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An Episode at a Glance

Each mission in Operation LAPIS is built around three episodes. An episode is the basic unit of classroom activity. The standard pattern across the curriculum looks like this: 1.1, 1.2, 1.3. Each carries its own CODEX page and, in the RPG, its own set of immersion prompts.

Both delivery approaches, RPG and CYOP, share the same story arc, the same CODEX backbone, and the same cultural and grammatical learning objectives. What differs is how students encounter the story and what the teacher's job looks like inside each episode. The sections below walk through each approach in turn.

Each story node, whether the Latin RPG or the CYOP, includes:

  • Rollover tooltips: hover (or touch) any Latin word or phrase to see a gloss, parsing note, or commentary. What traditionally lived in a separate notes section is embedded directly in the text. Tooltips are color-coded by part of speech to aid in recognition over time. Tooltips are included in the English RPG only when an occasional Latin word or phrase is required for story purposes.
  • Alpheios Embedded Plugin: double-clicking on any word will provide a quick dictionary entry courtesy of Alpheios. Alpheios is not enabled on English RPG prompts.
  • Modal Links: words (usually proper nouns) that have a visible underline are coded with modal popup links. Should a learner want to go down a rabbit hole of additional learning, these entry points will allow them to satisfy their curiosity. It isn't required to use them, but they help build context and understanding on a deeper level. Modal links are provided on English RPG prompts.

A single episode typically spans three to five class periods depending on schedule, pacing, and how much time you spend on the CODEX materials. A full mission (three episodes) is usually two to three weeks of classroom time.

The Anatomy of an Episode

Each RPG episode contains:

  • Two immersion prompts (.a and .b): the narrative text students engage with in character. Some episodes have additional prompts (.c, .d) when a scene runs longer or introduces a new mechanic.
  • A CODEX page carrying the backbone sections: KEY-TEXTs, Informational Texts, GRAMMATICA, VERBA, CULTURALIA, and ATTUNEMENT.
  • An Agent response: your in-character reply that advances the story after each team posts.
  • A Memoratio entry: a reflective writing prompt in which teams record what their character experienced.

Each CYOP episode contains:

  • One entry prompt (e.g., 1.1, 1.2, 1.3): the opening page of a branching Latin narrative following Octaviana and Bellator. Students navigate choices; the story itself delivers cultural corrections when needed.
  • A CODEX page, identical to the RPG backbone: KEY-TEXT, Informational Texts A and B, GRAMMATICA, VERBA, CULTURALIA, and ATTUNEMENT.
  • A Memoratio entry: reflective writing tied to the episode. The Memoratio is not yet formally built into the CYOP track, but it is part of the intended flow and will be incorporated as the curriculum develops. Plan for it.

The CODEX phases in the CYOP are flexible: the specific mission page of this guide will indicate the best moments to work in KEY-TEXT, Informational Text, CULTURALIA, and ATTUNEMENT for each episode.

Phase 1: Reading the Prompt

Posting and first read

Post the .a prompt to your delivery platform. Have teams read the scene together in class. Circulate and monitor; resist the urge to translate. The CODEX VERBA section is the first stop for unfamiliar vocabulary, and the rollover tooltips on the LAPIS site carry glosses for terms that go beyond the core list.

Activating the CODEX

When the prompt gives you a natural anchor point, activate the relevant CODEX section before teams respond. In Mission 1, when Marcus demands the team's name, send students to the CULTURALIA naming reading before they compose anything. The cultural context is not a detour; it is the information they need to do the task well.

Work through the CODEX materials deliberately:

  • CULTURALIA and Informational Texts give the historical and cultural context the response will draw on. This often takes a full class period in itself.
  • ATTUNEMENT comprehension questions scaffold both the cultural reading and the grammatical content. In Mission 1, the prepositions practice set maps directly onto the game action: each false location the team invents for Marcus is a fresh grammar repetition.
  • GRAMMATICA: if a new construction appears that multiple teams are struggling with, brief direct instruction keyed to the GRAMMATICA section is appropriate. Keep it anchored to what just appeared in the prompt.

Team response and Agent reply

Teams collaborate on their character's response outside class. Each team has a designated lead operative for the current episode, whose job is to consolidate the team's ideas and post the character's final action in the main thread.

After the lead operative posts, you reply in character as the Agent of the Demiurge, advancing the story and reacting to what the team did. A few principles that hold across the curriculum:

  • Let reasonable actions work. If a team does something sensible in the fiction, let it succeed.
  • Re-rail in-fiction, never out of character. If a team goes off-script, have the NPC react in character and steer back. Never refuse a move by stepping outside the fiction.
  • Punt to the right NPC. Characters like Tiberius can credibly not know things. Use their deflections to teach teams that good questions need to go to the right person.
  • The nuclear option. Early in the curriculum, you can gently steer a lead operative directly from within the fiction. Because the TSTT is the Demiurge's program, this does not break immersion and can build metacognition about how narrative choices work.

Lead operative rotation

Rotate which student serves as lead operative each episode. Establishing this rotation in Mission 1 pays dividends across the year.

Post the episode entry link to your delivery platform and share the relevant CODEX link. How students read and engage is up to you; the three approaches below each have real advantages, and some teachers combine them across different missions.

Class-wide, teacher-facilitated

Project the story at the front of the room and read together as a class. At each choice point, pause and open it to discussion: what would a Roman do here? What does the CODEX tell us? Put the choice to a vote, then advance and see how the narrative responds. This approach is the highest-control option and works well for early missions when students are still learning the world. The teacher can weave in CODEX materials naturally at the moments the story invites them.

