I’d definitely study the evolution of the hobby using books like The Elusive Shift (Petersen), Role-Playing Game Studies: Transmedia Foundations (Deterding, Zagal) and Designers & Dragons: A History of the Roleplaying Game Industry (Appelcline). Once the students had a grounding in the history I would suggest a unit on Dice and Probability, the Mechanics and influence on settings.

• D&D for level and progression, and contrasting that against Palladium’s approach.
• Traveller for the lifepath concept as well as the developing of universal setting.
• Hero System and the rise of point based mechanics, contrasting with GURPS.
• Interlock (Mekton, Cyberpunk) and the emergence of Unified Game Mechanics, maybe contrast with Atlas Games All Flesh Must Be Eaten, et al.
• Vampire, and the development of Dice Pools and the rise of “splats” as a business model.
• Over The Edge and Amber Diceless as differing approaches to non-traditional RPGs.
• Sorcerer, indie games, The Forge, and the story game movement. See also gamist/narrativist/simulationist as styles of play.
• D&D 3.0 and the OGL explosion.
• Apocalypse World and the New Wave of RPGs as a reaction to OGL. (one man’s opinion).

Yes, 2013, 2020, and RED are. I am not certain about 3e as I wasn’t a contributor.

Just curious, as a former 2020 freelancer I occasionally check in.

Why just RED? Why not a wider group?

I have never met a dice-pool mechanic I didn’t dislike or despise. What makes your compelling?

It is much faster than a GM fiat.

• I refer to this as the ‘Video Game Rule’. In the last thirty years the visual aspects of the hobby have become more important because we’re think we are ‘competing’ with video games. Once we realize we are making a different kind of experience it allows the story (that is the narrative elements) to outshine the graphics, if you will.-

I was about to comment “When one of my players asks whether they can do something completely unreasonable I look at them, roll a D20 openly on the table and without checking the result, say ‘no’”

Oh, GM Fiat… I always preferred the GM Camaro, but you do you… ;-)