Exploits & Dragons: Gamifying Infosec Education with Tabletop RPGs

Security researchers and founders from DEF CON group DC5411 (Argentina and Uruguay) present "Exploits & Dragons," an innovative initiative that gamifies cybersecurity education and incident response training using tabletop role-playing games (RPGs).

[01:27] The speakers discuss how traditional security awareness training and technical workshops often struggle to engage participants. In response, they designed "Exploits & Dragons," adapting tabletop role-playing mechanics (similar to Dungeons & Dragons) to represent computer networks, defensive controls, threat actors, and digital vulnerabilities in a collaborative narrative setting.

[04:30] The presentation walks through character archetypes, game scenarios, and quest structures where players utilize real-world infosec skills—such as network reconnaissance, threat modeling, and incident containment—to overcome challenges. The speakers demonstrate how custom templates [19:05], quest-based scoring, and hands-on tabletop storytelling foster critical thinking, teamwork, and deeper technical comprehension for newcomers and experienced security professionals alike.

(AI summary — Gemini Flash)