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The Functions ofRole-Playing Games

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The Functions of Role-Playing Games

How Participants Create Community, Solve Problems

and Explore Identity

SARAH LYNNE BOWMAN

McFarland & Company, Inc., PublishersJefferson, North Carolina, and London

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGUING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA

Bowman, Sarah Lynne.The functions of role-playing games : how participants create

community, solve problems and explore identity / Sarah Lynne Bowman.p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-7864-4710-7

softcover : 50# alkaline paper

1. Fantasy games—Social aspects. 2. Role playing—Social aspects.I. Title.GV1202.F35B68 2010793.93—dc22 2010001187

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Acknowledgments

I would first like to thank my chair, Thomas Riccio, for his wonder-ful enthusiasm and advice on this project. I also would like to thank myamazing professors at the University of Texas at Dallas: Dean Kratz,Thomas Linehan, Dean Terry, Michael Wilson, Cynthia Haynes, DavidChannel, John Gooch, and Tim Redman. Thank you, also, to SherryClarkson for her remarkable ability to guide students through thelabyrinthine bureaucratic process of the University. From the Universityof Texas at Austin, I would like to thank my two life-long mentors, SandyStone and Janet Staiger, who eternally serve as an inspiration to me as aneducator and a scholar.

Also, this volume would not have been possible without the contri-butions of my respondents, for their willingness to share their stories andtheir thoughtful self-examination: Chris, John T., Guillermo, Darren,Matthew S., Henry, Alex, Desiree, “Elton,” Omega, Josh S., Haley, JoshZ., Kevin, Erin, and Carley. Special, enormous thank you to Walter, whotaught me everything I know about role-playing and more. In addition,I would like to thank my fellow players past and present for all the incred-ible in-game experiences: Andy, Ralph, Ron, Guy, Justin, Randy, Kirstynand Chet, and Neya in the tabletop realm; Lucas and Chris for BOGYA;and especially our past and present Darkeport LARP players, who providedaily inspiration for me: Harrison, Anne, Russ, Sarah Jane, Kim, Ken,Drew, Stacy, Nick, Zimka, Thax, Karen and John, Laura, Danielle andChris, Walter II, John F., Doni, Mike and Loren, Ryan, Val, Ari, Pokemike,etc., etc. I love you all in my way.

Finally, I would like to thank all of my beautiful family: Robert and

Judy, Pat and Jim, Ron and Grace, Andrea and Lans, Christopher, Lauraand Charles, Harley Jr./Sr. and Sydney, Bryan and Cindy, Eric and Barb,Abe, Patrick, Leigh, Michelle, Joyce: how incredibly lucky I am to haveyou in my life! To the unbelievable support of my friends in Dallas pastand present : Alex, Chris and Brandi, Greg, Kyle, Nick, Dan, Elicia,Ducado, Jason H., Jerome, Mark B., Donna, Julie, Jim B., Kim, Paul H.,John S, George and Claire, and Sunny. The Austin contingent: Taira, Ana,Allison and Jason, Matty, Kevin, Jerry, Jim R., Magda and Gary, Mark J.,Jason B. and Trudi, Jason K., Ty, Crystal, Brooke, Tasha, Harry, Court-ney, Sara, Kadija, Patricia, Morrie, Brad, and everyone in the 5i2/ActualReality group.

My fellow academicians: Adam Blatner, Bryce, Rez, Angela and Don,Laura M., Debbie, Adrian C., Michael J., Lisa B., Paula E., Hushul, Matt,Trish, Haven, James King, Avi. The Entire cast of There is Never a Refer-

ence Point: Jamie, Lori S., Casey, Lori M., Andrea, LeeAnn, Brittney, Jenni,Shawn, Mason, Austin, Frank. And all you scattered loves out there: Cin-der, Paul M., Bill, Christiana, Matthew W., Sam, Eli and Steph, Barb,Loyal and Susie and all the Kents, Darryl, Glen, Chris O., etc. etc. Yourlove and support have fueled me throughout this process of life and work.

vi Acknowledgments

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments v

Preface 1

Introduction 7

1. Historical Evolution and Cultural Permutations 11

2. Role-Playing in Communal Contexts 33

3. Interactional Dynamics in Role-Playing Games 55

4. Role-Playing as Scenario Building and Problem Solving 80

5. Tactical and Social Problem Solving 104

6. Role-Playing as Alteration of Identity 127

7. Character Evolution and Types of Identity Alteration 155

Conclusion 179

Appendix: Interview Questionnaire 183

Chapter Notes 185

Bibliography 197

Index 203

vii

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Preface

The present work explores the various social and psychological func-tions of role-playing, with a specific emphasis on role-playing games. Theactivity of role-playing finds its roots in essential aspects of human socialbehavior, including childhood pretend play, storytelling, and ritual. Thesubcultural practice of role-playing games emerged from these age-oldpractices, but also from several cultural shifts inherent to American life inthe latter half of the twentieth century. These shifts include culture-wideparadigm shifts regarding diversity, religion, and alternative lifestyles; anincreased interest in the genres of fantasy, science fiction, and horror; aheightened sense of cynicism and self-awareness characteristic of Gener-ation X ; and the large-scale technological advances characteristic of thecomputer and information age.

While these cultural shifts specifically contributed to the popularityof role-playing games as a subculture, people also engage in the practiceof role-playing in a variety of different contexts, including business, edu-cation, military training, improvisational theater, drama therapy, healthcare, and leisure. The practice of role-playing offers three basic functions.First, role-playing enhances a group’s sense of communal cohesiveness byproviding narrative enactment within a ritual framework. Second, role-playing encourages complex problem-solving and provides participantswith the opportunity to learn an extensive array of skills through the enact-ment of scenarios. Third, role-playing offers participants a safe space toenact alternate personas through a process known as identity alteration.This volume explores these three concepts with regard to the various formsof role-playing.

The study also offers a detailed, participant-observer ethnography onrole-playing games. This ethnography involves extensive, qualitative inter-views. I have personally participated in various forms of role-playing forfifteen years, including tabletop, Live Action Role-Playing (LARP), andvirtual gaming. The ethnographic chapters of this study incorporate thecontributions of nineteen participants, including myself. Most interviewswere conducted in-person and range between thirty minutes and two anda half hours. Six of the respondents, however, replied to the questions viaemail attachment. These responses resulted in several rounds of follow-up questions and answers, which were appended to the original interviews.

CAST OF PLAYERS:

Alex, a twenty-year-old psychology major.Carley, an eighteen-year old office manager.Chris, a twenty-five year old web designer, technical manager, and sales

engineer.Darren, a twenty-eight year old military propagandist.Desiree, a thirty-six year old day spa owner and masseuse.“Elton,” a twenty-nine year old fiber network field technician and busi-

ness owner.Erin, a twenty-one year old retailer and college student.Guillermo, a twenty-eight year old operations category specialist.Haley, a twenty-five year old compliance specialist in a market security

firm.Henry, a twenty-two year old college student.John, a thirty year old sales representative.Josh S., a twenty-two year old chemistry major with a biology and physics

minor.Josh T., a twenty-four year old retailer and college student.Kevin, a forty-six year old retailer.Kirstyn, a twenty-six year old vocal music director.Matthew, a twenty-three, apparel associate and sales consultant.Omega, a twenty-eight year old customer service representative.Sarah, a twenty-nine year old arts and humanities doctoral candidate.Walter, a thirty-one year old history and paralegal major.

One respondent, “Elton,” did not wish for his real name to be used.Chapter 1, “Historical Evolution and Cultural Permutations” estab-

lishes a framework for understanding the development of role-playinggames (RPGs) as a cultural phenomenon. First, the essential roots of

2 Preface

role-playing are explained as a ritual form of archetypal enactment and sto-rytelling. Next, the cultural shifts that contributed to the development ofrole-playing games as a subculture are detailed. The sixties brought a par-adigm shift toward greater acceptance of diversity and experimentation withalternative lifestyles. In addition, the publication of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord

of the Rings in paperback in 1965 increased people’s interest in the fantasygenre and medieval reenactment societies. As a result, a group of war gam-ing enthusiasts utilized concepts from Tolkien’s work to create the first officialrole-playing game in 1974, Dungeons & Dragons. Though many game com-panies attempted to rival D&D in the next twenty years, the publication ofWhite Wolf ’s Vampire: The Masquerade in 1991 signaled the first major the-matic shift genre-wise in the history of role-playing games. The games inWhite Wolf ’s World of Darkness encouraged players to challenge their par-adigms of reality, morality, and community, fueled by the larger culturalconcerns held by members of Generation X. Advances in video game tech-nology offered additional platforms for RPGs to manifest. Virtual role-playing now exceeds in-person role-playing due to popular games such asWorld of Warcraft. Chapter 1 concludes with a delineation of types of RPGs,including tabletop games, LARP, and virtual role-playing.

Chapter 2, “Role-Playing in Communal Contexts,” explains the manyenvironments that utilize role-playing as a practice. This chapter offers abrief history of the development of improvisational drama, drama ther-apy, educational role-playing, and reenactment societies. The function ofritual is explained, which often involves the enactment of dramatic, arche-typal concepts in order to form a greater sense of communal cohesion. Thechapter concludes by suggesting that role-playing games serve as a mod-ern-day ritual.

Chapter 3, “Interactional Dynamics in Role-Playing Games,” beginsthe ethnographic section of the volume, addressing the potential for RPGsto provide a heightened sense of community. Fantasy reveals obfuscatedelements of reality by encouraging people to see beyond the mundane. Theenactment of roles allows for individuals to adopt a theory of mind forothers and a greater sense of empathy toward them. Many of the role-play-ers in my ethnography report feelings of childhood isolation, and role-playing games provide an outlet for social interaction. RPGs encourageindividuals to enact archetypes and establish social cooperation in orderto achieve a particular goal. Both the content and practice of RPGs reflecta ritual type of performance, as both players and characters must estab-lish a sense of group cohesion to succeed.

Chapter 4, “Role-Playing as Scenario Building and Problem Solving,”

Preface 3

explores the variety of different skills acquired through role-playing sce-narios. These skills fall under several dimensions: personal, interpersonal,cultural, cognitive, and professional. The chapter details the variety ofsocietal locations that utilize role-playing for training purposes, includingmilitary, governmental, educational, corporate, and healthcare applica-tions.

Chapter 5, “Tactical and Social Problem Solving in Role-PlayingGames” explains how role-playing games, though entertaining in nature,also offer the potential for participants to develop these aforementionedskills. The game system provides an elaborate structure that encouragesgamers to evaluate the world in terms of a complex set of rules. RPGs offerextensive scenarios that involve complex puzzles, tactics, and social maneu-vering. These scenarios require the players to develop problem-solvingcapabilities in order to succeed. This chapter utilizes ethnographic data toexplicate the different challenges role-playing games present to players.

Chapter 6, “Role-Playing as Alteration of Identity,” examines theroots of identity alteration, in which an individual creates an alternatesense of self. The section explains forms of childhood play that indicateearly examples of world-building and identity shifting, including pretendplay, paracosms, and Imaginary Friends. The chapter then explains how,even as adults, people enact a variety of different roles in daily life andfurther suggests that every person contains a multiplicity of identities. Thetheory of Dissociative Identity Disorder, which emerges out of studies onpsychological trauma, provides insight into the desire to create multipleselves. Though many of the concepts of dissociative theory are useful forunderstanding role-playing, ultimately, the creation of multiple selves doesnot necessarily result from trauma. The content of these personalities often arises from current cultural symbols and inherent psychologicalarchetypes. By way of example, the chapter details the many “classes” and“races” of Dungeons & Dragons and traces them to earlier roots in culturalhistory.

Chapter 7, “Character Evolution and Types of Identity Alteration”offers an ethnography in which individuals attempt to explain the rela-tionship between their primary selves and their characters. The chapterdescribes the moment in which a character is “born” and how role-play-ers develop the character concept through various character-building activ-ities, including back story writing, costuming, and co-creation with otherrole-players. This section also explains how role-playing characters evolveover time, offering four distinct stages of character development. Thechapter then establishes a typography of role-playing characters. These

4 Preface

types correlate less to inherent archetypes, and more to the relationshipbetween character and player. These categories also offer potential moti-vations for the creation of particular types of personas. The nine types Idescribe are the Doppelganger Self, the Devoid Self, the Augmented Self,the Fragmented Self, the Repressed Self, the Idealized Self, the Opposi-tional Self, the Experimental Self, and the Taboo Self. The enactment ofthese personas changes the role-players’ understanding of themselves andthe world around them. Role-playing characters sometimes live on in theminds of the players long after the game has ended and players can uti-lize these experiences and personas in “real world” situations.

The volume concludes with the thought that the benefits offered byrole-playing in more traditional environments are also offered through theleisure activity of role-playing games. Though mainstream American mediachannels often dismiss involvement in role-playing games as escapist andpotentially dangerous, role-playing encourages creativity, self-awareness,empathy, group cohesion, and “out-of-the-box” thinking. The role-play-ing game platform facilitates the development of various cognitive andsocial skills that remain useful in the “real world.” Thus, participation inrole-playing games should incur a lesser amount of stigma from the largerculture.

Preface 5

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Introduction

Human beings need fantasy for healthy psychic and social life.Regardless of time, space, or cultural background, the constraints of every-day society offer limited roles for people to inhabit. Each of us is expectedto fulfill our assigned duties without complaint or conflict. We experiencethe psychic strain of trying to portray these socially-imposed identity roles,which invariably fall short of who we originally thought we would become.Children often state their dreams for the future at a young age: their desireto become a fireman, a famous singer, a cowboy, etc. If we become lucky,our adult lives will mirror our childhood dreams in some fulfilling way.More often than not, however, we find ourselves forced to make certaincompromises as we shift from the fantasy realm of our childhood dreamsto the reality of the cultural consciousness to which we all must adapt.

Certain cultural expressions give rise to a relaxation of these socialroles, providing a needed release from the expectations of the outsideworld. The pressure of role conformity can diffuse when experiencing cultural forms, such as visual art, novels, theatre, film, music, video games, etc. Many of these art forms feature the journey of characters asthey adventure through the fictional world expressed by the author. Art provides people with a space where they can temporarily suspend their ego-identification in a culturally-tolerated—if not always fully embraced—mode of expression. Some cultural critics proclaim art forms as liberatingto the constrained consciousness of the human mind. Others find such“escapes” from reality potentially dangerous to the ego and threatening tothe fabric of society. Still others worry that excessive indulgence in fan-tasy will blind people from the problems of the everyday world, problems

which should be immediately addressed. Regardless of one’s perspective,fantasy remains a strong element in culture, one worthy of study andimportant for understanding the way people process their experience ofreality.

Cultural forms of art and expressive theater exist cross-culturally.While most of these artistic expressions encourage the artist to presenttheir work to a passive audience, some forms of interactive creativity doexist. One such form has grown in popularity in the last forty years—thepractice of role-playing games (RPGs). Role-playing games offer peoplethe chance to actively take part in their own alternate expressions of iden-tity, exploring parts of themselves that were previously submerged orrepressed by the dominant culture and the requirements of daily roles.Role-playing games exist in many forms, from virtual role-playing to table-top to “live action.” While each type of role-playing offers a unique expe-rience, these games provide a compelling escape from the mundane reality,attracting millions of players worldwide. Unlike the passive experience ofwatching a film or reading a book, these games encourage players to activelytake part in the adventure, sometimes even developing their own storiesand characters.

RPGs also offer a safe, relatively consequence-free space where play-ers can develop certain aspects of themselves. Through role-playing, play-ers learn how to inhabit the headspace of someone other than their primaryego identity, offering them the chance to develop a stronger sense of empa-thy. The shared, performative experience of RPGs provides a ritual atmos-phere for players to enact compelling stories or perform unusual,extraordinary deeds. In this way, RPGs help encourage a sense of commu-nity, by teaching individuals to function as a group. Experiences transpir-ing in RPGs allow players to develop a deeper understanding aboutthemselves and one another during the course of the adventure.

In addition, RPGs provide a space for players to practice certain abil-ities, including personal, interpersonal, cognitive, and even occupationalskills. Gamers role-play out specific scenarios, guided by the game systemand often a referee, known as the Storyteller or Gamemaster. Within thesafe framework of the game, players have the chance to perform certaintasks and learn key skills that can actually translate to “real world” suc-cess in day-to-day life. For example, a player who considers himself shyor awkward in “real life” may learn how to approach social situations withmore confidence through RPGs. The game may force a player to adopt a leadership position within the story and that player must learn those characteristics accordingly. RPGs also provide situations requiring puzzle-

8 Introduction

mastery and systemic thinking, encouraging players to think “outside-the-box” and develop new strategies for problem solving. For this reason, role-playing is considered a worthy practice in several important social arenasaside from leisure, including business, education, military training, psy-chotherapy, etc.

Finally, role-playing games offer individuals the chance to explorenew aspects of themselves and others through a process known as iden-tity alteration. In daily life, we must adopt several social roles in order tofully integrate with society, including: spouse, worker, child, parent, lover,friend, etc. While people may find fulfillment in these roles, many aspectsof the psyche remain suppressed and underdeveloped as we strive to adaptto the demands of the external social world. Fantasy provides an outlet forthese elements of the psyche to find expression, establishing a venue forplayers to develop alternate identities in a safe, controlled space. Whilesome critics consider such behavior “dangerous” to the psyche, many play-ers report developing a better understanding of themselves and others asa result of experiences within role-playing games.

In conclusion, people use fantasy as a means of self-expression andescape from the mundane in all parts of the world. Role-playing games represent both a new development in culture—with the advent ofadvanced, mass-mediated technologies—but also an age-old form of rit-ual performance. While many non-gamers may view participation in RPGsas potentially psychically damaging, this volume offers a myriad of exam-ples to support the notion that these games provide a healthy, useful outlet for creativity, self-expression, communal connection, and the devel-opment of important skills over time.

Introduction 9

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Historical Evolution andCultural Permutations

The subcultural phenomenon of role-playing games (RPGs) is a rel-atively recent development in popular culture. Most gaming historiansindicate 1974 as the pivotal year for the inception of RPGs, marking therelease date of the first coherent game system, Dungeons & Dragons (D&D).The rise in popularity of D&D led to an explosion of different styles ofrole-playing games, including tabletop, Live Action Role-playing (LARP),and virtual gaming. RPGs reflect a variety of different genres with regardto mood and setting, most notably fantasy, science fiction, and horror.Despite the magnitude and variety of these proliferate game systems, a fewcore cultural threads are responsible for providing the original seed forRPGs, as well as their evolution over time. This chapter will attempt todetail these roots, in both their ancient and more recent cultural manifes-tations.

The term “RPG” is used to describe a multitude of practices, rang-ing from pen-and-paper gaming to collectible card games to video gamenarratives. However, I believe that a true “role-playing game” must involvesome combination of the following three major elements. First, a role-play-ing game should establish some sense of community through a ritualized,shared storytelling experience amongst multiple players. RPGs also shouldinvolve some form of game system, which provides the framework for theenactment of specific scenarios and the solving of problems within them.Finally, for a game to be considered “role-playing,” the players must, onsome level, alter their primary sense of identity and develop an alternate

Self through a process known as identity alteration. The players enact thesesecondary Selves in a co-created story space, imagined by both the play-ers and their guide. This guide—also known as the Storyteller, Gamemas-ter, Dungeonmaster, or Referee—weaves the narrative into a coherentwhole and provides final arbitration with regard to conflict resolution andrules.

This chapter explains how role-playing games came to develop. First,it delineates the universal components of RPGs, including role shifting,ritual enactment, narrative construction, and the utilization of archetypalimagery. Next, the chapter describes several cultural threads emerging inAmerican in the last fifty years, including the rise in interest in medievalculture, Neo-paganism, and fantasy fiction; the desire to seek new fron-tiers; the growing disillusionment present in Generation X ; and how Gen-eration Y’s comfort with technology allows them to immerse themselvesin mass numbers in online role-playing worlds. Finally, chapter one delin-eates the three major types of RPGs: tabletop, live action, and virtual gam-ing and explains several related permutations, providing a brief explanationof common vocabulary amongst gamers.

Essential Roots

While the modern formulations of RPGs reflect these specific aspects,role-playing as a practice is, at its root, a fundamental aspect of humansocial interaction. As Erving Goffman describes in his Presentation of Self

in Everyday Life, each social interaction remains, in and of itself, a type ofperformance. We enact our prescribed roles on the stage of social expec-tation, shifting our sense of identity as demanded by circ*mstance. Wemay be asked to embody the roles of child, parent, teacher, or studentdepending on necessity, and we unconsciously shift our behavior to suitthese requirements in order to establish social cohesion. These roles formpoints of identification for the individual. Sociologist Gary Alan Fineexplains the negotiation of these identities in his foundational study Shared

Fantasy: Role-Playing Games as Social Worlds:

The person consists of a bundle of identities that are more or less compat-ible, but which when enacted must presume a lack of awareness that theother identities are possible. The identity enacted is grounded in theassumption that this is the “real” identity, although often the enactor is wellaware that this identity is chosen for purposes of impression management.The task of self-presentation does not merely involve manifesting an appro-priate and coherent identity, but also involves concealing those other identi-ties that are either incompatible or inappropriately keyed.1

12 The Functions of Role-Playing Games

Though this process of managing social roles in daily life often transpireson an unconscious level, certain cultural manifestations reflect a more con-scious shift in identification. Many art forms involve the playful alterationof identity on the part of the artists and performers, particularly creativewriting and theatrical dramatization. Role-playing represents a recent per-mutation in the evolution of such artistic representations and, thus, schol-ars should place it on a continuum with other forms of cultural expression.

The desire to construct narratives is also inherent to the human expe-rience. We formulate stories in order to make sense of our reality, design-ing narrative arcs in a linear fashion. Though we experience an infiniteamount of stimuli throughout our day-to-day lives, the mind is incapableof perceiving this data all at once. Thus, what we define as the consciousSelf is produced through a complex method of filtration and narratiza-tion. We highlight key moments of significance and attempt to string themtogether in terms of some sense of causal logic. These narratives teach uswhere we have been and indicate where we might be headed.

We also learn about ourselves by vicariously experiencing the narra-tives of others, both fictional and non-fictional. Cultural products mani-fest as the creation of such narratives in various formats, includingtheatrical scripts, poetry, novels, screenplays, and other forms of story-driven art. We enact these stories in an attempt to understand the intri-cacies of human experience through the examination of constructedsequences of events and emotional interactions. These narratives aid us inmaking meaning of our own lives and instruct us on the complexities andpotentialities of life. They also provide models for us to either embody oravoid, depending on our reaction to the personalities and events presentedby the storyline.

RPGs allow individuals to participate in the construction of theirown narratives in a group practice of co-creation. In a traditional play,novel, or film, the author uses the medium to communicate a story to themembers of an audience, who experience the narrative in a state of pas-sive observation and are allowed only momentary expressions of affect. Inrole-playing, though an author might have created the original world inwhich the action takes place, the majority of the story develops througha continual process of involved interaction and creativity on the part ofparticipants. Thus, the “audience” of a role-playing game invents the nar-rative as well as experiences it.

The content of these narratives often emerges from deep, archetypalsymbols cultivated from the wells of collective human experience. Myths,epics, and fairy tales often tell recurring types of stories that appeal to

1. Historical Evolution and Cultural Permutations 13

universal aspects of the human condition. As analytical psychologists suchas Carl Jung, Erich Neumann, and Joseph Campbell have suggested, par-ticular narratives tend to emerge cross-culturally, stories that resonate withthe struggles inherent to the nascent development of human conscious-ness. In The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Campbell states,

Throughout the inhabited world, in all times and under every circum-stance, the myths of man have flourished; and they have been the livinginspiration of whatever else may have appeared out of the activities of thehuman body and mind. It would not be too much to say that myth is thesecret opening through which in inexhaustible energies of the cosmos pourinto human cultural manifestation. Religions, philosophies, arts, the socialforms of primitive and historic man, prime discoveries in science and tech-nology, the very dreams that blister sleep, boil up from the basic, magic ringof myth.2

The universal plots of myths deal specifically with threshold moments inwhich the characters must face their own fears and weakness, transcendthe folly of youth, and reemerge into the society with newly developedskills and a sense of responsibility. Each of us must face challenges through-out our lives, moments in which our deeper mettle is tested by environ-mental and internal pressures. These stories represent those challengessymbolically through recurring archetypes and narrative structures.

Rituals involve the enactment of age-old narratives, drawn from mythand other cultural sources. These stories provide necessary models for thecomprehension of the gravity of these newfound social roles. For exam-ple, in Joseph Campbell’s description of the hero’s journey, or monomyth,the individual must depart the land of the familiar and confront a set ofdifficult challenges. In some myths, the hero must defeat a dangerousadversary, often expressed as a dragon or some other embodiment of evil.By defeating such a foe, the individual is proven worthy to lead the peo-ple, creating a sense of hope and communal connection through the tri-als of the rite of passage undergone by the “hero.”

On a personal level, the symbol of the Dragon represents the Shadowside, the repressed aspects of the psyche that the individual finds fearful ordisdainful or frightening. As Jungian theorist Joseph Henderson explains,

The battle between the hero and the dragon ... shows more clearly thearchetypal theme of the ego’s triumph over regressive trends. For more peo-ple the dark or negative side of the personality remains unconscious. Thehero, on the contrary, must realize that the shadow exists and that he candraw strength from it. He must come to terms with its destructive powers ifhe is to become sufficiently terrible to overcome the dragon. I.e., before theego can triumph, it must master and assimilate the shadow.3

14 The Functions of Role-Playing Games

The hero must defeat and absorb these dark, repressed aspects of his orher psyche in order to ascend to a new level of consciousness and socialresponsibility.

These age-old crises are enacted through complex social rituals involv-ing communities of people. Groups of individuals set aside their individ-uality in momentary expressions of solidarity, performing roles necessitatedby the ritual in order to usher one another from one stage of life to thenext. Arnold Van Gennep refers to this process of separation from thesocial order, immersion into a threshold role, and subsequent reintegra-tion into the hierarchies of daily life as liminality.4 The goal of such lim-inal experiences is the creation of a greater sense of social cohesion, aprocess that Victor Turner labels communitas.5 These rituals—also knownas rites of passage—allow the group to collectively acknowledge the tran-sition of individual members from one set of social roles to the next.

Though role-playing games in their current formulation are relativelynew forms of emerging cultural expression, they fall into the category ofritual at their essence. They provide enactments of epic stories in a com-munal context, promoting social cohesion and providing an imaginaryspace of testing and learning for the individuals within a group. As oursociety becomes increasingly secularized, fragmented, and globalized, thetraditional, established rituals of the past are diminishing in universality.Though we still standardize ritualized rites of passage such as graduation,marriage, and funerals, Western society fails to establish a strong sense ofuniversal community, particularly in an urban context. The modern worldprovides a multitude of different forms of social identifications, but ourcommunal activities are relegated mainly to subcultural behavior, eitherin virtual environments or so-called “real world” groups. Because the needfor ritual remains central to the development of social cohesion, we oftennow seek out these threshold experiences in smaller, more specified groupsbased on mutual interest rather than physical location, ethnicity, or otherdemographic identifications.

Role-playing games fulfill the need for modern-day ritual, cultivat-ing the archetypal symbols of myth and providing a co-created social activ-ity for the enactment of meaningful narratives. By descending into“dungeons” and facing “dragons,” players experience a collective heroicjourney. According to Daniel MacKay, popular culture “fails in its essen-tial ritual function” in that the passive consumption of texts provides nospace for the reintegration of the audience back into society after the lim-inal moment.6 “The role-playing game process,” MacKay insists, “is a redi-rection, a reapplication of the energy to possess the creation of the aesthetic

1. Historical Evolution and Cultural Permutations 15

object, a performance, that the players embody.”7 By actively enacting theroles within the framework of the game in groups, role-players experiencethe establishment of a sense of communitas, a much-needed experience inour fragmented, modern world.

Cultural Emergence

Though role-playing games are a form of cultural ritual, they havealso emerged from socio-historic specificities present in the last forty yearsof Western society. As I described, the content of popular role-playinggames, such as Dungeons & Dragons, is often rooted in fundamental sym-bols recurrent throughout human cultural expression. However, the explo-sion of certain generic themes also represents important shifts in modernculture as a whole, and thus, must be placed in its proper context. Main-stream society often marginalizes role-players, but this practice, whichmany view as a fringe activity, taps both into the fundamental need forhumans to enact narratives but also into important threads emerging fromWestern cultural identity.

The chronological development of the major themes inherent in mod-ern role-playing games reflects important shifts in Western society and themodern psyche. Dungeons & Dragons allows a group of adventurers to col-lectively experience the hero’s journey, providing a ritualized space for anew manifestation of traditional rites of passage. The popularity of such stories, however, also emerged as a result of the mainstreaming of thework of J.R.R. Tolkien. The Lord of the Rings enjoyed widespread paper-back release in 1965, sparking a revival of interest in mythological, heroic,and chivalric themes. As MacKay explains, “After its publication in paper-back, Tolkien’s work became tremendously popular, especially on collegecampuses in America during the late 1960s and early 1970s. The paper-back ... went through twenty-five successive printings by 1969!”8 The suc-cess of Tolkien’s work inspired a surge in demand for other works of fantasyfiction and the genre flourished.

The creators of the original Dungeons & Dragons, E. Gary Gygax andDave Arneson, drew heavily from Tolkien when developing the standard-ized character races and classes. However, D&D represents what MacKayrefers to as a “pastiche” of several works of fantasy literature.9 Releasednearly a decade after the paperback version of The Lord of the Rings, theauthors drew from a multitude of popular sources. Gygax details other“immediate influences ... [that] certainly helped to shape the form of thegame,” such as various war histories and the fantasy work of L. Sprague

16 The Functions of Role-Playing Games

de Camp, Fletcher Pratt, Robert E. Howard, Fritz Leiber, Jack Vance, H.P.Lovecraft, and A. Meritt.10 As MacKay suggests, “The trend was to createrole-playing games based on works of literature ... this trend also appliesto the comic book influence.” The RPG Pendragon (1985), for example,found influences in the works of Chretien de Troyes, Sir Thomas Malory,and Lord Alfred Tennyson. William Gibson’s fiction inspired certain sci-ence fiction RPGs, such as Cyberpunk (1988).11 Call of Cthulhu, a horrorgenre RPG, replicated several of H.P. Lovecraft’s stories and cast playersas intrepid investigators, enacting scenarios based on that universe.12

Concurrent to the rise in popularity of fantasy fiction, new paradigmswere spreading throughout America in the sixties. Hippie culture inspireda revision of traditional forms of ideology, including the critique of whatsome considered oppressive religious practices. Neo-paganism emerged,ushering forth a renewed interest in tribal communities, pre–Christianreligions, and the potentialities of so-called “magic.” In her discussionregarding the work of influential author Marion Zimmer Bradley, CarrolFry describes the overall relationship between Neo-paganism and the devel-opment of the fantasy genre:

Neo-paganism has quickly become the grist for the popular fiction mill....In fact, the use of Neo-pagan ideas in myth and fiction offers a fascinatingstudy of the rapid adaptation of a cultural movement by writers. Perhapsbecause of the close tie between Neo-pagan beliefs and western and literaryfolk traditions—and perhaps because of Pagan’s love of medievalism—writ-ers of heroic fantasy have learned to use the Craft, as practitioners call it, asthe frame for their works.13

Though not all fantasy authors from this period—including Bradley—would describe themselves as Neo-pagan, the “new religious movements”influenced the overall interest in alternate spiritual beliefs and acceptanceof controversial concepts like magic.

The rebellion from the rigidity of fifties ideological structures inspiredpeople to reinvent themselves in a variety of ways. Several subculturalgroups erupted as a result. Scholarly manifestations dedicated to study ofthe works of Tolkien and other fantasy authors emerged, such as theMythopoeic Society in 196714 and the Tolkien Society in 1969.15 Re-enact-ment groups also rose in popularity, including Renaissance Faires, histor-ical war simulations, and medieval recreation groups like the Society forCreative Anachronism (SCA). Founded in 1966, the SCA originatedamongst friends “as a medieval-style going-away party,” eventually grow-ing into a non-profit educational society. According to Thomas Stallone,as of 2003, the SCA boasted 29,600 paying members and 50,000 total

1. Historical Evolution and Cultural Permutations 17

participating members worldwide.16 Stallone describes the overall goal ofparticipants in SCA in the following passage:

This “modern” medieval world doesn’t pretend to recreate the MiddleAges as they were—a life often laced with elements of squalor—but rather,these groups strive to create an idealized version of medieval life emulatingchivalry, honor, courtesy, beauty, and grace without such inconveniences asthe Black Plague, Inquisitions, and intercultural strife. Participation allowspeople to enjoy an alternative world, experienced fully (in contrast to livingsemi-vicariously through video games).17

Stallone further explains that SCA members develop an “alter-ego thatgradually evolves, much as a child would develop into adulthood, wroughtfrom the social and historical influences of living within this shared alter-nate reality.”18 This statement also describes the process involved in thedevelopment of a character in a RPG, though, technically, the first RPGwas published eight years after the foundation of the SCA. Though theSCA remains more of a subcultural social group than a structured “game,”the experimental nature of reenactment societies did contribute to thedevelopment of RPGs.

One form of reenactment group that grew popular during this timewas the war game. Military groups have utilized games such as chess inorder to train soldiers in strategy for centuries. According to David Pringle,aside from chess, the first recorded military simulation game, Kriegspiel,was written in 1824 Prussia.

These battle scenarios eventually developedinto two civilian subcultural activities: miniature war games and board wargames. In both styles of gaming, individuals pitted armies against oneanother, playing out potential outcomes.20

Dungeons & Dragons sprouted as a collision of Tolkien-inspiredthemes and tactical simulation games. A group of gamers from the Min-neapolis/St. Paul area sought to complexify the original miniature reen-actments, influenced by concepts arising from game theory. These playersinnovated strategy games in four specific ways: they introduced the roleof an impartial referee; they began to identify their sense of self withinthe role of one specific miniature rather than an entire army; they charteda storyline over time, creating a “campaign” rather than a single battle;and they established an open setting, in which characters could performa multitude of actions beyond fighting. One of the most dedicated TwinCities referees, Dave Arneson, devised a heroic fantasy setting for his play-ers called Blackmoor. According to RPG historian Lawrence Schick, thecharacters in Blackmoor “were hurled into the distant past where mon-sters roamed and magic worked.”21 The characters could improve over

18 The Functions of Role-Playing Games

time as they practiced their skills and adventured in vast labyrinths, alsoknown as dungeons.

