NarraScope 2026 Keynote: Speculation by Design

Speculation by Design: Refocusing Imagination & Storytelling Within the Analogue RPG Presented by Sharang Biswas Sunday, June 14th 2026, The University at Albany, NY Description: Dice, cards, hit points, armour... these are some of what come to mind when we think of the “tabletop RPG.” What if we reframe the core of a roleplaying game to be “speculation,” “imagination,” or “storytelling”? Does this model of inquiry allow us to study and design games in new ways? Speaker: Sharang Biswas is an eight-time award-winning game designer. He has exhibited at museums, galleries & game festivals around the world, and his games credits include Avatar: Legends, Pathfinder, Vampire: The Masquerade, and more. His fiction and poetry have appeared in Lightspeed, Augur, and Strange Horizons, among others. He is the co-editor of Honey & Hot Wax: An Anthology of Erotic Art Games and the author of the novella The Iron Below Remembers. He teaches games at NYU and Fordham University.