Tilburg.ai | Roleplay chatbot

Making a roleplay chatbot for students to learn a skill

Use a chatbot to simulate a person or scenario so students can practice skills, such as negotiation, patient communication, or counseling,in a safe, repeatable environment. Students interact with the chatbot in character and reflect on their performance.

Step 1

Step 1: Define the skill and scenario

Decide what skill students should practice and design the roleplay scenario. The clearer your scenario, the more effective the chatbot will be.

Choose the skill to practice

Examples: negotiation, patient communication, counseling, sales pitch, debate, conflict resolution, or giving feedback. Pick a skill that benefits from repeated practice in a safe environment.

Define the scenario and persona

Specify who the chatbot plays and the context. Example: “You are a skeptical client in a sales negotiation. You have budget concerns and need convincing. Stay in character and respond realistically to the student’s pitch.” Include the goal students should achieve and any constraints.

Step 2

Step 2: Create the roleplay chatbot in Tilly

Build a chatbot that stays in character and responds in a way that challenges students appropriately. The video demonstrates building this type of bot in Tilly.

The video above walks through creating a roleplay chatbot in Tilly; use it together with the written steps that follow.

Go to Tilly and create a chatbot

Log in and navigate to the create page. Give the chatbot a clear name (e.g. “Negotiation Partner” or “Patient Simulator”) so students know what to expect.

Or start from our roleplay template (pre-filled name, description, and persona instructions you can edit).

Use our template

Write the persona instructions

In the chatbot instructions, define the character, tone, and behavior. Example:

You are [character description]. Stay in character at all times. Do not break the fourth wall or give meta-feedback. Respond as this person would in the given scenario. Adjust your reactions based on what the student says—if they are persuasive, you may concede; if they are weak, you may push back. Keep responses concise and realistic.

Step 3

Step 3: Plan the learning activity and evaluation

Decide how students will use the roleplay and what they will submit for assessment.

Integrate into your course

Choose how students engage: as mandatory practice before a live session, as a graded assignment, or for self-directed skill development. Share the chatbot link and brief students on the scenario and learning goals.

Submission and evaluation

Clarify what students hand in: e.g. an exported transcript of the conversation and a short reflection (what they tried, what worked, what they would do differently). Use a rubric that assesses both the quality of their in-conversation performance and the depth of their reflection.

Optional

End-of-course survey on roleplay practice

Optional: capture how students experienced AI-mediated roleplay as part of skill development in your course.

Align with course learning goals

If practicing the target skill (negotiation, clinical communication, etc.) via the chatbot is a stated outcome, a closing survey can show whether students really learned the skill.

End-of-course survey

Toward the end of the course, ask students to reflect on their roleplay sessions in this course.

Example questions you can adapt:

Which scenarios or sessions with the roleplay bot were most useful, and why?
What did you learn about [skill] from staying in dialogue with the character, compared to reading or lecture alone?
What would you practice more if you had another round of roleplay, and what might you carry into a real conversation or assessment?

How you might use the results

Use themes to adjust scenarios, bot instructions, or how you debrief live practice.

Still got questions? Take a look at the FAQ page.