InTucker Magazine

Tucker Social Quest

Tucker Social Quest, or TSQ, is the brainchild of Bishop Harry. During the week he works in behavioral therapy, and he has a decade of improv experience. He combines these skills to create the fictional world of TSQ and lead his players as they explore.

Tucker Social Quest is a non-clinical social skills workshop for children ages 6 through 14. Players are split into two different sessions based on age: players 6-10 in one group, and players 10-14 in the second. Players practice problem solving, logic puzzles and collaboration through participation as fantastical characters in a different world in an experience both educational and entertaining.

THE EXPERIENCE

The adventure takes place in Bishop Harry’s world of Post-Terra, an Earth nearly 5,000 years in the future in which contemporary technology has been lost and magic has appeared. Three different factions run this world. Each has its own rules. The Red Ember Society allows its members only to use fi re-based magic, while Green Iron Will appreciates technology and is skeptical of magic. Blue Faith Shield teaches holy and defensive magic but has the fewest restrictions on what its members may learn.

Once they choose their factions, each child receives a coin with their faction symbol and color to represent their character as they move across the map Harry has made. Factions are malleable and may change as the session progresses.

Aside from maps, Bishop has created a variety of materials to aid immersion. Each player has their own “character sheet” with the details of the individual they have decided to play. As players encounter spellbooks, potion manuals and notes from non-player characters, or NPCs, Bishop can hand them a physical page allowing players something tangible to explore. These sheets have been artificially aged to show wear and tear and edges torn to look as if they were just taken from whatever fantastical book Bishop describes.

Over the course of this session, Bishop’s players discover a forbidden magic book and a winding labyrinth they must navigate to find a missing person. When they encounter an alchemy set in their journey, Bishop asks them which potion they would like to make and retrieves the corresponding corked bottle. His players are excited to examine and taste the bottle’s contents.

“Is this essential oils?” one player asks after a sniff of an open bottle. Bishop reassures the players that he would not encourage them to drink essential oils. His potions are water and sports drinks transferred to clear bottles.

THE SKILLS

Each TSQ session may have between three and eight players. Participants gather around a single table and must work together to accomplish their goals while navigating the rules of their factions and the impact of their actions on the fictional world.

As GM, or game master, Bishop gives his players the opportunity to make choices and experience their consequences. In a recent session, players defeated a giant slime. It then turned into several smaller slimes, and a player adopted one as a pet. After the player fed it, the pet became as large as the original giant slime and a monster once again.

“I feel like we all have very high standards for kids,” said Bishop. “I want a place where they’re allowed to be a little messy, you know? I want them to be bad guys. I want them to be good guys. I want them to play with those levels and think about that for themselves.”

Conflict between players naturally arises as the game continues, such as when a non-player character or NPC, cat-person passed and its fur was turned into a cloak. Players fought over who would get to keep it, surprising Bishop.

“I’m sitting there flabbergasted at these 11 year olds, but then it always strikes me, like, yeah, I would have done the exact same thing.”

TSQ is a welcoming environment. “I think it’s for anyone,” Bishop said. “I think anyone can work on social skills, and anyone should be able to get along and have a good time and make something goofy or exciting.”

“Kids deserve to play,” Bishop added, “and to have that freedom to think and not be constrained just like other support needs. Just, you know, let them be who they are.”

“I was a bit of a troublemaker as a kid,” Bishop admitted. “I didn’t like being told what to do, and I was very adamant about doing whatever. I just wanted to make a space for kids like that. That’s what I’ve dedicated my life to have.”

Bishop Harry is currently gauging interest in holding sessions for older teenagers ages 15-17. Those interested can email tuckersocialquest@gmail.com to join the waiting list. Tucker Social Quest sessions are held every other weekend at Tucker Recreation Center. More information on TSQ can be found online at tuckersocialquest.com.