathanson, PhD, explored the perceived efficacy of Guild Chronicles through semi-structured interviews in an elementary school.
Guild Chronicles is currently undergoing pilot research in collaboration with the University of Virginia. Doctoral candidate Jessie Pappagianopoulos is using a mix of quantitative and qualitative research to assess the efficacy of an eight-week virtual intervention with two groups of adolescents. Findings will be published as soon as they are available.
If you are interested in studying the program, please contact us at guildchronicles@gmail.com.
Training & Licensing
For professionals interested in using the Guild Chronicles Program, training is available from its creator, Andrew Harris Schramme. Once trained, a small amount of ongoing consultation and supervision is required to maintain the program’s integrity. Annual licensing fees also allow access to additional materials released quarterly. Please contact us at guildchronicles@gmail.com for additional pricing information and to learn more about implementing the Guild Chronicles Program.
Frequently Asked Questions
To successfully play Guild Chronicles, many complex, interconnected social, emotional and executive skills are required. Players must constantly communicate with one another, consider each other’s perspectives, forge compromises, and deal with frustrations. The cooperative nature of the game rewards prosocial behavior, allowing groups that coordinate and collaborate to achieve victories that divided groups could not.
Throughout the sessions, the facilitator has control over the narrative flow of the game. With a goal in mind, they can create story elements that provide the participants with an opportunity to practice specific skills. When necessary, the facilitator can step into the role of coach, offering feedback and advice to players that are struggling.
The interventions used in Guild Chronicles groups are well-suited for autistic* children, teens and adults, as well as individuals who have experienced trauma, struggle to connect with their peers, or who are socially anxious.
*We use identity-first language (autistic teens, not teens with autism) on this site; this reflects the preference of the growing majority of Guild Chronicles participants.
While it’s certainly beneficial for players to have prior roleplaying or tabletop gaming experience, it’s not necessary and both new and veteran players will be able to enjoy the game from the first day.
No official diagnosis is required to join a Guild Chronicles group.
Groups typically run for 8 weeks, though they can run longer depending on the needs of the group. Each weekly session is 90 minutes.
Groups are carefully selected and organized after a thorough interview and evaluation process of potential members to ensure compatibility.
