The IDeATe course 53-322 IDeATe: Little Games/Big Stories: Indie Roleplaying Game Studio is seeking an adjunct instructor for the Fall 2026 term.

With the media resurgence of tabletop and live action roleplaying, standards like Dungeons and Dragons and Vampire the Masquerade have gained more players thanks to popular streaming platforms. While these games have been a cultural touchstone, players have always gone out of their confines and into the thriving independent role playing games community. Producing unique forms of play, and exploring themes outside the realms of fantasy, indie games are bigger than ever. This studio course aims to introduce students to the history and methods of creating independent analog roleplaying games in their many forms. Students will receive hands-on experience which aims to cultivate a praxis and practice as well as investigate the current art of independent roleplaying games. Focusing on analog roleplaying games across the current indie design spectrum (storytelling, tabletop, journaling, and larp), students will split their time between playing games and critically learning from their form and creating their own games. At the end of the semester, students will submit their work in the form of a self-published roleplaying zine. There will be opportunities for students to receive feedback from current industry practitioners in critique sessions. No game writing or design experience is necessary to join this course.

53-322 IDeATe: Little Games/Big Stories: Indie Roleplaying Game Studio

Units  |  9

Time  |  10:00-11:50am, Tues/Thurs

Location  |  Hunt Library A10A (IDeATe Media Lab)

Lab/office Hours  |  To be set by instructor

We are open to applicants from a variety of academic and professional backgrounds, including (but not limited to) game design, performing, electronic, and visual art, humanities, and other technical disciplines (engineering/sciences/mathematics). We prefer applicants who have already earned a master?s degree in their discipline, but are open to considering students currently in a master?s or doctoral program. We encourage applications from people who identify as members of communities that are historically underrepresented in the academy.

Carnegie Mellon University is an equal opportunity employer. It does not discriminate in admission, employment, or administration of its programs or activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, pregnancy or related condition, family status, marital status, parental status, religion, ancestry, veteran status, or genetic information. Furthermore, Carnegie Mellon University does not discriminate and is required not to discriminate in violation of federal, state, or local laws or executive orders.

About Carnegie Mellon University

Carnegie Mellon (www.cmu.edu) is a private, internationally ranked research university with programs in areas ranging from science, technology and business, to public policy, the humanities and the arts. More than 12,000 students in the university’s seven schools and colleges benefit from a small student-to-faculty ratio and an education characterized by its focus on creating and implementing solutions for real problems, interdisciplinary collaboration and innovation. A global university, Carnegie Mellon’s main campus in the United States is in Pittsburgh, Pa. It has campuses in California’s Silicon Valley and Qatar, and programs in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe and Mexico.

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