This course is for players that want the full D&D experience and have played before. Starting from a small village in Scandanavia during the early Viking Age, the players will experience aspects of daily life in a typical Norse village. They'll protect their village from attack and explore the area, gradually moving to larger towns and cities. They'll have the opportunity to travel ancient trade routes and go raiding if they choose.
I use the real world as the map, teaching a little geography. Their choices will be affected by and may affect real-world historical events, teaching them some history. The combat will teach tactical and strategic thinking, as well as resource management. There are many opportunities for teachable moments so what the players learn depends on their choices.
I generally run the campaign as a sandbox, meaning that I don't have a pre-planned plot but I allow the story to arise naturally from the desires and actions of the players. For example, if they find travel and trade interesting then the campaign might have them exploring the Eastern river routes to Constantinople. Or perhaps conquest is on their mind, which might lead them to participate in the sacking of Paris and subsequent creation of Normandy. Explorers might be involved with seafaring adventures discovering Greenland, Vinland, and perhaps a series of islands north of the arctic circle that will freeze your spleen!
Course Details
The players will each create their own characters based on a somewhat fantasized version of Viking age Scandinavia, which can be found on its own wiki at Ron Helwig's Viking World. I limit some character options at creation to what makes sense historically, which not only enhances verisimilitude but also instructs the players with historical accuracy.
Participants in this course will be expected to be competent at reading and basic math, and should be prepared to manage their character with little help. All they should need to bring is a pencil and eraser, but if they want to bring more, then additional things like their own dice or character figure are a great way to get more into it.
If any of the players would prefer to use D&D Beyond to manage their character, they are welcome to bring a tablet or laptop as long as they don't get distracted by them. I use D&D Beyond heavily to manage sessions, and if they are using it for their characters then we should coordinate the usage - I have access to almost all of the character creation options and can share that with players.