Cripping Tabletop Role-Playing Games : A Critical Analysis of Disability and Inclusion in Inspirisles and Beyond

Abstract

This chapter explores how tabletop role-playing games (RPGs) can be harnessed as powerful tools for teaching inclusivity and raising awareness about disability in educational settings. While contemporary tabletop RPGs increasingly embrace diversity in gender, sexuality, and ethnicity, ableism remains a persistent issue in game design and narratives. Focusing on Inspirisles, a RPG created in collaboration with Deaf youth and featuring sign language as a core gameplay mechanic, this chapter evaluates both the educational potential and the representational limitations of such games. Through an analysis grounded in crip theory and disability studies, it critically examines the game’s language, imagery, and mechanics, revealing how even well-intentioned games can inadvertently reinforce ableist norms—for example, by portraying disabled characters only as magically empowered or by privileging able-bodied fantasy figures. The chapter offers practical recommendations for educators who wish to facilitate tabletop RPGs in ways that foreground accessibility, challenge stereotypes, and promote genuine inclusion. By situating games within a critical theory framework, this chapter contributes to the growing discourse on inclusive education and underscores the importance of thoughtful design and facilitation in using games to shift cultural understandings of disability.