The players eventually demanded a greater sense of consistency incombat and event resolution, desiring a standardized system of rules. Arne-son enlisted the help of Wisconson-based gamer E. Gary Gygax. Gygaxhad co-created a miniature system called Chainmail. Drawing heavily fromthe thematic content of Tolkien, Chainmail included hobbits, dwarves,goblins, orcs, and other races. The characters in Chainmail could also usemagic, a new innovation to typical war game scenarios. Gygax and Arne-son formed the publishing company Tactical Studies Rules (TSR), and,blending the Chainmail rules with the Blackmoor setting, Dungeons &

Dragons was born in January 1974. Many imitators have subsequentlyreleased competing RPGs, but Dungeons & Dragons in its various editionsremains dominant in popularity. White Wolf Games established theirWorld of Darkness in the early nineties, however, and their RPGs haverivaled D&D in popularity for almost two decades.22

Though the fantasy genre remains the popular theme for RPGs todate, the eighties ushered forth the development of science fiction role-playing games. The growing interest in the relationship between humanbeings and technology paralleled the popularization of the use of personalcomputers and telecommunications. As advanced forms of technologybecame more available in modern society, humans began to integrate thesenew means of media and expression into daily life. The science fiction set-ting of games such as Traveller, Shadowrun, and Star Trek provided anoutlet for players to explore the complexity of the relationship betweentechnology and human experience. Though science fiction narratives oftenvary in theme and content, they tend to deal most specifically with theimpending issues created by modern technology. The genre investigatesthe degree to which the consistent integration of machines and the alter-ation of the self through technological means might distance us from theessence of humanity. Thus, science fiction as genre reflects the ambiva-lence of the modern condition with regard to the supposed progress ofrapid technological advance.

Science fiction also offers an exploration of potential worlds beyondour own. The moon landing in 1969 proved that space travel was tenableand colonization of other worlds possible. Contemporary science fictiontexts such as the television show Star Trek attempted to conceptualize thepotentialities of interactions with other planets in the universe, famouslyreferring to space as “the final frontier” in the opening credits. The twen-tieth century brought the rise of globalization, cultural cross-pollination,

1. Historical Evolution and Cultural Permutations 19

technological advancement, and ease of transportation. Previouslyuncharted territories on the globe were discovered, infiltrated, and in manycases, consumerized. The mysteries of the world became less mysterious,yet human imagination still craved adventure: “to boldly go where no onehas gone before.”

Science fiction scholar Garyn Roberts suggests, “As human beings,our frontiers have shifted continuously, and so have our mindsets regard-ing who and what we are in the greater scheme of the universe.”23 Role-playing provides an outlet for this desire to explore new frontiers, usingthe imagination, the ritual of communal play, and the settings of the gamesystem as a conduit. As D&D creator Gygax explains:

Our modern world has few, if any, frontiers. We can no longer escape tothe frontier of the West, explore Darkest Africa, sail to the South Seas. EvenAlaska and the Amazon Jungles will soon be lost as wild frontier areas. Fur-thermore, adventures are not generally possible anymore.... It is thereforescarcely surprising that a game which directly involves participants in amake-believe world of just such nature should prove popular.24

Science fiction and fantasy as genres emphasize the thrill of adventure andexploration, situations that afford the characters the chance to act in heroicor at least extraordinary ways and make an impact on the world aroundthem. The investigation of the “dungeon” and the exploration of new plan-ets and life forms serve as metaphors for this concept of the new frontier,as does traversing the very bounds of the human imagination in the safespace of the game.

One innovation arising from the science fiction theme in RPGs wasthe development of “skill-based” game systems as opposed to so-called“class-and-level” systems. Essentially, modern characterizations of identityresist the cookie cutter archetypes of the fantasy genre. Instead, sciencefiction characters were offered a variety of skills and could customize theirspecialties according to the demands of the story and their character back-ground.25 This skill-based format inspired players to achieve new levels ofcreativity and to develop more complex stories with regard to characterdevelopment. Skill-based character creation also reflected a more modernconceptualization of personality. Rather than relegated to predefined socialroles based on profession and social status, modern society allows for morevaried interests, identities, and personality characteristics, reflected in thisenhanced form of customization that later game systems provided.

The late eighties and nineties ushered in a new era of games reflect-ing many of the motifs present in so-called Generation X. These hyper-conscious individuals perceived the degradation of the world around them

20 The Functions of Role-Playing Games

in terms of the greed, corruption, and destruction of the environmentbrought on by the “mentality of excess” of the Baby Boomers. DouglasCoupland’s character Andy details this critique of excess in his definitivenovel, Generation X:

“‘God, Margaret. You really have to wonder why we even bother to get upin the morning. I mean, really: Why work? Simply to buy more stuff? That’sjust not enough. Look at us all. What’s the common assumption that got usall from here to there? What makes us deserve the ice cream and runningshoes and wool Italian suits we have? I mean, I see all of us working so hardto acquire so much stuff, but I can’t help feeling that we didn’t merit it....’”26

Gen Xers also became painfully aware of their own participation in thenegative developments of the modern world, such as the exploitation andoppression of marginalized social groups. The guilt inspired by such aware-ness found outlets in popular culture, as Gen Xers felt compelled to exposetheir deeper issues in a confessional manner.

Coupland delineates Gen Xers as those born “in the late 1950s and1960s,” which would adequately describe many of the individuals partic-ipating in role-playing games throughout the seventies and eighties.According to Catherine Martin:

The youth of Generation X were exposed to crass consumerism in themarketing of expensive action figures; preestablished hierarchies; machineculture; and an emphasis on masculine characteristics, aggression, theimportance of power and wealth, and human powerlessness. The boys werenot merely passive recipients of these messages, however, but learned tomanipulate and reject them.... As adolescents, they reacquired some of theirpower and creativity as human beings through their role games, playedamong themselves with rules manipulated by them and a Dungeonmasterchosen by them.27

While fantasy and science fiction allowed players to reclaim this sense ofpersonal power and creativity, the horror/gothic-punk genre served as amore direct thematic response to the concerns of Generation X. Role-play-ing games such as White Wolf ‘s Vampire: The Masquerade (1991) surgedin popularity during the nineties and in the early part of the twenty-firstcentury, thematically exploring this sense of hyperawareness and critiqueof power, consumption, and greed. Vampire, along with the other gamesin the World of Darkness, presented a fight against the overwhelming senseof “evil” and self-interest that have become prevalent in the modern world.However, these qualities are not simply embodied in an external “dragon”to be slain, but are specifically present within the self. Unlike games suchas Dungeons & Dragons, in which characters tend to face external mani-

1. Historical Evolution and Cultural Permutations 21

festations of absolute forms of evil, the World of Darkness focuses on bothinner and outer struggles. While characters vie for dominance amongst eachother, responding to the deterioration of the moral and spiritual values ofthe world, they also must battle their own cynical and exploitative natures,attempting to regain some sense of moral conscience. Thus, Vampire rep-resents a more introspective form of role-playing when compared to pre-vious RPG offerings.

The creators of Vampire: The Masquerade subtitle their RPG “A Sto-rytelling Game of Personal Horror.”28 The horror genre, though fantasticin nature, as it often deals with the supernatural, taps into the darkeraspects of our own unconscious. Horror forces us to encounter the sym-bolic content of nightmares made manifest, such as vampires, werewolves,wraiths, zombies, etc. However, White Wolf more specifically describesits World of Darkness as “gothic-punk,” merging the conventions ofGothic Romanticism with a modern punk aesthetic. The game designersdescribe the setting in the following manner:

The world of Vampire is not our world—at least not quite. It is a Gothic-Punk vision of our world, a place of extremes—monolithic, majestic andaltogether twisted. The government is corrupt, the culture is bankrupt, andthe decadent mortals revel in the flames of the final days. It is a world wherethe forces of evil and entropy are even more powerful than they are in ourworld. It is a world of darkness.29

Thus, White Wolf presents a narrative of personal horror, but not in themindless “slasher” variety of the genre.

While the hero’s journey often portrays a clear cut Good versus Evilscenario, in which the hero triumphs over the externalized Evil foe, thehorror genre often forces the individual to confront Evil within the Selfand the paralysis caused by terror. Werewolves, for example, face the chal-lenge of shifting from the human to the bestial, often losing control oftheir conscience and consciousness in the process. Similarly, vampires mustnegotiate their predatory nature with their sense of compassion; forced tosubsist on the life force of humans, they remain covetous of human inno-cence and face serious moral quandaries with regard to their own behav-ior. The popularity of White Wolf ’s World of Darkness, therefore, can beattributed to the themes inherent to the horror genre resonating stronglywith the moral concerns and sense of guilt experienced by Gen Xers.

Since their inception in the early seventies, RPGs have emphasized threemajor generic themes: fantasy, science fiction, and horror. Each of these gen-res activates particularly powerful aspects of the human psyche. Fantasy tapsinto the deep well of the collective unconscious, calling forth the age-old

22 The Functions of Role-Playing Games

archetypes and myths inherent in ancient storytelling practices. The contentof fantasy will always find relevance to human beings because these mytho-logical symbols represent, in Erich Neumann’s terms, the three most impor-tant and eternal threshold experiences of human existence: the processes ofbirth, maturation, and death. Science fiction offers an exploration of the rela-tionship between human beings and technology in an age of increasingreliance upon machines. Horror allows people to confront the monstrous,both internally and externally. Thus, the history of role-playing games withregard to thematic popularity reflects both universal aspects of the humanpsyche and culturally specific ones. Regardless of the content of RPGs, how-ever, the practice provides a much needed outlet for shared, performativeexploration and lends to the potential for enhanced communal cohesion.

RPGs have exploded in popularity in online environments in recentyears. These games are particularly appealing to individuals from Gener-ation Y—individuals born in the early eighties and later—who fluidlyintegrate technology into their lives. As Rebecca Huntley describes in The

World According to Generation Y: Inside the New Adult Generation:

[Generation Y] is clearly the most technologically savvy generation yet, agroup that has never known a world without remote controls, CDs, cableTV and computers.... Gen Y’s understanding and early adoption of newtechnologies goes beyond its seemingly unique capacity to program thehousehold DVD. Generation Y’s mastery of and reliance on technology hasaltered the way it views time and space.30

This shift in perception of time and space mixed with immersion intotechnology attracts Gen Yers to online role-playing environments.

Online games like Everquest and World of Warcraft tend to focus lesson in-depth character development and more on the instant gratificationof conquest and reward. The perception of many gamers who prefer per-son-to-person role-playing is that virtual environments can reduce thecomplexity and community building aspects of the experience. In an inter-view for Uber Goober, a 2004 documentary on RPGs, Gygax claims:

The modern hobby gaming industry is not going much of any placebecause of the severe competition from electronic games. Home computergames are going to be like the feature film industry in their popularity. Lotsof people play. Even more popular are going to be the online games; that’sthe television of gaming. And then, I’m afraid, that the Broadway theater isthe in-person, paper-and-pencil gaming. The finest experience, but rela-tively small.31

The first computer-based RPGs emerged in the 1970s, around thesame time as the pen-and-paper games.32 However, recent technological

1. Historical Evolution and Cultural Permutations 23

advances in graphical realism and game engine streamlining have increasedplayer interest in these forms of RPGs. As Gygax rightly asserts, the majority of gaming designated as “role-playing” now transpires in onlineenvironments. According to Blizzard Entertainment, the design teamresponsible for World of Warcraft (WoW), paid subscriptions to the gameexceeded ten million in January of 2008. This number does not reflectplayers who utilize each other’s accounts. Blizzard reports, “Since debut-ing in North America on November 23, 2004, World of Warcraft hasbecome the most popular MMORPG around the world. It was the best-selling PC game of 2005 and 2006 worldwide, and finished behind onlyWorld of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, the first expansion pack for thegame, in 2007.”33 According to these statistics, more users purchased WoW,

a Dungeons & Dragons–based Massively Multi-Player Online RPG(MMORPG), than any other style of computer game. Comparable sta-tistics for in-person RPGs are more difficult to acquire, as player often sharematerials and rarely systemize records of their gaming behavior on anysort of centralized computer database. Regardless, the assumption remainsthat the majority of RPG activity currently takes place in online environ-ments.

Other influences, such as improvisational theater troupes and theinception of psychodrama, led to the creation of role-playing games. I willdetail these factors more extensively in Chapter 2.

Form and Structure

Role-playing games take place in a variety of different formats bothin-person and online. The following descriptions provide a basic vocab-ulary and outline the structure within which most RPGs fall. I delineatethree major areas of gaming—tabletop, live action, and virtual.

Tabletop Role-Playing

Tabletop role-playing refers to any number of games played, gener-ally, in groups of less than twelve. Tabletop RPGs resemble board games,where players sit and relax while maneuvering pieces on a board. Table-top war games, such as Warhammer, involve the strategic placement ofsmall figurines on an imagined battlefield. Warhammer players rarely wearcostumes, though they often paint their battle figurines with a painstak-ing amount of detail. Though war gamers do not consistently enact indi-vidual roles, they may invent extensive back stories to explain the historyof the battles and the heroic characters within them.

24 The Functions of Role-Playing Games

Most tabletop gaming, though, refers to the role-play format popu-larized by Dungeons & Dragons, which involves one player officiating theprocess for a group of participants. This individual was originally dubbedthe Dungeonmaster (DM), though gamers often prefer using the termsGamemaster (GM), Storyteller (ST), or Referee. The Storyteller overseesthe world of the game and is often responsible for inventing the metaplot

that ties the universe together. This metaplot is also known as the Cam-

paign or Chronicle.Some Storytellers rely primarily on stock characters and modules as the

source of the metaplot: pre-formulated personalities and story lines orig-inally published by game designers. Stock characters flesh out the socialworld of the game and are called Non-player Characters (NPCs), mean-ing that the Storyteller enacts them. Storytellers also commonly invent theirown NPCs to serve as villains, allies, mentors, family members, and retain-ers. However, NPCs can also remain neutral or apathetic to the desires ofthe Player Characters (PCs). Modules are self-contained scenarios offeredby the game designers as suggested adventures for the Storyteller to run.Many new Storytellers cut their teeth on modules and then expand theplot with their own creations; others never need these tools.

Regardless of the extent to which the Storyteller relies on the gamedevelopers for inspiration, the players must agree to a game system of somesort. The game system provides a set of rules that all performed actions inthe world must obey. Many RPGs integrate some form of magic or advancedtechnology that allows the characters to perform remarkable actions. Thegame system establishes how such feats are possible within a set of govern-ing laws called mechanics. Mechanics are often mathematical in nature,delineating the structure of the game through an elaborate, numerical point

system. Players utilize this point system during character creation and whenattempting to succeed at particular actions. The points alone, however, donot generally dictate the results of a player’s actions. Most role-playing sys-tems also involve a complex method of action-resolution called fortune. Inmost tabletop systems, like Dungeons & Dragons and Vampire: the Masquer-

ade, the Storyteller and the players roll many-sided dice in order to reflectfortune. The game system establishes which numbers on the dice represent“success” at any given action. Recent versions of Dungeons & Dragons, forexample, rely almost exclusively on d20s, or twenty-sided dice. On theother hand, games designed by White Wolf Studios, like Vampire, only used10s—ten-sided dice—for fortune resolution. The amount of dice allowedto attempt an action is called the dice pool; the player rolls the amount ofdice in the pool and the Storyteller interprets the results.

1. Historical Evolution and Cultural Permutations 25

The game system is the major element separating an RPG from thegeneral practice of pretend play. Children often engage in pretend playwithout adhering to any set list of rules, changing the laws of reality asthey go along. Older gamers, though, tend to desire an established systemin order to prove whether they succeed or fail at a task and by what meas-urement. Many players become emotionally invested in their characters,dedicating large amounts of time to the background, characterization, andevolution of their persona. The game system provides a source of securityfor gamers; if the villain in the story wins a battle and a character dies,the player may need established verification that they, indeed, failed. Thegame system provides that verification and represents a social contract ofsorts. The Storyteller is considered god-like in the game world—omnis-cient and all-powerful. However, the ST should never alter this social con-tract without first informing the players, as the literal life-and-death oftheir characters may depend upon an agreement and understanding of therules. Thus, gamers will often pour countless hours into memorizing therules of that particular universe.

In most RPGs, the next step of the process is compiling a character

sheet, which delineates the statistics (or stats) of the character. Stats are gen-erally based on a complex method of point allocation detailed by the gamesystem.34 The Vampire character sheet provides numerical values for Attrib-utes and Abilities. Attributes describe a character’s inherent stats: physical-based characters allocate their points primarily into Strength, Dexterity,and Stamina; social-based characters favor skills such as Manipulation,Charisma, and Appearance; and mental-based characters focus on Percep-tion, Intelligence, and Wits. Abilities refer to the Skills, Talents, and Knowl-edges a character has obtained. Sample abilities include: Melee, Dodge,Stealth, Etiquette, Investigation, Academics, Empathy, and Subterfuge.35

The Vampire character sheet also includes other important personal-ity aspects. The clan indicates the type of bloodline from which the vam-pire originates; I primarily play Toreador vampires, a clan oriented towardthe creation and preservation of art. Though some players do “play againsttype,” one’s clan generally offers important role-play direction. Toreadorcharacters, for example, tend to act effete and snobbish regardless of theirpersonal artistic ability. Thus, the clan represents an established archetypefor the character to either adopt or reject. Each clan also possesses inher-ent supernatural abilities with ascending levels of power, or ranks. Mem-bers of the Toreador clan are inherently capable to move at supernaturalspeed (Celerity), perceive beyond the material plane (Auspex), and inspirestrong emotions in others (Presence).36

26 The Functions of Role-Playing Games

The Vampire system also offers archetypes more specific to the indi-vidual character, described as one’s Nature and Demeanor. A character’sNature is their true self, the personality aspects that describe their innersubjectivity. One’s Demeanor, however, is the face the character presentsto the outside world.37 Thus, Vampire specifically—and games created byWhite Wolf in general—immediately force players to begin to think abouttheir character as a layered, multi-faceted being upon character creation.Role-playing characters, like real-life personas, are often complex and evencontradictory, as differing aspects of self emerge depending on the require-ments of particular social and personal situations.

When players are in-character (IC), they are actively portraying theircharacter’s persona. In tabletop, a person can perform an action IC sim-ply by describing that action in the first or third person. For example, I,as a player, can describe my character’s actions in two ways: “I’m going toattempt to seduce the waiter so he’ll allow me to drink his blood” or“Viviane seduces the waiter.” The Storyteller will then ask, “How will youattempt to do this?” My response would be, “I will use the third rank ofPresence, Entrancement, to enthrall him for hours” or “She uses Entrance-ment.” The Storyteller will then ask me to roll a certain number of dice,in this case equal to the die pools necessary for Entrancement: my char-acter’s Appearance score added to her Empathy score.38 If my characterhas four ranks in Appearance and three ranks in Empathy, I would roll7d10, or seven ten-sided dice. A “success” in Vampire is usually indicatedby rolling a six or above on a d10. Simplistically speaking, if I roll sevendice, and four of those dice read six or above, I made four successes onmy roll, which translates to performing well in this circ*mstance.

While some players simply describe their IC actions to the Storyteller,they may also “act out” their scenes in tabletop, at least verbally. In thetabletop Vampire Chronicle in which I participated for over seven years,characters would often engage in lengthy IC conversations with the Sto-ryteller’s NPCs. If, during the course of this role-play, the player wishesto use a specific ability, the Storyteller may “break character” to ask for aroll, but this rolling does not disturb the flow of the interaction. Otherplayers may talk to each other in- or out-of-character while such role-playtranspires, but the Storyteller must keep tight rein over completely OOCconversation in order to avoid derailing the game.

Live Action Role-Playing

Live Action Role-playing (LARP) refers to a more physical form ofperformance, often involving the donning of elaborate costuming and

1. Historical Evolution and Cultural Permutations 27

moving around in the designated game space. I will designate three majortypes of LARP: Renaissance Faires, reenactment societies, and theatricalRPGs.

The character enactment at Renaissance Faires can only be looselyaffiliated with role-playing, as it tends to require no game system for par-ticipation. The Faire itself hires actors to enact staged performances andadopt improvised roles, which is more akin to theater than the more loosecreativity of a RPG. Other performers will play the roles of psychics,astrologers, and merchants, though to what degree these participants asso-ciate their primary sense of selves with their performed personas varies.Attendees of the Faire often don costumes and sometimes refer to them-selves by an alias, though to what degree they “act out” their role alsovaries.

Renaissance Faires, though, are important to include in the role-play-ing continuum. Not only do many role-players avidly attend them, butRenfaires also resemble reenactment societies. Re-enactment societies takemany forms. Some of these groups attempt to recreate history with a highlevel of verisimilitude, like acting out battles from the Civil War. Othergroups, such as the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA) provide aspace for participants to re-imagine the past and transport themselves toan idealized version of the European Renaissance or the Middle Ages.Activities in the SCA range from full-armored battle with rattan weaponsto crafting to costuming to vocal and theatrical performance.39 Similargroups, such as Amtgard40 and the High Fantasy Society,41 focus prima-rily on the enactment of fighting in a fantasy context. Unlike SCA role-players, Amtgarders use foam bats rather than rattan and do not generallydon extensive armor.42

Regardless of the manifestation, reenactment societies tend to empha-size the physical performance of imagined battles within a particular ruleset. Though participants often adopt character names and associate thesepersonas with archetypes, the distinction between their primary selves andthe character is often blurry. However, many LARPs establish an elabo-rate social hierarchy, including the nomination of Kings/Queens of theKingdom and a long apprenticeship progression from Squirehood toKnighthood in a number of skills.43

The third style of LARP is theatrical in nature and emphasizes char-acter development over combat reenactment. White Wolf converted theirtabletop games into a more workable system for a Live Action setting ina series of books called Mind’s Eye Theatre.44 The specific use of the word“theatre” in this style of LARP encourages players to understand their

28 The Functions of Role-Playing Games

action as performance and more fully play the role of their character. Play-ers in Mind’s Eye Theatre are less likely to describe their characters’ actionsin the third person and more likely to literally “act out” their role. How-ever, any use of weapons or violence is strictly prohibited by the game sys-tem, so some actions are relegated to description. The game world is similarto the tabletop versions, except the mechanics are slightly different. Forexample, instead of rolling dice, which can be cumbersome and easy tolose in a live action setting, conflict resolution is simplified by the use ofrock-paper-scissors.

Not all theatrical LARPs thematically reflect the gothic genre, but dueto the huge popularity of Mind’s Eye Theatre, the majority of populargames are based in the World of Darkness. Access to White Wolf gamingmaterials is easy and gaming shops tend to carry, and subsequently sell,large amounts of them. Theatrical LARPs can take place in any dwelling,though I do think the OOC setting of the game slightly influences themood and capacity for immersion. I myself have attended LARPs in res-idential homes, parking lots, and college campuses. The environment thatworked best for the Vampire theme was the Student Union at the Univer-sity of Texas at Austin, which offered wood-paneled walls and wrought-iron chandeliers, adding to the ambiance of the genre.

Another form of theatrical LARP is cosplay, in which players performcharacters from Japanese animation (anime). Central to the activity of cos-play is elaborate costuming, though some cosplays are enacted using a gamesystem. Costuming also takes place at conventions (cons). Cons are similarto Renfaires in that they tend to be consumer-oriented. At conventions,fans of a particular genre or popular culture text gather together in orderto share their interests. Merchants sell related goods and special guest starsare often hired to perform or sign autographs. Though attendees may donelaborate costumes and adopt alternate names, full role-play tends to belimited at cons, unless the gathering is specific to gaming. However, theseactivities can allow for a shift in identity and the establishment of a senseof community, even without the boundaries of a game system.

Virtual Role-Playing

The following section delineates the variety of formats of role-play-ing in virtual environments. As with the sections regarding person-to-per-son RP, this list is intended to provide overarching generalizations ratherthan a comprehensive survey. Video gaming is hugely popular and themarket balloons daily, offering a myriad of titles with various settings,themes, and styles of play.

1. Historical Evolution and Cultural Permutations 29

When some gamers hear the term RPG, they more readily think ofvirtual games than those performed person-to-person. In the video gameworld, a RPG refers to a style of game based on specific elements of Dun-

geons & Dragons. Characters adventure through a virtual universe fightingmonsters, gaining experience, improving their stats, gaining levels, andacquiring special items that either enhance their power or increase theirwealth. For both in-person and virtual games, this model is referred to ashack-and-slash, or leveling.

Video game RPGs manifest in a variety of formats but the most pop-ular ones include some element of hack-and-slash. Single-player RPGs forconsoles or the computer tend to run the characters through a predeter-mined storyline. These games include one or several protagonists, andthough the player’s perspective may shift between characters, the playerhas little-to-no control over the progression of the story. The popular Final

Fantasy series follows this structure. Most Final Fantasy adventures pres-ent a hybrid fantasy/science fiction narrative, though the main characteris almost always male and the storyline roughly follows some version ofthe mythic hero’s journey. The recent Fable offers more variety in the story,as the main character, still male, is offered the chance to perform a mul-titude of actions, each of which mark him on a continuum between goodand evil. Thus, player decisions directly affect some aspects of the storyprogression. Also, unlike Final Fantasy, players can physically alter theFable character, changing his hairstyle and marking him with tattoos oftheir choosing. Despite this enhanced flexibility, the game still follows thetypical hack-and-slash style and is focused on single-player immersion.

Online virtual gaming environments fall into two major categories:text-based and visual-based, also called “graphical.” Similar to the generalprogression of Western culture from a print culture to a visual culture, theemphasis of online role-playing games has shifted from a primarily text-based medium to a graphical one. As technology advances, media artistscan more accurately depict alternate realities utilizing a digital format.Game designers can now render magic and advanced technologies visu-ally rather than merely textually, offering some level of imagined mime-sis. Thus, many gamers have abandoned the previously popular text-basedworlds in favor of newer, more visually evocative ones.

Online role-playing games typically follow the quest-based, hack-and-slash model. The text-based model of this style of RPG is the Multi-User Dungeons (MUD). Multiple players log into a MUD and level aloneor in groups. On most MUDs, players can create a description for theircharacters, but otherwise have little role in shaping the game universe.

30 The Functions of Role-Playing Games

The game world is preprogrammed with monsters, rooms, and items.However, if a player is given Immortal, or Wizard status, they gain theability to create items, run quests, etc. In virtual worlds, Immortals servethe function of Storyteller, though the MUD code allows players to levelwithout facilitation by another person.

A MOO (MUD Object Oriented) removes the leveling element fromonline role-playing and allows the players greater freedom in the sharedcreation of the world. MOOs permit players to make rooms, items, androbots. Robots are primitive, programmable AI machines that, at leastsuperficially, can appear and respond like “real” players. On MUDs, robotsare preprogrammed and are referred to as mobs (mobile objects) or “mon-sters.” Players can barter with some mobs for goods and services, thoughmost monsters exist specifically for players to kill in order to gain experi-ence. Occasionally, an Immortal will inhabit a mob in order to run a questor otherwise communicate with a player, but generally these creatures arelimited in interaction and movement. A MOO, however, allows the playerto sculpt the robot, offering more flexibility in their own creation of vir-tual representation. In a sense, mobs and robots are the NPCs of the vir-tual world. Another user-generated variant is called a Multi-User SharedHallucination (MUSH). A MUSH provides even greater flexibility inobject-creation than a MOO. MOOs and MUSHs allow for intensive cus-tomization of the virtual space, adding to the potential experience ofimmersion.

These two basic text-based formats for online role-playing later evolvedinto graphical counterparts. MUDs developed into Massively Multi-UserOnline Role-playing Games (MMORPGs) such as the hugely popularEverquest and World of Warcraft. Like their MUD brethren, MMORPGsfavor hack-and-slash, quest-based scenarios and are played either alone orin a group. Also like MUDs, MMORPGs tend to downplay character devel-opment, even on game servers specifically created to encourage role-play-ing. MOOs evolved into MMOs, which aesthetically appear similar toMMORPGs but contain no pre-programmed game system per se.

One advantage virtual environments have over person-to-person role-playing is that they offer players the opportunity to alternately representtheir physical self beyond the realm of costuming. Even if online gamersdo not always develop elaborate storylines for their characters, they stillcreate a virtual Self that appears fundamentally different from their phys-ical Self by virtue of its digitally rendering. This virtual Self is referred toas an avatar. Through the use of avatars, a participant in an online envi-ronment can represent the self as an alternate gender, race, ethnicity, or

1. Historical Evolution and Cultural Permutations 31

even species. Avatars on fantasy games such as World of Warcraft tend tofall into mythic archetypal representations such as elves, dwarves, etc. TheMMO Second Life offers far greater customization of avatars. Second Life

is similar to a MOO in that players can take part in the creation of analternate universe without the hack-and-slash gaming element.

Some gamers role-play in simple chat rooms, instant messaging pro-grams, or over email. Others prefer online bulletin-boards (or forums). Bul-letin boards allow picture and file attachments, as well as the manipulationof the font, color, and size of the text. Role-play in these environments isalso called play-by-post, where the other players need not respond imme-diately. Forum role-play and discussion sometimes accompanies otherforms of role-playing. For example, a LARP that only meets once or twicea month can utilize an online forum to fill in story gaps and enact scenesin between game sessions. Bulletin boards offer the chance for relation-ships to be cemented, drama to unfold, and pieces of story to be exposedthat players never would have explored in the live action format due totime constraints. The presentation of an avatar allows for enhanced immer-sion. The reference point for the characters is no longer the physical man-ifestation of the players themselves but the iconic representation of theavatar. The format forces the players to describe their actions, enhancingthe experience by emphasizing the creative expression of language, anaspect that often gets lost in graphical representations.

Psychological Pleasures

This plethora of role-playing formats leads me to believe that gam-ing has the potential to fulfill a multitude of enjoyments. For some, thepleasure of role-play lies primarily in the development of story and char-acter. For others, the strategic elements of problem solving, scenario build-ing, and skill acquisition provide a challenge and subsequent sense ofaccomplishment upon success. Others primarily value the IC and OOCsocial interactions and feel that gaming is a relaxing way to cement friend-ships and feel connected to others. Some gamers enjoy the release role-playing affords them from the constraints of their primary social identity.Still others view gaming as a psychological tool to examine themselves andothers within shifting contexts and situations. Ultimately, gamers enjoyeach of these aspects to varying degrees. The remainder of this study seeksto explore the social and psychological aspects of role-playing and to estab-lish three major functions that role-playing games serve: community build-ing, problem-solving, and identity alteration.

32 The Functions of Role-Playing Games

Role-Playing inCommunal Contexts

Role-playing as a practice is utilized in a variety of different contexts.Theater instructors use role-playing and improvisation as a means to tapinto creativity and allow actors to experience an immediate flexibility ofidentity. Business practitioners find unscripted, improvisational drama tobe an important tool in developing a wide range of essential skills. Psy-chotherapists use role-playing techniques as a means to work through per-sonal and interpersonal issues. The military puts its members through “roletraining,” immersing soldiers in tough scenarios in order to build prob-lem-solving skills. Educators use role-playing techniques to teach socialskills. Drama therapists work with patients both young and old; these spe-cialists can even assist the elderly, using interactive drama as a way to shareexperiences with later generations and relive/retrieve lost memories. Inaddition, a growing number of social action groups encourage people toengage in improvisational drama as a means to develop awareness, copingskills, and compassion. Finally, role-playing remains a hugely popularentertainment practice, in both in-person contexts and online.

This myriad of applications of role-playing and improvisation indi-cates that the practice is, in fact, an inherent impulse in humanity. Youngchildren engage in the shifting of roles unconsciously and un-self-con-sciously. Our older selves, forced by the necessities of society into morerigid patterns of behavior, experience the permeability of childhood iden-tity through a multitude of these role-playing practices. Adam and AlleeBlatner have created an approach called The Art of Play, in which they lead

adults through a number of dramatic exercises in order to help them reclaimtheir inner spontaneity and imagination.1 They explain that “play” is a “nat-ural and easy realm children continually pursue” and that “playing mon-sters, kittens, warriors, and princesses is so easy and refreshing in childhood.”2

They also maintain that adult forms of play and role-taking provideparticipants with inherent advantages:

When children play, they tend to improvise from the viewpoint of them-selves and their chosen role or character. It requires a bit of adult thinkingto relinquish one’s tendencies to be egocentric and instead to offer one’s ownimagination mixed with mature judgment in the service of either acting as adirective facilitator or as a true supporting actor who, for the duration of theenactment, strives to become what is most needed by the protagonist ofmain player.

Children at play cannot achieve this level of focus. They unconsciouslycompete even as they cooperate. The understanding that people will taketurns in the various roles demands a capacity for mature time-binding and atemporary relinquishment of egocentricity.3

While I think that some adult forms of role-playing—particularly role-playing games (RPGs) and improv comedy groups—still encourage com-petition among participants, I do agree with the concept that the adultconsciousness possesses the inherent advantage of distance from its nar-cissistic viewpoint. Even in competitive RPGs, adults are capable of form-ing a “theory of mind” regarding the other players, affording them theopportunity to anticipate, respond to, and sometimes counter potentialfuture actions. In this regard, adult role-playing—and by “adult,” I meanadolescent-age and older—encourages problem-solving on a level thatchild pretend play cannot.

According to historian Lawrence Schick, the original concept fuel-ing the inception of RPGs was the desire to create a war game-like sce-nario encouraging players to work together as a team rather than battleeach other. Game theory refers to this model as a nonzero-sum game, mean-ing that the “players can get ahead without cutting each other down.”4

Later chapters in this volume will explore the extent to which players coop-erate versus compete in RPGs. Regardless, in each of their therapeutic,educational, and leisure contexts, role-playing activities and other formsof interactional drama work to build an overall sense of connection andcommunity amongst participants. This chapter will detail a variety of gen-eral role-playing activities and explore their relationship to community andritual; then, Chapter 3 will explore how these principles apply to thespecific form of RPGs.

34 The Functions of Role-Playing Games

Examples of Interactive Drama Through Time

Improvisational Theater

If the roots of role-playing emerge in childhood, then evidence ofimprovisational play should be evident both cross-culturally and histori-cally. As David L. Young suggests, “Improvisational drama was an exten-sion of storytelling and enacting and is part of many tribal cultures.”5 Theimpulse to share history through narrative and play-acting appearsthroughout time and space, regardless of a society’s level of cultural or tech-nological sophistication. Young states, “As writing entered civilization, thereading and then memorization of lines began, but many theatrical formscontinued to include various degrees of improvisation—including Shake-speare’s productions!”6 This communal sharing of emotion and story oper-ates on a ritual level; often, these enactments require no established script,instead relying on a complex system of symbology and psychic transfor-mation, as described later in this chapter in the section on ritual.

Interactive drama theorist Brian David Phillips locates the Western rootsof the improvisation in the parlor drama games of the fourteenth century.7

The Master of the Masque would assign roles to guests at costume parties,which they would then role-play and improvise for the rest of the night. Thisoriginal format later developed into masquerade balls, where participantswear costumes but are not required to act out roles. “While it is not cur-rently clear whether or not the players were expected to accomplish goalsduring the evening or if the role-play was completely freeform,” Phillipsexplains, “there are contemporary forms of Interactive Drama which incor-porate either strategy.”8 One such form is the yearly ritual of Halloween.

