Our History
Read about our rich legacy of over 30 years of running tabletop roleplaying games for both youth and adultsAbout us
The Roleplay Workshop was created in 1989 to use the strengths of tabletop role play gaming to work with adolescents. As a teacher at Archway School in Oakland, Becky began creating the world of Abantey as a personal project. When her students found out what she was working on, they wanted to participate. She ran games as an extracurricular activity for several years, and eventually opened an independent business with both summer and school year programs.
In 2005, the programs expanded to offer evening gaming for older teens as well as adult program alumni. Over the years, the adult program has expanded, introducing not only non-alumni to our game, but also adding other role play systems, including CyberPunk, Serenity, and Burning Wheel.
Press
Yes, we’ve gotten some press over the last 30 years. Check out the links below!
The Geek Initiative – geekinitiative.com/spotlight-on-professional-gming-becky-thomas-and-the-roleplay-workshop/
Oakland North – oaklandnorth.net/…/elaborate-role-playing-world-fosters-new-perspectives-for-oakland-kids/
SFGate – sfgate.com/…/EDUCATION-Storytelling-game-for-kids-is-on-a-2666892.php
The Escapist (gaming website) – theescapist.com/…/interview-rebeccathomas.htm
San Francisco Summer Camps (blog) – sanfranciscosummercamp.com/2013/02/20/camp-director-diary-the-roleplay-workshop/
Radio
An amazing audio piece for KALW by one of our alumni, Rafi Ronquillo.
Video
A video about The Roleplay Workshop created by one of our amazing alumni, Cody Flowers.
Testimonials
Read real testimony from parents and students from our youth program.