Small groups, parallel paths

Divide the class into groups of three to four. Each group navigates their own version of the story independently, making choices as a team. Groups will diverge at forks and may reach different outcomes. After reading, bring the class back together to compare: what choices did each group make? What happened? What did the narrative correct, and why? This approach generates rich discussion and mirrors the collaborative spirit of the RPG, but requires students who can work with some independence. Move between groups to prompt CODEX engagement as needed.

Independent reading

Students read individually at their own pace, in class, as homework, or both. This is the lightest-touch delivery mode and works well once students are comfortable with the Latin and the branching format. Plan structured check-ins: comprehension questions from the ATTUNEMENT section, brief written responses, or a class debrief after a set reading window. The Memoratio (coming) will provide a natural written anchor for independent reading.

Regardless of mode, the teacher's job at the start of each episode is to:

  1. Post the episode entry link.
  2. Post or display the relevant CODEX link.
  3. Orient students to the CODEX sections most relevant to this episode. The specific mission page in this guide will tell you which ones and when.

Phase 2: The .b Prompt

The .b prompt continues the same scene or moves it to the next beat. The cycle repeats: post the prompt, read together, activate any remaining CODEX sections, teams respond, you reply in character.

Begin this phase by reviewing the .a responses together as a class. Project or share each team's post and read as a class. Correct common Latin errors lightly: model correct usage rather than marking every mistake. Preserving willingness to compose is more important at this stage than surface accuracy.

The CYOP does not use .a/.b prompt structure. Each episode has a single entry point, and the branching story carries students through the equivalent narrative beats internally. See Phase 1 above for delivery modes, and the specific mission page for CODEX timing guidance.

Phase 3: Supplemental Readings

Each CODEX page carries three supplemental reading components: Informational Texts, the KEY-TEXT, and CULTURALIA.

Informational Texts (A and B) and the KEY-TEXT are Latin passages. The Informational Texts provide the cultural and historical context students need to engage with the story; the KEY-TEXT continues or comments on the narrative and is the most demanding Latin reading in the episode. Most of the CODEX engagement in Phase 1 centers on the Informational Texts; by Phase 3, any remaining work on those should be completed before teams move to the KEY-TEXT.

CULTURALIA is the English-language cultural commentary that accompanies the Latin readings. It deepens the historical context and is the section most directly tied to the ATTUNEMENT comprehension questions.

  • Teams read the KEY-TEXT for meaning collaboratively, using rollover tooltips and the visual walkthrough (available in Missions 1-14) for new constructions.
  • Work through any remaining ATTUNEMENT comprehension questions together.

Mark KEY-TEXT completion in Mission Control once a team has engaged with the reading. This is worth 150 LP per episode.

Each CODEX page carries the same three supplemental reading components as the RPG: Informational Texts (A and B) and the KEY-TEXT in Latin, and CULTURALIA in English.

The individual mission pages in this guide will indicate the best moments to work through each. Reading collaboratively as a class or in small groups, with discussion, is the recommended default for all three.

Phase 4: The Memoratio

The Memoratio is a reflective writing prompt in which teams record a short narrative account of what their character did and experienced. It functions as a cumulative diary of the character's life across the operation. In episodes where the Memoratio appears as a numbered prompt (as in 1.1.c), it is posted and responded to like any other prompt.

Coach the form (third person, past tense, character voice) rather than treating it as a live in-character exchange. The goal is for the team to write as their character reflecting on the events, not to continue the story.

The Memoratio is not yet formally built into the CYOP track. It is, however, a natural fit: students in the CYOP have just navigated a branching story as characters making choices, and reflective writing in character voice is a meaningful capstone to that experience. Plan for its introduction as the curriculum develops. In the meantime, open-ended written reflection on the episode's choices and their consequences serves a similar function.

Awarding LP

After each episode, award LP in Mission Control based on each operative's individual contribution to the team discussion, not the final post alone. The target is ~300 LP per episode, calibrated to the four-level rubric.

Mark ATTUNEMENT completion separately in Mission Control once the team has engaged with the comprehension questions. This is worth 150 LP per episode, separate from immersion LP.

See Latinity Points & Grading for full guidance on the rubric and awarding.

LP tracking and Mission Control are not currently part of the CYOP workflow. Assessment in the CYOP track is handled through class discussion, comprehension task completion, and written responses. Guidance on assessing CYOP engagement is in the individual mission pages.

The Shape of a Full Mission

A full mission (three episodes) follows the same arc three times, each activating its own CODEX page with new cultural and grammatical content. In Mission 1:

  • 1.1 (The Boy in the Tree): Roman names, Bay of Naples geography, prepositions. The RPG has three prompts (1.1.a/b/c), with 1.1.c introducing the Memoratio.
  • 1.2 (House of Sextus Aemilianus): the Roman house, the accusative. The team meets their first nitidus guide.
  • 1.3 (House of Caecilius): the Roman cena across multiple sessions; roles of servi and clientis; RPG lead operative rotation.

Using LAPIS Alongside a Textbook

Some teachers run LAPIS alongside a traditional textbook, using the missions as a reading and composition strand. The textbook's grammar sequence and the immersion prompts will not always align. Treat the textbook as the explicit grammar instruction track and LAPIS as the applied reading and cultural track. Students who encounter a construction in the prompts before formally studying it are getting comprehensible-input exposure; that is a feature, not a problem.

Next: The CODEX