Young describes the commedia dell’arte, a type of theater originatingin Italy and popular between the fourteenth and eighteenth centuries,which was “also was mainly improvised.”9 Martha Fletcher Bellinger insiststhat despite the supposed unscripted nature of the commedia dell’arte, theresult was not, “in any sense, the result of the moment’s inspiration”:

The subject was chosen, the characters conceived and named, their rela-tions to one another determined, and the situations clearly outlined, allbeforehand. The material was divided into acts and scenes, with a prologue.The situations were made clear, together with the turn of action and theoutcome of each scene. When this general outline (called also scenario orcanvas) was satisfactorily filled out there was left an opportunity for actorsto heighten, vary, and embellish their parts as their genius might suggest.10

Regardless of the constructed nature of the form, the commedia dell’arte

offered a conceptual framework for improvisation in its original Western

2. Role-Playing in Communal Contexts 35

context. Phillips claims that though the commedia dell’arte faded intoobscurity, our modern form of improvisational theater reemerged as aresult of the separate but simultaneous efforts of Keith Johnstone and ViolaSpolin, who shaped the craft as it exists today.11 Johnstone created animprov company in the 1960s called the Theatre Machine at London’sRoyal Court Theatre. Inspired by the “working class theater” of profes-sional wrestling, he replaced wrestlers with improvisers.12 At the Univer-sity of Calgary in the mid–1970s, he and his students developed acompetitive improv acting program that played as much for audience reac-tion as for their final score. Young states:

This type of off-the-wall entertainment was an immediate success, andwith success came the evolution of increased organization, newly developedgames, and a more formalized format utilizing more recognizable theatrestructures like props, costumes, sound and lighting effects, and a master ofceremonies to facilitate the show.13

These enhancements led to Johnstone’s creation of the Loose Moose The-atre Company and the TheatreSports format.14

Viola Spolin began developing her Theater Games in the early 1940s,though her approaches only became readily available in 1975 with the pub-lication of Theater Game File.15 Spolin originated Theater Games as a toolfor crossing cultural and ethnic barriers amongst inner-city and immi-grant children. The new approach of Theater Games focused and adaptedthe concept of play to unlock the individual’s capacity for creative self-expression. Spolin’s games emphasize physicality over verbalization, as wellas spontaneity, intuition, audience participation, and transformation.16

Spolin’s son, Paul Stills, collaborated with David Shepherd to found the first improvisational theater group in America, Compass Theatre, in Chicago in the early 1950s. Compass Theatre led to the related troupe of Second City, famous for helping several modern celebrities get their start in the acting business. Shepherd then created the Improv Olympics in 1974, incorporating a mixture of professional actors and highschool students into the production of a high-energy, improvisational festival.17

From these formalized roots emerged our modern conceptions ofimprovisational theater and interactive drama. Though historians focusmore on the influence of war games and fantasy fiction when explainingthe development of RPGs, the loose format of improvisational theater hadalready begun to spread in popularity. Therefore, the concept of improvmore than likely provided a model for the burgeoning new art form emerg-ing at the time: role-playing games.

36 The Functions of Role-Playing Games

Psychodrama and Other Forms of Drama Therapy

Improv theory in the twentieth century found a pioneer in the workof J. L. Moreno. Moreno developed the practice of psychodrama in the1930s,18 a process of working through a problem “by improvising an enact-ment as if it were a series of scenes in an unfolding play.”19 Moreno pos-sessed an exceptional interest in the applications of group therapy andwith the “dynamics of rapport, [meaning] how people felt attracted to orrepelled by one another in a group setting.”20 He also founded one of thefirst improvisational social theater troupes in Vienna in 1921, setting thetrend for many later groups that use improvisational theater as a methodfor exploring social dynamics. Moreno delineated “role theory,” an ideafocused upon exploring the psychosocial expectations placed on each ofus to perform particular roles, a concept later embraced by Erving Goff-man.21 Blatner asserts that one of Moreno’s main insights was the belief“that the most useful way to cultivate creativity is through promotingspontaneity.” Blatner continues,

Another important related idea is that in general the setting needs to beexperienced as safe for spontaneity and improvisation to emerge, because itis a subtle observation of the nervous system that is inhibited in states ofanxiety. Therefore, activities that lower anxiety, such as the context of playand the development of trust in a group, supports improvisation, whichthen increases the likelihood of the discovery of more creative solutions toproblems.22

This emphasis on the development of trust and relaxation in a safeatmosphere is important in all forms of improv, including role-playing.Though gamers often take their participation in role-playing extremelyseriously, the emotional space provided by the game format itself offers arelatively consequence-free environment. Players must feel comfortableexpressing themselves and realize, on some level, that no matter howintense in-game events become, ultimately “it’s just a game” that they play“to have fun.”

Critics of gaming and of other forms of dramatic play often dismissthis concept of “fun,” deeming fun activities as escapist. Escapism is com-monly seen as frivolous or even damaging to real-world interactions. How-ever, as Blatner mentions above, one of the most important aspects ofrole-playing is utilizing the form in order to practice problem-solving skillsthrough the enactment of in-game scenarios. These scenarios becomelearning platforms for complex decision making. As psychotherapist Daniel

2. Role-Playing in Communal Contexts 37

Weiner insists, “In order to experiment and explore other choices we allneed safety, meaning immunity from such real-life consequences as beingjudged or punished.”23 Moreno’s emphasis on group work and interactivedrama highlighted the importance of establishing a safe mental, physical,and emotional space for the exploration of the self and its relationshipswith others.

Drama therapy has since blossomed as a method for encouragingholistic healing through the performance of new roles. As an alternativeto psychotherapy, which emphasizes one-on-one verbal communication asthe primary source of expression, drama therapy uses role-playing, story-telling, psychodrama, and theater games. Drama therapy also employspuppets, masks, and other types of performance to aid in patient rehabil-itation.24 Renee Emunah defines five stages inherent to most drama ther-apy procedures:

1. Dramatic Play, in which the group gets to know each other andthe therapist through play, developing trust, group cohesion, andbasic relationship skills.

2. Scenework Stage, in which the group recovers dramatic skills, tap-ping into abilities developed in ages 3–5, when children learnabout the world through imitation and dramatic play. The abstractreasoning skills developed in school often preclude hands-on formsof learning, but we can recover our ability to perform through var-ious dramatic exercises.

3. Role Play, in which the players act out issues fictionally, such asenacting a familiar family conflict or using a fairy tale as metaphorfor a larger psychological complexes.

4. Culminating Enactments, in which players work through personalissues directly through psychodrama or autobiographical perform-ance.

5. Dramatic Ritual, in which the group provides a sense of closureby engaging in a final ritual performance or evaluation either pub-licly or privately. During this session, the clients can review whatthe process has taught them.25

According to therapist Susan Bailey, despite the variability of dramatherapy techniques, certain universal themes remain constant. Drama ther-apy utilizes metaphor through action, in which a set of behaviors is embod-ied in an archetypal role, such as victim, mother, or hero. Emotions arerepresented as metaphoric images, such as anger displayed as a volcano.These images allow insight into the qualities of roles and emotions and

38 The Functions of Role-Playing Games

how they affect people’s lives.26 Concrete Embodiment allows players to actout abstract thoughts in a concrete fashion through the use of the body.Clients can “experience” or “re-experience” events psychophysically, offer-ing them the possibility to learn coping strategies, practice new behaviors,and experiment with change.27 Distancing is a method by which the ther-apist can alter the level of involvement that the player has with the role.Playing a character “like” the client but not associated with the client’sreal-world identity diminishes the potential for shame; the individualembodies the experience more symbolically than literally. The utilizationof puppets or fairy tales aids in this process. Alternately, some clients needless distancing, and should play a more direct role in order to get more intouch with and be able to express their issues.28

Another universal aspect of drama therapy is Dramatic Projection, theprocess of accessing an emotion within a client and portraying it out-wardly, allowing for a physical examination of the problem.29 Drama ther-apists also must establish a Transitional Space, “the imaginary world thatis created when we play or imagine together in a safe, trusting situation.It is a timeless space in which anything we can imagine can exist, a placewhere change and healing can happen, created jointly by the therapist andclient playing together.”30 This concept of the Transitional Space corre-sponds directly with the liminal space of ritual, described later in thischapter.

Many other forms of interactive drama have emerged with surpris-ingly similar goals and results. Daniel Weiner’s group, entitled Rehearsalsfor Growth, employs theater games as a method of expanding the group’srepertoire of roles and encouraging the participants to break free fromhabitual reaction patterns.31 He cites several familiar advantages to improv-isational play, including: expanding interpersonal trust; accessing playful-ness; experiencing spontaneity; opening to creativity; broadening sensory,emotive, and movement expressiveness; and co-creating new realities withothers.32 He believes that these qualities—especially the active co-creationof new worlds—offer a practical benefit by enhancing the functionalityof relationships:

In life generally, and especially in relationships, we develop predictableroles and habitual responses, forgetting that we can make other choices.Established relationships (most especially dyadic ones) have a collusive qual-ity, wherein each partner responds to the other’s offers in predictable ways,setting in motion a predictable sequence (or “script”). The resulting relation-ship dynamics then cement the tradeoff of safety for novelty, often resultingin boredom and over-familiarity.... By staging improvised enactments, the

2. Role-Playing in Communal Contexts 39

Director undoes the predictability, setting loose an adventure in spontaneityand provoking a challenge to the relationship’s status quo.33

Some groups apply improvisational drama in the service of healingsocial ills, not just personal ones. One popular method, called PlaybackTheatre, is practiced in over fifty countries worldwide in a variety of set-tings, such as schools, social service organizations, prisons, conferences,hospitals, and public theaters. Created by Jonathan Fox in 1973, PlaybackTheatre is widely used as a vehicle for social change.34 Fox’s methodincludes the sharing of stories by audience members of transformative ortraumatic moments and the subsequent reenactment of particular momentsin these stories by trained actors.35

Fox’s inspiration for Playback arose from his dream “of a new kindof theatre that brought theatre back from the domain of entertainment toits earlier purpose of preserving memory and holding the tribe together.”36

Performance, according to Fox, should be a medium for personal and soci-etal transformation. Hannah Fox explains,

Anthropologists describe how theatrical performances of early societiesoften functioned as “ceremonial centers” at which groups would gather toexchange dances, songs, and dramas. These gatherings used performance toincite certain actions, such as dancing for rain, praying for a good harvest,healing the sick, or celebrating a birth or death. Fox wanted to find a way to“recapture that kind of ceremonial enactment in which there is no distinc-tion between art and healing,” and to “embody a transformational ritual thatcould be a source for hope without whitewashing what is wrong with theworld.”37

Jonathan Fox felt that interactive theater held the potential for group bond-ing and transformation and was particularly crucial to emphasize in aworld that mainly utilizes only technology as a means for narrative trans-mission.38

One of the most influential groups internationally remains the The-atre of the Oppressed, invented in Brazil in the 1960s by Augusto Boal.The Theatre of the Oppressed seeks to help liberate communities andindividuals from oppressive situations and beliefs by challenging existentpower structures and inspiring people to take action, engage in dialogue,and work for liberation. This group “draws on the artistry of theatre to infuse social activism with vitality and aesthetic pleasure.”39 One of the most striking exercises developed by the Theatre of the Oppressed was labeled Invisible Theatre, where performers enacted “ostensiblyunstaged, politically charged provocations in the streets and public placesof Buenos Aires.”40 While these performances were actually carefully

40 The Functions of Role-Playing Games

planned and rehearsed, the onlookers perceived them as real. In this case,the presence of the crowd offers the unknown element inherent in anyimprovisational drama; “Actors planted in the crowd as agent provocateurs

emerge to vehemently take a side” in the unfolding scene “and thus gal-vanize onlookers to voice their own opinions on social issues like race orgender.”41

Another important group, referred to as Healing the Wounds of His-tory, works with nonparticipants originating from two cultures who sharea common legacy of historical trauma and violent conflict.42 ArmandVolkas originated the process as a salve to heal the wounds between Nazisand the daughters of Holocaust survivors, but later expanded the tech-niques for application in a variety of “rival” cultures, including: Frenchand Algerians; Palestinians and Israelis; Japanese, Chinese, and Koreans;Americans of both African and European descent; Blacks and Jews; Bosn-ian Serbs and Muslims; and Deaf and Hearing cultures. Healing theWounds of History attempts to tackle issues surrounding identity, victim-ization, perpetration, meaning, and personal/collective grief.43 The enact-ments help participants recognize cultural or national identity; open andenhance intercultural communication; experience grief and mourning; and create a culture of empathy.44 Volkas leads participants through several phases: breaking the taboo against speaking to one another; human-izing one another through sharing personal stories; exploration of one’sown perpetration; moving deeply into grief ; creating performances in memoriam; and making commitments to acts of creation and acts of service.45

The sharing stories phase involves reenactment of a particular mem-ory from childhood or adult life and later adds a short “History of MyPeople.” The facilitator asks participants from enemy cultures to step intothe narrative of the original story, creating shared experience and empa-thy between individuals who have traditionally hated each other.46 Thisphase incites a sense of role reversal, “a psychodramatic process in whichone participant begins to experience in an embodied and affective way thereality of another.”47 In the third phase, a collection of historical photo-graphs is presented then reenacted by the participants, who must take theroles of victims, perpetrators, and bystanders. Individuals must “confronttheir own complicity as well as their victimization” through this process.48

In the fifth phase, the group enacts a ritual of commemoration, whichincludes elements of memory, celebration, and transcendence. This enact-ment represents the final performance element of the seminar, in whichthe group creates vignettes or images for each other and places important

2. Role-Playing in Communal Contexts 41

items onto a makeshift altar.49 These interactive processes encourage participants previously estranged by cultural differences and traumaticmemories to join together and form a common bond.

Other groups work specifically with individuals who reside in insti-tutions or require special care due to age. LifeDrama works with the eld-erly, encouraging them to tell stories in order to uncover old memories.Through storytelling, these individuals can share with each other and withthe younger generations the trials of their lives.50 ActingOut is a teen dramaprogram based in southwestern New Hampshire performed by and foryoung people between the ages of twelve and eighteen. The content of theseperformances focuses on contemporary issues, including AIDS preven-tion, sexual harassment, substance abuse, conflict resolution, and teenpregnancy.51

Other groups, such as Geese Theatre UK, work with prisons andprobation services, using interactive drama techniques to help offendersdevelop self-esteem, empathy, and responsibility.52 One powerful tech-nique utilized by Geese Theatre is called mask lifting, in which audiencemembers can ask masked or half-masked performers to remove their maskand question the feelings and thoughts underlying their outward attitudesand behaviors. Mask lifting creates awareness of the distinctions betweenour external front and our internal subjectivity through the use ofmetaphor. Geese Theatre also utilizes both personal and fictional role-playing, encouraging offenders to play the roles of all the people involvedin the fallout of a crime, providing another step toward improving empa-thy skills and personal responsibility.53 Role-playing also allows offendersto practice new skills in a safe environment where mistakes are acceptable,including: apologizing; cooperation; job interviews; question asking; inter-personal communication; saying and receiving “no”; expressing concern;compromising; handling jealousy; etc.54 Role-play used successfully inthis context may help an offender develop the skills necessary for living asuccessful life outside of incarceration.

These processes inherent to drama therapy are also present, if implic-itly, in the RPG experience. Gamers also inhabit an imaginary, shared real-ity in which they take on roles that are “like” them but “not” them.Through the embodiment of archetypal and metaphorical imagery, gamersexperience and, thus, have the opportunity to examine, essential humandramas, complexes, and emotions in a safe, low-stress environment. Theseexperiences occur in a group setting and are ritualized, resulting in a feel-ing of connectivity among members who might normally feel estrangedfrom each other due to cultural or ideological differences.

42 The Functions of Role-Playing Games

Educational Role-Play

Cognitive theory suggests that the capacity for creativity can be cul-tivated in arts education. Integrating the right and left cerebral hemi-spheric functions encourages intuition, imagination, straight reason,emotional sensitivity, and material practicality.55 The dramatic arts aid inthis integration process, and various forms of interactive drama are uti-lized to develop important skills. Process Drama, a term popularized byCecily O’Neill, allows instructors to teach a subject matter or moral con-cept using drama as a vehicle. Instead of passively absorbing the some-times dry content of school work, Process Drama allows students to enactthe course material, making school work more relevant, alive, and unfor-gettable for students.56 Process Drama instructors utilize improvisation tocreate fictional worlds where participants take on roles, answering theimportant questions of who, what, when, where, and why a characterexists:

The teacher and the students imagine a situation, and in many cases theteacher actually becomes one of the figures within that situation. If, in orderto learn about ... astronomy, physics, and group-problem solving, they mayplay at being on a space ship, [and] while the teacher may not take the roleof the pilot, she might “be” one of the engineers. The challenge is to allowthe students to find themselves faced with making new decisions, and theteacher then becomes a combination of resource and fellow inquirer.57

Unlike production-centered theater work, actions and justifications aredetermined by the player’s life experience rather than an external source.58

Process Drama aids students in learning valuable critical thinking, prob-lem-solving, and teamwork skills.

Process Drama is a specific form of role-playing, which remains avaluable tool for educators in general. Teachers use role-playing skills inthe service of developing social and emotional learning, including help-ing students develop a greater understanding of situations and empathyfor the feelings of those involved.59 As Blatner suggests, “Role-playing alsooffers an experiential vehicle for developing skills in communication, prob-lem-solving, and self-awareness.”60

Role-playing techniques are also useful for instructing adults in theprofessional sphere. In business applications, improvisational drama aidsorganizations worldwide by teaching a wide range of skills, including:management and leadership; communication and presentation; diversityand ethical awareness; coaching and facilitation; and organizational devel-opment. Unscripted improvisational drama teaches “emotional intelli-

2. Role-Playing in Communal Contexts 43

gence” and encourages spontaneity, quick thinking, alternative solutionsto old problems, acceptance of difference, flexibility, and listening.61

The military also values role-playing as a training tool. Improvisa-tion and simulated situations have been utilized to assess performance inmilitary officer and intelligence personnel training since the 1940s.62

According to Mark Prensky, the U.S. military is the biggest spender in theworld on training simulations games and regularly organizes conferencesto promote conversation between instructors in the armed forces and gamedevelopers, film studios, theme park executives, and universities. Prenskystates,

The military uses games to train soldiers, sailors, pilots, and tank driversto master their expensive and sensitive equipment ... it uses games to teachsenior officers the art of strategy. It uses games for team work and teamtraining of squads, fire teams, crews and other units; games for simulatingresponses to weapons of mass destruction, terrorist incidents, and threats;games for mastering the complex process of military logistics and evengames for teaching how not to fight when helping to maintain peace.63

I elaborate more extensively on the use of role-playing scenarios to teachproblem-solving skills in chapter four.

Reenactment Societies and Role-Playing Games

Though role-playing games (RPGs) and reenactment societies devel-oped along parallel, separate trajectories, both strands reflect the relativefreedom of expression offered in the sixties and seventies with regard to self-expression and exploration. As explained in Chapter 1, these free-doms emerged as a result of the breakdown of the conservative tradition-alism and the widespread discovery of alternate forms of spirituality, aswell as the emphasis on diversity championed by the Civil Rights move-ment. On a large scale, people questioned the ideological doctrines of thepast and found new roles to inhabit, forming groups with similar sensi-bilities.

During this time period and beyond, creative self-expression blos-somed in many forms, including the formation of reenactment societies.These groups attempt to recreate a particular period and/or event in his-tory by replicating aspects of that time through costuming, behavior, andattempting to approximate past cultural paradigms. Several historical reen-actment groups exist, representing a variety of time periods, including:the English Civil War, the American Revolutionary War, Black Powdergroups portraying early American explorers and trappers, the AmericanCivil War, the cowboys of the American West, and World Wars I and II.64

44 The Functions of Role-Playing Games

However, the most widespread and popular of these communitiesremain the medieval reenactment groups, such as the Renaissance Fairesand the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA). Offshoots such as Amt-gard and the High Fantasy Society also emphasize a medieval or Renais-sance theme, but add fantastical elements to the mix, an aspect thatdistances them from the more historically-focused reenactment groups.Because of the widespread belief in the explanatory power of magic dur-ing the medieval period, influenced in part by the lingering influence ofpagan culture on European society, this time period allows for a certainflexibility in the rules of reality that players find pleasurable. Thomas Stal-lone suggests, “The allure of the medieval world inspires many to enterthis magical world of reenactment where modern people create roles forthemselves and live out their fantasies.”65

This “magical world” is not meant to provide a direct representationof life during the Middle Ages or Renaissance. According to Stallone, twomajor types of groups exist : reenactment groups, which stringently seek asense of verisimilitude, and re-creation groups, which tend to be more free-wheeling and casual. Reenactment groups impose strict restrictions ontheir members, regulating how costumes are made, what materials partic-ipants can use, which accessories participants can wear, and how partici-pants must speak and behave in public.66 Re-creation groups, on the otherhand, emphasize freedom of creativity and allow members to push theboundaries of the imagination. The RPG format of the LARP most closelyrepresents Stallone’s description of re-creation societies, as does the lessgame-like format of the SCA.

SCA members perform mainly for each other in order to “enhancethe quality of ‘The Dream’—i.e., their shared culture.”67 According toStallone, the Society serves two main functions, providing both a spacefor like-minded people to socialize and an avenue for them to researchand explore the world they are trying to emulate.68 However, one shouldnot underestimate the performative elements of the SCA and other reen-actment societies. For many members, these groups provide an importantcreative outlet for social bonding and exploration of identity. Stallone fur-ther insists, “The SCA is not your everyday social club,” offering a detaileddescription of the endeavors and rationale of SCA members:

[SCA members] hold events such as tournaments and feasts where mem-bers dress in clothing styles worn during the Middle Ages and Renaissance,and participate in activities based on the civil and martial skills of theperiod. These activities recreate aspects of the life and culture of the landednobility in Europe, beginning with the fall of the Western Roman Empire

2. Role-Playing in Communal Contexts 45

and ending in 1600 C.E..... The allure of this medieval world is such thatmembers will drive an hour each week to strap on sixty pounds of leatherand steel just to get whacked on the head and arms with weapons at fighterpractice with friends. Some come to learn the latest medieval dances, prac-tice calligraphy, or how to design and create that new costume they saw in abook.69

Many SCA members engage in “heavy combat,” the use of real armorwith rattan weapons. The masters-of-arms and knights are considered the“black belts” of this new, applied martial arts form and squires apprenticebeneath them in order to rise in the social ranks.70 The SCA also offers itsmembers the opportunity to excel in other arts and sciences, including:costuming and period costume design; needlepoint and embroidery;medieval recipes and cooking; brewing and wine making; candle making;medieval music, instruments, poetry, and dance; calligraphy and illumi-nation; heraldry; story-telling; juggling; ritual theater; carpentry; andmetal-working practices, such as jewelry making; the coining of money;the creation of arrows and bows; the making and forging of armor andswords, and the sculpting of medieval utensils. Some SCA members pur-sue the equestrian arts, including tilting at the rings and jousting.71 Thislarge range of activities available to members of the SCA provides partic-ipants with greater opportunities for personal exploration and shared expe-rience.

Renaissance Faires differ from the SCA and other groups in that theyoffer food, activities, and entertainment to paying customers. Theatricalperformances are scheduled and performed on stages and a multitude ofbooths hawk various goods and provide services, such as astrological andpsychic readings. The audience members sometimes arrive in costume orin-character, but are not required to do so. Thus, Renfaires operate morelike period theme parks than reenactment societies, running for profitrather than non-profit. Renfaires also—as the name suggests—focus onthe period of the Renaissance rather than the Middle Ages, another dis-tinction from groups like SCA, though these distinctions ultimately remainrather blurry in both practices.

Each of these various applications promotes social cohesion throughthe use of interactive dramatic methods. As many of the above mentionedpractitioners describe, play, role shifting, and dramatic enactment areessential aspects of young childhood and can be used strategically later inlife to promote social cohesion. By understanding the nature of ritual, wecan further see how interactive drama—and role-playing specifically—can become an important tool for communal interaction.

46 The Functions of Role-Playing Games

Role-Playing, Ritual, and Community Building

The practice of inhabiting roles is inherent to the human psyche. Asyoung children, we consistently engage in forms of play that encourage usto move beyond our individual sense of identity and inhabit a new men-tal space. This mental space can manifest as the fantastic and whimsicalor it can involve the known and familiar. Regardless of the psychic con-tent of these diversions, we do not form a coherent sense of Self until ado-lescence and the playful negotiation of time, place, and identity remainsa necessary and inherent component to the development of the mind.

These processes also exist on other levels beyond the personal. Thecreativity sparked by an individual imagination yearns to be shared withothers, both to validate one’s own existence and to establish cohesion withreality, even if that reality fails to correspond with the common culturalconsciousness. This desire for personal expression and establishing a sharedreality forms the basis of many of our creative endeavors, from writing toart to drama. Each of us experiences the world in a unique fashion andhas a particular perspective to offer. Cultural art forms allow us to sharethese experiences and perspectives with one another, lending to the devel-opment of cooperation, compassion, sympathy, and empathy.

The act of taking on a role that one does not normally inhabit in themundane world allows for the facilitation of self-expression and sharedexperience. Each of us unconsciously performs roles on a day-to-day basis,as Goffman suggests in his The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. Weimplicitly agree to accept each other’s performed roles in order to main-tain our sense of comfort with the established reality. However, we canfind ways to play with these notions of self through various actions andmediums and, thus, become more consciously aware of the process of role-taking. By enacting a drama, for example, we present a sense of hyper-reality, an acknowledgment of the fixity of the mundane versus the fluidityof our psychic experience. We experience a new version of reality throughembodiment, narrative, and spectatorship. The suspension of the dramaof everyday life and the enactment of staged narratives in tragedy, forexample, provokes feelings of empathy, horror, and catharsis. We sharethese experiences together, either as directors, performers, or audiencemembers; sometimes, we even inhabit all three roles.

The most common form of role-playing in this sense is the expres-sion of narrative through a dramatic medium. These mediums include,but are not limited to: oral histories, songs, dances, plays, and poems. Theact of “putting on” a performance engages the performers and the audi-

2. Role-Playing in Communal Contexts 47

ence in sort of ritual, in which the participants understand the temporaryand special nature of the enactment. Ritual, according to anthropologistRoy Rappaport, is “the performance of more or less invariant sequencesof formal acts and utterances not entirely encoded by the performers.”72

His definition encompasses not only human, but also animal forms of cer-emonial experience and spans multiple dimensions, both sacred and sec-ular.

However, according to Emile Durkheim, ritual enactment emergedinitially alongside the formation of human religions, offering a means ofstrengthening social bonds and establishing categories of classification. Inhis Elementary Forms of Religious Life, Durkheim put forth the notion thatreligion itself is the primary building block of social groups. He states, “Atthe basis of all systems of beliefs and all cults there must be a number offundamental representations and ritual practices that, despite the diver-sity of forms they assume in various religions, have the same objectivemeanings and fulfill the same functions.”73 For Durkheim, understandingthe most early and basic forms of religion illuminates the ways that eventhe most complex social structures function, despite any cultural specificity.If ritual is somehow inherent to the enactment and continual establish-ment of religious principles, then ritual must also exist in other forms ofsocial organization. Ritual, therefore, remains central to group cohesionin both sacred and secular contexts.

The process of ritual takes place in three major phases, according toArnold van Gennep. These phases involve crossing over a threshold of“magico-religious” significance through the performance of rites. Thesethresholds may exist symbolically on the physical plane, such as an actor’sstage or a temple’s altar; primarily, though, this crossing is experienced psy-chologically.74 The first phase is one of separation from the previous world,which van Gennep refers to as the pre-liminal. The second phase involvesa transitional stage of liminal, or threshold, rites, in which the individualand/or group experiences this sort of “crossing over” into an alternate psy-chosocial reality. After successfully completing this phase, the participantsreturn to the world they left behind; in this post-liminal stage, they rein-corporate themselves back into the mundane work with new knowledge andsocial standing.75 These rites of passage generally induct participants intothe major hallmarks of the life cycle : pregnancy, childbirth, puberty,betrothal, marriage, and death. While more secular forms of ritual neednot mark major rites of passage, they do transport the participants to analternate psychological—and sometimes physical—space, a space that pro-vides the opportunity for a profound transformation to occur.

48 The Functions of Role-Playing Games

Victor Turner further elaborates on van Gennep’s formulation in hisbook The Ritual Process: Structure and Anti-Structure. Turner’s study of theNdembu people of northwestern Rhodesia elucidates many of the princi-ples of ritual through example, particularly focusing on the use of sym-bols, which he calls the “basic building-blocks, the ‘molecules,’ of ritual.”76

Turner writes, “In a Ndembu ritual context, almost every article used,every gesture employed, every song or prayer, every unit of space and time,by convention stands for something other than itself. It is more than itseems, and often a good deal more.”77 We can extend this description ofthe symbology utilized in sacred ritual practices to other ceremonies as well;each symbol represents a story or an idea that the practitioners wish toevoke. Ordinary objects take on special meanings and become otherworldlyduring the liminal state, heightening the emotional intensity of the expe-rience. Furthermore, aspects of the “real world” that threaten to invadethe reality of the ritual must be overlooked in order for the ritual to takeplace.

If we think of a traditional dramatic play as a ritual, then stage propstake on a symbolic meaning beyond their everyday use value. No item isplaced on the set by accident, no costume arranged arbitrarily. Indeed, forthe performance to assume significance, certain agreements must be madebetween audience members and actors, observing the sanctity of the spaceand the process. To fully transform from one identity to another, to trans-port from one time and space to somewhere altogether different, each par-ticipant must respect the rules of engagement, agree to “suspend disbelief,”and fully immerse themselves in the narrative.

Role-playing, when understood as ritual, contains these same definingelements. Role-playing as a practice tends to be more free-form andimprovisational than a traditional stage play, but still follows the sameprinciples of liminality. J. Tuomas Harviainen’s article “Information,Immersion, Identity: The Interplay of Multiple Selves During Live-ActionRole-Play” specifies the process necessary for the participants to fullyengage in the diegesis, or “the sum of all that is true in the reality of thegame.”78 Harviainen describes how Live-Action Role-players (or LARPers)must mentally prepare for the ritual:

Live-action role-play takes place within a temporary reality definable aspotential space ... it is essentially a spatial representation of an imaginaryplace that is imposed upon an actual place ... through a jointly agreed-uponsocial contract. A level of belief in this potential space is then createdthrough a process consisting of two factors: Eidetic reduction (i.e. inten-tional ignorance of observed elements inconsistent with the intended “pure

2. Role-Playing in Communal Contexts 49

experience”), and a semiotic re-signification process. The latter is used uponthose real-world elements that are incompatible with the potential space butcan be to a certain extent ... translated into interpretive forms that are com-patible with the diegesis.79

Thus, performance spaces and objects take on new meanings in order tocomply with the ritual intention of the role-play experience and partici-pants must form a temporary belief in the liminal reality.

Tabletop role-playing requires less props and costuming than LiveAction and less representational symbology, but still demands that play-ers cross the imaginary threshold of the role-play universe despite thevisual intrusion of the mundane world. Christopher Lehrich elaborates bydescribing the practice of “breaking character,” or bringing up “OOC”(Out-of-character) information during “IC” (In-character) scenes.80 Expe-rienced role-players remain highly conscientious of the IC/OOC divisionin order to maintain the liminality of the experience. The phase of returnis often accompanied by a shift from IC to OOC:

The social aggregation at the close of play thus amounts to an undoing ofthis separation: players step back from the in-character world (to whateverextent they postulated themselves as in it) in order to receive rewards oraccolades, rehash enjoyable events, and generally begin shifting from a rela-tively discontinuous and separated game-time to an ordinary social event,itself marked eventually by the dispersal of the participants to their everydaylives.81

One of the most distinctive elements of Turner’s theory is that ritualprovides the potential for community building, or communitas. For a rit-ual behavior to fully affect an individual, the process should be witnessedby a group and this observance constitutes a form of participation. Evenif the focus remains on an individual undergoing a rite of passage, the wit-nesses play their own roles, some in an active manner. In a tribal commu-nity, the shaman—or spiritual leader—of the group often oversees theritual. Other members of the tribe may play supporting roles in the unfold-ing drama, lending to further immersion. Thus, the participation of thecommunity—whether active or passive—facilitates a sense of social cohe-sion based on shared experience. A wedding, though technically a unionbetween two people, bears more meaning when witnessed by a group andofficiated by a leader. Each participant lends their emotional and spiritualinvestment into the ritual, enhancing its efficacy and reinforcing bondswithin the community.

The process of separation from the mundane and crossing over thethreshold entails stripping the participants of their normative positions in

50 The Functions of Role-Playing Games

the status hierarchies of the secular world and charging them with new,temporary responsibilities within the liminal space. Emergence from theritual imbues the initiates with a new place in the social order, but also areturn to the previous structure. Turner states:

What is interesting about liminal phenomena for our present purposes isthe blend they offer of lowliness and sacredness, of hom*ogeneity and com-radeship. We are presented, in such rites, with a “moment in and out oftime,” and in and out of secular social structure, which reveals, howeverfleetingly, some recognition (in symbol if not always in language) of a gener-alized social bond that has ceased to be and has simultaneously yet to be frag-mented in a multiplicity of structural ties.... This is not ... a matter of givinga general stamp of legitimacy to a society’s structural positions. It is rather amatter of giving recognition to an essential and generic human bond, with-out which there could be no society.82

Role-playing—and performance in general—also entails a recon-figuration of social roles. The player is stripped of previous rank in theexternal world and given equal status to fellow players, though some play-ers enact more central roles in the ritual than others, similar to the leadactor in a play.83 Individuals are appointed to guide the ritual, a role sim-ilar to those enacted by elders in tribal communities. In his article “Design-ing and Conducting Rituals, Ceremonies, and Celebrations,” Adam Blatnerdescribes modern ritual, in which this role is enacted by the Master of Cer-emonies (MC):

The MC role, in which a person helps others design and then conductsthe ritual ... would not simply be the one who narrates the event, but more,one who truly aspires to master “the art of ceremony.” The role includes acapacity for being sensitive to the needs not only of the key celebrants, butalso to the group and its dynamics. A key skill an MC should develop is anability to discover and create “meaning” as part of the dramatic process.84

In traditional drama, the equivalent of the MC would be the direc-tor and, in some cases, the playwright. In role-playing, the MC role isenacted by the Gamemaster (GM), also called Storyteller (ST). This indi-vidual acts as the “god” of the game, guiding the story and making finaldeterminations on the course of events, similar to a referee in a sportsgame.

The Storyteller has many responsibilities. First, he/she must possessa clear understanding of the meta-story of the game world, including the back-stories of the characters and history of the game universe. TheStoryteller is also responsible for the formation of major plots and the

2. Role-Playing in Communal Contexts 51

keeping of game secrets. He/she must understand the rules extensively inorder to provide an all-important sense of internal consistency for theplayers, a particularly crucial aspect to playing in a fantasy or science fictionthemed world. Ultimately, the Storyteller must possess enough personalcharisma and strength of character to guide the ritual of the game, main-tain the perception of being a fair facilitator, and keep the players engagedin the story world.85

Ultimately, the Storyteller, then, performs a similar role to a reli-gious leader in a sacred context, guiding individuals through the processof liminality. For the ritual to be successful, the players must willingly placethe fate of their characters—and, ultimately, their own experience itself—in the hands of the Storyteller, regardless of his/her status respective totheirs in the outside world. Furthermore, players must adhere to the in-character status hierarchies that invariably emerge; even in a group ofadventurers of the same age and rank, positions such as Leader, Informa-tion Gatherer, “Tank,”86 and Negotiator eventually establish themselves.A fifty-year old man may find himself taking orders IC from a girl who,in the “real world,” is only eighteen. He must submit to his role in orderto maintain the consistency of the game world.

