Fantasy Adventure Character Introductions Lab
Starting a new team is always challenging. A bunch of people are set together with a common purpose. Some might be extroverts, some might be the opposite. Some might be excited while others hesitate. Each one will have their own experience and expectations that make them react uniquely.
At ManoMano we are growing organically and steadily and, as a consequence, new teams are formed quite often. At our company, we believe that one of the key pillars of a performant team is that its members trust and complement each other. A team with self-awareness will be more effective in spotting problems and solving them by themselves but, how do you get a group of strangers to be vulnerable with each other?
Please allow me to share a story.
I perfectly remember the first time I ever joined a fantasy roleplaying session. It was the year of the Barcelona Olympics, summer was almost gone, it was a warm night with Ibiza’s humidity thickening the atmosphere. My older cousin had been telling me about a game where you could do anything you wanted in a world of fantasy and adventure. That night, he led me through a winding narrow path between the reeds to a friend’s house, a classic Ibiza cottage up Can Misses hill. The only part of the house I ever saw was its large multi-purpose living room, where four other kids were sitting at a table, a sheet of paper and funny dice before each one of them. The game director told me they were playing Lord of the Rings and instructed the players to tell me the story of their characters, the quest they were embarked on and about their fearsome enemies: orcs and goblins and trolls and evil spiders that lurked in the Green Forest. This director had prepared a character for me: Telmir the Sindarin Bard. The game was on.
My passion for pen-and-paper roleplay lingers. In my experience as a roleplayer, I have yet to see one character that does not reflect the person behind him or her (or it!). And this is where both threads of this post come together. My fellow agilists and I came up with the idea of using this projection as a way of helping new acquaintances be open to each other through a proxy: a fantasy character they could develop in a team-building exercise and introduce themselves to the rest. The Fantasy Adventure Character Introductions Lab (FACIL for short 😉) was born.
After running this exercise several times, the feedback we have been receiving from teams has been really good, so we thought it was worth sharing. Obviously, we have tweaked and fine-tuned some parts since the first time we ran it and you should do the same to adapt it to your needs!
Preparations
For this workshop you will need to prepare:
- A list of fantasy character classes for people to choose their favourite. Facilitators should use their intuition and experience to understand what kind of metaphor will suit the participants best.
Exempli Gratia: Dungeons & Dragons classes, Harry Potter schools of magic, Star Wars universe heroes and villains. - A set of questions for people to disclose information about themselves using their characters as a metaphor.
E.g.: What is the skill that made you famous? What would be your ideal group of adventurers? What do you like to do when you are not embarked in your quest? - Several scenarios for people to choose and share a relatable story.
E.g.: What has been your Death Star? How did you destroy it? - You will want to have some space for people to share their characters and their stories. Physically this can mean flipcharts, A3 paper sheets or sticky notes. Online you can use a collaboration tool like MetroRetro, Miro or Google Drawings.
Facilitation
- Explain the purpose of the exercise. Tell the participants that they will be creating characters that should represent they real selves in the setting you chose for them.
- Ask the team members to start by choosing a class and answering the questions that you prepared for them. They should invest around 5–8 minutes in this, depending on how familiar they are with the exercise and the metaphors.
- In turns, ask participants to present their character to the others.
- Once the adventurer party has been formed, ask participants to tell each other stories of their feats. They should invest 3–4 minutes to create a story using the suggested themes as an example.
- Participants should then present their stories to the group, questions might arise.
- As a checkout: after all the participants have shared their stories, ask around the group what do they see in the others that make them think that the adventure they have ahead will be fruitful?
Example set up
This is an example of how the facilitator can run this exercise. We made these choices based on what we knew and sensed about the participants in one of our sessions.
Character class
We used Dungeons and Dragons classes with attributes that they represent, so participants can relate to a class even if they don’t have the reference.
- Barbarian: Bold, energetic, audacious
- Bard: Supportive, charismatic, creative
- Cleric: Teacher, wise, dedicated
- Druid: Respectful, bond creator, calm
- Fighter: Persistent, resilient, consistent
- Monk: Perfectionist, balanced, focused
- Paladin: Protector, attentive, transparent
- Ranger: Explorer, tracker, survivalist
- Rogue: Skillful, cautious, resourceful
- Sorcerer: Innovative, improviser, talented
- Wizard: Student, scholar, dedicated
Character questions
Weapon of choice
What is the skill that made you famous?
Which are your best tools when it comes to solving problems and getting the job done?
Levelling up
What skills would you like to develop?
Where do you see an opportunity for growth?
Warrior’s rest
What do you like to do when you are not embarked in your quest?
Where is your favourite place on this land?
Your group of adventurers
What would be your ideal team to depart on an adventure?
What traits and skills would you think would compliment yours best?
Story scenarios
Quest of the dragon
You wanted to get your hands on a gold treasure chest, guarded by a huge black dragon. After solving all sorts of difficulties you came home with your prize!
Think about a situation where you overcame all difficulties and got a great success
- What was the treasure?
- What was the dragon?
- How did you manage to succeed in your quest?
The mysterious contraption
No one had ever solved the puzzle to get past the gates of the eldritch crypt until you came up with the solution: everybody found it so obvious then!
Recall a situation that required to do something creative, innovative and maybe a bit on the crazy side in order to be solved
- What was the puzzle?
- What did you do to solve it?
- How did you come up with the idea?
A goblin problem
Kicking those goblins and their kin out of the tower seemed just like the right work for you! It’s a pity that the explosions you caused ruined the tower and let the globins flee with their treasure!
Remember a situation where your efforts proved unsuccessful and finally failed
- What was the tower you wanted to recover?
- What exploded?
- What learning did you get out of it all?
Closing words
I hope you liked the exercise and enjoyed the story that inspired us to create it. If you did, please feel free to experiment with it, we’d love to hear from you!
And never stop playing.
