Qi RPG
Create a story, experience victory, and flex your imagination muscles!
Play a Tabletop Role-Playing Game with Qi Creative! In small groups with a seasoned Game Master (GM), participants will dream their own characters, role-play within their level of comfort, and be guided through a fantastic adventure!
Heard of Dungeons and Dragons? In Qi RPG, participants will play Do Something Awesome, created by one of our very own Occupational Therapists.
This is a great opportunity for your child or teen to practice social skills, problem solving, experience moments of success and frustration, experiment with decisions and consequences in a pretend setting, and use their imagination.
Qi RPG Teen Group 2024 (Ages 13-17)
Session Dates and Times: Saturdays | 11:00 am — 1:00 pm
October 12, October 26, November 9, and November 30
Spots Available: Five
Ages: 13–17
Game Master: Devin R Bruce, Speech-Language Pathologist, as Game Master; Cat Beck, Speech-Language Pathologist, as Support Player.
Benefits:
Practice social skills at the table and within the pretend world of the game
Enjoy moments of victory and become accustomed to setbacks
Enjoy pretend play and imagination through an activity appropriate for all ages
Learn to cooperate with others
Cost: $325 for all four sessions. MUST contact Cat Beck (below) to sign up.
How to Sign Up
Contact Cat Beck to sign up. Before enrollment, Cat may ask general questions about your child’s capacity to ensure the program is an appropriate fit.
Cat will send out an enrollment link via email to qualifying families. This does not guarantee placement. Spots will be allocated on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Payment must be made upon enrollment.
To enroll in Qi RPG or inquire about future sessions, email Cat at catbeck@qicreative.com
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
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Tabletop Role-Playing Games (TTRPGs) allow players of all ages to flex their imagination. In Qi RPG, participants will play Do Something Awesome, an RPG created by one of our Occupational Therapists.
In Do Something Awesome, players imagine themselves as a unique character and join together to form an “Adventuring Party”. They can verbally dictate their characters’ actions and decisions within the narrative presented by the all-powerful Game Master (GM).
The GM is tasked with describing the situations the players encounter, people they meet, places they choose to go, and monsters they fight. An epic story is collectively told and lived over the course of four sessions - all while seated around a table!
Participants’ characters are not endlessly powerful, however, and specific rolls of the dice may determine if their character succeeds - or fails - at their chosen actions!
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Do Something Awesome was specifically designed to be accessible for children/teens of diverse ages and capacities.
It strips away the complex, cumbersome rules typical of many tabletop games and instead focuses on letting kids run away with their own awesome ideas.
Rules are extremely simple, rely primarily on 6-sided dice rolls, and are very much “learn-as-you-play”!
Most importantly, Do Something Awesome isn’t limited to fantasy, sci-fi, or any other rigid theme. Participants can choose to be whatever they want, whether that is a medieval warrior, a train conductor, a cybernetic bear-monkey, Batman himself, or anything else!
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Able to communicate verbally
Able to engage in pretend play
Able to follow simple rules and instructions with support, including turn-taking
Able to tolerate minor frustrations without resorting to very extreme reactions (e.g. Will not scream or hit others if they roll poorly on the dice)
Willing to sit and enjoy a game around a table with other participants
Comprehends addition and subtraction with numbers up to 10 (Not required to complete equations independently)
Capable of participating in a seated activity for 2 hours with support and with frequent breaks as needed
Game Master - Connor Brinsmead, BA, MScOT
Connor’s childhood was full of larger-than-life imaginative games, deep ravine exploration, and dauntless tree-climbing. From these memories grew a passion for imagination, especially with Dungeons and Dragons in high school.
Over 14 years later, he remains a dedicated player of Tabletop RPGs and brought many of his friends into the hobby.
As an Occupational Therapist, Connor found opportunities to incorporate games into therapy, but found no existing RPG suited his needs. This is how his own TTRPG, Do Something Awesome, was born.
Connor not only GMs with enthusiasm, but employs his skills as an OT to ensure gameplay suits the capacity and needs of each player individually.
Game Master - Devin Bruce, MScSLP
Devin is passionate about helping young people communicate, and also coaching and celebrating the people who support and teach those children.
Ever since he was a young child, Devin believed in the power of stories: stories are ways for people to share their thoughts and feelings, to make sense of the world around them, and to entertain and delight others. He considers himself privileged to be able to help other people tell their stories as part of the Qi Creative team.
When Devin isn’t being an SLP, you can find him performing with his a cappella group Apocalypse Kow, running in the river valley, knitting (in the midst of a movie marathon), brewing beer, baking bread, or sitting with his nose in a book.
Game Master - Cat Beck, MScSLP
Cat is an avid gamer (of all varieties!). She has long been immersed in the World of Warcraft, banding together to protect the realm of Azeroth. It’s through such adventures that Cat found joy and long lasting friendships. That isn’t to say she hasn’t explored other worlds, too: Baldur’s Gate, Apocalypse World, Changeling, Lasers & Feelings, and (the classic) Dungeons and Dragons.
What does Cat do best? Support roles! That’s because her fantasy is to help others reach their goals and to have fun doing it. As an SLP, Cat supports both individual expression and collaborative communication. And the beautiful thing about RPGs? They require BOTH of these to be engaging and successful. Let’s brainstorm a plan. Let’s celebrate our wins together, and comfort each other in any defeat we may encounter. Let’s build this AWESOME story… together!
Testimonials
“There are so few teen social group opportunities in the greater Edmonton area facilitated by skilled clinicians. Qi RPG was truly perfect for Nathan, and was just what kids with his learning profile need — a fun, safe, facilitated environment in a natural community setting where he can practice skills in an area of interest for him. He’s loved the bit of Dungeons and Dragons that he’s played, but not knowing anything about it or similar role-playing games myself, Qi RPG was also an opportunity for me to know that he was safe, learning something, and having fun all at the same time. Connor and Cat are a dynamic duo, and we look forward to future opportunities to participate in Qi RPG! Thank you again!”
“My son has ASD/ADHD and struggles with peers and keeping friends. We found Qi RPG in hopes of him practicing peer interaction and, ideally, make a new friend. Since the first session, Graham has loved playing Qi RPG. He is excited to attend and there is never a doubt he wants to be there. On the way home, he gives a detailed account of the gameplay that day and corrects us if we get something wrong and then explains how it actually works. He is very engaged and enjoys his time. He has also told me he would like to take more classes like this in the future. I am very happy with the Qi RPG class, and my son is practicing communicating with his peers, taking turns, and handling loss/setbacks in the game.”
"The Qi Creative RPG club was my son's first experience with role-playing games, and thanks to the experienced and supportive OT and SLP, it was a fantastic success. Structured group activities are usually so stressful (or downright impossible) for my son, but he was so eager to go back to this group, because it was exciting and his needs were met. Thanks to this group, he has found an activity he loves to do with other kids!"
I have chatted with a few other parents who were also thrilled to be a part of this. Is there any way to make this a regular or semi-regular group? I would be happy to volunteer as a parent (player or support on the side) if it would help to make that a possibility - if staff availability is an issue. Let me know!”