Regardless of the culturally specific distinctions, modern role-play-ers inhabit a liminal state and create a sense of communitas through theritual process of “gaming” in its many forms. The result of this process iswhat Lehrich describes as “genuine social alteration”:

A play group is often formed on an ad hoc basis, where some players donot know each other well outside of the game context, and indeed may nothave met. Through successful ritual collaboration in a shared space under-stood as distinct from other social spaces, a new social group forms, enablingfriendship and other forms of collaboration that refer to the constructedgame-space rather than to other social structures. That is, precisely becausegameplay is at once divided from other social spaces and nominally focusedupon a limited set of predetermined issues, and because such rituals do actconjunctively by taking given divisions and annulling “winner and loser”categorizations, gameplay tends naturally to formulate an alternative socialframework. Particularly for those who find mainstream, dominant socialframeworks problematic or dangerous, gameplay can constitute a controlledsocial space in which to succeed and seek liberation.87

As Lehrich suggests, some individuals seek role-playing environments becausethey have difficulties integrating into mainstream society. Representationsabound of socially-awkward “geeks” who “obsess” over fantasy and sciencefiction worlds in order to avoid interaction with “the real world.” The term“escapism” is often applied to these individuals, incurring a pejorative

52 The Functions of Role-Playing Games

connotation to the both role-playing and gaming. Indeed, many role-play-ers and alternate world enthusiasts spend a good deal of time emphaticallydistancing their behavior from that of those who “go too far” in their fan-dom.

For these individuals, hyperinvolvement in role-playing communi-ties may be considered “unhealthy.” Stallone warns of such pitfalls in hisarticle on Medieval Reenactments:

Some people who are not very successful in their everyday lives who needto find self-worth by receiving recognition from others, may start devotingmore and more of their time, energy, and resources to their new hobbyinstead [of ] their daily lives. There have been people who will spend muchof their hard-earned wages on fabric to create a Tudor costume for theupcoming Twelfth Night Feast, but do not have enough money to pay theirtelephone bill. As they become more involved in these groups, they may riseto positions and titles of power. Recognition “from above” and the wieldingof “power” are addictive to some people and could cause problems in theirlives both within the group, at home, and at work.88

The problems Stallone describes seem rooted in issues of power-hungri-ness and an inability to properly prioritize, issues which arise in any socialgroup or hobby. When assessing the amount of financial resources to pourinto a ritual, we determine how important that ritual is to us and thegroup. Extensive spending on a wedding, for example, may seem entirelyappropriate; however, when mainstream society views the ritual activityas non-essential or non-productive, extravagant expenditures on costum-ing and props are more difficult for participants to justify. Perhaps theindividual mentioned in Stallone’s example viewed participation in theFeast as symbolically more important than mundane concerns.

When hyperinvolvement causes conflict both in the group and out-side of it, distancing may indeed become necessary. Lehrich addresses thisissue with regard to role-players:

It could be argued that the shared space of ritual, although it permits andeven demands reflection upon social inequalities, ultimately acts not only toaffirm these inequalities as natural and given, but also deludes those in infe-rior positions into thinking that they achieve a measure of equality that is infact nonexistent. From this perspective, we can see that RPGs may actsimultaneously to affirm and assist players psychologically, and at the sametime discourage them from acting upon or challenging the inequities ofmodern social dynamics. Anecdotally, at least, we seem to see this in stereo-types of RPG players as “geeks” or “nerds” who, by participating in gaming,in conventions, and generally in a subculture, are thereby diverted or dis-tracted from real social action or mobilization. To formulate a rather over-

2. Role-Playing in Communal Contexts 53

stated Marxist reading, the recognition of RPGs as ritual is confirmed by itsability to serve as an opiate for the oppressed. 89

My question with regard to this common assumption that participationin alternate worlds inhibits one’s ability to interact in the real worldremains: How can we be sure that an individual would be better off with-

out the social experience of the role-playing environment? If some play-ers experience difficulties in day-to-day interactions, I would suggest thatinvolvement in any social group would be, on some level, beneficial todeveloping important interpersonal skills and promoting extraversion.

Role-playing scenarios force participants to engage in social interac-tion and even meander through complex political situations in order toaccomplish goals. Role-playing has the potential to enhance social skillsby placing individuals in unique hypothetical scenarios and simultane-ously providing a safe, liminal space, as stated extensively in the dramatherapy and education sections of this chapter. I will explore this connec-tion between community building and role-playing games in the follow-ing chapter, which features extensive, ethnographic data on the subject.

54 The Functions of Role-Playing Games

Interactional Dynamicsin Role-Playing Games

In Chapter 2, I posited the view that the practice of role-playingfunctions like a modern-day ritual. The activity takes place generally ingroups and involves the enactment of various archetypes in order to playout dramas. Role-players perform with each other, calling upon the deepreaches of their imagination and creativity, establishing a safe space withinwhich stories weave themselves. The participants play several roles in theseunfolding stories; they act, direct, observe, and co-create an alternate formof reality.

The process of role-playing allows individuals to inhabit an alternatemental space by entering into the “fantastic.” This shift in perspective pro-vides players with the opportunity to understand the motivations of oth-ers more clearly, expanding their comprehension of mundane reality andexisting social dynamics. These skills are considered desirable to role-play-ers, many of whom express having experienced deep feelings of alienationand ostracization from mainstream society. Though engagement in RPGsoften incurs further social stigma, the practice of role-playing itself offersa much-needed sense of ritual and community.

Fantasy, Shared Realities, and the Eucatastrophe

Though role-playing games take place in a multitude of settings, themost popular original game, published in 1974, is Dungeons & Dragons,which takes place in a fantasy world. As mentioned in Chapter 1, D&D

draws heavily on the work of J.R.R. Tolkien in The Hobbit and Lord of

the Rings. Tolkien believed that the narrative arcs of “fairy-stories” weretranscendent of space and time. Fantastic narratives, for Tolkien, servethree major functions. They allow people to Escape the mundane in orderto Recover a sight that was previously obscured. As a result of theseprocesses, the participant in fantasy experiences a sense of Consolation,which Tolkien refers to as eucatastrophe. According to Brian Stableford, byeucatastrophe, Tolkien “means a climactic affirmation of both joy andlight: pleasure alloyed with moral confidence.”1 He further makes a dis-tinction between the fantasy genre and both speculative fiction and hor-ror, claiming that the narratives in the second two classifications lead to afeeling of “despair” versus “moral rearmament.”2

Role-playing games arise from a variety of generic traditions; whileD&D hails from the fantasy tradition, the other most popular collectionof RPGs, White Wolf ’s World of Darkness, emerge from what the gamedevelopers refer to as gothicpunk. More than the genre itself, the events ofthe story, the style of Storytelling, and the attitudes of the players createthe tone of the experience. For example, regardless of genre, the momentof a character’s death may produce an uplifting or despairing effect. Aparty member’s death or devolvement might upset players or might, alter-nately, provide a sense of release and humor. Some players remain detachedobservers through such a process and can laugh at the predicaments of theircharacters, while others may fly into rages or a experience a deep sense ofmelancholy at their character’s demise.

Also, in games like Vampire, the characters may be predatory innature, but have the choice of whether or not they will kill to subsist.Unlike the villain in a horror story, who seems to go on a killing rampagewith little-to-no personal reflection on his/her actions, an inherent test ofmorality and sense of consequence is built into the Vampire game system.Thus, on the whole, even RPGs with a darker theme challenge both char-acters and their players to confront the potential hero within themselves,offering several choices of actions based either on self-interest or altruism.In-game actions are performed with some mixture of both motivations,and the game provides players with the opportunity to observe their owndecision-making process and its affect on others within the group.

Stableford’s describes the function of fantasy as providing an outlet tostep outside of the box of reality and create a new, insightful perspective.He summarizes the benefits of such a practice in the following passage:

The ability to take up a fantastic viewpoint can ... aid us in putting thingsin better perspective; what we “recover” in fantasy is actually a clearer sightthan we normally employ in viewing the world, because it is a less narrow

56 The Functions of Role-Playing Games

sight—a sight which does not take for granted the limitations of mundan-ity.... To argue thus is to assert that we cannot see reality clearly enough ifwe are trapped within it, and that only when we can perform the imagina-tive trick of moving outside the actual can we properly appreciate itsbounds.3

This definition holds true for the practice of role-playing, regardless ofgenre. Any shift in the conception of reality is, in a sense, a fantasy: an active practice allowing people to see the mundane in better light. Thus,role-playing scholarship often refers to all RPGs as “fantasy.” J. PatrickWilliams, Sean Q. Hendricks, and W. Keith Winkler suggest that “fan-tasy as a fluid, unstable category that is somewhat difficult to map—it is made up of multiple genres or games and gaming subcultures that overlap in some ways, yet differ in others.” As a social activity, they broadly classify fantasy gaming as being “grounded in shared worldviews,life-styles, tastes and affinities, as well as collectively-imagined selves/identities.”4

Just as when reading a book or watching a film, role-players mustinhabit a different head space and identify with someone “other” thanthemselves. RPGs push this identification a step further, allowing that“other person” to evolve as the player’s own creation, rather than a con-ceptualization by an author foisted upon the passive reader of a book. Aschapter seven will suggest, these creations often reflect repressed aspectsof the player’s personality, which are allowed room to breathe and mani-fest as entities unto themselves. However, the shared nature of these identities also allows for a sense of bonding through storytelling and co-creation. The character starts as a seed of a concept in one player’s mind,but evolves through interactions with others in-character, and with player-to-player discussion out-of-character. Thus, identity is actively and con-sciously created, not just by the individual role-player, but also by thegroup as a whole.

Theories of Mind

Fantasy role-playing involves fracturing reality and refracting it froma different perspective. This process can provide both a heightened senseof self-awareness for the role-player and a greater overall feeling of unitywithin the group. Not only can people share repressed, sometimes fright-ening parts of themselves in a safe space, but they can better understandthe perspectives of others. Role-players temporarily identify with a char-acter whose personality traits and choices often differ from their own.

3. Interactional Dynamics in Role-Playing Games 57

Some characters manifest as similar to the primary Self, differing only inthe choices the game world forces them to make. Other characters divergecompletely from the primary Self, even representing polar opposites ofidentification. I offer nine types of characters within this spectrum of self-identification in Chapter 7.

Regardless of the level of divergence between the relative identitiesof player and character, the process forces players to adopt a theory of mind,to think “as if ” they were someone else in a unique set of circ*mstances.According to Jean Piaget, before the age of eight, children perceive theworld through a narcissistic lens. Narcissism refers to a state in which “theself remains undifferentiated, and thus unconscious of itself ... all affec-tivity is centered on the child’s own body and action, since only with thedissociation of self from the other or non-self does decentration, whetheraffective or cognitive, become possible.”5 Children eventually shift fromthis narcissistic perspective, developing the ability to read social responsesand anticipate the needs of others. A theory of mind is the conceptual men-tal framework of one person as developed and adopted in the mind ofanother. For example, children learn to understand the mentality of theircaregivers at later stages of cognitive development. They adapt to the psy-chology of each of their guardians, modifying their behavior and gearingtheir decision-making to avoid punishment and seek praise. PsychologistMike Eslea explains,

A “theory of mind” ... is something that all people must develop in orderto understand the minds of other people. We call it a theory because we cannever actually connect with another’s mind. There is no objective way toverify the contents of their consciousness or to assess their motivations anddesires. Instead, when we interact with other people we can only guess atthese things, using our [theory of mind] to work out what they know, thinkor feel.6

Thus, the psychological content of these theories of mind remains hypo-thetical.

Role-playing allows participants to take theories of mind one step farther. Instead of merely imaging what another might think, the player isforced into situations where he or she must make decisions “as if ” they werethat person. This practice of enactment is “thinking outside the box” in its most literal connotation; the performers must think outside the box oftheir own consciousness. Role-playing offers gamers the opportunity tobecome more open-minded in the broadest sense and experience, both asparticipant and observer, the thoughts and feelings of the hypothetical selfof the character.

58 The Functions of Role-Playing Games

Role-Playing Games and the Cultivation of Empathy

Enacting a persona in role-playing scenarios not only provides a men-tal framework for understanding the consciousness of others, but also anemotional one. In “Vicarious Experience: Staying There Connected withand Through Our Own and Other Characters,” Tim Marsh explains howthe cultivation of empathy is an essential aspect of “being and self aware-ness.”7 According to Marsh, role-playing games teach three different formsof empathy: compassionate, cognitive, and emotional. He explains,

Compassionate empathy can be demonstrated by player-charactersresponding kindly to other characters. Cognitive empathy can manifest itself through players knowing how other characters are feeling by observation of spectatorship, or through interacting with other characters.Emotional empathy is similar to cognitive empathy, but in addition toknowing how other characters are feeling, the players feel these emotions astheir own.8

In this regard, RPGs function in the same manner as other forms of improv-isational drama, such as drama therapy and educational role-playing. As Idetailed in chapter two, therapists and teachers use role-playing to encour-age a greater understanding of the minds and experiences of others. Thegroups Healing the Wounds of History and Geese Theatre, for example,encourage participants to experience multiple roles in a crisis scenario: vic-tims, perpetrators, and spectators. Though the stated goal of RPGs is to pro-vide an entertaining leisure activity, the role-taking process offers the addedbenefits of enhancing empathy, group conscience, and self-awareness.

Though I kept my questions rather general with regard to people’srole-playing experiences, two of the recurring themes echoing through theresponses from my interviewees revolved around this unexpected cultiva-tion of empathy. First, gamers report that the practice of role-playing hasintroduced them to types of people with whom they would not normallyinterrelate, exposing them to a variety of different paradigms. Second, theenactment of different states of consciousness inherent to immersive role-play often makes players more aware of prejudice and oppression in the“real world” and their own relationship within those systems of power.Ultimately, the open, co-creative space provided by RPGs allows gamersto interface with alternate modes of thinking both in-character and out-of-character. These games offer players the capability to see reality throughnew perspectives and experience it empathetically through different eyes.

As Gary Alan Fine asserts in his foundational ethnography Shared

Fantasy: Role-Playing Games as Social Worlds, “Describing the ‘typical’

3. Interactional Dynamics in Role-Playing Games 59

gamer by a single example is impossible, probably more misleading thaninstructive.”9 I asked each of my interviewees the question, “How wouldyou describe most gamers?” While the majority categorizes fellow role-players as “geeks” and “nerds,” many of my respondents also emphasizethat gamers hail from a multitude of social identifications. They tend todefy falling into neat typologies. Darren describes gamers as “a plethoraof fringe people who you would not expect to be involved in this.”10 Kirstynintimates, “Game attracts such a diverse spectrum of people, many ofwhich I probably would not hang out with under other circ*mstances.This does not mean these people are bad people. Some are young, someold, some Republican, etc.”11 Kevin, who has role-played for over twenty-nine years and works in a gaming store in the mall, suggests:

It’s hard to say ‘most gamers,’ because to be perfectly honest, I see such abroad gambit here. I see guys coming in here wearing ties on their lunchhour to buy product ... I see younger folks that come in [wearing] all blackand have excessive makeup and are going for that goth look and feel.... Theycross a broad spectrum of society.”12

Certain characteristics, though, seem to recur despite this wide rangeof participants. Walter agrees that gamers “don’t break down nicely orneatly ala gender groups or racial groups or household earning incomes.”However, he suggests, “I don’t know that there is a majority. You can talkabout discrete pluralities. I would say that, in general ... they do tend tobe more creative, and they do tend to be more open to new possibilities.That’s not always true, it’s not an absolute, but that has been a consistenttrend.”13 He defines the two most common attributes of gamers as “cre-ative” and “open to new possibilities,” two important qualities necessaryfor development of a theory of mind and immersion into it.

Gaming establishes bonds between people that would otherwiseremain nonexistent or underdeveloped. Omega describes how he met hisbest friend of eight years through gaming and how different their person-alities initially were from one another: “He was a type of person who Iwould never socialize with.” He explains:

Outside of gaming, I wouldn’t have even acknowledged his existence. Iprobably would have made fun of his existence if he tried to enter into mylittle bubble of a world and he would have done the exact same thing ... he’smy best friend now, and I would have never met him if ... we both weren’tgamers, and if we both weren’t able to extend more courtesy and moreoption and leeway to those that are gamers outside of those that aren’t.14

Gaming offers the opportunity for a diverse group of people to inter-act in new and exciting ways. Because most games emphasize cooperation,

60 The Functions of Role-Playing Games

both players and characters have to learn to work through personal dif-ferences in order to achieve common goals. Gaming scenarios place play-ers in crisis situations where characters must rely on each other for success.These moments of shared adversity can build bonds between people, offer-ing them the chance to look beyond surface forms of identification suchas age, race, sex, and occupation.

Role-playing can also work to heal the wounds of damaged relation-ships. An intuitive Storyteller can shape storylines based on the individ-ual psyches of the characters and their players. By enacting dramas in thesafe space of the game, players can experience and examine relationshipswith others in new, dynamic ways. Omega explains how his strained rela-tionship with his brother improved through such enactments. Though heand his brother’s relationship was fraught with violence throughout theiryouth, he attributes the healing of this bond to role-playing :

We were able to interact with each other not as ourselves. Not with thatbackground of hate. Because he was able to be an Elven Ranger and I wasable to be a Halfling Thief. And we were able to be completely strangers andstill socialize and see that this person is able to accomplish some of the samethings you are through your skills of acting and interaction.”15

In this example, the self of the “real world,” complete with prejudices andpainful memories, was temporarily suspended so that alternate arche-types—the Elven Ranger and the Halfling Thief—could become enacted.These identities activated a new aspect of self in each performer and, thus,created a new pattern of interaction between them. The possibility for thebuilding of a bridge between the brothers may have remained impossiblewithout the game. In the sense of the eucatastrophe, the boys were offeredthe opportunity to Escape in a structured, fantastic, shared world, Recov-ering a sense of appreciation for each other while previous hurts were Con-soled.

Fine suggests, “It is sometimes suggested that these games are simi-lar to psychodrama—that form of psychotherapy developed by Morenoin which participants act out reactions to psychiatrically-significantevents.”16 Similarly, Walter asserts that a running joke exists in gamingcommunities that role-playing is a form of inexpensive therapy. He explainsthat, as a Storyteller, many of his Non-player characters (NPCs) were cre-ated “deliberately or even subconsciously as a psychiatric device.”17 Bothplayer-to-player and player-to-Storyteller interactions can offer insightinto individual and group psychology.

However, not all gamers understand how to safely and maturely utilize this tool. Conflict can arise as a result, such as unhealthy power

3. Interactional Dynamics in Role-Playing Games 61

dynamics between players, arguments regarding rules, and a lack of com-prehension of the separation of in-game versus out-of-game interactions.Gamers would undoubtedly find the practice of role-playing a morerewarding experience if they understood the potential power of the mech-anisms at work. Players need to develop a healthy respect for these mech-anisms and for the liminal space of the in-game interaction.

Even through some of the more unpleasant experiences in role-play-ing environments, these games can help produce a sense of empathy throughinteraction and exploration of each other’s psyches. Desiree insists, “To beable to accurately look around you and have compassion for somebody youknow nothing about, sometimes you have to do the role-playing.... ‘Whyare they acting this way? Can I see how they feel through their eyes?’ Andmaybe learn something. Learn something about humanity, learn somethingabout other people. Try to stretch your mind around that.”18 The “stretch-ing of the mind” that Desiree describes can also work to induce a shift inparadigm, or at least a higher comprehension of the paradigms of others.

Paradigm Shifting

Some participants emphasize that, due to the conflicts built into thegame world, they were forced to adopt belief systems alternate to the onesthey hold in real life, particularly with respect to race and genderidentification. Josh S. describes the challenge involved in portraying theracist attitudes of his non-player characters (NPCs) in D&D. He inti-mated that he is the only person within his family who married within hisracial identification, which is Caucasian. He describes role-playing as put-ting him in “mindsets” that force him to examine bigotry. “I’ve played atavernkeeper for a human settlement that doesn’t like gnomes or elves. SoI have to think.... ‘Why would someone blindly hate somebody for no rea-son?’ And it’s hard to kind of think of those things.”19 Other playersdescribed the process of observing their characters shift from a mindset ofracial prejudice to one of inclusion. Kevin explains how the game hasforced his dwarf character to accept other members of the party, despitethe fact that dwarven culture discriminates against their races as elves anddragons. “Currently, my dwarf is not keen on this concept that there is adragon in our midst. Thus far he hasn’t changed, but I am foreseeing thathe will change his attitudes towards this individual dragon as the relation-ship between the individual characters grows as different events in the timeline change and advance.”20 Kevin “foresees” that his character will changeattitudes toward the dragon, who is part of a race usually considered

62 The Functions of Role-Playing Games

monstrous rather than heroic. However, in order to provide a sense ofrealism to the proceedings, the player does not wish to force the personato behave against-type.

One of the major “problems” players face is finding a way to unifydisparately-motivated characters under a common goal. Since many gamersattempt to represent their characters as distinct entities from their primaryselves, they wait for group cohesion to occur organically within the game.The game inherently includes conflicts such as racial tensions in order topresent the players with challenges, intensifying the potential for drama.But players, and often their characters, quickly learn that success in sce-narios involves cooperation of others. Even in games such as Vampire

LARPs, in which the players jockey amongst themselves for political posi-tion, they often need to make allegiances with other players in order toachieve their ends. This sense of cooperation takes place both in-charac-ter, as the personas work together toward a common goal, but also out-of-character, as the players must “play nicely with others” in order toestablish the safe space of the shared universe.

Another common type of characterization in which players mustdevelop a theory of mind is alternate gender enactment. The motivationsbehind the desire to play such a character are multifaceted, but in myresearch, players often cite a wish to attempt to understand the mindsetof the opposite gender. Alex plays females in various sexual scenarios inonline games. I asked him why he almost exclusively portrays female sex-uality instead of male. He responded, “At first I thought it was a sign thatI was sexually confused or frustrated. After deeper analysis of myself, I feelthat it’s more that I want to see what it’s like from a female’s perspective.What women go through, and since I can’t actually go through it, I canat least simulate.”21

John has played two long-term female characters in tabletop cam-paigns. Though he often describes them as dressed seductively, he has yetto engage in any sexual scenarios as these personas. When asked why hechose to play female personas, he responded, “Because it was the mostunlike myself. I mean, I’m a pretty masculine guy, I guess, and playing afemale character was more of a challenge. I don’t know if I did it right,but I tried.” I asked him to articulate his process while in-character as afemale and he stated that he altered his reactions to events in-game bythinking, “Well this is how I would react, so how wouldn’t I react?”22 Thiscreative process of behaving in direct opposition with one’s primary per-sonality is a common strategy players employ for establishing of an alter-nate theory of mind.

3. Interactional Dynamics in Role-Playing Games 63

Walter often plays strong female characters. He considers himself bi-gender identified and androgynous, describing his feminine-masculinesplit as “seventy-thirty.”23 Role-playing allows him an outlet to express thisfeminine side, though many of his female characters also possess tradi-tionally masculine attributes, such as combat skills. One exception to thistype is Elsbeth, a physically weak character that he enacted in a Vampire

LARP setting. Since he already considers his mindset to be primarily fem-inine, his difficulties in portraying her resided more in his ability to con-vincingly “pass” as female from a physical standpoint. He describes, “Mybest friend there ... really helped me with the makeup and everything. Ittook about maybe two hours of preparation and it was cumbersome anduncomfortable, of course. And I feel for women, not having dealt with acorset and a wig and the heels [before].”24 This experience expanded Wal-ter’s theory of mind by developing an understanding for the amount ofeffort women undergo to portray traditional femininity. Playing a femalepersona of any physical description is far easier in the relaxed atmosphereof the tabletop setting, whereas LARPs encourage elaborate costumingand movement to enhance immersion into the shared world. Online role-play provides even more opportunities for alternate gender performance,as players are not encumbered by the limitations of their physical appear-ance.

Some role-players enjoy gender-swapping as a release from the socialdemands placed upon them in terms of courtship. For men, playing afemale character can provide a release from the social pressure to inhabitthe role of masculine aggressor. For women, playing male characters canoffer an opportunity to behave more dominantly with fewer social reper-cussions. However, such generalizations are not always true across theboard. “Elton” insists that the experience of portraying females online dif-fered little from his “real life” interactions. He explains, “I’m bisexual. Ido identify with female characters in interesting ways but it doesn’t strikeme as anything horribly different from male characters.” However, he addsthe caveat, “I’ve been in the hom*osexual community for a while as well,so men hitting on me doesn’t strike me as odd.”25 However, the majorityof male role-players playing female characters are less likely to have receivedextensive aggressive attention from members of the same sex, as such behav-ior is not generally condoned in society.

One cliché among role-players is that portraying a female characteroffers inherent advantages by inspiring males to more consistently offer helpin the form of items, money, and services. Such offerings are intensified if the male players can verify that the individual presenting the female

64 The Functions of Role-Playing Games

persona is actually female in “real life.” Haley slyly mentions that with maleStorytellers, she noticed a clear bias in her favor. “As a girl who’s role-play-ing, I find it interesting how the bigger monsters just don’t seem to bethrown at me as much.” The male players refrain from IC or OOCcourtship toward her due to the fact that her husband also plays in thegroup, but overall, she believes that female players are “given a lot moreleeway than the guys [get] to mess up.”26 As a female player myself, I agreewith this statement. In my experience, male players consistently forgivemy lack of knowledge of the rules and offer extensive amounts of aid, bothIC and OOC.

Interestingly, the behavior patterns of resource provision or protec-tiveness often manifest even if male players “know” another male is play-ing a female. When heavily immersed in the game, the player can movebeyond the out-of-character knowledge of the others player’s sex and reactas their character would toward a female. Matthew describes an eventualshift in his ability to engage in an IC romantic relationship between hisVampire character, William, and one of Walter’s female characters, Ishtari.He explains, “It certainly was awkward. I, at first, did have difficulty imag-ining [that] a woman [was] speaking with me and not the obvious oppo-site. At first, the distance I felt, I believe, was more me than it wasWilliam.” However, Matthew states that he eventually moved past these“immature and confusing thoughts.” He describes his characters as “pro-tectors of women,” and the IC interaction with Ishtari provided a crucialshift in William’s story line. Matthew explains, “In modern times, he hadgrown cold and distant, and had begun to lost his vibrance and light forhis unlife until Ishtari began to make him see differently.”27 Matthew’s ulti-mate ability to perceive Ishtari as female and respond to her accordinglyprovided important character motivation for William.

In D&D, gender-swapping scenarios occur occasionally within char-acters through spells or items. Players think they have acquired some fan-tastic piece of armor, for example, but instead, their characters are forcedto spend the rest of their existence in the body of the opposite gender.Such items are meant to provide humor to the game, but also present role-play challenges. Omega, who describes his sexual orientation as “non-discriminative,” describes how two of his major characters were forced to change sex in D&D: “One started off as a male and then was given the body of a female, and then the other was the body of a male that was inhabited by a female.” In the latter case, the gender confusion causedthe character, Silverleaf, to become suddenly enraged at a “fop” non-playercharacter (NPC). The NPC was intended simply as a tool for the

3. Interactional Dynamics in Role-Playing Games 65

Storyteller to provide local color to the town. In a move unanticipated by both Omega and the other players, Silverleaf pulled the fop outside, beathim, and left him for dead. This incident allowed Omega to explore andunderstand a previously foreign mindset, as he details in the following passage:

I felt the same rage that hom*ophobes feel in today’s society. I felt thesame thoughts and the same process and the same atrocities, [similar tohow] one religion despises another religion.... And with playing that charac-ter, I understand it now. I still don’t agree with it, but at least now I under-stand that, most of the time, these people didn’t choose to have thesefeelings ... I used to blame all bigots for being bigots when, sometimes,that’s all that they know.28

Omega’s experiences as Silverleaf offered a theory of mind for mul-tiple aspects of consciousness: alternate gender identification, sexual ori-entation confusion, and hom*ophobia. This theory of mind also provideda sense of empathy for people with alternate viewpoints, an epiphany thatlikely would never have taken place outside of the context of shifting per-sonas in the safe environment of the role-playing game.

These shifts in perspective possibly allow gamers to view others moreopen-mindedly. Having portrayed characters with a variety of differentpersonality traits, backgrounds, demographics, and motivations, gamerstend to exhibit more acceptance of alternate paradigms. Chris explainsthat his favorite RPG is White Wolf ’s Mage: The Ascension because thegame’s philosophies and mechanics force players to think outside the box.29

He explains, “[Mage teaches] that there is no such thing as a single para-digm, that we’re all really people with our individual ideas whether we likeit or not and we’re trying to find truth within our own perspective.”30 Thisexplanation, while specific to Mage, could easily be applied to the prac-tice of role-playing itself, particularly when players come in conflict withunique types of characters and scenarios. Such paradigm expansion hasthe potential to influence how players interact with others outside of gam-ing. By studying the effects of issues such as sexism, racism, and religiousextremism in-character, they may become more inclusive towards othersin their daily life, enhancing overall social cohesion.

Isolation and Societal Stigma

This open-mindedness and willingness to interact with different typesof people may result from early feelings of alienation. Almost all of myrespondents report experiencing a sense of isolation from their peer group

66 The Functions of Role-Playing Games

as young children and teenagers. The following list includes various wordsindividuals use to describe themselves and/or their general emotional stateas children: outcast, misfit, nerd, geek, loner, anitsocial, shy, “picked on,”isolated, sheltered, introverted, anxious, agoraphobic, weepy, elitist, anti-conformist, sensitive, trapped, sullen, terrified, reserved. While many ado-lescents may identify with the descriptors, my interviewees expressed anoverall sense of distance from the mainstream group.

Several respondents describe having no friends growing up, or onlyone or two. Desiree intimates, “I didn’t have a lot of socializing until I wasout of the house, which was [at] about twenty ... I didn’t belong anywhere.Pretty much was an outcast. Completely on my own, by myself. In a cor-ner. No social skills. No really good friends.”31 Guillermo describes hischildhood as “very sheltered and very awkward,” speculating that his par-ents “never understood the need for social interaction.”32 Omega states thatbefore the age of ten, “the only time I ever saw anybody that wasn’t fam-ily was either when we went to the store or when I went to school.” Hedescribes, “From ten to fifteen, I had an issue with people’s ignorance andI chose not to associate with anybody that I thought was an ignorant per-son, which means I only talked to teachers because they were the only oneswho understood the words that I was using.”33

Some explained the source of this sense of isolation was often physicalcirc*mstances. Josh T. relays, “Up until fifth grade, I lived out in the mid-dle of nowhere. So, pretty much it was me, my brother, and the neighborthree miles away.”34 Matthew suffered from childhood leukemia, whichalienated him at times from his peers. He explains, “My social life was var-ied from very active to almost nonexistent. Being hospitalized at age five andthen again at age eleven, I repeatedly experienced changes in friends andpeople who would speak with me because of my having cancer.”35 Otherrespondents mention either constantly moving around with their parents orbeing shuffled between caregivers. Without a stable sense of home, somechildren have difficulty establishing long-term bonds with friends. “Elton”thinks that his initial difficulty reading people socially combined with hisunstable home life, contributing to his desire escape into games:

We moved, on average, about every nine months. Never was in a place,never was in a school, never had any lasting friends. Everything was chang-ing constantly, which, interestingly enough, is a perfect environment forgame because everything is changing constantly. I definitely think that myenvironment growing up had a direct impact on the games and the fact thatI was drawn to [them, providing] the environment for me to deal with thecrap that went with growing up in such situations that I did.36

3. Interactional Dynamics in Role-Playing Games 67

Immersion in alternate worlds provides a sense of escape from lonelinessand disappointment in the real world.

Not all my interviewees immersed themselves in role-playing gamesearly in life, though many indicate having a previous background in the-ater. While in some ways different in structure and content, role-playingand theater both employ the active enactment of an alternate self. As Henrydescribes, “Theatre and role-playing are an escape from reality. If you don’tlike whom you are, or are tired of what you have been, be something elsefor a few hours.”37 Chris dabbled in theater and high school and majoredin the field in college. He states, “There’s a subculture within subculturewithin subculture that defines what a theater person is.” He further delin-eates common qualities of people attracted the craft : “Flexibility, beingvery eccentric, having a very unique perspective on people, being able tobe observant. A lot of actors, especially, are extremely observant. Beingabout to walk away from anyone’s expectations and following your own.”38

Many of these descriptions also apply to role-players.When I asked my participants how they would classify themselves as

teenagers in retrospect, several mentioned being part of a group of “out-casts” or “misfits.” Josh T. explains, “In clique fashion, we always termedourselves the outcasts, but it was in a fashion to where we weren’t pickedon or anything. We weren’t constantly insulted ... we were just left alone.”39

Similarly, Erin describes, “I got picked on a lot. I think every kid getspicked on to some extent. When I was in high school, the kids that nobodyelse wanted to hang out or talk to ... were my close friends. We were theoutcasts of ... ‘normal’ society overall, but with each other we were justfine.”40 Guillermo correlates the “rejects” with the theater subculture inthe following statement: “My friends in high school ... were the rejects,the people that were the theater majors, the people that were the alterna-tive crowd. We were drinking coffee and smoking at the Denny’s and thatwas the bohemian life in Midland, TX.”41 So, though many of my respon-dents describe a strong feeling of social alienation, several report havingbonded with other “misfits” in small social groups.

A few interviewees describe themselves as having an extroverted per-sonality in high school and being involved in a variety of different socialgroups. I myself fall into this category, as do Chris, John, and Omega.Interestingly, even the extroverted gamers still did not fit neatly into oneparticular social category. My mother often referred to me as “a chameleon”as a teenager. Omega describes, “I went from hanging out with nobodyto hanging out with every type of person who was out there from thejocks, to the dweebs, to the people in chess club, to the people in drama

68 The Functions of Role-Playing Games

club, to the people who have already dropped out of school, to the peo-ple that did illegal substances, to the people that didn’t drink soda or havesugar.” He further acted as an “activist” for “anybody who was an under-dog,” attending “a lot of different organizational meetings that were setup to prevent depression and to prevent conformity.”42 Though Omegabecame extremely socially active, much of his behavior and ideologicalvalues promoted rejection of the status quo.

Chris also moonlighted in a myriad of different groups. He describes,“[In] ninth grade, I got to high school, and I met a lot of theater kidsthere, and a lot of the music kids ... I was technically a jock because I wasa swimmer, but I was also involved with the Creative Writing program soI was ‘the Writer.’ I got into the art crowd.”43 For these individuals, thisability to shift roles in the “real world” may reflect an inherent ability toperform in a pretend setting, and perhaps also indicates a desire to do so.Also, such varied experiences reflect the aforementioned open-minded-ness and ability to respect the viewpoints of others.

Josh S. classifies the early social behavior of gamers as falling into twocategories: the Supernerds and the After High School Cool People. Hedescribes the Supernerds as “the stereotypical, live in the basem*nt, talkwith that nasally voice kind of person and ... they seem to like smallergroups of people and [their] social skills [are] not quite as good as otherpeople I’ve met.” The After High School Cool People are “incredibly socia-ble people that have a different concept of what ‘cool’ is, really. You know,the people who like the goth and dark stuff but are still really nice andpersonable people.”44 Some of my participants described themselves morepopular now than they once were, akin to this After High School CoolPeople category. “Elton” brags, “I like to think I’m gloriously successful.I’ve got a strikingly beautiful wife, mostly successful businesses, financiallysuccessful. I think I’m doing great. I’m definitely still not mainstream, butas an adult, that matters very much less than the politics of high school.”45

Guillermo also mentions this shift in importance, stating, “I don’t thinkthat I actually realized it until later, in college, that [my] lifestyle is okay.I don’t need this prom queen, Barbie and Ken ... popular lifestyle to besuccessful in life.”46 Virtually all of my interviewees strongly distancedtheir personal sense of identity with the Supernerd stereotype.

