Today we're going to take a big step away from the Realms and take a look at something unique that is happening in "our backyard". The Kingdom of Diddorol is a fictional fantasy world wherein there are multiple provinces, a back story for each, a barter and trading system, character classes and levels, and quests to pursue. It is mostly run on-line and there is a single Gamemaster, but much as a LARP, there are some real world locations the players can go to and play at. Where is this place? The Middle School in Barrington, NH (about 15 minutes from my house).
This is a project set up by an English teacher as a means to promote language. Each province is meant to highlight one of the Six Traits of Writing. A player gains experience and items not only through barter but writing as well. Writing a set number of pages earns points. These points are augmented by writing within certain constraints (such as genre), having the right tools (word wands-pencils, Janus tome-notebook, etc) and timeliness.
All together this looks like a teacher trying to make writing fun, exciting and something more than just an assignment to hand in. I find it fascinating he has chosen to go with an rpg or LARP type of style. A link to his web page can be found here. Did I mention one of the provinces is named Dolphinia; is this guy a genius or what?!