If its a matter of not wanting to, I tell kids its not an option, like when we do any activity. They might start to gain interest when the whole class is doing it and talking about it. As for religion, I could see them obviously not wanting to be a religious character. I would talk it out with the student and parents, as it is just a game. I opted to call my potions elixirs, as that was an actual term used; tonics could work too. You can change the names of items to lessen the magic element. I'm in a Catholic school, so the missionaries use blessed objects, not magic. Indigenous people use items blessed by the creator, as this goes with Alberta's indigenous teaching. You could have them create a character that they would be comfortable with for that year as well.

Right now each student has a map that they roll a dice to move on each time they level up. I'm changing that for next year, I'm going to have one board with mini characters that they move. I got magnetic sheets to put on a frame then chalk wallpaper so I can draw different maps. I'll post a pic when I get that done. I went with a wall map as space in the room is not always great and I have had kids who trash my room when mad.

My trappers start with leather armour, a musket, 5 bullets and a knife. Voyagers get a bow with 5 arrows and a knife. Settlers get fists, First Nations get a bow, 10 arrows, wooden armour, plant guide. Missionaries get a weekly heal card, 3 holy water and 3 word of god cards. Soldiers get metal armour, 1 gun, 10 bullets and a knife. They they have chances to get other cards.

Here are some of my armour cards. I use the Magic the gathering site.

I also have to share my disease cards. Just like in the early days of Canada, there is the chance of disease. These are random chance cards.

The best low levels I have found are vocabulary and creating posters with information are good tasks. In my harder levels I've been trying to work in presentations and research to make it more challenging.

1️⃣ Your Theme ➡️ What world do you know well enough to 'Master'? (Medieval, Space, Noir, Sports, etc.) Fur trade fort era 2️⃣ The World's Name ➡️ Give your course/subject a 'Game Name' (like Scientia Terra). I let my first class I'm testing this on to help name it, we are Fort Chaos, owned and operated by The National Canadian Trading Center. 3️⃣ Character Classes ➡️Name one 'Class' your students could choose & a 'Perk' (power) they may get.: I have 6, Settler, Trapper, Missionary, Soldier, Indigenous and Voyager. So far advantages have to do with armour and weapons they start with. They have a health tracker for their armour as well. The bonus the Missionary has is his arm repairs after a battle so they never loose armour permanently. 4️⃣ Design Your Worlds ➡️Examine your curriculum and design your worlds/levels! Have quests and boss fights so far, I want to add more in eventually, still working on that. 5️⃣ Thematic Language ➡️Make at least 3 different language connections between your curriculum class and the theme you'd like to use! Assignments-quests, Tests- Boss Battles, Lessons- Fort announcements