Interestingly, when I asked my respondents if they participated inany fan behavior, they avoid admitting to any, though I know from look-ing at their bookshelves and DVD collections that they definitely favorparticular genres and series. Scholarship on role-playing commonly cor-relates involvement with RPGs as related to “other” forms of fandom,

3. Interactional Dynamics in Role-Playing Games 69

particularly involvement with science fiction and fantasy texts. Finedescribes the role-playing subculture as a “subsociety [that] overlaps withthose of war gamers, science fiction enthusiasts, and medieval historybuffs.”47 Daniel MacKay reports, “In my experiences with the recreationalcommunity of role-players, I have found that almost all of them share thesame score of product art from which they create a community, a subcul-ture, with its own jargon, rituals, and practices.” MacKay observes thatout-of-character conversation at games tends to revolve around films,comic books, music, novels, video games and television. The majority ofthese cultural products arise from the science fiction and fantasy genres.48

If role-players also commonly participate in other forms of fandom,why would they wish to hide such interests? Unfortunately, popular cul-ture fandom often often incurs negative stigma from society at large, asdoes the practice as role-playing itself. When I asked if role-playing as apractice had any negative consequences, almost every participant statedthat they had seen gaming cause problems for other players, but not forthem. In communication studies, the phenomena is dubbed the third-per-

son effect hypothesis, which “states that people see media messages as hav-ing greater impact on others than on themselves.”49 Many role-playersattempt to distance themselves from this concept of the Supernerd, creat-ing a category of Otherness in which to place fellow gamers who they feellack social skills or excessively participate in gaming and fan behavior.This defensive behavior allows role-players to internalize less of the socialstigma placed upon role-players by outsiders.

For example, participants often stated that one valuable aspect ofrole-playing is obtaining access to friendships they never would have madebefore, but that players should never use gaming as their sole form ofsocialization. As Chris suggests, “Some people may have no other way ofmaking friends so they use that as their only social outlet and, when thathappens, bad emotional things can [result].”50 Players may take conflictsrelated to the game too personally and friendships may end, which canalso result in the dissolution of the game itself. Guillermo describes a recentexample in which he and Chris had to ask a player not to come back totheir tabletop game:

I guess my personal theory, and I never was able to confirm it, was thatshe came to a lot of these games because she didn’t have a lot of social inter-action. She was very socially isolated, she didn’t have very good socialskills.... She would get angry in the middle of game because of mechanics....She became violent; there was dice-throwing. There were these outburststhat were very childish, immature.51

70 The Functions of Role-Playing Games

Though the behavior of the player in Guillermo’s example is a bitextreme compared to most games in which I have participated, I have witnessed hostility between players. Some individuals become extremelyupset when their concept of the rules does not correspond with that of theStoryteller’s, especially if their character’s failure or death in a scenarioresults from the disagreement. Walter cites a particular rules dispute inwhich a player argued with his authority as Storyteller with regard to thephysics of the game world. Ultimately, he learned that the Storyteller needsto have a sense of clinical detachment because “allowing yourself to getinto that space of brawling and conflict [is] just utterly disruptive.”52 Chrisadmits, “There are other cases where I may have lost my temper and saidsome things horrible to people I should never have said. I would like theopportunity to say I’m sorry but I will never get to [do so].”53

Part of the challenge in games, then, is learning how to “play wellwith others,” both in-character and out-of-character. Chris explains thatthough the games are meant to be cooperative, people’s inborn competi-tive mechanisms sometimes activate and debates ensue that can damagerelationships. He jokes that while questioning authority is healthy, “It’sjust very irritating sometimes when the guy that’s questioning you doesn’tknow how to use deodorant and has no friends.”54 This comment reflectsanother common stereotype about Supernerd gamers: not only do they lacksocial skills, but they also lack proper bathing habits. Unprompted, Henryfelt the need to remark, “Unfortunately the old stereotype of poor hygieneamong gamers has too much real evidence to back it up.”55 Comments suchas these further highlight the distinction many gamers feel they shouldmake between themselves and the Supernerds.

The participants overwhelmingly also felt the need to emphasize thatthey engage in social activities outside of gaming in order to distance them-selves from this stereotype. Often, gaming groups consist of players whodo not know each other outside of the practice of role-playing and whoprobably would never socialize outside of the context of game. John, theonly one of my participants who classified himself as one of the “cool peo-ple” in high school, describes how he dislikes being pigeonholed as a “gam-ing friend,” finding the term offensive. He complains that just becausepeople share a common interest in role-playing, their friendship shouldnot be defined by those parameters. He explains, “You have only so muchtime in life to leave the house and go hang out with people.... If gamingwas removed from the situation, I guess we’d be movie buddies or bookbuddies or any [other] kind of buddies.”56

Other interviewees strongly stressed the need for moderation in role-

3. Interactional Dynamics in Role-Playing Games 71

players, lest the individual lose touch with the “real world.” Kevin states,“I think gaming is a positive practice for people in general so long as thosepeople remember that it is not real life. I’ve also known a person or twowho got so wrapped up in gaming that they lost themselves, and that’s notpositive.”57 The so-called boundary between fantasy and reality can oftenbe difficult to define, as I will explore in my chapter on identity alteration.However, my participants stress that engagement in many different socialand cultural activities is necessary for mental health. Chris maintains,

To be around ... or talk about role-playing games twenty-four seven tome is extremely unhealthy. I need to pick up and read a book. I need towatch TV. I need to play video games. I need to see a movie. I need to go toa beautiful restaurant with my boyfriend. I need to go to art museums. Ineed to do all these other things [to] stimulate me ... Role-playing games isan outlet, but it’s not my only one. And I think that it’s really important forpeople to try to have different outlets.58

Personally, I strongly agree with Chris’ statement. However, I think thatif an individual lacks sufficient social skills to interact effectively withmainstream society, and role-playing is the only activity where they canfeel welcome, than gaming groups offer phenomenal opportunities forgrowth. Because gamers often admit to having felt socially isolated at somepoint in their lives, they become much more accepting of the individualquirks of other gamers. Having faced social scrutiny and judgment before,they often remain less judgmental and more open-minded. Combinedwith the ability to shift roles and adopt new perspectives, gaming can pro-vide a feeling of inclusion for those who often have felt excluded in sociallife.

Gaming as Ritual

The in-game experiences of glory and hardship are amplified whenexplored in a group setting. For example, players often describe with fond-ness the exhilarating moments when a long-term story line reaches a cli-max. The characters, who have endured several smaller challenges together,now must far more difficult odds. Secret plots are often revealed at thesetimes; the central, elusive villain may finally surface, for example. Thecharacters must present a united front in the conflict, for defeat is immi-nent without an effective strategy.

These shared experiences often create an intense bond between play-ers. Some participants in my study described such climactic moments withnostalgia. When I asked John to detail one of his positive memories of role-

72 The Functions of Role-Playing Games

playing, he described a long-running D&D campaign that culminated ina final confrontation with an “amazingly powerful dragon, steeped in a poolof positive energy that would continually heal us.” He recalls the eventwith enthusiasm: “I remember seeing the worry, and the fretting, and thefear. And then they got into the battle and the more they fought, the morethat they talked to each other and they were really excited ... and at the endof it, they all went outside, were talking to each other, laughing, holdinghands, giving each other high fives. Great experience, after they killed thatdragon.”59 This example presents a straight-forward, Tolkien-esque quest.A group of adventuring heroes must face a powerful adversary, just as Bilboand the dwarves must do in The Hobbit. The anxiety before the battle lendsto the exhilaration after the party members defeat the villain. This sharedexperience creates a bond out-of-character, a special sense of closenessbetween players that is unparalleled in most other non-sporting social activ-ities. While experiences such as rock concerts provoke such feelings of unityand excitement, the process of sharing and creating a story with anothergroup of people over a long period of time adds a fascinating dimensionto the role-playing dynamic: that of a co-created shared mythology.

These moments sometimes end in tragedy rather than elation, par-ticularly if an important party member dies in the confrontation. Theintensity of these moments varies depending on the talent of the Story-teller, the attitudes of the players, and the established bonds between char-acters. Walter describes the climactic moment of a Champions campaignthat he ran in high school. One of his NPCs, Donna, had an intimate rela-tionship with one of the player-characters. Because she had become toopowerful, she had to sacrifice herself to save the universe, and her in-gamelover was forced to kill her. Walter recalls,

Everyone was crying there. Even thinking about that now ... it was sopowerful. Every story about sacrifice, about the nobility of the human char-acter and the ability to persevere despite all odds ... it all really cametogether then.... It was huge and it reminded us all why we’re doing this.Why we’re willing to have these fights, and why we’re willing to pour hoursinto this ridiculously complex rules system with freakin’ algebra necessary todo it. It was because of moments like that.

Later in his interview, he indicates that the players in this session respondedwith “stunned silence and weeping.”61 Though the player-character in thisexample performed a heroic deed by destroying the threat, he did so atthe expense of his own love and happiness.

This type of storyline falls under the category of classical Aristoteliantragedy. For Aristotle, tragedy must “excite pity and fear” in the audience.

3. Interactional Dynamics in Role-Playing Games 73

He indicates that “pity is aroused by unmerited misfortune, fear by themisfortune of [humans] like ourselves.”62 This emotional response, calledcatharsis, allows audience members to expel emotion from within them-selves by witnessing the horrifying elements of the story. Tragedy is alsooften marked by the central character killing someone close to him or her.Aristotle states, “When the tragic incident occurs between those who arenear or dear to one another—if, for example, a brother kills, or intendsto kill, a brother, a son his father, a mother her son, a son his mother, orany other deed of the kind is done—these are the situations to be lookedfor by the poet.”63 In addition, Aristotle believes that a certain story lengthis necessary for tragedy to full take hold of the audience. He explains that“the greater the length, the more beautiful will the piece be by reason ofits size, provided that the whole be perspicuous.”64 All of these qualitiesdescribe the climax to the above story from Walter’s Champions campaign.Though the seeds arose from a pre-formulated module published by thegame designers entitled The Coriolis Effect, the emotional investment ofthe players into the characters, the romantic angle between one of theplayer characters and the NPC, and the length of the campaign intensifiedthe experience of the tragedy.65

Ultimately, role-playing games hold the potential to produce an evengreater sense of catharsis than the plays and epic poems of Aristotle’s time.While ancient festivals such as the City Dionysia featured lengthy playsand performances that were spread out over the course of three days, role-playing story lines can take years to reach a climax.66 Walter claims thatthe Coriolis Effect plot line climaxed after one and a half years of weeklyand sometimes biweekly play. Gaming sessions generally last anywherebetween three to eight hours; thus, such a powerful moment was achievedafter hundreds of hours of gaming. The extent to which players experi-ence such intensity depends on the personalities involved in the game, thelength of time invested, and the level of character immersion.

Regardless of these specifics, the practice of role-playing functions asa modern-day ritual. The function of ritual, according to Victor Turner,is to reestablish bonds within a community.67 As described in Chapter 2, ritual involves a separation from daily life, an immersion into a liminalreality, and a reintegration back into the social group after the ritual experiences transpire.68 A couple of my participants actively use the con-cept of ritual to describe role-playing in their language. Kirstyn states,“[Role-playing] became like a ritual—the food to be shared, drinks to behad, the laughs and tears.”69 Walter laments the growing lack of consis-tent, formalized rituals in modern society. Though all role-playing games

74 The Functions of Role-Playing Games

require some shift between the outside realm and the liminal, Walterattempts to intensify these distinctions in his currently-run LARP. He formalizes the shift between in-game and out-of-game activities throughthe following process:

Everybody knows that when I’m asking them to light candles, the game iscloser ... when I walk back into the bedroom, which is where all the costum-ing is going on ... I’ll tell them, “Next time I come out, I’m in character.”And when I walk out, there’s actually an in-game ritual, but it’s also an out-of-game ritual where [my character] walks up, he kneels before the sword togive obeisance to the missing Prince. Then, he looks at everyone, and hesays, “Ave, Quirites.” Hail citizens. And then they’ll repeat back, “Ave, Cae-sar.” Hail Caesar, or in this case ... leader. And, both in-character and out-of-character, that kind of gets everybody [thinking], “Okay, bam, the game’son.”70

Walter intensifies the normal shift between the pre-liminal and liminalstage of the role-playing ritual, which helps players move deeper into themindset of their characters.

After the game, the players often linger a while longer to discuss theevents of the episode. In LARPs, a more formalized gathering is held forannouncements, discussion, and nominations for best role-playing andcostuming. These traditions help create a sense of closure for the episode,but also enhance the sense of community by allowing everyone to sharetheir favorite moments and offer criticism. In tabletop settings, this timeis usually dedicated to issuing out experience points and determining whereto spend them, allowing the player to witness how the events of the gamedirectly affect the growth of the character from a meta-perspective. Thesepractices form the post-liminal state, in which participants slowly reinte-grate themselves back into the social roles of the “real world.”

Rituals generally contain some remnant of a mythological story orinherent archetype. In role-playing, the game system usually provides thelanguage for the enactment of these archetypes, though these symbolsthemselves often derive from age-old images. The overall plot lines tendto fall into traditional mythological structures, such as classical tragedy orthe hero’s journey. Walter explains that role-playing enacts “the myths,the archetypes, the themes, the story arcs that speak to primal humanexperiences. The loss of the mother, avenging the father, finding yourplace in the universe, finding your true origins, coming of age. I mean,these are things that have existed since ... human beings were sentient.”71

These themes resonate in the deep reaches of the minds of the players andthe enactment of them promotes an exceptional level of engagement.

3. Interactional Dynamics in Role-Playing Games 75

The creators of White Wolf ’s World of Darkness understand thisinherent power of role-playing. They weave terms like “archetype” and “ritual” directly into game concepts and mechanics. For example, playerschoose various archetypes in Vampire: The Masquerade in order to delin-eate their character’s personality. The main rulebook contains an entiresection explaining the concept of archetypes and even includes a quotefrom Carl Jung as an epigram. White Wolf tells its players, “Archetypesencompass not only personalities, but places and things as well. They area way for the Storyteller to get the players to understand the charactersand setting, and to relate them to their own lives. Archetypes help us makesense out of things and help the Storyteller bring the story home.”72

White Wolf ’s Werewolf: The Apocalypse utilizes traditional notions oftribalism, totemism, and ritual as a framework for their conceptualizationof werewolf society. Though brutal and physically powerful, the were-wolves in the World of Darkness act less like one-dimensional monstersand more like Native American tribal units. Werewolves possess an inher-ent connection with the life force and the land, which they call Gaia. Thus,they are the natural enemies of vampires, who live outside of the life forceand prey upon it for subsistence.

Werewolf characters must choose archetypes as well, though theseassignations are labeled Auspices instead. “An auspice,” according to WhiteWolf, “reflects the werewolf ’s general personality traits and interests, aswell as his duties to the pack. All auspices are important, for no werewolfcan perform every role for his or her people. When packs include a vari-ety of different auspices, the unit grows stronger as a whole from the diver-sity of its individual members.”73 Each Auspice reflects phases of the moon,as well as ancient mythological symbols. The five Auspices are: Ragabash,the New Moon, the Trickster; Theurge, the Crescent Moon, the Seer;Philodox, the Half Moon, the Mediator; Galliard, the Gibbous Moon, theMoon Dancer (or Bard); Ahroun, the Full Moon, the Warrior.74

This concept of the Auspice establishes a sense of the character’s rolein the community—or tribe—from the outset.75 Unlike vampire society,in which characters consistently backstab one another for dominance, the“goal” of Werewolf is to establish a sense of tribal unity. Werewolves arefurther distinguished from one another by breed and they organize intosubgroups known as packs.76 Packs identify themselves through dedica-tion to a particular totem. The book describes totemism in the traditionalsense, but also includes modern conceptualizations:

Many of these totems are great animal spirits, such as Raven or Bear.Others, such as Grandfather Thunder, are more personified. Lesser known,

76 The Functions of Role-Playing Games

more esoteric totems, like Almighty Dolla’ and the Great Trash Heap, arecryptic and bizarre. These great spirits each have their own special strengths,so the choice of a totem often relates to a pack’s goals or strengths. Thechoice is made during an intense and mystical rite. The pack then receives atotem spirit, a spiritual servitor of the totem that can act as their guardian,guide them through the spirit world and even lend them mystical power.77

At the close of the Vampire rulebook, the writers list Carl Jung, JosephCampbell, and Mircea Eliade as some of the many sources of inspirationfor the World of Darkness.78 The game designers clearly possess a theo-retical familiarity with the power of archetype, myth, totemism, and rit-ual.

Though RPGs such as Dungeons & Dragons also use myth and arche-type, the use of these terms in the structure of the White Wolf games provides a metaphoric language for players, offering them a deeper under-standing of the practice of role-playing itself. In Vampire, for example, mas-

querade refers to the need for vampires to mask their true nature fromhumans, but also to the act of role performance itself. In Werewolf, theplayers enact tribal practices as a form of nostalgia toward the world’s fad-ing, native cultures and their rituals. By doing so, the role-playing prac-tice itself recapitulates traditional, tribal ideals into modern ritual andstorytelling forms. In this way, the game designers call the players’ atten-tion to the potential for role-playing to act as a unifying communal prac-tice. Such unifying practices are few and far between in our fragmented,Western society.

Interestingly, many of the gamers in my study responded that theydid not feel like they were part of a “community” of gamers. Some statedthat LARP provides more of a sense of community than tabletop, due thelarger numbers of players. Others assumed that I was referring to gamingstores or international conventions when I used the word “community.”Omega states, “It took about a year and a half of gaming to realize it wasn’tjust me and the few that I knew. It was actually a worldwide communitythat would get together and share in the same likes and dislikes [and whohave] the same experience when they’re acting as these characters andbringing life to it and seeing a whole new world through their role-play-ing.”79

Omega assumes that a community must be large in numbers ratherthan “few,” a response echoed by many of my interviewees. However, Dic-tionary.com defines community as “a social, religious, occupational, orother group sharing common characteristics or interests and perceived or perceiving itself as distinct in some respect from the larger society within

3. Interactional Dynamics in Role-Playing Games 77

which it exists.” Another definition on the site indicates that a commu-nity can be “of any size.”80 The sense of social alienation and stigma experienced by many gamers, both in general and as a result of role-play-ing, obfuscates from the players the deeper sense of belonging that role-playing can provide.

Some of my respondents likened the practice of role-playing to othergroup ritual activities involving games. “Elton” explains, “Some people takeup bowling. Some people take up pool. Some people go and do their ownthing within their own social group. This is just what we seized upon.”However, he admits that most people fail to see the similarities betweenrole-playing and other forms of gaming. He laments, “Role-playing is notsocially accepted in the same realm as a guy’s night out having poker or thewomen going out playing bridge.”81 Kevin makes a point of distinguishingrole-playing as a “hobby,” rather than just a game. He explains, “It takes alot of time. And it’s a big commitment. It’s not just a game, it’s really a hobby,and I tell everybody that when I sell them product. If you’re looking for agame to open a box, sit down, and play for two hours on a rainy afternoon,don’t try role-playing. That’s not what you’re looking for.”82

Aside from the time commitment, role-playing differs in other waysas well. While many games offer the benefits of mental exercise and theestablishment of group cohesion, role-playing adds aspects of co-creationand narrative structure that other activities lack. These characteristics candeepen the relationships between roleplayers. Chris describes one instancein which the in-game process of co-creation also established an out-of-character bond:

Especially with your more intense scenes, you can get an intimate connec-tion with somebody. There is this woman I met in my last LARP experiencewhom I’ve never met before, ever. And within five minutes, we both had tobehave as if we were cousins, [spiritually-speaking]. And we did it, wepulled it off, and we roleplayed to each other like that for a couple of hours.And after that ... how could I not feel close to somebody like that? I mean,[she was] able to go there with me, so quick, so fast. I don’t even know herlast name. I don’t even know what her favorite color is, what her birthday is,and thus, I don’t know her sign ... I don’t know anything about her.... Youdon’t know somebody so quickly outside of role-playing, I think.83

The majority of my own role-playing experiences echo the instance Chrisdescribes. Though all games inherently possess personality differences thatcan erupt in conflict, most role-playing involves tapping into one’s per-sonal wellspring of creativity and weaving a story with others. In a pow-erful way, role-players dip into the content of their unconscious mind,

78 The Functions of Role-Playing Games

sharing their secret thoughts, desires, and potentialities with each other.Desiree explains:

When you enter a person’s fantasy world, when you enter a person’s fan-tasy character, when you become friends with a person’s fantasy character,you become friends with a part of them that they’ve hidden from most ofsociety. So therefore, not only have I been friends with most of the gamersI’ve played with before we started playing, I realized that I really wanted tobe their friend even in a game world. Even with their fantasy character,which is truly a part of them, very deep in their heart that nobody elseknows.84

Role-playing offers the possibility for out-of-game relationships to beenhanced though deep engagement with each other’s fantasies, both onan individual and communal level.

This chapter has detailed how role-playing allows individuals whofeel alienated from the majority of society to experience alternate perspec-tives, to better understand and empathize with others, and to establish amuch-needed sense of community. The next two chapters explain howrole-playing scenarios can offer the opportunity for individuals to learnan important variety of skills through problem-solving and scenario-build-ing both in “serious” contexts and as a leisure activity.

3. Interactional Dynamics in Role-Playing Games 79

Role-Playing as ScenarioBuilding and Problem Solving

As we have discussed, role-playing is widely used in a variety of con-texts. Role-playing works as a modern-day form of ritual, enforcing socialcohesion through shared dramatic experiences. Role-playing also providesa useful tool for training and education purposes. Because of the exten-sive scope of possibilities inherent to the enactment of roles and situations,a wide range of organizations find its application useful, including corpo-rations, medical establishments, churches, psychologists, prisons, militarybases, and educational institutions. While the previous chapters focusedon the social dynamics offered by role-playing, the chapter will dealspecifically with the extensive array of skills that people can potentiallyacquire through the enactment of scenarios.

The mainstream media consistently debases RPGs and their partici-pants, labeling role-players “geeks,” “dorks,” and “nerds.” Public percep-tion of individuals who engage in this the subcultural activity ranges fromridicule to moral panic. J. Patrick Williams, Sean Q. Hendricks, and W.Keith Winkler describe the cultural backlash incurred as a result of thepopularization of the first RPG, Dungeons & Dragons:

D&D was defined as a threat to societal values and interests soon after it emerged on the American mainstream cultural radar in the late 1970s. The threat was manifested primarily in fears of occult worship and negativepsychological conditions including suicide, all of which the mass media presented in a stylized and stereotypical fashion. In these and many other popular culture sources, staff writers, apparently unfamiliar with fantasy games, reported the concerns of adults—parents, politicians,

police, and religious leaders—over fantasy games as a source of child cor-ruption.1

Paradoxically, when role-playing takes place in so-called “seriousgames,” popular and academic publications often celebrate its benefits.The overall tone of public response toward these games remains positive,emphasizing how role-playing can offer a revolutionary method of train-ing. This chapter explains how, in a variety of contexts, reputable institu-tions have found the practice of role-playing valuable rather thandangerous. In fact, proponents of so-called “serious games” emphasize therelative safety offered by gaming scenarios. According to David Michaeland Sande Chen, authors of Serious Games: Games that Educate, Train, and

Inform, “Many skills can be taught only by doing, and many lessons canbe learned only through failure. Serious games allow training to occur ina non-lethal environment.”2

A difference exists between the way the mainstream views role-play-ing in institutional environments and role-playing for leisure (RPGs). Themainstream finds role-playing valuable when geared toward a specific “pur-pose” and when structured and overseen by authority figures such as man-agers, therapists, educators, and drill sergeants. However, engagement inrole-playing for entertainment is dismissed as lacking in any sort of worthand potentially damaging to the psyches of gamers. I would like to prob-lemetize this concept of “serious games” as a distinct unit from RPGs.This chapter will detail the many benefits of role-playing for training pur-poses, while Chapter 5 will specifically examine how participation in RPGs also encourages the development of important skills in a leisure set-ting.

The Role-Playing Advantage

The practice of role-playing entails three major functions: scenariobuilding, problem-solving, and skill training. Scenario building describesthe projection of potential future timelines and the subsequent conjectureregarding the difficulties, benefits, and consequences involved in takingparticular sets of actions. The concept was popularized in the field of business by pioneers like Peter Schwartz. In his book The Art of the Long

View, Schwartz describes techniques originally developed within theRoyal/Dutch Shell company and later drawn from first-hand experiencewith the world’s leading institutions and companies, including the White House, BellSouth, PG&E, the EPA, and the International StockExchange.3 According to Uri Avin and Jane Debner, experts distinguish

4. Role-Playing as Scenario Building and Problem Solving 81

scenario building, which involves asking the question, “What do you thinkmight happen?” from visioning, which queries, “What would you like tosee happen?”4 Projecting scenarios involves establishing the givens anduncertainties of a particular course of action. Business modelers then cre-ate solutions based on five driving forces: society, technology, environment,politics, and economics (STEPE).5 Though the concept of scenario build-ing emerged from the field of business, other institutions such as the mil-itary have long used scenarios as a means to project potential futures.

Problem-solving is another related function of role-playing. Scenar-ios place players in difficult situations that often require a high-level ofcritical analysis for resolution. Players must evaluate the options open tothem, such as available resources and potential social reactions to stimuli.Role-playing allows people to find solutions to dilemmas in a safe, low-risk environment, often the with the goal of skill training in mind. Thischapter details the multitude of different skills researchers claim that role-playing scenarios can train.

Many researchers insist that active learning is superior in the devel-opment of skill training to passive learning. Active learning allows stu-dents the opportunity to attain a high level of engagement and interactivitywith the material, whereas passive learning favors a unidirectional deliv-erance of information. Passive learning remains dominant in education,as most traditional teaching environments favor the top-down approach.However, new pedagogical studies often encourage experimentation withactive learning techniques.6 Educators are beginning to recognize the valueof “participatory, experiential modes of thinking” as complementary to thestandard “distanced, reflective modes,” such as detached observation andanalysis.7 According to Beres Joyner and Louise Young, role-play has beentouted as the most widely practiced instructional method for the devel-opment of interpersonal skills. Role-playing has also become a valuableteaching method for knowledge, skills, and attitude development, oftenaiding in the transition from classroom to professional setting. Role-play-ing contributes life and immediacy to academic descriptive material,inspires students to recall more information than they would from lectures,and encourages fun while learning.8

Games appeal to contemporary young people who, in our fast-pacedlifestyle of high media saturation, expect speed and interactivity. HowardWitt of the Chicago Tribune stated recently, “Some researchers even sug-gest supplanting much of the traditional back-to-basics K-12 curriculumwith a new generation of game-based materials to capture the increasinglyshort attention spans of today’s youth.”9 Role-playing offers the benefit of

82 The Functions of Role-Playing Games

expedient learning when compared with traditional education or the acqui-sition of “real-world” experience. According to training specialists, scenarioleaders “can often demonstrate more ideas, skills, and techniques in a tenminute role-play than in thirty of forty minutes with ‘real’ people.”10 Fur-thermore, role-play offers the opportunity for immediate feedback directlyafter the session, a quality of high didactic value to participants.11

In addition, role-playing increases the enjoyment of the learningprocess while decreasing the risk incurred through real-world experience.Scenarios offer the opportunity to try out different roles or courses ofaction in a safe atmosphere with little cost to the players. Some authori-ties even recognize the ritual qualities of role-playing. As pastoral care spe-cialist Pamela Couture eloquently describes, role-playing provides a ritualspace in which “stimulation, excitement, and emotion can be appropri-ately experienced without shame or guilt.... A ritual process in an intro-ductory pastoral care class creates a frame around playfulness that protectscreativity and freedom in the learning process and relaxes the frame in seri-ousness when insight and learning is reinforced.”12 When participants per-ceive the activity as “just a game,” they relax their feelings of investmentin success and experience less social stigma for failure.

Role-playing theorists examine the interdependent relationshipbetween task difficulty and reward in both the enjoyment and the poten-tial benefits of games.13 In professional business scenarios, for example, par-ticipants are rewarded by supervisors and peers for “intelligent, rational,and well planned, executive-type decisions.”14 Even players who enjoy var-ious types of games for entertainment—including board and card games—locate their pleasure as rooted in the mental challenges necessary for successand the competitive gratification inherent to outwitting an opponent.15

Harboring a “love of thought” and a desire for social interaction, playersdescribe their enjoyment in the following way: “You have to actually thinkand make decisions, but you have fun and socialize, too.” Game enthusi-asts believe that this rare combination of mental exercise and entertain-ment cannot be duplicated in traditional classroom settings: “If thosesituations are taken out of an academic environment and put into an enter-taining environment, people discover that they enjoy using their brain alot more than they thought they did.”16 Thus, the pleasure for gamers istwo-fold; they experience their own objectively-observed aptitude, butalso the subjectively-perceived rewards of glory and distinction.17

Players also gain from their losses. Failure in scenarios can provideimportant learning opportunities; therefore, the game difficulty must provide a significant challenge for full engagement. As organizational

4. Role-Playing as Scenario Building and Problem Solving 83

leadership specialist Linda Naimi suggests, “Simulations enable studentsto apply theory and concepts to realistic situations and to learn from theirmistakes as well as from the good decisions they make.”18 Secondary edu-cator Bill MacKenty, who advocates the use of computer games in theclassroom as an aid to instruction, insists that “devoid of challenge or riskof failure,” games lose their enjoyment value.19 Children devote largeamounts of time and energy into understanding and playing a game, butonly given a good challenge and a compelling role. Furthermore, failurecan provide immediate feedback and become a valuable tool when com-bined with thoughtful and deliberate instruction.20 MacKenty cites anexample from his own experience with teaching and the game Civiliza-

tion. The popular and complex Civilization computer simulation serieschallenges players to create a successful culture, forcing them to battlewith rival societies for survival and dominance:

One day when the students and I were playing Civilization in class, sev-eral boys immediately pounced on the closest city they could find, initiatinga war at the very beginning of the game. After a few turns, they lost. So Itook the opportunity to talk to them about the misuse of force. The conver-sation soon segued into a discussion of current events, and the studentsgained some important insights about war and its consequences.21

Such examples challenge the notions of concerned parents and media crit-ics who fear that violence in video games and other areas of popular cul-ture will encourage acceptance of such activities and engagement in themin the real world.

Even without the didactic element of supervised instruction, experi-enced Civilization players discover the folly of overemphasis on the mili-tary. The game encourages the balance of other elements of society, suchas cultural wonders, governmental guidance, scientific advancements,entertainment, religion, and city improvements. While militarily-basedcultures may dominate, they must somehow manage an unhappy popu-lace and might eventually still lose the game if another society attains a“cultural” or “space race” victory. Critics may discourage games such asCivilization in educational environments on the basis of inappropriatecontent, but these simulations are often far more complex and nuancedthan they might ostensibly appear. Furthermore, simulations often offerreal-world, adult dilemmas, many of which may be faced in the future,either in a domain-specific or more generalized context.

In order to properly map out the extensive benefits games offer forskill training and problem solving, I will detail these gains in terms of tworelated axes: the psychological dimensions of the skills themselves and the

84 The Functions of Role-Playing Games

institutional locations facilitating their acquisition. My discussion willinclude a variety of different educational approaches, ranging from immer-sive role-play to tactical simulations, as both factors function together inRPGs.

Dimensions of Skill Acquisition

Researchers tout role-playing scenarios as highly useful in encourag-ing growth across many dimensions of human psychology. These dimensions include—but are not limited to—the following: personal,interpersonal, cultural, cognitive, and professional. Though the studiescited in this section are extensive in scope, they wish to achieve three majorgoals. Some studies attempt to identify the inherent absence of traits orskills in participants through the use of games. Others detail specific pro-cedures designed to cultivate desired traits or skills in training subjects.Others seek to evaluate the effectiveness of scenarios intended to assess ortrain. Despite this range of goals, the research remains overwhelmingly pos-itive in favor of role-playing and gaming scenarios, emphasizing their use-fulness in instruction.

Personal Skills

I define “personal skills” as aspects of self that remain, for the mostpart, contained within the individual. Personal skills cultivate the positiveattributes of human personality and may also improve one’s relationshipwith one’s self. However, the improvement of such characteristics oftenalso enhances one’s interactions with others and with the external worldat large. Thus, personal skills can often interrelate with interpersonal skillsin practice.

Role-playing scenarios provide the opportunity to develop self-confidence, as players practice and learn to succeed at a task.22 Players alsolearn spontaneity, for scenarios often force them to “think on their feet”23

and respond quickly to stimuli.24 These responses often require creativityon the part of participants,25 who must improvise solutions to complexproblems or adopt alternate identity roles in order to succeed in the sim-ulation. In this sense, role-playing provides a space for players to activatetheir artistic sensibilities as well as their intellectual ones and can offer amodel for creativity that players can apply to the “real world.”26

Role-playing provides the opportunity for participants to evaluateand understand the consequences of their actions,27 both tactically and emotionally. Some scenarios train moral sensibilities,28 inviting

4. Role-Playing as Scenario Building and Problem Solving 85

participants to examine their ethical value systems in tough decision-mak-ing situations.29 These activities test the player’s comprehension of theacceptableness of particular practices and demonstrate the consequencesthat unethical conduct or poor judgment can incur on one’s career andreputation.30 Journalism educators use scenarios to replicate ethically chal-lenging situations, allowing future reporters to learn snap decision-mak-ing under the pressure of fast-breaking events.31 Military trainingsimulations encourage individuals to develop values such as loyalty, duty,respect, honor, and selfless service.32 Successful soldiers learn these skillsby cultivating the ability to pay attention, follow orders, and work hard.Alternately, if the soldiers decide instead to “party” and minimize theirwork, they fail.33 Other governmental bodies also employ scenarios to trainethical conduct. In the game Quandaries, for example, the Department ofJustice tests their employees understanding of federal ethics rules.34

The immediacy of games inspires motivation, stimulates activeinvolvement on the part of participants, and encourages the developmentof “adult” behaviors for participants of all ages.35 Stressful or traumatic sit-uations provoke the development of advanced coping skills.36 Because theiractions produce direct, often dire in-game consequences, players learn toassume responsibility as decision makers.37 Successful role-players learn toprioritize their goals and actions and delay gratification. They must regu-late their behaviors and act in deliberate, intentional ways.38

Participation in role-playing is also a self-conscious, reflexive process,providing the opportunity for individuals to sharpen their self-awarenessand observation abilities.39 The activation of a “role” inserts the player intoa unique, liminal space in which he or she inhabits a split consciousness ordual identity. Unlike trance-work or hypnotism, the primary identity ofthe role-player is self-aware and yet observational, viewing the actions andmotivations enacted by the role-played identity. As described in Chapter3, this contrast between main identity and persona can aid in the develop-ment of self-awareness and enhance the understanding of the subjectivi-ties of others, an important step toward improved interpersonal relations.

