Every disabled person is a storyteller, but we seldom get to tell our own stories. Play is a human right, but people with disabilities are often denied a seat at the table. In our workshop, we explore how playing tabletop roleplaying games (TTRPGs) online can provide opportunities for collaborative storytelling and disability community building. The most popular TTRPG, Dungeons & Dragons (D&D), is rules intensive, with hundreds of pages of rules for players. Websites like D&D Beyond and Roll20 provide some digital support, but they lack accessibility features needed by many disabled players, especially in the realm of cognitive access. Our initiative, Open the Gates Gaming (OtG), is a disabled-led, cross-disciplinary collaboration that began as research on cognitive access tools for D&D in response to the needs of our local disability community. Our suite of six cognitive access tools was designed with and by disabled and neurodivergent people, and is now available as an open-access download to empower everyone to tell their stories and build community.

In our 60-minute workshop, participants will have two options for how they wish to engage with our tools. For those who would like a hands-on approach, we will use up to four breakout rooms to divide storytellers into “adventuring parties” of four to six (as space permits) to play through an adventure facilitated by a member of our team. In the main Zoom room, we will show the rest of the participants our tools and demonstrate how they are used. 

Together, the suite of cognitive access tools enables D&D to serve as an accessible medium for collaborative storytelling, creative problem solving, and dreaming a more inclusive world. Character creation can be overwhelming, but our narrative Class Selector uses storytelling to help players build the hero they are envisioning. To support learning and remembering/referencing the complexities of the game’s rules, our Explainer Videos provide short, digestible summaries of over a dozen of the game’s core mechanics. Our Character Sheets track the adventurers’ statistics, abilities, and other attributes. Players with cognitive disabilities may struggle with the open-ended nature of decision-making in D&D. Our Decision Guide is a half-page summary of the most common options for players to reference if they are unsure of what to do next. Finally, the game features numerous magic spells and character abilities with lengthy, complex descriptions. Spell cards help players keep track of their spells, but existing options include an overwhelming amount of text, often in very small print. Our Spell & Ability Cards offer shortened, simplified descriptions while preserving game mechanics.

Open the Gates Gaming aspires to be an example of community-driven research that creates access for all by honoring the expertise of those who are disabled or otherwise excluded. We hope that workshop participants will use and adapt our tools. Additionally, we intend to empower participants to use D&D as part of their community building and care practices. Ultimately, we hope to inspire more disabled people to see themselves as creators, storytellers, and worldbuilders.