Journeys of Deeper Joy is a table top roleplaying game (RPG). If you’ve never engaged with a tabletop roleplaying game, they are a type of imaginative storytelling game where participants create characters to interact with an imagined world. In these games everyone helps make the story together. 
A facilitator (in our case they are called Lorekeepers) describes the world and challenges, and participants decide how their characters act. Dice and rules are used to add structure, surprise, and chance. For Journeys of Deeper Joy, the goal isn’t to “win” or “defeat a boss” but to collaborate, explore, and have fun telling a story as a group.

As the Lorekeeper, you hold the threads of the story. You are weaving them together so the group can journey through the land of Covenantia (which can be pronounced “kuh-vuh-NAN-chee-uh”). The Lorekeeper:

• Sets the scene: Describes the world, locations, and challenges.
• Offers prompts: Asks questions like, “What does your character notice here?” or “How do you respond?”
• Plays the world: Voices the non-player characters (NPCs), creatures, or even the Beloved Community Airship itself.
• Guides the gameplay: Helps the group use the dice system, discerning Grounded and Flow actions.
• Holds the space: Makes sure everyone has a chance to play and keeps the space safe, inclusive, and welcoming.

The Lorekeeper is not a judge or opponent for our participants. Instead they are a companion, inviting participants to build a shared story (and community).

Journeys of Deeper Joy is a modular and flexible curriculum. While there is an overarching narrative, we understand that attendance may vary from session to session, and designed each session to be able to make sense as an individual journey. We have built in systems to help support participants who are not attending every week, ranging from story review sessions to the Airship itself. We have also designed the curriculum to be adaptable for online play as well and offer ideas on alternates for online activities. You’ll find prompts for special online considerations throughout the journeys and advice about how to run the curriculum throughout this Facilitator Guide. We also have created a special appendix for considering how to use the curriculum in alternate settings, like shorter classroom sessions, or a shorter amount of weeks as well as a more rule and dice intensive ruleset for facilitators and groups that want more play complexity.

We also invite you to see the curriculum as flexible for experimentation. You are welcome to be creative in following the story concepts presented as well as to use the roleplaying system for your own imaginative ideas. The presented structure is to provide a starting point.

Besides this modular and adaptable focus, this curriculum is built on some key beliefs:

• Play as Spiritual Practice: Play is how we learn to be human with one another.
• Shared Storytelling: Everyone’s voice matters. The story is co-created, not controlled.
• Inclusion & Accessibility: Every participant belongs. Differences are celebrated as strengths, and the game adapts to the needs of the group.
• Whole Church: While designed with Youth and Emerging Adults in mind, the curriculum is envisioned as multigenerational because belonging is a thing all ages crave, and play is for all ages.
• Grounded & Flow: Life requires both logic and intuition, both planning and improvisation. The dice system reflects how our varied gifts balance and support one another.
• Living Document: The curriculum is flexible, evolving as groups use it. Adaptation is part of the design.
• Community Building: The goal isn’t to “win” but to practice covenant, trust, and care, skills that extend beyond the game into real life. A cohesive and compassionate community is grown over time, not created overnight. Community building can help us build capacity for shared cooperative leadership.
• Deeper Joy: Joy is found in connection, authenticity, resilience, and wonder.

In our facilitator guide, you’ll find information on:

• Core dynamics and character design
• Rolling the dice
• Lesson structures and guidance
• Additional resources and advice for Lorekeepers,
• Quick Start Guides (great for printing), including a team building exercise to run with those who will be facilitating.
• A Glossary of terms

Download the Facilitator Guide in PDF Format (Condensed and Wide Spaced)