Interpersonal Skills

Researchers have widely acknowledged the potential for role-playingto encourage the development of empathy. Acculturation exercises aimed at broadening perspectives on current global cultural issues helpparticipants experience empathy for others who are changing cultures andestablish a meaningful understanding of the issues that immigrants face.40

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Writing instructors develop empathy through role characterizations andproduce catharsis in sensitivity and therapy groups.41 Business instructorsconcerned with ethics in research procedures design role-playing exerciseswith the express purpose of encouraging honesty, integrity, and fairnessin human experimentation.42 Medical students engage in extensive role-play training in order to help them develop humanistic skills for interac-tion with future patients.43 Furthermore, educational environments employmoral judgment scenarios featuring opposing players with differing levelsof moral maturity, which result in prosocial styles of thinking.44 One suchonline role-playing environment, Quest Atlantis, fosters social responsi-bility and compassion in nine- to twelve-year olds by assigning playerstasks like identifying endangered species.45

As described in Chapter 3, the most important mechanism throughwhich role-playing fosters empathy is identity alteration, or adopting a“role” different from one’s primary identity. Identity alteration allows indi-viduals the opportunity to place themselves in the shoes of another humanbeing, whether real or imagined. Studies demonstrate that role-playing sce-narios in clinical environments encourage participants to develop a “the-ory of mind” outside of their own and embody it, briefly escaping theirown subjective narcissism. This process allows players to understand themotivations of others,46 adopt their perspectives,47 and consider theirneeds.48

Role-playing scenarios are excellent tools for developing verbal andnonverbal communication skills among participants.49 On a preliminarylevel, these exercises can serve an icebreaking, relaxing function, assistingin immediate group cohesion.50 Continuous communication51 is often nec-essary for success. Role-playing scenarios create “a dynamic and interplay-ing environment,” fostering important individual potential as well as teamexpression.52 According to a study on teamwork and online gaming, shar-ing tasks and subsequent rewards creates an “interdependency [that] buildstrust and intimacy among players and also motivates them to maintaingood relationships with each other.”53 Ultimately, group role-playinginspires cooperative learning and individual responsibility for the fate ofthe team.54

Team role-playing also builds leadership skills, since every groupneeds at least one leader. Whether a player volunteers or is assigned therole, the team benefits from nominating a leader, who may expected tomake final decisions or serve as the “face” of the group in social negotia-tions with outside groups or opponents. Group dynamics force leaders totry to maintain collective stability and identity alteration allows leaders to

4. Role-Playing as Scenario Building and Problem Solving 87

better understand alternate perspectives. College instructor RebeccaWhitehead has taught Introduction to Applied Leadership in an onlinerole-playing environment, where “students form teams, develop goals, dis-cuss problems, and track progress, but they meet only in the virtual world.”The exercise caused one student to observe that a good leader, “whetherin the real or virtual world, must recognize the personalities and abilitiesof different group members.”55

Finally, scenarios provide opportunities for participants to confrontdysfunctional behavior within themselves and others, as well as developstrategies for more effective social interaction. Cognitive disabilities result-ing from traumatic brain injury, Down syndrome, or autism can hinder aperson’s ability to find and keep a job due to limitations in social skills.56

Role-playing offers low-risk social experimentation in a safe environment,while computer simulations test individuals in social cues such as identi-fying facial expressions and practicing appropriate reactions to the com-ments of customers and coworkers.57

Social skills training also aids people with behavior problems. Edu-cational theorists Howard Muscott and Timothy Gifford posit that suchtraining should be ubiquitous. They claim that modern schools “mustmeet the challenge of a changing social landscape by restructuring the for-mal curriculum to include direct instruction in prosocial skills for all stu-dents, not just those who currently exhibit, or are at risk of developing,behavioral disorders.”58 Some role-playing games specifically promoteprosocial skills in young people, such as Reach Out Central. This virtualenvironment encourages players to travel around a virtual neighborhoodbuilding friendships and helping characters through typical life strugglessuch as dealing with divorce, low self-esteem, and social anxiety.59

Alternately, law enforcement training scenarios are not used to teachemotionally troubled people how to more appropriately coexist with oth-ers, but rather to train police officers how to deal with people in a conflictor crisis situation.60 Similarly, scenarios train prison wardens how to deesca-late situations rather than to respond with confrontation. These skills couldmean the difference between life or death in “real world” crises.61

Cultural Skills

Related to the enhancement of interpersonal communication, role-playing can also introduce participants to alternate cultural perspectives.As the world moves toward a more global consciousness, the developmentof an active understanding of other cultural practices, traditions, and

88 The Functions of Role-Playing Games

paradigms becomes crucial. Among other influences, wars, natural disasters, and technological changes create a sense of permeability betweentraditional geographic and socioeconomic boundaries.62 However, despite exposure from various mass media channels, many people experi-ence difficulty comprehending alternate social perspectives without personal interaction. Thus, some specialists employ role-playing tech-niques in order to encourage a sense of cultural relativity in their participants.

William James Stover refers to simulations as “the laboratories ofpolitical science.” He emphasizes the ability for scenarios to produce empa-thy, insisting that, “Empirical and analytical skills are important, but with-out empathy, students will never fully appreciate the subtle complexitiesof global affairs.”63 His simulation reproduces a version of the current Mid-dle East conflict, instructing students on the power of diplomacy by expos-ing them to experiences for future reference. Scenarios also promote thepotential for acculturation, a process which “occurs when different cul-tures experience continuous contact with one another, leading to subse-quent changes in one or both of these cultures.”64 Placing individuals incomplex cultural situations can help explore cultural issues and alterna-tive ways to influence potential outcomes. For example, instructors helpnursing students learn how to interact with culturally diverse patients usingrole-playing strategies.65

Role-playing scenarios are also used to teach participants about diver-sity, opening channels of understanding about people with different iden-tities, including ethnicity, race, history, nationality, gender, and sexualorientation. Enactments also enhance participant comprehension on issuesof religion and violence.66 Involvement in such activities could enhancefuture relationships between human beings who, in the past, felt theyshared nothing in common or felt locked in an adversarial interaction dueto cultural differences. These simulations especially hold potential powerfor young, impressionable students and for military professionals whoseinteractions with people in other countries may produce profound conse-quences.

Cognitive Skills

Game play is a fundamental, important aspect of child development.Humans cognitively develop through mental and physical repetition andexploration. Psychiatrist John Ratey emphasizes the importance of build-ing and reinforcing synaptic pathways in the brain:

4. Role-Playing as Scenario Building and Problem Solving 89

The more that higher skills such as bike-riding and cognition are prac-ticed, the more automatic they become. When first established, these rou-tines require mental strain and stretching—the formation of new anddifferent synapses and connections to neural assemblies. But once the rou-tine is mastered, the mental processing becomes easier. Neurons initiallyrecruited for the learning process are freed to go to other assignments. Thisis the fundamental nature of learning in the brain.67

Activities that some may view as extraneous to “real world concerns”—such as game play or other creative pursuits—actually enhance overallcognitive abilities. The brain works like a muscle; the more humans exer-cise the mind through extensive and varied forms of activity, the easiercognitive processing becomes in the future. Ratey continues,

We always have the ability to remodel our brains. To change the wiring inone skill, you must engage in some activity that is unfamiliar, novel to youbut related to that skill, because simply repeating that same activity onlymaintains already established connections. To bolster his creative circuitry,Albert Einstein played the violin. Winston Churchill painted landscapes.You can try puzzles to strengthen connections involved with spatial skills,writing to boost the language area, or debating to help your reasoning net-works. Interacting with other intelligent and interesting people is one of thebest ways to keep expanding your networks—in the brain and in society.68

Role-play, and RPGs in particular, provide participants with such“novel” situations, as well as offering the potential for debate, writing, and“interaction with other intelligent and interesting people.”

Role-playing scenarios also afford participants the opportunity tohone a variety of cognitive abilities. Game play allows participants todevelop comprehension and mastery of complex concepts in the realms ofhistory, science, economics, and philosophy, to name a few.69 Immersionin play increases the capacity for attention and concentration.70 Play ofvideo games in particular improves the internal capacity for visual mem-ory and mental mapping.71

Role-playing scenarios aid in the development of systemic thinking,encouraging participants to look beyond situational specifics and uncoveroverall patterns. Plot-based situations inspire players to “infer things abouta character and situation from sketchy details.”72 Educators use role-play-ing to foster intuitive, pattern-based cognition in students. In one exercise,middle schoolers in Madison, Wisconsin, engaged in a four-week programdesigned to simulate work in urban planning.73 The project encouraged stu-dents to become “ecological thinkers” and view the city as an intercon-nected system. The exercise demonstrated for students that cities are shaped

90 The Functions of Role-Playing Games

by the decisions of individuals and allowed them to participate in thatprocess. Players were then required to offer proposals to city-wide prob-lems, such as parking availability. These projects further aided students inthe development of writing, analytical, and presentational skills.74

Mitchel Resnick and Uri Wilensky advocate the use of role-playingscenarios to broaden the scientific understanding of “complex systems,”such as chaos theory, self-organization, nonlinear dynamics, adaptive con-ditions, and artificial life.75 They contend that role-playing exercises inspirestudents to “explore [the] behaviors of complex systems ... [and] developbetter intuition about how complex phenomena can arrive from simpleinteractions and predictable patterns from random events.”76 Because role-playing requires a level of participation and creativity not usually presentin top-down classroom approaches, scenarios help individuals movebeyond deterministic, centralized modes of thinking, a crucial step forcomprehension of non-linear, probabilistic, counter-intuitive conceptssuch as chaos theory.77 In-depth participation facilitates both the under-standing of how rules underlie behavior78 and the establishment of newrelationships with the knowledge of underlying scientific phenomena.79

Resnick and Wilensky describe the process in the following manner:

Role-playing provides a natural path for helping learners develop anunderstanding of the causal mechanisms at work in complex systems. Byacting out the role of an individual within the system (e.g. an ant within acolony or a molecule within a gas), participants can gain an appreciation forthe perspective of the individual while also gaining insight into how interac-tions among individuals give rise to larger patterns of behavior.80

Role-playing exercises illuminate otherwise abstract concepts byadding a level of consciousness and identification not normally present inthe traditional learning process.

Business educators use role-playing to foster systemic thinking in thecontext of corporate organizations. Robert M. Fulmer, J. Bernard Keys,and Stephen A. Stumpe study the influence of simulated business envi-ronments on employee comprehension. These researchers use games calledMicroworlds and Simuworlds, scenarios in which “players can observeimplementation of planning across all functions of the simulated com-pany, and ... see the interrelationships of cause and effect within a com-pressed time frame.”81 As in the other examples, business modelingencourages participants to discern previously overlooked patterns andinteractions in their organization.82 Participants “discover difficulties inteam strategy that can be explained by systems theory. They react to ‘pushesand pulls’ in the dynamic system being simulated. They learn how to align

4. Role-Playing as Scenario Building and Problem Solving 91

systems to arrive at success over time, and they learn to better understandthe interconnectedness of events.”83

Other games that encourage systemic thinking include board gamessuch as Risk and chess and “strategy” video games, such as The Sims andCivilization, in which players view the entire system of the game worldwhile making individual decisions and therefore understand the effect thateven the smallest movement can make on the whole.

The role-playing process often involves both storytelling and pretendplay, particularly in the enactment of RPGs. Elena Bodrova and DeborahLeong have explored the specific dimensions of storytelling and pretendplay in the cognitive development of young children.84 Influenced by thepioneering work of such theorists as Jean Piaget and Alan Leslie, Bodrovaand Leong describe pretend play as a vital psychological developmentalfeature that emerges around the age of eighteen months, only to grow rap-idly in frequency and complexity. They insist, “A child is atypical indeedwho does not spend many preschool hours engaged in pretense, sometimes,alone, but most often with others. Like language acquisition, pretend playmay be a universal, rapidly acquired human competence.”85 The peculi-arity of pretend play, however, lies in the fact that children represent theworld not as it exists in actuality, but as a meaningful and deliberate con-struction of how it might exist otherwise, as a result of their personalinfluence.

Bodrova and Leong cite play as linked to a variety of important cog-nitive functions, such as memory, oral language, self-regulation, increasedliteracy skills, and the ability to recognize and represent things symboli-cally.86 More specifically, storytelling and pretend play facilitate the abil-ity for the mind to create narrative structures, a skill important to theprocess of recalling and relaying information related to experientialevents.87 Bodrova and Leong believe that storytelling and pretend playlend to basic developmental tools for children, who “tend to constructplay scenarios and talk about what they learn or have experienced.” Sto-ries provide them with the opportunity to “use metaphors to help distancethemselves from the characters and the context being portrayed, whichaffords a feeling of safety and allows them to enact upsetting events moreeasily.”88 These tools are by no means limited to the experience of chil-dren; the use of narrative and pretend scenarios abounds in the psychiclife of adulthood as well, particularly in such “leisure” activities as theater,written fiction, film, and television.

Chase play in children and animals involves the reenactment of pred-ator-prey relationships for “entertainment” purposes. Entertainment, in

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Stephanie Owens’ and Francis’ Steen’s formulation, is both engaging andpedagogical. Thus, “playing” at the predator-prey interaction, while enjoy-able, creates the cognitive framework for evolutionary adaptation. Chil-dren and animals learn the skills to pursue and evade by enacting chaseplay, crucial patterns for more serious survival situations.89 Though chaseplay may appear to be a rather rudimentary form of role-play, Owens andSteen state that such enactments provide the root for more complex formsof culture, which they refer to as “evolved pedagogy, which suggests thatevolution has designed a cognitive adaptation for utilizing the environ-ment creatively to construct appropriate learning situations, guided byboredom and that particular reward of pretend play, thrill.” They continue,

Sociocultural forms of pretend play, such as mass media entertainment,may tap into this ancient system, targeting a motivational system that is cali-brated for an environment long since gone. Secondly, it suggests that thelearning processes that are involved are largely unconscious and may be cog-nitively impenetrable. Even when we engage in activities simply because wefind them entertaining, we are likely to be engaged in an evolved form ofunconscious learning. These entailments of the model have broad conse-quences for our understanding of culture, for instance in the areas of chil-dren and television, mass entertainment, and political propaganda, not onlyin the present, but also in a historical perspective.90

This model for understanding our cognitive impulse toward play offers anexciting conceptualization of the evolutionary need for culture and for theenactment of roles within an entertainment framework. Cultural prod-ucts such as RPGs present a form of advanced pretend play, evolutionar-ily adapted to react to environmental pressures over time.

Professional Skills

On a practical level, employers and educators regularly utilize role-playing scenarios to enhance employee performance in job-related skills.Games provide the opportunity for players to experience hypothetical real-ities and step into the shoes of historical figures or professional roles, suchas doctors, medics, firefighters, and mayors, facing the complex challengesinvolved with each job.91 Developers are currently creating prototypes fornew educational games that immerse players in such professional roles asurban planners, medical ethicists, journalists, and graphic designers. Onevideo game program, called Zoo Tycoon, allows elementary school childrento “build virtual zoos by selecting animals, creating appropriate habitats,managing food budgets and even setting the prices of popcorn at the con-cession stands.”92 Another Live Action game, entitled Oh Deer!, imparts

4. Role-Playing as Scenario Building and Problem Solving 93

lessons about how scarcity and abundance of interrelated natural resourcescan impact plant and animal life cycles.93

Private and governmental institutions widely employ role-playingapplications as a means of assessment and training. Medical students engagein role-playing throughout their residencies in order to gain practice in diagnosis, history-taking, and disease management.94 Role-playing scenarios also give physicians the chance to assess the “bedside manner”of future doctors and correct any unethical behaviors or awkward communication skills. Military scenarios such as paintball games and historical reenactments provide participants with a sense of the experience of fighting in a “real” war.95 U.S. Army recruiters develop military-life video games in order to ascertain a potential soldier’s com-patibility with military life, complete with target shooting, barking drill instructors, and other training exercises that offer character-building points.96

Authorities also use scenarios as a means to assess the potential riskassociated with crisis situations. In Columbia, Missouri, three schoolsplayed out a “mock gunman” scenario in which police, students, and teach-ers faced armed intruders. The exercises included handguns and mockbomb explosions in order to enhance the immersion of the participantswith the overall goal of coordinating emergency plans between law enforce-ment and local schools.97 In another exercise, a panel of banking indus-try insiders presented an ID-theft scenario complete with a fake bank ata Charlotte, North Carolina, conference.98 This scenario demonstrated toattending lawyers and bankers the step-by-step process involved in iden-tifying perpetrators, offering invaluable instruction in this modern infor-mation age. Other financially-oriented scenarios teach young people howto manage their money, including games such as Credit Counts, ran by theCentral Bank of Kansas City.99

Some businesses hire improvisational actors to inspire creativity and enhance performance skills among their employees.100 Performers use theater techniques to teach professionals to think faster on their feet, appear more persuasive, and present technical material without boring audiences.101 As Tom Yorton of Chicago’s Second City describes:“The skills required to be a great improviser are also skills you wished you had learned in business school.... [You learn] how to listen, how to read a room, how to react to tough problems in the moment, how to create trust and a tight ensemble.”102 As will be discussed in Chapter 5, players can also acquire such skills in RPGs, despite their informal setting.

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Societal Locations of Role-Playing Scenarios

The following examples demonstrate the use of role-playing and sce-nario-based games in various important societal locations.

Military

The U.S. military has utilized games in training soldiers for manycenturies. The game of chess, which dates back to the seventh century A.D.,“is considered one of the best representations of warfare in the pre-gun-powder age.”103 Traditionally taught to officers-in-training to improve theirbattlefield performance, chess finds roots in even earlier war games, lead-ing authors Chen and Michael to suggest that “there can be little doubtthat warfare and games go hand in hand.”104 Modern war games originat-ing in the seventeenth century add to chess more complex terrain, morecontemporary military units, and more sophisticated scenarios.105

The military has shown specific interest in computers and their train-ing potential. According to Chen and Michael, “Computers provide bothan impartial referee and an untiring ‘rules gopher’ who ensures that theplayers follow the situation-appropriate rules of movement, weapon effects,physical laws, and so on.”106 The current generation’s youthful experiencewith video games provides them with a host of natural advantages overprevious recruits, including: improved hand-to-eye coordination, moreefficient processing of fast-changing visual information, improved abilityto multitask, improved target differentiation, improved target prioritiza-tion, ability to work within a team using minimal communication, desen-sitization of shooting at a human target, and willingness to take aggressiveaction.107 The authors insist :

To say that the military, particularly the United States military, is “inter-ested” in video games for training is to make an incredible understatement.The “President’s Budget Request for Fiscal Year 2003, National Defense Sec-tion” specified $10 billion for training. For the Pentagon, simulation equip-ment and war games take up $4 billion a year. To further demonstrate themilitary’s commitment to training games, the United States encouragedother NATO members to use games for training at a conference in October2004 called Exploiting Commercial Games for Military Use.108

The most famous application of computers for military training remainssimulators, including fixed-wing aircraft, helicopter, tank, and humveesimulators. The military also uses computer games as a form of recruit-ment. America’s Army, released in 2002, attempts to provide verisimili-tude of the battle experience.109 The realism and enjoyment factor of the

4. Role-Playing as Scenario Building and Problem Solving 95

game has given the Army more of a positive impression than any otherrecruiting endeavors, helping them to acquire volunteers at fifteen percentof the cost of normal recruitment methods.110

The military also employs non-combat-oriented games, such as Tac-

tical Iraqi, which enhances communication between soldiers and MiddleEasterners by utilizing speech recognition technology to correct languageerrors.111 VECTOR teaches the local language, but also utilizes cognitiveand emotional modeling to enhance cultural training, instructing soldiers“to use situation-appropriate gestures to avoid offending simulated mem-bers of the native population.” The military trains combat medics on sim-ulators as well, preparing them for a host of situations from life-supportto physical examinations. “The uncertainty of their safety combined withloud noises and precarious situations can be unsettling to those who needto quickly and accurately save lives,” explains Chen and Michael. “A sim-ulation provides the next-best scenario other than wartime experience fortraining medics.”112

Though the military’s enthusiasm for the development of video gamesand communication technologies such as the Internet has certainly accel-erated advancements in technology, not everyone supports their inten-tions. Timothy Gifford and Howard Muscott critique the military’sfunding of virtual reality, stating:

The military and entertainment establishments continue to pour largeamounts of resources into the development of VR which, at their best areneutral and at their worst continue to promote violent themes and ulti-mately violent behavior in our youth. Initial entertainment applications ofVR technology including arcade games such as the Virtuality game DactylNightmare, which utilizes programming based upon seek and destroy plotsthat serve violent outcomes and foster aggressive goal attainment.113

The authors stress that virtual reality technology should be used to fosterprosocial behaviors rather than violent ones, since immersion into com-puterized scenarios can influence potential behaviors in the “real world.”

Despite criticisms such as these, so-called war games abound both inthe military and in civilian use. To a certain degree, nearly all role-play-ing games integrate some form of “combat.” Warhammer, for example,

employs hundreds of small figurines on miniaturized terrain in tacticalwar maneuvers. Though Warhammer remains technically a civilian game,the skills necessary for success are identical to those required of militaryofficers. Warhammer tournament player Matt Byrd originally learned howto play the game “in the Navy, when the sailors aboard his ship would stageskirmishes with a gaming set to pass the time.”114 While these skirmishes

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worked to “pass the time,” they also helped train and reinforce importantmilitary planning skills.

Other civilian war games include Live Action Role-playing (LARP)troupes such as Amtgard and the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA),which feature combat simulations with varying degrees of accuracy withregard to weaponry and armor. Gamers also physically compete at Paint-ball and Lasertag, favoring projectile, gun-like weapons over the moreantiquated swords and other weaponry utilized in organizations such asthe SCA. One recent adaptation, Airsoft, offers elements of war reenact-ment, paintball and live-action role-play by providing military simulationsemploying guns loaded with plastic pellets.115 These games offer playersthe opportunity to experience war-like conditions without incurring therisks involved in actual combat.

Government

The use of role-playing scenarios in governmental training drillsextends far beyond the military. The government values the educationalpotential of games at many levels, including national, state, county, andmunicipality.116 According to William James Stover, political scientists usesimulations “in areas as diverse as comparative politics, electoral campaign-ing, local, state, and national American politics, legislative behavior,domestic and international law, budget making, international relations,public policy making, and national security.”117

“First Responder” simulations allow the national government to prac-tice strategies for handling emergency scenarios and national disasters.First Responder employees include the police, fire fighters, and emergencymedicine technicians, each of whom need extensive training.118 Games helpthe government prepare for “black swan” situations — events that lie“beyond the realm of normal expectations.” The Department of Home-land Security, the FBI, and other federal agencies attempt to predict andrespond to these unpredictable catastrophes. In the computer game Angel

Five, FBI agents learn crisis management by coordinating resources betweenfederal, state, and local departments. The Department of Justice fundeda similar game, Incident Commander, which standardizes response meth-ods for dealing with national disasters and terrorist attacks. Dangerous

Contact provides USDA administrators modeling for handling infectiousdisease outbreaks.119

Homeland Security has created live-action scenarios with dummyvictims for large-scare disaster preparedness across the United States,though Chen and Michael state that these exercises “tie up personnel and

4. Role-Playing as Scenario Building and Problem Solving 97

equipment and open up the possibility of litigation, and even panic, inthe citizenry.”120 Video game scenarios, on the other hand, can run repeat-edly and vary in locations and severity, feats difficult to duplicate in the“real world.” 3D Wild Land Fire Simulation, for example, provides firstresponders with a computerized wild fire, complete “with physically real-istic fire propagation.”121 The FEMA website even features a site entitled“FEMA for KIDS,” teaching children disaster preparation and damagereduction.122

Scenarios serve other purposes at the governmental level as well. Somebelieve that simulations hold the power to influence public policy deci-sions. The Markle Foundation, a non-profit organization, developedSimHealth in the ’90s. This game helped politicians, the White House,academics, insurers, consultants, and the general public better understandthe issues involved with health care policy.123 Simulations are also acceptedas useful tools for modeling scientific behavior. NASA’s Distributed Earth

Model and Orbiter Simulation provides ground crews with 3D depictionsof the events transpiring on space missions. The Federal Aviation Admin-istration trains air traffic controllers by utilizing advanced scenarios toreplicate air traffic patterns at airports. Similarly, the Maritime Adminis-tration trains marine pilots on “a full-scale simulator designed to mimica ship’s bridge, with a computer generated projection of actual ports andwaterways around the world.”124

Finally, at the state and provincial levels, games train people in a vari-ety of areas, such as budgeting and allocating funds, hunter educationcertification, boat safety and operation education, and driver training.125

EducationSome educators value both live-action and computer-based scenar-

ios to aid with student learning. Though use of computer games in theclassroom remains a relatively new phenomenon, Chen and Michael insistthat “education based on the methods of question, answer, and discussiondates back to ancient Greece and the dawn of civilization.”126 Educatorseventually adopted books, television, and movies as “new media” to sup-plement already existing patterns of teaching. Computer education, par-ticularly the use of games, represents the most recent effort to integratetechnology with educative principals.

In a study conducted by researchers from the NTL Institute forBehavioral Sciences in Alexandria, Virginia, retention rates “increase toseventy-five to eighty percent when catering to the learning style of games,compared to the five percent ... rate of lecture-based instruction.”127 Even

98 The Functions of Role-Playing Games

if such numbers reflect an exaggeration on the part of the researchers, the factthat games show a significant impact on education is difficult to deny. In the1969 book Serious Games, Clark Abt describes a junior high school simula-tion called Grand Strategy, which replicated events from World War I:

The game unfolded much like WWI, with an entanglement of alliancesbetween students that led to global war. Just before lunch, the students weretold they would get a chance to play the game again in the afternoon. Somestudents went to the school library during lunch to study the history of theGreat War. The afternoon game, played with the experience of the morningand the results of the “active learning” (the self-motivated research of WWIin the school library) resulted in a peaceful compromise [in the game].128

Few junior high students would find themselves motivated to study dur-ing their lunch break without the excitement and competition associatedwith the gaming experience. Abt further suggests that games can motivatestudents who have difficulties learning from conventional methods. Withinthe context of gaming, withdrawn and shy students sometimes becomeactive and communicative.129 Chen and Michael state: “Serious games pro-vide a way for students to not just memorize facts, but also to gain expe-rience and create their own internalized ‘model’ for how what they canlearn is applied to their life.”130

Video games used for teaching fall within a spectrum. One end ofthe spectrum contains games known as edutainment, specifically designedfor use in the classroom or during study time. The other end of the spec-trum features Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS) games, which develop-ers design for the purpose of entertainment, but which may also offereducational elements and may train skills, even unwittingly. A game suchas Mario Teaches Typing, for example, falls somewhere in the middle of thespectrum by featuring the popular video game character Super Mario inan instructive role. Furthermore, teachers have found several COTS gamesuseful in classroom settings, including the following: Wall Street Trader,Start-up, Airport Tycoon, Zoo Tycoon, Dance Dance Revolution,131 The Ore-

gon Trail, SimCity, Age of Empires, Age of Mytholog y, American Civil War:

Gettysburg, Rome: Total War, and the Civilization series.132

Many educators favor online role-playing environments as a supple-ment or replacement for traditional classrooms. Some instructors empha-size the use of MUD Oriented Objects (MOOs) such as LinguaMOO andMassively Multiplayer Online Role-playing Games (MMORPGs) such as World of Warcraft and Second Life as innovative educational tools. Students now can take entire courses and earn degrees online without ever interacting with a class or instructor in-person; role-playing environ-

4. Role-Playing as Scenario Building and Problem Solving 99

ments offer added flexibility. According to Ray Braswell and Marcus Chil-dress,

Chat rooms may improve the immediacy of interaction between students,and students are becoming more comfortable with the concept of “talking”by typing to others online. Some students prefer, and thrive in, an onlineenvironment (as opposed to a face-to-face class) as it allows them time tomore completely formulate their thoughts as they respond to the class dis-cussion. Virtual online worlds provide an additional level of personality thatis missing from the typical chat room environment.133

Virtual and live-action gaming environments offer alternatives to tra-ditional teaching methods and exciting new realms of possibility for con-veying concepts.

Corporations

Large companies require employee training specific to the needs oftheir organization. Many of the skills taught in college classrooms have nodirect application in the corporate world; likewise, employees cannot learnthe particulars of every job description in the generalized environment ofa college campus. Companies employ live-action and virtual scenarios tooffer employees a safe environment to build vital job-related skills.

While much corporate training previously took place via trainingfilms and videos, many companies now look to e-learning for a cost-effec-tive alternative. Though CD-ROMs and webpages are effective trainingtools, the process of e-learning remains largely passive. “To really learn,”Chen and Michael assert, “instead of simply memorizing answers, traineesneed to be involved in what’s being taught, to actively weigh consequencesand mull over decisions.”134

In 2004, John Beck and Stephen Wade reported that out of twenty-five hundred workers, eighty-one percent of those thirty-four and youngerself-reported as moderate or frequent gamers.135 The workforce is composedincreasingly of people from the video game generation; these individualscome to expect and respond well to an increased level of interaction in skill-training environments. Immersion in the world of the information forcesemployees to engage with the material rather than ignore or forget it.136

Healthcare

Simulations allow doctors and nurses-in-training to perfect their diag-nosis and surgery skills. Surgeons with video game experience performthirty-seven percent better and twenty-seven percent faster at laparoscopiesand suturing than surgeons who had never gamed.137 Pamela Andreatta

100 The Functions of Role-Playing Games

directs the Clinical Simulation Center at the University of Michigan Med-ical School at Ann Arbor. The program offers two types of simulations.The software-based scenarios can recreate any series of medical conditionsor physical events. The program also offers a simulation room similar toa Star Trek Holodeck called The Cave, in which physicians can practiceprocedures repeatedly so that the psychom*otor aspects become automatic,“an obvious boon for patient safety.”138

In addition to training healthcare professionals how to performdifficult procedures and how best to interact with patients, games benefitindividuals with mental, physical, and emotional difficulties. Mark Wei-derhold’s presentation at the 2004 Serious Games Summit emphasized thepotential for the use of games in modern medicine. Video games can dis-tract patients during painful medical procedures, simulations can improverehabilitation, virtual reality environments can improve motor skills, andgames can assist with therapeutic interventions.139

For patients with physical ailments, immersive environments can aidsignificantly with the healing process. As Chen and Michaels describe:

How much pain a person experiences often depends on how much con-scious attention the person gives to the pain signals. Video games and virtualreality (VR), with their ability to immerse the individual in a computer-generated environment, have been shown to be effective in focusing apatient’s attention away from their medical treatment and the pain they areexperiencing. Immersed in the world of the game, they are not as con-sciously aware of what is going on around them, and they miss a proportionof the pain signals.140

Gaming scenarios also train patients in the realm of self-manage-ment. In Watch, Discover, Think, and Act, children with asthma learnproper self-care through the aid of a computer game, resulting in fewerhospitalizations, increased functional status, greater knowledge of asthmamanagement, better symptom scores, and better child self-managementbehavior.141 Similarly, computer programs such as Packie & Marlon andGlucoboy assist children with diabetes self-management.

Games also assist patients with mental difficulties. Chen and Michaelstate:

Studies have shown that people respond to games in many of the sameways that they respond to real-life events. They react with fear in frighteningsituations, excitement during high-speed races, and so on. Thus in a sense,games are real experiences, and learning how to face a situation in a game can provide the foundation for learning how to face the situation in reallife.142

4. Role-Playing as Scenario Building and Problem Solving 101

First-person shooter games can assist in conquering psychological pho-bias.143 The video game Full Spectrum Warrior diagnoses and treats Iraqveterans with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).144 Psychologists useSecond Life as a tool to help patients suffering from cerebral palsy, Asberger’ssyndrome, and autism, allowing for normal social interaction in a “judg-ment-free environment.”145

Furthermore, games aid healthy players, providing instruction on topics such as nutrition, sexually transmitted diseases, and physi-cal fitness.146 Squire Quest, a medieval themed game where a squire becomes a knight by designing healthy meals for the royal family and bat-tling “vegetable-destroying enemies,” inspired Houston-area fourth graders to increase their fruit and vegetable intake by one a day. Some games also promote physical fitness. Video games such as Dance Dance

Revolution offer aerobic exercise, leading them to be dubbed “fit-ness games,” “exergaming,” and “exertainment.”147 Live-Action Role-playing groups such as Amtgard and SCA allow players to physically reenact battles and are considered by some to be both a sport and a game.

Summary

Games provide a multitude of possibilities for skill-acquisition, sce-nario-building, and problem-solving. The insistence by critics that role-playing and video games only encourage escapism and mental deteriorationis patently false in light of the mountain of evidence supporting the pos-itive effects of such activities. On some level, games always must retain anelement of “fun,” involve little risk, and feature a certain detachment fromthe “real world.” These elements of play may upset people who feel thatadults should “put away childish things” and focus on work rather thanentertainment, an attitude inherited from the Puritan work ethic. Accord-ing to Stephanie Owens and Francis Steen, for a behavior to be viewed as“entertaining,” it must satisfy three central requirements: the players mustperceive it as “fun,” they must be involved in the process both emotion-ally and imaginatively, and the activity must possess a tacit pedagogicaleffect.148 Therefore, virtually no leisure activities fail to teach their partic-ipants on some level.

Though mainstream sources misunderstand and subsequently dis-miss role-playing games as escapist, time-wasting, and even potentiallydangerous, the evidence from academic and professional sources clearlydelineate innumerous positive benefits. Even RPGs developed solely

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with the intention of leisure in mind—such as World of Warcraft and Dungeons & Dragons—exercise and enhance social and mental processeson multiple dimensions. The following chapter will provide an ethnog-raphy delineating the variety of skills taught through participation inRPGs.

4. Role-Playing as Scenario Building and Problem Solving 103

Tactical and SocialProblem Solving

Like professional role-playing and other types of games, RPGs offerparticipants the opportunity to gain experience in a variety of distinct sit-uations. As their characters undergo challenges and grow in strength, theplayers also develop important skills. Role-playing scenarios force playersto wrestle with several types of “problems,” including mental puzzles, com-bat tactics, and social maneuvering. While working through these scenar-ios, gamers develop models for understanding and adapting to “real life”situations. Not only do RPGs allow participants to escape the mundaneworld for a time, they also train gamers how to view reality as similar toa game system, with physical and social rules that they can decode.

The following ethnography provides examples of typical “problems”players face in role-playing games. As one of my respondents, “Elton,” sug-gests, “If you don’t have problems, you don’t have a game.”1 Conflict is aninherent component of plot and story development; the players in thesescenarios must find ways to overcome the obstacles presented to their char-acters. In this chapter, I suggest that the same cognitive process involvedin early pretend play often leads to a later interest in more systematizedstyles of role-playing. The system establishes an internally consistentframework of rules within which all actions within the game must fall.Gamers learn how to solve problems based upon these elaborate guide-lines, enhancing their overall ability to think systemically and overcomeadversity.

Though a wide variety of person-to-person role-playing games exist

104

on the market, the two most popular and enduring game systems remainthe various versions of Dungeons & Dragons and White Wolf ’s World ofDarkness. Within White Wolf ’s oeuvre, Vampire: The Masquerade is thegame most commonly referenced by my participants. Traditionally, Dun-

geons & Dragons tends to emphasize physical and combat-oriented puz-zles, whereas Vampire focuses on story-driven, social problems. However,both systems inherently include each of these problem-solving aspects,adding to a unique richness of experience. While this study focuses almostentirely on person-to-person role-playing, the same principles that Idescribe can easily be applied to virtual RPGs. Indeed, many of my ownformative role-playing experiences have transpired online rather than in-person.

This chapter explains how and why adults feel the need to add a gamesystem when engaging in the early activity of child play. It then exploreshow role-playing scenarios encourage a high level of complex thinkingskills and how most role-players exhibit an inherent capacity for process-ing information and applying it creatively; the various problems playerssolve in-character, including puzzles, combat tactics, and social maneu-vering; and finally, the how role-playing encourages individuals to per-ceive reality like a game and think “outside of the box,” applying the skillsthey acquire in the game to “real life” situations.

The Necessity of the Game System

When asked about their initial RPG experiences, many gamers in mystudy describe initial attempts to role-play without a coherent sense ofstructure. This type of “game” is commonly referred to as “pretend play,”and involves the creation of a shared reality that can shift and bend accord-ing to the immediate desires of the players. Young people, who are ofteninundated with a myriad of rules imposed by adults, experience this muta-bility of structure as pleasurable.

However, as gamers grow older and their minds develop a greatersense of cognitive sophistication, they begin to see the necessity for someform of rule set within which to establish pretend play. The game system

establishes the rules of reality within which pretense seems more plausi-ble, adding to the experience of immersion and reducing cognitive disso-nance. This framework also provides the mechanisms by which playermeasure success or failure, helping to mediate disputes and lending to agreater sense of satisfaction when players achieve their characters’ goals.

The mastering and manipulation of a manageable system of rules to

5. Tactical and Social Problem Solving 105

reality is especially pleasurable in modern-day society. Fine explains, “Agamer, today’s Everyman, is battered by forces outside his control; he isat the mercy of restrictions, superiors, and bureaucrats. Gaming is said toprovide not only an escape from worldly pressures, but a feeling of con-trol or efficacy over an environment—even if it is a fantastic environ-ment.”2 According to Fine, this feeling of mastery is especially experiencedby the Storyteller, who acts as the “God” of the world, making ultimaterule calls and weaving the story for the players. Fine states, “[The Story-teller] chooses how the game will be constructed, both in terms of the set-ting and the scenario. In theory, he is the dreamer; he is in control.”3

However, the players also learn the rule system and negotiate with the Sto-ryteller over rulings; their actions necessarily influence the world of thegame, establishing some measure of mutually-shared control.

A few of my interviewees describe that their initial gaming experi-ences lacked a coherent sense of mechanics and structure. As mentionedin chapter four, the practice of role-playing develops from the pretend playof young children. Several of my subjects indicate an early involvementwith pretense. Chris describes engaging in extensive amounts of pretendplay with his cousin as a child: “If you were to ask him, he would havestories upon stories upon stories. We have written entire novels over aweekend ... of us spending time together, playing pretend. That was afavorite thing to do.”4

Gamers often define role-playing as a distinct practice from simplepretend play as it specifically involves a game system. Alex actively distin-guishes role-playing from pretend play in his interview, stating, “Therehave been quite a few role-playing games that I’ve been through, that is,excluding the games of ‘Cops and Robbers’ and ‘Super-hero’ that we playedas children. I believe my first experience was with Dungeons & Dragons

back in high school.”5 I suspect that the early creation of characters andpretend worlds leads to an interest in the more formalized practice of role-playing later in life.

Because many role-playing systems require an intensive amount ofresearch and rule-learning before play, gamers may initially try a looserformat. For a game to achieve longevity, however, the participants mustestablish and enforce a set of rules, or the practice quickly devolves intochaos and dissolution. Haley mentions, “I’ve been role-playing for fouryears seriously. And, then, back when I was, like, fourteen, we tried torole-play and just ended up having parties that didn’t have anything to do with role-playing.”6 Chris describes his first attempt at “running agame,” i.e. performing the role of Storyteller for the players, as a

106 The Functions of Role-Playing Games

“beautiful disaster.” He explains, “We tried to create some system, but itjust never came out. So [my friend] says to me, ‘Play in my tabletop role-playing game—it’s Vampire—and see what it’s like. Translate that to yourLARP and see if you can pull it off that way.’”7 Though Chris claims thatfirst game was one of the best he has ever run due to the free-form pre-tend play, he eventually had to learn the rules in order to maintain a con-sistent game world with a large player-base. The lack of a coherent rulesystem allowed for enjoyment and creativity in pretend play, but not forpotential longevity within the group.

Thus, the game system functions as a social contract between play-ers that allows for pretend play within an established framework. Thisframework generally involves rules for the construction of the skill set ofthe character and for the resolution of conflict. John indicates conflict asnecessary “to propel the story.” He explains, “It wouldn’t be fair to sub-jectively decide who wins a conflict. There has to be a predeterminedmethod to resolving conflict. I think that’s the core of any role-playinggame: how do you resolve conflict?”8 This predetermined method, referredto in role-playing theory as fortune, is generally statistical in nature.9 For-tune often involves the rolling of dice or the enacting of rock-paper-scis-sors in order to create a sense of probability in conflict resolution. Fortunegenerates greater excitement for the game and adds an element of theunknown into the proceedings. A player may construct a character witha high chance of success at a particular endeavor, but ultimately, the dicedecide the outcome. The game system sets the parameters of the worldand the Storyteller weaves the plot. Then, the players respond based ontheir individual motivations. The fortune system provides the ultimateresults. As John suggests, “The dice aren’t partial ... it’s just the way of theuniverse. Every time you roll that die a different number is going to comeup. Sometimes it’s going to be low, sometimes it’s going to be high, butthe dice themselves can tell a story.”10 Most role-players attempt to shapetheir characters in order to achieve the maximum statistical advantagewithin the restrictions of the framework, a process known as min-maxing.As Walter puts it, “You need to see the wires behind the curtain and knowhow to manipulate those wires.”11 Gamers will often pour countless hoursinto memorizing the rules of a particular game system. Some players findthis process pleasurable and prefer the tactical aspect of gaming, whileothers soon become frustrated if the campaign lacks a coherent story. Theterm campaign harkens back to the early relationship between role-play-ing games and military simulations. A campaign is a particular story arcor quest that the players must complete, a process which may take several

5. Tactical and Social Problem Solving 107

game sessions. For some role-players, the campaign merely functions asloose story facilitating combat or the enactment of particular skills grantedby the game system. By denoting the enactment of scenarios as “cam-paigns,” the very language of the original RPGs encouraged players to viewcombat as the primary focus of gaming. Matthew explains, “TabletopRPGs as they were introduced to me initially felt like a dungeon crawl/action film with no major plot—also known as Roll-Playing—the empha-sis being on rolling dice to see if your character succeeded or failed.”12

White Wolf Studios, the game developers responsible for Vampire: The

Masquerade and other games in the World of Darkness, attempted to rec-tify this overemphasis on combat by restructuring the language of theirmanuals. “Campaigns” were renamed “Chronicles”;13 the “Dungeonmas-ter” became the “Storyteller.”14 Despite this shift in terminology, manyplayers in White Wolf games still tend to min-max their characters inorder to achieve maximum social and combat effectiveness. For these indi-viduals, mastering the game system is a vital and important part of therole-playing process. In order to succeed at RPGs, players must display atleast some understanding of the system. A player may detail an extensivebackground and heavily immerse him or herself into the character, butthe character may die easily if the player “builds” him or her weakly withinthe framework of the system.

Role-Playing and Higher-Level Thinking

RPGs challenge players to think at a higher level. Examination of thegame from such a methodical, mathematical standpoint is an acquiredskill. Josh S. explains how learning the complex rules of Dungeons & Drag-

ons prepared him for higher-level thinking in college, teaching him “howto study.” He explains,

The kind of chemistry books that I have to study and read are incrediblysimilar to D&D rules in 3.5, honestly ... I’d read the combat section, andthen I’d read another chapter dealing with magic. And they’d tell you howthey work ... but you have to read both those sections and put themtogether. And that’s the way it worked in Chemistry ... they have minuterules and they have exceptions and they have contingencies and you justhave to memorize all of those things and know them. Eventually it justbecomes second nature. 15

Through intense engagement with complex game systems, role-playinggames can also increase player’s mathematical abilities. In her study on thepotential skills players acquire through RPGs, Heather Mello states:

108 The Functions of Role-Playing Games

Respondents reported improved statistical or probability skills, which“applied in more day to day stuff,” or “in other situations involving variablesand chance, I can figure the odds better by thinking of it in terms of dicesystems.” More interesting, one respondent stated, “understanding of dicemechanics allowed me to get a job as a statistician,” a human capital skillthat literally paid off.16

Similarly, one of my respondents, Walter, describes the trials involved inmastering the system for Champions, a RPG based on the superheroicgenre. He admits, “[Champions] was difficult for a bunch of high schoolkids—none of us were strong in math—do deal with. But I got very goodat number crunching because of that, actually, oddly enough. And that’sserved me well.”17

The process of learning a new game system can sometimes confuseand disgruntle new players due to the intensive amount of study required.Desiree complains that gaming “became frustrating because it was all thatthe other players could think of, and I felt that I was kind of draggingbehind because I had other things I needed to get [done]. For me, role-playing was something that was fun; it was something intriguing. It wassomething I enjoyed doing and it began to feel too much like a job. Likehomework.”18I myself often feel overwhelmed at the sheer amount of workrequired to compete with other gamers in a strategic capacity.

Not only do RPGs allow players to develop higher level cognitiveskills, but people who engage in these games may possess inherent abili-ties that lend to their interest and success. For instance, gamers tend todemonstrate an inherent voraciousness with regard to the consumption offiction and non-fiction texts. Many of my respondents indicate display-ing an exceptional interest in reading, research, and story writing at anearly age. When asked to describe his childhood, for example, Darrenresponded, “I spent most of my time reading whatever I could get myhands on.”19 Similarly, “Elton” immersed himself in books. He offers thefollowing anecdote: “I was the nerd. I was the geek. I was the know-it-all. I was the guy who stood up and class and told the teacher, ‘No, no,no. Encyclopædia Britannica says this,’ and they’d ask me how [I knew] andI’d say, ‘Because I read it.’ And I was in third grade.”20 I myself experi-enced intense interest in textual and contextual analysis at a young age,which eventually led to my involvement in role-playing games. These skillsparticularly aided me in the development of story meta-plot and in backstory research for my characters.

I asked my respondents to describe themselves and other gamers and they almost invariably pointed to an inherent intellectual capability.

5. Tactical and Social Problem Solving 109

Hyper-intelligence tends to distinguish individuals from their peers dur-ing adolescence, contributing to a sense of alienation from the larger socialgroup. As described in Chapter 3, many gamers indicate having experi-enced a sense of isolation in their youth. When I asked my intervieweesto indicate their social identity in secondary school, they often labeledthemselves and their friends the “outcasts,” “misfits,” “geeks,” or “nerds.”Erin described herself in high school as “an artsy-fartsy nerd. I have a lotof hobbies and crafts and things that I do, and I always made sure that Ihad all of my classes taken care of and I had high grades.”21 Christopherconfesses, “Yes, I am a big, huge nerd. I can have a two-hour conversa-tion with my cousin ... about a Star Wars novel, that’s pretty nerdy.”22

Kevin relates the term “nerd” to those individuals who display an inter-est in trivia and are capable of absorbing high levels of information. Headmits, “Most gamers definitely have what the world would consider a geekor nerd aspect to them [in] that they focus on [the] minutiae and details ofthings that the rest of the world could care less about.”23 Gary Alan Finealso emphasizes this quality, stating, “What most distinguishes gamers fromothers is their specialized knowledge of topics relevant to the game, and thisis both a cause of their involvement and a result of their participation.”24

While such interests can alienate gamers from mainstream social groups,hyper-intelligence, self-directed research, and the capacity for remember-ing large amounts of information affords gamers several advantages. Suchskills are often necessary to understand the complex mechanics involved inmany RPGs and to flesh out the story lines within game worlds.

Such individuals desire a challenge from their entertainment pur-suits, and RPGs create manageable crises that players must face. Gamingscenarios tend to offer three types of “problems” for players to solve: puz-zles, tactics, and social negotiation. Fine describes the role-playing sce-nario as “a set of forces in the setting that provide the motivation for thecharacters.”25 He explains, “These scenarios can range from very simpleones, such as the existence of a dungeons filled with monsters and treas-ures, to more complex issues, such as a mysterious blight that has affectedlocal vineyards.”26 The following sections will explain several examples inwhich RPGs force players to solve certain problems in order for the play-ers to succeed and proceed with the story line.

Puzzle Solving and Combat Tactics

RPGs often feature extensive puzzle solving and tactical combat sce-narios. Since RPGs originated as advanced forms of war gaming, combat

110 The Functions of Role-Playing Games

was the initial emphasis of the game. The first version of Dungeons &

Dragons revolved around exploring cavernous dungeons, defeating mon-sters, and acquiring treasure. Later games, such as M. A. Barker’s Empire

of the Petal Throne, expanded upon this concept considerably, offeringextensive political, economic, and social details. More recent games, suchas White Wolf ’s many titles, avoid the dungeon model completely andinstead offer a detailed, multifaceted world of supernatural beings in whichplayers can freely roam. However, the various versions of D&D are stilltouted as the most widely-played RPGs.

Thus, players who favor Dungeons & Dragons emphasize enjoyingpuzzles, tactics, and fortune-resolved combat, indicating that these aspectsare the “point of the game.” As Josh T. describes, “Puzzles and strategic[problems], those have D&D written all over them. I mean, that’s thebread and butter of Dungeons & Dragons. It’s combat and dungeon-crawl-ing, puzzles and such.”27 John explains that puzzles arrive in many forms,stating: “There’ve been door puzzles: pull this latch, activate that key.Those kind of physical puzzles. There have been mind puzzles too, [like]trying to figure out intertextual [aspects, such as]: Who is the real villain,the one that you’re supposed to pursue, the one with whom conflict willbring resolution?”28

Regardless of how these puzzles manifest, solving them provides anessential component to RPG scenarios. Games such as Dungeons & Drag-

ons, tend to present these puzzles overtly and completion becomes neces-sary for the continuation of the story. Players must disarm traps, unlockdoors, and figure out how best to attack monsters while considering specificstrengths and vulnerabilities. This process is known as a questing or dun-

geon crawling and is the thematic focus of most game modules, as well asmost level-based computer games and online MMORPGs. As a rewardfor their hard work and exposure to danger, players may acquire “loot”from the dungeon or monster and receive leveling points to enhance theircharacter’s statistics. If specifically assigned to a quest by an NPC, thecharacters must often return some trophy to prove the success of theirmission.

In a dungeon crawl, the characters must utilize their specific talentsto proceed through a series of chambers. These chambers generally fea-ture monsters, traps, or treasure. Danger pervades these adventures in theobvious form of aggressive creatures, but also in more innocuous places,such as the rooms themselves. In the following passage, Kevin describesplaying a particular D&D situation in which the main puzzle for the groupto solve was exiting the room itself :

5. Tactical and Social Problem Solving 111

We wound up in a chamber that, shortly after we entered ... sealed off onus. We could find no means of exit other than a four-foot tall pedestal in thecenter of the room that had six knobs on it that appeared to turn, or shift,or move. There were three player-characters, so each of us took two knobsand simultaneously turned all of them. As it turned out, there was a negativeeffect upon each of the characters, but there was a positive effect, and wewere all able to exit that particular chamber.29

In this example, the group had to solve a puzzle in order to proceed. Puz-zles often have many solutions, and in this case, the group’s decisionincurred both positive and negative consequences. John details the myr-iad of puzzles offered to him over his several years of gaming experience,highlighting one particularly frustrating example:

I guess the greatest problem I’ve ever had to solve was.... The Secret ofNine. And it was the most difficult kind of riddle because we had no placeto start ... and it wasn’t even an abstract construct. It was just a word: nine.That was it and we had to figure out what that meant. We had to probewith bizarre, off-the-wall questions. And I remember we all just sat aroundfor three or four hours. [The players] were so disgruntled ... but we did it ...One of the players finally rattled off the nine different alignments in Dun-geons & Dragons and that was the solution to the riddle, which is prettyweird.30

By alignment, John refers to the system by which Dungeons & Dragons

designates morality. Each character chooses an alignment, or moral ori-entation. The nine archetypal alignments in the game are as follows: theLawful Good “Crusader,” the Neutral Good “Benefactor,” the ChaoticGood “Rebel,” the Lawful Neutral “Judge,” the True Neutral “Undecided,”the Chaotic Neutral “Free Spirit,” the Lawful Evil “Dominator,” the Neu-tral Evil “Malefactor,” and the Chaotic Evil “Destroyer.”31 Characters mustbehave according to their respective alignments or face consequences fromthe Storyteller. In the Secret of Nine, part of the difficulty John’s partyhad in solving the riddle was the relative inconsequentiality of the “secret”with regard to the plot. Though alignments are central to game mechan-ics, part of the language of the framework they generally function as role-playing aids rather than in-game aspects within the context of the story.

Such inconsequential riddles may cause frustration, particularly whenthese conundrums take a significant amount of game time to solve. Somegamers actively dislike the typical D&D game style because of the propen-sity for such arbitrary situations. Without a sufficient balance betweenchallenge, reward, and a compelling storyline, players often become irritated. Guillermo describes a particularly frustrating situation in whichhe was stuck in an elaborate dungeon, fighting oversized ants with no

112 The Functions of Role-Playing Games

obvious story motivation. Recalling the story, he states that he kept think-ing, “‘I just want out of here and I want my reward.’ And that was theproblem. It was constantly doing [tasks with] no reward. There was no[one saying], ‘Well, congratulations. Here. The princess kisses you andthanks you.’”32

The central concept of struggle and subsequent reward promotes char-acter growth, but also subsequently offers potential for the growth of theplayer. In behaviorist terms, the characters experience a set of positive andnegative reinforcements from the game world. They must navigate throughthe universe, learning and adapting as a result of each unique scenario.They receive their “reward” as a testament to their success. In some cases,blatant rewards manifest, like the acquisition of treasure or a position ofpower. Alternately, one’s reward might seem small, like a word of approvalfrom a superior or even the continued existence of their character.

Walter details one scenario from his LARP in which a new player facedan ambush and survived, a reward in itself. He explains, “[The player] wasdelighted when another tactician, another acknowledged tactical mind inthe game ... said that her character had survived this assassination attempt.She had done incredibly well in the fighting and had made the correct tactical decision at every combat round and at every juncture.”33 The in-game incident and subsequent reward helped build the player’s out-of-game confidence level. Exuding confidence can mean the differencebetween success and failure in many situations, both in-game and out-of-game. According to my interviews, success in role-playing scenarios doestend to translate into success in other areas of life, as I detail in the finalsection of this paper.

One interesting aspect of role-playing tactics is the ability for playersto alter time for various purposes. While engaged in “combat,” players willoften spend several hours ironing out what feats their characters will per-form, reexamining rules, and establishing the results of the battle throughthe fortune system. This extensive process segments time into sequentialrounds, in which each player is allowed to perform actions by taking des-ignated turns. Guillermo explains how this technical aspect functioned inone of John’s D&D campaigns: “When we first began playing, it was verycombat driven and very mechanical ... there were countdowns, it was ‘Well,let’s start on 25 ... 24....’ And he would, literally, count it. It was all math-ematical to him. So he would actually [say], ‘This person does ... seven dam-age plus eight divided by two,’ mechanically saying it out loud.”34

Part of the benefit of enacting scenarios is being offered the oppor-tunity to slow actions down and examine them at each step. In the

5. Tactical and Social Problem Solving 113

Vampire RPG, a combat round only accounts for three seconds of time inthe game.35 However, with a multitude of players, the fortune resolutionof one round might take several minutes. Thus, although vampires moveextremely fast, the game slows the process of combat down in order forplayers to fully examine each decision. When a crucial mistake is made,the players can learn from these mishaps and alter their decision-makingin future scenarios. Similarly, when characters succeed, they can rehashtheir ingenious solutions with other players, regaling them with stories out-of-character. Players consider this regaling pleasurable, allowing them theopportunity to relive their successes, but it also serves the purpose of rein-forcing the lessons learned in the situation.

This slowing down of time into manageable segments may be an essen-tial aspect of human consciousness. In dissociative theory, people who enduretraumatic events often feel a shift in their perception of time. In times ofcrisis, every second may mean the difference between life and death, so real-ity is perceived as slowing down. By dissociating, the mind is offered theopportunity to examine each moment more fully than it normally could.The individual perceives him or herself as oddly distant from the eventstranspiring. This process of slowing and distancing, known as depersonal-

ization, creates enough emotional space to afford the individual the chanceto make rational decisions. Dissociation specialist Marlene Steinberg states,

Feeling that the clock has stopped in the outside world gives the personthe latitude to focus on quickening thoughts of self-preservation. Thenumbing of emotions stills anxiety and wards off panic, allowing the personto perform automatically, as if some higher power has taken control. In all,these perceptual alterations combine to enable someone in grave danger todefy death or, failing that, to accept it gracefully.36

Depersonalization remains an important psychological mechanism, devel-oped to handle situations in which the individual’s decision-makingprocess directly correlates with survival.

Role-playing scenarios offer a similar process for gamers, but theyexperience these moments as pleasurable rather than traumatic . In arelaxed, safe atmosphere, gamers can enact life-or-death situations with asense of emotional distance and slowing of time. The experiences “hap-pen” to their characters rather than their primary selves; similarly, peoplein dissociative states will sometimes create alternate personalities that willexperience traumatic situations in their stead.37

In the case of dissociation, these “alters” will often protect the pri-mary personality from the memories of the trauma through various degreesof amnesia.38 Role-players, on the other hand, experience the events

114 The Functions of Role-Playing Games

in-game along with their characters and often actively direct the actionsof these personas in order to maximize their effectiveness. This process issimilar to Steinberg’s description of people acting “as if some higher powerhas taken control” when in a dissociative state. In the case of role-players,this higher power simply reflects the primary self, who views the situationmore objectively than the character. The player understands the meta-plotand the game mechanics and makes decisions accordingly. However, theplayer must also provide IC justification for why their character wouldmake such decisions, lest the other players accuse them of meta-gaming—making in-character decisions based on out-of-character information. Ulti-mately, most tactical moves involve some combination of the motivationsof the character and the objective, “higher” self.

Time can also speed up in role-playing games. The meta-plot of agame universe may span thousands of years, locating the actions of thecharacters within a long continuum of time. In addition, the players mustalso elide certain details of their characters’ story, condensing their historyinto workable fragments. In the invention of my vampire character Viviane,the Storyteller and I highlighted a few key scenes out of her first one hun-dred years of “unlife.” These events were considered part of her back story,or background, as they preceded the events of the actual game. For myfive-hundred year old character, Eustacia, I wrote a twenty-three pagebackground, which spanned the years 1510–1580. Even within this exten-sive back story, I had to condense many of her interactions into represen-tative moments. Then, in order to bridge the gap between 1580 and presentday, entire centuries of her back story were covered by a few sentences.This speeding up of time and establishment of a meta-plot allows playersto examine the characters in the larger context of the story and understandhow certain actions affect the world systemically.

In some cases, time will speed up in between episodes of the story,in which characters will experience downtime. Some Storytellers requireplayers to submit “homework” to relay their downtime actions. In Wal-ter’s Vampire LARP, the actual time between games is usually one month;in-game, however, six months passes during downtime. Downtime allowsplayers to experience the sense of a character’s development over time. Ifa character survives a game session, they receive experience points, whichare used to enhance the statistics on their character sheet. Downtime allowsplayers to feasibly explain these sudden leaps in their characters’ abilitieswithin the realm of the story. To increase the Melee skill for my charac-ter, for example, I may use a downtime action to train with a MasterSwordsperson for a certain span of time. Characters who are allied with

5. Tactical and Social Problem Solving 115

each other will often trade skills during this time, training in order to fillthe gaps in their respective skill sets. This bending of time allows themechanical aspects of the game system to be explained through story-telling, adding to the experience of immersion.

Aside from tactics and puzzles, game scenarios also offer social prob-lems for the players to solve. Players must face the inherent strugglebetween competition and cooperation within specific contexts. The Sto-ryteller presents the players with complex situations in which they mustfigure out who to trust, how to work together, how to manipulate othersto gain advantage, and how to eliminate competitors. Depending on thescenario, one or all of these strategies may produce successful results.

Social Problem Solving

Characters rarely succeed in a vacuum. Solo gaming sometimes takeplace, in which only one player interacts with the Storyteller. However,the majority of games feature multiple players. While the characters in thegame may or may not form a cohesive unit with similar goals and person-alities, they must work together regardless in order to solve many of thegame-related problems. In Dungeons & Dragons, characters are called aparty of adventurers when grouped together to achieve a specific purpose.In Vampire, the party is instead dubbed a coterie.39 In Werewolf: The Apoc-

alypse, characters are grouped in a pack.40 Regardless of the terminology,the concept of the “party” is central to understanding the dynamics of role-playing groups.

Like the Fellowship in Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, each character offershis or her own unique talents to the group. A Warrior may excel at close-range combat, but may need a Wizard or an Archer to attack from afar.The combined strengths of the group may defeat the villain, but a Healerremains necessary to mend the wounds incurred by the battle or to revivefallen party members. When I asked John what skills he learned from role-playing, he responded: “How to work with others, the team-building exer-cise.... Not every character class or character concept has a full array ofevery possible human skill. In order to play a well balanced game, everyindividual player must come to the table and add something to the teameffort. If they can do that, then they generally succeed.”41 Part of the chal-lenge of gaming, then, is for players to utilize the strengths of their char-acter to maximum advantage, while allowing other party members tocompensate for their weaknesses.

Role-playing scenarios often feature ethical dilemmas in which one

116 The Functions of Role-Playing Games

member of the party must decide whether or not to embark on a courseof action that could incur negative repercussions on others. Some situa-tions involve the imperilment of other party members, where the charac-ter must choose between saving one character and aiding the largergroup/community. Desiree describes adopting a utilitarian approach tosuch problems, indicating the challenge as the following: “Sometimes youhave to protect one to protect all. Sometimes the one you’re trying to pro-tect will be ... the one that will make or break you. If you lose him, thewhole team could be in complete catastrophe.”42

Josh S. describes one situation in which he had to solve three prob-lems at once in one scenario: a party member was drowning, a number ofa*ggressive assailants were attacking, and a third group of misfits were poi-soning the water supply. His character was forced to address each of theseproblems in the proper sequential order. He describes how he succeededin the following passage:

This character had to assess what needed to happen first to get his friendsout alive and still accomplish everything.... He dove in right after he threwoil at the bridge and made his friend set [it] on fire. He got his friend outfrom the water, and then, as the bridge burned down, the other party triedto go across this little rope thing that was up above.... [My character] imme-diately assessed the situation and then oriented himself for what he neededto get done first, and then solved the problems in the order that he had tosolve them in.43

Much of the decision-making process in these ethical situations involvesweighing one’s personal feelings for other members of the group with thenecessary tasks at hand. If the players do not properly prioritize theiractions, they often fail.

Ultimately, the challenges of an adventuring party are both social andtactical. Some groups cooperate easily with each other. These charactersmay possess similar goals or personalities or experience an early emotionalchemistry with one another. In other situations, the characters clash withregard to their motivations and paradigms. The Storyteller may presentthe group with a problem to solve, but the entire game session is insteadspent attempting to resolve conflicts between characters and establish cohe-sion.

To retain the sense of an “authentic” immersive experience, manyrole-players will not force their characters to act out of accordance withtheir concepts or natures. However, Guillermo suggests that an excessiveamount of in-character bickering can derail the game. He states, “Some-times, I’ve had very good experiences. I’ve had experiences with people

5. Tactical and Social Problem Solving 117

[where] we meet, we don’t really have a reason for getting together, wefind a common purpose. And then you meet other characters that are goingto be antagonistic.... And it [does not seem] conducive to have these char-acters built that way because, well, it’s an adventuring game.”44 Some play-ers create characters with interesting concepts, but who ultimately conflictwith the overall goals of the game. While internal conflict within the partycan instigate character and player growth, excessively antisocial charactersbecome “unplayable” within the context of a successful adventuring party.

Sometimes, the players solve in-party conflicts through nefariousmeans. Erin offers an example where her adventuring party attacked afemale wererat, an Evilly-aligned, anthropomorphic creature that is parthuman and part rodent. The party decided to keep the wererat as a slaverather than killing it, much to the disdain of her character. A warlock hadrecently joined the party, who her character also disliked. She eventually“solved” the problems of having these two disreputable individuals in theparty in the following manner: she killed the wererat, then framed the mur-der on the warlock, who was put on trial and eventually executed.45

Some players enact characters that are designated as Evil rather thanGood in D&D terms. Evil characters make decisions based on pleasureand self-interest rather than compassion or altruistic motivations. Omegadescribes an example in which his Evilly-aligned D&D character, Silver-leaf, betrayed his entire party in order to save himself :

[Silverleaf ] has double-crossed an adventuring party, making it so it wasfatal for two of the party members. He conned his way into becoming theone who was trusted with all the goods and all the treasure that they hadgotten through the entire time ... he made his getaway with all of their lootand all of their treasure and all of their healing potions and their entire exis-tence.... And it’s quite a dastardly thing to do, but it needed to be done. Itwas either him or them, so, of course, he chose himself.46

While asserting that such actions “needed to be done” within thecontext of the character motivations, Omega distances his own beliefs fromthe character’s paradigm. He states, “Although I have hopes that [Silver-leaf ] will become somewhat of a Good character in the future, he is farfrom it at this point.” Players often report watching with a certain detachedhorror as their characters engage in actions they themselves find detestable.The extent to which the enactment of such behaviors relates to repressedenergies within the player is further explored in chapter seven.

Regardless of the player’s individual motivation, the problem of groupcohesion can often bring ruin upon the characters if not solved. Thoughchoices such as Silverleaf ’s above betrayal might bring immediate rewards

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to the character, he or she will generally face consequences from the gameworld. The Storyteller may decide to punish the character directly or thesurviving party members may refuse to cooperate with the character inthe future.

Though the majority of RPGs favor cooperation over competition,some gaming environments favor a competitive style of play, in which theplayers must compete with each other in order to achieve dominance.Vampire LARPs present players with this challenge. While players maycooperate to gain advantage in the game, ultimately, most players seeks toattain higher rank in the hierarchy of vampiric society or more personalor supernatural power. To achieve these goals successfully, characters oftenmust backstab and manipulate one another. Therefore, much of the gamecenters around the cultivation of trust, whether deserved or not.

The Vampire Social Experiment

“Elton” claims that, in Vampire LARPS, the most interesting prob-lems arise from the players themselves. “The Storyteller’s job,” he states,“a lot of the time is to just take problems and throw them at the charac-ter to challenge them and force them to grow, because a lot of the wholegame is about growth.”47 However, in most instances, he believes that theresolution of inter-character conflicts should remain the central theme ofthe game. The LARP format involves larger groups of players and fewerStorytellers, resembling more of an improvisational theater troupe than awar gaming scenario. Thus, the Storyteller and the plot remain second-ary to the in-character social dynamics.

In Vampire, inherent to each character is a set of political affiliationsand motivations that generally will conflict with the designs and machi-nations of others. As Elton puts it, “I’ve created a problem just by creat-ing a character.”48 Gamers refer to the form of role-play that focuses oncompetition between participants as Player-versus-Player (PvP). LARPsand MMORPGs that allow player-killing thrive on such inter-characterconflict. Players will sometimes group together with the express purposeof eliminating another player who they consider an opponent, only to shiftthese short-lived allegiances when advantageous.

In Walter’s tabletop Vampire Chronicle, for example, my characterViviane had a close mentorship under another vampire, Annabelle, forover a hundred years. This century-long relationship was severed whenAnnabelle shirked an important tradition in order to gain power andViviane sided against her politically. Annabelle publicly humiliated Viviane

5. Tactical and Social Problem Solving 119

and later orchestrated an attack against her, making both her displeasureand the termination of their mentorship clear. Despite their century-longallegiance, these two women found themselves suddenly at odds with eachother when the political situation changed.

Such situations are built into the theme of the Vampire: The Mas-

querade universe. Many participants in my study demonstrated familiar-ity with White Wolf ’s universe. They highlight three major “problems”offered by the game developers: the problem of basic survival, the prob-lem of ascension to Princedom, and the problem of Diablerie. These threescenarios sometimes only manifest in Player-versus-Environment (PvE) sit-uations, the traditional non-zero-sum, cooperative style of role-play inwhich the Storyteller presents the characters with adversaries. However,particularly in a LARP setting, they often become PvP conflicts.

Because vampires are predatory in nature and seek power, they oftenwish to eliminate each other in order to gain resources and influence. Chrisdetails one scenario in which his character planned to defend himselfa*gainst an attack from a rival group. He explains, “A group of players[were] basically [going to] kick down the door of my office and shoot me.And that’s an easy one. You set up explosives in your room, you walk out,you leave a camera in there, when the guys walk in to shoot you, you justturn on the button and go boom.”49 In such a situation, the players areeach other’s main rivals and the Storyteller merely officiates the conflict.

Vampires must also face the danger of destruction at the hands theirhuman prey. They must hide their true nature from humans by blendinginto society through an elaborate system of masking, called Masquerade.50

Vampires run the world behind the scenes by controlling key humans, cre-ating their own social hierarchy, similar to a secret society. But they alsohave to pretend to be mortal in order to “pass” in human society and avoiddetection and death. If vampires “break the Masquerade” and reveal them-selves to humans, they incur consequences. Other vampires may destroythem as a protective measure or the humans themselves might eliminatethem.

Thus, a typical “problem” involves avoiding detection. Vampires mustremember to breathe and blink in order to appear human. Chris cites anexample involving his first Vampire character, Tye, in which he “broke theMasquerade.” He explains:

Every mistake I made as a new player I made with him. Like in Vampire,you don’t ever tell other people about vampires, so the first f*cking thing Idid, naturally, was do that, was tell people about vampires. You know, andthen the Storyteller comes down hard on you. And after that, it’s very

120 The Functions of Role-Playing Games

difficult to make a character that still does that, even though in a lot of waysyou probably should still do that because the younger character should stillbe able to make those mistakes.51

In this game world, basic survival and the ability to subsist is, in and ofitself, a major problem to solve. As a player, Chris learned through hismistakes and, thus, avoided making them with future characters, lendingto greater success in later scenarios.

The second social problem in Vampire is the ascension to Prince-dom.52 Vampire society within each city resembles the Italian city-statesof the Renaissance. A vampire rises to the rank of Prince based on influence,prestige, and resources and must maneuver to retain that power over hisor her vassals. The Prince has the ultimate right to kill any vampires withinhis or her realm, but must also cultivate allies in order to defend himselfa*gainst usurpers. Thus, the Prince must establish a delicate political bal-ance. The Prince keeps the other vampires at bay by offering Status withinthe society, an elaborate system of accolades vampires use to jockey forposition. Some Status is awarded as a result of deeds performed on behalfof the city, though vampires also compete for minor political positionswithin the Prince’s regime.

In one LARP in which I participated, the Prince flagrantly insultedthe largest power block of the city. My character, Eustacia, was assignedto the position of Seneschal, or second-in-command.53 Eustacia wouldhave to constantly remind this character to behave with proper etiquette,but he continued to insult the other characters. Because his character wasexceptionally powerful compared to everyone else’s, the other players spentan exorbitant amount of time plotting creative ways to eliminate him andascend the ranks. However, because these players marked themselvessocially as resistant to the Prince’s rule, Eustacia, who believed strongly intradition, viewed them as renegades. Eventually, I brought in another char-acter of mine, Viviane, to take the role of Prince, who was physicallystronger than Eustacia and could better defend the city. I had alreadyintroduced her into the game continuum on the online forum. Thus, as aplayer, she was a “tool” at my disposal, and I used her to solve the Prince-hood dilemma in that circ*mstance.

Sometimes, the Ascension to Princedom problem results in a largenumber of character deaths. In a game revolving around immortal char-acters, the mortality rate in Vampire: The Masquerade is surprisingly high.Because the characters do not die naturally and are predatory in nature,they consistently seek to manipulate and eliminate each other, like pieceson a chessboard. Sometimes, these vast plots backfire and the underdog

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wins. Walter describes a scenario in which a fight for survival inadvertentlyresulted in his character’s ascension to the rank of Prince:

Elsbeth was infamous for most of her career and I will say that out of themaybe forty-five or fifty people that started that game, a year later, I was theonly original character left.... She was bloodhunted, which means that theregime in power put her on a prescription list ... and the entire communitywould come after her. She had to figure out who were her allies, who shecould trust, where her safe harbors were, what resources she had at her dis-posal both personally and politically, who she could cut deals with, what shecould promise to people, and basically how she could survive, how she couldlive.... And, eventually, she was the Prince. She had literally outlasted,destroyed, out-maneuvered, undermined everybody. And that was ... anintense strategical thing because the entire time, I was dealing with a charac-ter [that was] physically fragile ... and I managed to do all of that withoutever being in a physical combat.54

He further mentions, “And I always say LARP is a marathon. It’s a gameof attrition, looking at it from a strategical standpoint. You just have tokeep surviving.”55

This theme of political machinations is reminiscent of Machiavelli’sThe Prince. Darren quips that Vampire scenarios are “sort of like Machi-avelli with training wheels.”56 Individuals who undergo the Vampire worldfor any extended period of time soon must learn how to socially maneu-ver in order for their characters to succeed. “Elton” offers a description ofhow one of his more intricate plots allowed him to better understand socialinteraction in real life :

I think probably the most rewarding one was where I had a ... hugelyelaborate Machiavellian plot ... and all these varied threads came together ina single plot and then exploded exactly on my cue and with exactly theresults that I wanted. And the person that I had orchestrated this plotagainst went down in flames and it was a brilliant plot. I think moments likethat [are rewarding], where you can have a plan like that and actually workthe social dynamic. And then you [think], “Hey, I know how this dynamicworks now.”57

Another important problem in the Vampire game world is the issueof Diablerie. Diablerie is tantamount to spiritual cannibalism and occurswhen one vampire first drinks the entirety of another’s blood, then con-tinues to consume their opponent’s soul in order to acquire their power.58

Diablerie is illegal in vampiric society and can incur three potential con-sequences: the soul of the other vampire may take control of the Diab-lerist’s body, the other vampires may discover and kill the Diablerist, orthe Beast within the Diablerist may overwhelm the human side, which

122 The Functions of Role-Playing Games

also results in lack of control over the body. “Elton” explains how heattempted to survive as a Diablerist in a LARP. He states, “The problembecame: How do get away with it? Because there are ways to detect thatand a vampire would know inherently to eliminate anybody who wouldcross such a taboo boundary.” He further describes a Diablerist as a “serialkiller, a hardened criminal” and explains that murder “had the same con-sequences in-game. He ended up very quickly found out and dead.”59

Over the course of seven years of play, my tabletop vampire, Viviane,Diablerized twice. Her sins remained obvious, detectably marked on heraura, but she escaped execution. Her main struggle transpired internally,as her conscious Self fought her inner Beast for psychic dominance, sim-ilar to the Ego and Superego battling the Id in Freudian terminology. Thisinner battle becomes just as important to the Vampire concept as theMachiavellian plots as the monster within battles for dominance with thehuman side. Thus, the struggle in Vampire is as much an external politi-cal battle as it is an internal battle with one’s own selfishness and one’sdesire to take from others without giving back. Unlike the set-in-stoneAlignments of D&D, the moral behavior of Vampire characters is muta-ble, shifting based on situation. The game world presents gradations ofevil, and the characters fall within a spectrum along that continuum. WhileViviane committed evil acts, she knew other vampires who behaved in farmore evil ways than she did. She justified her behavior as necessary andrational given her set of circ*mstances.

Vampire scenarios are, therefore, thematically multi-layered and com-plex. They transcend the problem of attaining and maintaining power. Thenature of the desire for power itself eventually manifests as the centralproblem to solve, as the repercussions of greed are both metaphoricallyand literally built into the game mechanics. Thus, Vampire players learnhow to socially manipulate others, but they also learn to locate and nav-igate their own self-centeredness. In the safe environment of the game,players can observe the unfolding of the ramifications of their “bad behav-ior.” Thus, through these stories, gamers can enact certain taboo behav-iors, but also learn the value of moderation.

“Real Life” as Game Scenario

Though the practice of gaming encourages participants to develop avariety of skills, I believe the most important of these abilities is learninghow to think “outside the box.” Because players must keep game systemsand meta-plots in mind when they make decisions, many gamers start to

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adopt a view of reality that looks beyond the surface and identifies theinherent structures underlying all things. On a mechanical level, Josh S.claims that learning the system to Dungeons & Dragons allowed him tolater comprehend the complex structures of molecules. On a social level,Vampire teaches players to look for the hidden strings behind all publicdisplays of power. Henry states, “Any social situation can be [simulated]in a roleplaying game; business negotiation, flirtation leading to sexualencounters, a duel of wit, or subtle use of insults and threats to unhingean opponent and perform character assassinations.”60 These situations pro-vide training opportunities and encourage gamers to look beyond surfaceexplanations of reality.

In addition, people who play RPGs tend to feel marginalized by themainstream culture at large. My interviewees often indicate feeling ini-tially isolated from their peers and seeking role-playing games as a bond-ing experience. Many of my respondents feel that role-playing offers themthe opportunity to find friends with similar interests in a low-stress socialenvironment, but involvement in these shared realities further dividesgamers from non-gamers and can exacerbate their feelings of ostracizationfrom society.

Thus, much of the process of gaming involves not only attemptingto solve life-or-death scenarios through probabilistic statistics, but alsolearning how to solve the “problem” of social integration and cohesion.When asked what he learned from role-playing scenarios, Henryresponded, “[that] there are few personalities that can successfully survivethe world without destroying themselves, and everyone must change andbe able to adapt to the requirements of social order.”61 Also, when playersare forced into the “spotlight” through games as either Storytellers or char-acters in leadership positions, they must quickly learn how to hold theattention of others and communicate effectively. One of the respondentsin Karen Mello’s study claims, “I believe that I’ve become a better publicspeaker from my experience of being a convention GM. It is an environ-ment where I am the center of attention of a group of strangers and I mustbe able to communicate effectively with them.”62

As a consequence, many role-players not only view the lessons acquiredfrom gaming as directly applicable to actual situations, but also begin toview “real life” as a game. Another one of Mello’s interviewees states, “[I]used to be shy and reluctant to approach strangers when traveling. WhenI tried seeing the situation as a (gaming) encounter, I could often negoti-ate the situation with more ease and confidence. This has eventually inter-nalized itself so that I can now handle these situations with confidence.”63

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My respondents describe fantastical scenarios involving magical abil-ities and ever-present danger. They presumably will never face such situ-ations in reality. Yet, almost all of them, without hesitation, were able todraw direct correlations between the problems they had to solve in-gameand issues they face every day. When I asked Chris if he anticipated hav-ing to deal with the kinds of problems faced in Vampire scenarios in reallife, he responded:

God, I hope not. Probably, at some point, I’m sure ... you know, peoplewant my job, and in order for them to have my job, I have to be gone. Sothey do things to try to dispose of me. They try to get me in trouble. Theytry to find flaws in what I do [and in] my work. And yeah, kind of the samething, really. Because if I lose my job, I lose my life.64

Other respondents similarly characterize the world of business as akinto role-playing situations. Omega likens the problem of party cohesion inrole-playing scenarios to the necessity for employees to find a sense of unityin work environments. He explains, “[Gaming] has also taught me to bet-ter read a variety of people’s personality quirks, their skills at negotiation,their ‘tells’ on what they do and don’t like. It helps your interactions onhow to get around some of the differences that you and a person mighthave, but you have to unite in a common goal.”65 Desiree adopts an alter-nate approach, comparing the ethical decision-making process involved ingaming to the unfortunate necessity of firing employees. She remarks,“Sometimes you’ve got to try to figure out which employee or which per-son you work with is better to keep and which one’s better for the team.And it sucks, because sometimes you see a really great potential, and yousee a really great person, but you just have to let them drown. You have tolet them go to save the others, because they’re the weaker one.”66

The lessons learned from role-playing are specific to the individual.Omega describes his difficulties in real life work situations: “I workedsomeplace, they said something I didn’t agree with, I said, ‘Well, you cantake your job and shove it. There’s two thousand out there I can go for.’”67

The lesson he needed to learn from gaming, therefore, was how to forma better, cohesive unit with coworkers. Desiree, on the other hand,describes herself in her interview as a “healer.”68 Gaming taught her toaccept that, in some situations, workers for which she felt a personal affec-tion had to be fired, like sacrificing a character for the good of the groupin a role-playing scenario. Experimentation with alternate selves allowsgamers to perceive their own failings and weaknesses and to develop astronger sense of introspection.

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Ultimately, gaming allows participants to develop an exceptionalawareness the consequences of their own actions and how reality possessesits own inherent “systems,” in its many physical and social manifestations.For some, understanding and manipulating these systems can translate tosuccess both in-game and out. Respondents also emphasized that, ratherthan training them in skills they did not already possess, gaming allowedthem to hone preexisting talents. Role-playing allows players to betterunderstand predictable patterns of human behavior and build models forresponding to such patterns. Chris emphasizes this point in the followingpassage:

I’ve always been a very ... mischievous political person. So, office politicsis second nature and so is something like a Vampire LARP, ‘cause they’reboth the same ... I think maybe that a Vampire LARP had refined that [skill]in a way. It gave me experiences like: “Okay, I met this personality type, I’munderstanding how they work.” Humans are archetypes, ultimately, and I’llfamiliarize myself with that personality type. People that I work with some-times remind me of people that I LARP with and I sometimes manipulatethem the same way. And it works, usually.69

Thus, gamers use the successful strategies and mentalities of their charac-ters to navigate the social waters of the everyday world.

Several of my interviewees described “real life” situations where theychose to think like their character and react accordingly. In an amusinganecdote, John describes how adopting the hedonistic impulses of one ofhis characters aided in relations with his spouse. He intimates, “Not toolong ago, I was in an argument with my wife ... and instead of gettingmad, I thought to myself, ‘What would Findo do?’ So I went to Sonic andI picked up some smoothies and some treats or some eats ... and I broughtthose home and I had sex that night. Thank you Findo ... it was a greatoption.”70 The adoption of various appropriate roles is often necessary forsuccess in specific interactions. In the above example, John shifts from anangry emotional persona to a hedonistic one, affording him “success” inhis dilemma.

Life situations often require such shifts in role and RPGs allows play-ers to experience these changes as embodied enactments of persona. As Iwill detail in the final two chapters of this volume, the practice of role-playing facilitates the playful exploration of such roles and creates ametaphoric language for articulating and understanding them. The gamesystem provides the rules of engagement, but ultimately, the creativity andrisk-taking ability of the individual offer the greatest advantages withregard to role immersion.

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Role-Playing asAlteration of Identity

Perhaps the most fascinating aspect of the process of role-playing liesin the ability to shift personality characteristics within the parameters ofthe game environment. Games and scenarios allow participants the oppor-tunity to “try on different hats” of selfhood, experimenting with the adop-tion of personality characteristics that either amplify or contradict aspectsof their primary identities. Role-playing environments provide a safeatmosphere for people to collectively enact new modes of self-expressionand experience a sense of ego permeability while still maintaining theirprimary identity in the “real world.”

The formation of identity begins in early childhood through immer-sion in pretend play and further solidifies in adolescence. By the time theindividual reaches adulthood, he or she must negotiate between the differ-ent social roles designated by the culture and somehow perceive the Self as aunified whole. In our postmodern world, however, interactions with multi-ple cultural forms of expression produce an awareness of the inner multiplic-ity of identity. For adults engaged in role-playing games and other forms ofonline communication, the distinctness of these selves becomes more appar-ent. Thus, gaming provides a release from the pressures of social expectation,as well as an opportunity to explore repressed facets of inner consciousness.

The Pleasure of Identity Elasticity

Many gamers begin to immerse themselves in role-playing at a youngage. Pre-adolescent “play” activities provide the nascent building blocks

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for more sophisticated role-playing practices. These activities include, butare not limited to: engaging in pretend play and storytelling activities, chal-lenging the rules of reality through imagination, adopting future socialroles in game activities, reinventing identity through the creation of alter-nate selves and personal story lines, developing alternate “worlds,” andconversing with Imaginary Friends. Thus, engagement in role-playinggames evolves out of an extension and expansion of childhood creativeprocesses, which become more sophisticated and complicated as the indi-vidual’s consciousness matures.

Pretend Play

The practice of pretend play appears to be vital to the developmentof many cognitive skills amongst children ages four and above. Accordingto psychologist Sook-Yi Kim, pretend-play emerges as early as eighteenmonths of age, expanding rapidly in frequency and complexity in laterchildhood.1 “A child is atypical indeed,” Kim states, “who does not spendmany preschool hours engaged in pretense, sometimes alone, but mostoften with others. Like language acquisition, pretend play may be a uni-versal, rapidly acquired human competence.”2

Kim also emphasizes the importance of storytelling in the functionof human development. Storytelling “reflects moral standards, lifestyles,fantasy, humor, emotions, and different ways of knowing” and allows chil-dren to examine their present and future social roles.3 In effect, modernRPGs merge pretend play with storytelling, allowing children of all agesto enact roles of their own creation within a consistent narrative and theframework of an imagined time and space. Thus, RPGs provide thebenefits of both activities in structured and exciting ways.

Pretend play, on some level, involves a temporary alteration of theindividual’s concept of self. In early development, the child’s sense of selfmaintains a flexibility and plasticity that they must relinquish in futureyears. Play provides a mental and emotional outlet for this malleability ofthe self-concept; the child experiences games as pleasurable because theyprovide an escape from the rigors and pressures of socialization.

Sigmund Freud refers to the pleasure principle as the time before adult-hood when human beings are primarily motivated by seeking pleasure andavoiding pain.4 As children mature, they must transition from a mentalspace of pure pleasure-seeking to an acceptance of the reality principle byadopting the conceptual framework of the dominant social paradigm. “Intaming the impulses of the Id,” Freud states, “the Ego replaces the pleas-ure principle, which was earlier the sole regulating factor, by the so-called

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reality principle, which indeed pursues the same ends but takes intoaccount the conditions imposed by the outside world.”5 For instance, achild might believe in Santa Claus or the Tooth Fairy because such con-cepts bring pleasure and excitement. At a certain age, however, adultsbelieve they must make apparent to the child the “reality” of the imagi-nary nature of such figures. The worldview of the child must shift in orderto find accordance with more mature mindsets. A large part of the par-enting process involves imposing prohibitions upon children against par-taking in certain pleasurable activities at inappropriate times. Thestandardized education system further guides children toward a body ofcommon knowledge and epistemology, framing the questions and answerspertinent to adult life. These practices direct the young mind toward theconceptualizations of reality necessary for the nuances of complex socialfunctioning.

Game play is often dismissed as “childish” by adults who, throughthe process of socialization, have become ensconced in traditional insti-tutional power structures. Part of the adoption of the reality principleinvolves “putting away childish things.” Instead, the individual must gearhis or her life toward acquiring the skills necessary for success in the pro-fessional, domestic, and social spheres. However, many children’s gamesactually work to prepare them for these exact goals. Playing with dollsteaches children how to nurture and care for children. Games like “Copsand Robbers” and “Cowboys and Indians” allow kids to channel theiraggressive tendencies into a sense of heroic mastery, potentially paving theway for future occupations in areas such as the military and law enforce-ment. “Playing House” is a way for kids to mimic their parents in thedomestic sphere, recreating home life on a microcosmic level, while allow-ing children to “change the rules” as they see fit.

Paracosms

Through game play, children can occupy any psychic space they wish.Perception is—ultimately—reality and the child can manifest the stuff ofdreams through imagination and creativity. For a child engaged in play,humans can fly, unicorns and dragons can exist, and animals can speak.Some children engage in a more structured form of pretend play in whichthey create entire worlds, combining external stimuli with their own innercreativity to form what David Cohen and Stephen A. MacKeith call para-

cosms.

In The Development of Imagination: The Private Worlds of Childhood,Cohen and MacKeith detail sixty-four paracosms created by children six

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and older. The children created these inner worlds for a number of rea-sons, though each paracosm tends to be long-lasting, heavily structured,and internally consistent.6 The respondents in the study reported a rangeof different childhood experiences and backgrounds. While some sharedtheir worlds with encouraging parents or eager siblings, others guardedtheir paracosms as tightly-held secrets. Some worlds involved extensivecharacterizations of the inhabitants, while others simply provided a senseof order and structure, such as an island dedicated to an elaborate railwaysystem, complete with schedules.7 Cohen and MacKeith insist againstessentializing anything about the content of these worlds and the motiva-tions behind creating them:

These worlds are worth discovering for their own odd logic, their charmand, sometimes, because one can glimpse through their structure the reasonsthe children needed them. We try to avoid over-simple analysis in this bookof the sort that suggests that because children had an unhappy childhood,they devised a cuddlesome imaginary world where they were loved and intotal control. But sometimes it seems clear that there were emotional factorsat work which might push a creative child to make up this kind of work.8

Some children appear to possess a particular propensity to invent thesekinds of worlds despite radically different upbringings. This fact suggeststhat the ability to invent paracosms may be an inherent aptitude relatedto creativity.

While many children “shelve” their paracosms as they reach adult-hood, some creators rely on these worlds as predecessors for future artis-tic projects. Famous authors such as the Brontë sisters created elaborateparacosms as children, as did Peter Ustinov, W. H. Auden, and JacquesBorel.9 The creation of fantasy worlds may arise in part from early involve-ment in the development of paracosms. J.R.R. Tolkien, who created hiselaborate Middle-earth later in life, displayed a “lively imagination” as aschoolchild, composing a story about dragons at age seven. This story nodoubt provided the initial seeds for later stories such as The Hobbit. Sim-ilarly, M.A.R. Barker had established the rudiments of his world The

Empire of the Petal Throne by the age of ten.10 Barker later developed hisparacosm into a role-playing game, complete with its own socio-culturaland linguistic structures. Gary Alan Fine suggests that, for both Barkerand Tolkien, the establishment and maintenance of these paracosmsrequired a level of personal investment above and beyond a brief flight offancy. He states,

Both men describe their fantasy histories, languages, and mythologies asbeing real. I do not suggest that either is delusional. They separate their

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“belief ” in their creations from their belief in the existence of the world inwhich they reside. Yet they treat their creations as if they are real, maintain-ing their “fabric of belief,” and that they themselves are only historians,writing the record of a civilization.... These worlds are living realities forthese men, and engrossment is possible to a degree that most of us findimpossible in our own daydreams.11

The extent to which the creators of paracosms invent time and energy intothe realization of their worlds affects their level of immersion, which Finerefers to as engrossment.

The practice of role-playing also involves a certain level of engross-ment in fantasy worlds, though the participants co-create the content oftheir paracosms. Though the RPG designers may establish the initialparameters of the world structure through manuals and modules, the Sto-ryteller can alter aspects of the world or can choose to create his or herown reality, utilizing only the barest structure of the game mechanics.Even if a player creates only one character in a larger scheme of the para-cosm, that character affects and helps shape the world, sometimes even toa large degree. The player may develop an elaborate character back story,for example, that the Storyteller then works into the meta-plot, or GrandNarrative, of the story line.

Identity Alteration

If the external rules of reality can shift at a whim, so too can the inter-nal ones; the self can become whatever the child wishes. Often, this desiremanifests by pretending to be someone other than who one “really is.”Though the personality traits of these new identities vary, these selves oftenpossess magical talents or an important destiny. Freud theorized, for exam-ple, about a common child’s fantasy called the family romance. This day-dream represents “a conscious fantasy, later repressed, in which a childimagines that their birth parents are not actual but adoptive parents, orthat their birth was the outcome of maternal infidelity. Typically, the fan-tasy parents are of noble lineage, or at least of a higher social class thanthe real parents.”12 The family romance represents one example of how chil-dren often imagine their “secret” identities as possessing inherently impor-tant and special qualities.

The theme of the family romance is prevalent in fantasy literature, agenre many children find appealing specifically because the rules of real-ity are easily bent. In many fantasy stories—and in their mythical/folk-tale roots—the hero is often raised humbly on a farm or in a forge, onlyto learn his destiny as the inheritor of a kingdom or of magical powers

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or both. Frodo, the primary hero in Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, believeshimself to be a humble, unimportant hobbit, but later learns that he must save the world by destroying the One Ring of Power, for he alone can resist its lure. In the same narrative, the character Strider firstappears as a lowly ranger, but later must rise to his own destiny by claiming his birthright and ruling as High King of Middle-earth. Theseheroes must shake off the limitations of their previous social roles and inhabit their new ones through important rites of passage through-out the story.

By temporarily identifying with the heroes in fantasy stories and bycreating their own narratives, children attempt to understand their ownsocial place in the flow of cultural memory. Instead of remaining relativelypowerless, small individuals, they imagine themselves to be the moversand shakers of the world, essential to the continuation of the universe. The

International Dictionary of Psychoanalysis details the psychological motiva-tion for such fantasies in the following passage:

The family romance ... differs from children’s sexual theories in that itdoes not address general questions about the origins of life but rather thequestion, “Who am I?”—where “I” denotes not an agency of the mind (orego) but the result of an effort to place oneself in a history, and hence theattempt to form the basis of a knowledge.13

In this sense, identity play may actually work to enhance self-esteem andprovide the child with a sense of agency in a world over which they oth-erwise feel they have little control. Releasing one’s preordained identityand adopting another can allow for a psychic sense of freedom. Psychol-ogists sometimes refer to this process of conscious identity alteration asimpersonation when enacted by young children.

Imaginary Friends

Some children adopt so-called Imaginary Friends while engaged inthe process of pretend play. In the case of an Imaginary Friend, the child’scentral identity remains consistent, but he or she projects alternate per-sonality traits onto an invisible target or inanimate object. The child oftenimbues these entities with unique names, appearances, and idiosyncrasies,such as likes/dislikes and strengths/weaknesses.

Often, these attributes directly contradict the child’s self-concept;the Imaginary Friend possesses capabilities that the individual perceivesthe self to personally lack. In “Characteristics and Correlates of Fantasyin School-Age Children: Imaginary Companions, Impersonation, andSocial Understanding,” Stephanie Carlson et al. provide a detailed

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analysis of the Imaginary Friends of a group of young children. Theresearchers suggest that, out of a sample of one hundred children up tothe age of seven, sixty-five percent reported interacting with ImaginaryFriends at some point in their lives.14 Some examples of Imaginary Friendsdescribed in the study are:

1. The Good Indian (also known as Don Vont): Invisible 5-year-oldboy with black hair and brown pants. The Good Indian originallyappeared when the child spent a lot of time in the woods, at thebeach, and reading.

2. Skateboard Guy: An Invisible 11-year-old boy who lives the child’spocket, wears “cool” shirts, and has a fancy skateboard. Skate-board Guy can do many tricks on his skateboard and likes to seehow fast the child can run.

3. Robert: An invisible male panther who has black fur with blueeyes. Robert lives in the jungle and the child met Robert in hisdreams.

4. Sergeant Savage: A GI Joe doll who is sometimes also an invisibleperson. Sergeant Savage is one hundred years old with white-brown hair and wears a Band-aid on his forehead, boxer gloves,and a pilot jacket. He lives at bases and sleeps in sleeping bag.The child likes Savage’s shotgun, but dislikes his face.15

These examples reflect clear distinctions between the personality of thechild’s primary self and the projected identity of the Imaginary Friend.

The creation of Imaginary Friends—and, in some cases, ImaginaryWorlds for the Friends to inhabit — appears to correlate with several cognitive advantages. When compared to other children, kids who createImaginary Companions are more creative, less shy, more sociable, partic-ipate in more family activities, possess good coping skills, and show more positive affect when playing with others.16 They can more easily create a theory of mind with reference to other people’s psyches. On the other hand, in clinical research, psychologists tend to associate the creation of Imaginary Friends with trauma, loneliness, and/or emotionaldistress. The development of Imaginary Companions and “elaborated play identities”—or impersonated characters—is also common amongstchildren with Dissociative disorders. However, Carlson et al. warn that “care must be taken to distinguish the normal phenomena from the pathological.”17 Like Cohen and MacKeith in their study of paracosms,these researchers avoid making the claim that these activities arise solelyfrom emotional difficulties. I will explore Dissociative Identity Disorder

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and its potential relationship with the ability to create alternate personaslater in this chapter.

I believe that interactions with alternate forms of consciousness—either real or imagined—further define the characteristics of the self as thechild attempts to understand his or her place in the social realm. Semiot-ically speaking, we understand what something is only by placing it indirect opposition with what the object is not. In this case, the object inquestion is the self-concept, which is constantly defined and refinedthrough interaction with real and imagined entities. The processes ofembodiment of alternate selves and of imbuing an external object withpersonified characteristics allow the child to make sense of the fragmentsof the psyche and explore potential personality traits. This process neednot terminate in early childhood. Role-playing games offer adolescentsand adults the opportunity to creatively explore their own inner multi-plicity and inhabit shared, co-created worlds.

Role Discovery

Role-playing allows for even deeper self-exploration during the periodof adolescence. Younger children engaged in pretend play adopt alternateroles with ease, able to shift from mystical roles—such as “wizard” or “elf ”—to more mundane roles—such as “father” or “teacher”—without experienc-ing ego confusion. As the individual matures, however, the psyche strives fora coherent sense of self in order to better integrate into social groups. Role-playing games offer a dual benefit within this process: they relieve the pres-sure incurred by the imposition of existing social roles by the “real world” andthey allow adolescents to practice alternate roles in a risk-free environment.This process can continue throughout adulthood, as the initial identity con-cepts develop and mature through time and experience within the game.

The human psyche needs to experience itself as unified and coherentin order to avoid unpleasant ruptures in consciousness. Psychoanalyst ErikErikson details eight stages of psychosocial development that he believesare inherent to the maturation process of all human beings. He empha-sizes the importance of the fifth stage of development, in which the ado-lescent mind struggles to achieve what he terms a “stable sense of egoidentity.”18 For an individual to perceive ego identity as stable, he or shemust perceive little contradiction between his or her behavior from momentto moment. One must view the ego-self as behaving in predictable pat-terns and must experience little cognitive dissonance when the inevitableruptures in consciousness occur.

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The development of a stable sense of ego identity remains an ongo-ing process throughout young adulthood. Erikson describes the develop-ment of ego identity in the following passage:

The young person, in order to experience wholeness, must feel a progres-sive continuity between that which he has come to be during the long yearsof childhood and that which he promises to be in the anticipated future;between that which he conceived himself to be and that which he perceivesothers to see in him and expect of him. Individually speaking, identityincludes, but is more than, the sum of all the successive identifications ofthose early years when the child wanted to be, and often was forced tobecome, like the people he depended on.19

Such personality characteristics manifest as integrated aspects of the exte-rior world. Erikson explains, “The search for a new and yet reliable iden-tity can perhaps best be seen in the persistent adolescent endeavor to define,overdefine, and redefine themselves and each other in ruthless compari-son, while a search for reliable alignments can be recognized in the rest-less testing of the newest possibilities and the oldest in values.”20 Theadolescent absorbs the personality qualities, belief systems, tastes, prefer-ences, and stylistic expressions of individuals whom they admire, adapt-ing and reformulating the particulars to reflect their own desired sense ofself.

Identity formation is an arduous process of trial and error. The ado-lescent may display radically different representations of self throughoutthe identity stage and is often heavily influenced by the reactions of peersand authorities. According to Erikson, should the individual fail to achievea satisfying concept of self, issues of identity confusion will plague himor her throughout the rest of the life cycle. Role confusion persists pastthis point, an overall feeling of alienation or fragmentation, which mayresult in a lack of direction and self-confidence.21 Later theorists refer tothe confusion of ego establishment during adolescence as “self-discrep-ancy.” Psychologist Peter Wright describes, “Self-discrepancy is concep-tualized as an aspect of self-concept, and has been described as thedifference between the following: how I actually see myself now, how Iwould ideally like to be, and how I think I should or ought to be. Thesefacets of self ... may not always be congruous and the greater the disso-nance between individuals’ perceptions of their possible selves, the morediscomfort they are likely to experience.”22

Wright further cites the work of E.T. Higgins, describing three“domains of the Self ”: the Actual, the Ideal, and the Ought. The ActualSelf refers to the personality characteristics the individual believes him or

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herself to possess and is also referred to as the “self-concept.” The IdealSelf represents the qualities the individual would like to possess, while theOught Self is the culmination of the attributes that the Actual Self or asignificant other wishes the individual would display. The individual usesthe Ideal Self and the Ought Self as “self-guides” to regulate behavior.23

Wright speculates that role-playing remains particularly useful forbridging the gaps between self-discrepancy by providing “a growing aware-ness of different possible selves.”24 Thus, engagement in role-playing gamesmay offer substantial rewards for participants during the difficult periodof ego development. Indeed, many of my informants indicated that theyoriginally immersed themselves in RPGs during adolescence. Regardlessof the individual’s level of ego confusion, the active exploration of one’sfacets of personality can provide a sense of self-awareness the individualmay not have initially possessed.

Role Multiplicity in Adulthood

Even if the mature adult achieves a sense of a stable ego identity, the“self ” as a singular, coherent entity remains an untenable concept, espe-cially in postmodernity. The self is a fragmented and contradictory mélangeof images, concepts, and memories. Though the ego would like to believethat identity remains stable throughout the myriad of experiences andchallenges faced in a lifetime, each presentation of self represents an uncon-scious construction, pieced together through trial and error. Humans adoptmany faces to suit social and environmental pressures, shifting betweenthem as circ*mstances demand with little awareness.

Social psychologist Erving Goffman’s groundbreaking book The Pre-

sentation of Self in Everyday Life articulates the ways in which daily life ismuch like a theatrical performance. Social convention dictates that indi-viduals must obfuscate their inner motives, passions, and fears in order toadopt their necessary and respective roles as circ*mstance dictates. Humanslearn these scripts through the socialization process of youth and becomeinvested in them, internalizing the rules of each role and playing them outas if they were natural. Though we battle to perceive ourselves as inde-pendent entities, unaffected by the sway of public opinion and expecta-tion, our brains are hardwired to seek acceptance, approval, and integrationwith others.

We present certain signals to others in order to indicate involvementin the group. Goffman calls these signals “fronts,” which include clothingstyle, mannerisms, and speech patterns:

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One may take the term “personal front” to refer to the other items ofexpressive equipment, the items that we most intimately identify with theperformer himself and that we naturally expect will follow the performerwherever he goes. As part of a personal front we may include: insignia ofoffice or rank; clothing; sex, age and racial characteristics; size and looks;posture; speech patterns; facial expressions; bodily gestures; and the like.Some of these vehicles for conveying sign ... are relatively fixed and over aspan of time do not vary for the individual from one situation to another.On the other hand, some of the sign vehicles are relatively mobile or transi-tory, such as facial expression, and can vary during a performance from onemoment to the next.25

On a basic level, each individual must adopt various roles in order to ade-quately integrate in society. My own daily social roles include student,teacher, daughter, sister, significant other, and friend, among several otherminor roles. Part of success in adulthood involves learning how to bestnegotiate these roles with as little internal and external conflict as possi-ble.

Identity alteration in role-playing games allows individuals the abil-ity to “practice” roles in a low-consequence environment. I will describea role-playing character of my own as an example to illustrate the possi-bilities role-playing environments afford in the area of identity develop-ment.

The character in my own repertoire that I have played the longest isViviane Georgette Morceau, a century-old vampire. By blood, Vivianebelongs to Clan Toreador, a group of socialites and artists. Because of herassociation with this Clan, Viviane is expected to follow a particular setof social practices, including displaying high levels of wit, eloquence, artic-ulation, charisma, beauty, etiquette, education, passion, and intellectualprowess. When I first developed Viviane at the age of twenty-one, myown skills in these areas were comparatively limited. I quickly had to learnto over-represent my personal competencies in order to reflect those of mycharacter. This process included adopting more affected and snobbishmanners of speech. In order to accurately represent her vast experience andeducation, I also felt compelled to increase my knowledge in various areaswith which she would be familiar, including art, architecture, psychol-ogy, and history.

In the ten years in which I have played Viviane, the character herselfhad to undergo dramatic identity transformations. Her original self-con-cept of carefree, hedonistic socialite shifted as she faced political and phys-ical warfare. Skills such as Intimidation and Melee grew in importance.At one point, she took control of a group of vampires and was dubbed

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“Prince” of the city. As a player, I had to face the complexities of leader-ship, which involved managing conflicts between characters and main-taining order in the Domain. Viviane was forced with much reluctance torelinquish her desire for frivolous self-satisfaction in order to negotiate themore serious concerns of the individuals under her rule. At another pointin her history, Viviane was given custodianship of a mental asylum, andher roles shifted yet again to those of psychologist and director of the insti-tution. She began to dress differently to acknowledge these shifts, aban-doning her co*cktail dresses for more austere and bland professionalclothing. She presented an alternate “front,” in Goffman’s terms, in orderto signify her shift in role.

While the exact roles Viviane had to enact will never manifest in myown personal life, participation in these scenarios encouraged me todevelop aspects of my own identity—such as etiquette and leadership.The game world presented challenges that tested these characteristics toan extent I had not previously experienced. The cultivation of these per-sonality aspects allowed me the tools to transition into more mature socialroles in “real world,” such as college instructor and discussion leader. TheSocialite aspects of her personality, on the other hand, allowed me theopportunity to practice smoother leisure interactions—my “co*cktail party”charm, if you will.

Role-playing offers participants an alternate platform on which topractice social roles and adopt alternate modes of identification. Such a“stage” is particularly valuable when exploring roles not acceptable or avail-able through conventional channels, such as characteristics that might beconsidered “evil” or “selfish.” Players can alternately embody a version oftheir Ideal Selves by projecting characteristics they do not believe them-selves to actually possess, or by over-accentuating aspects of their Actualpersonality. Chapter 7 further details the various character types that play-ers typically enact.

Disassociation and Identity

In addition to the various identities that our social roles force us toinhabit, Sherry Turkle suggests that the postmodern condition predicatesthe proliferation of even more expressions of self. Faced with constantchanges in career direction, gender roles, and technologies, the postmod-ern person must learn fluidity rather than rigidity.26 This fluidity appliesnot just to our values, attitudes, and behaviors, but also to our very senseof ego-concept. In order to adapt to the rapidity of social change and the

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bombardment of conflicting messages, our psyches develop a sense of mul-tiplicity. For Turkle, individuals experience this multiplicity of identitymost explicitly when engaging in online communities. “When people adoptan online persona,” Turkle explains, “they cross a boundary into highlycharged territory. Some feel an uncomfortable sense of fragmentation,some a sense of relief. Some sense the possibilities for self-discovery, evenself-transformation.”27

Whether online or in-person, this boundary-crossing occurs when oneparticipates in role-playing, though online environments can offer possi-bilities for more extreme shifts in identity. Online, one can represent theself in ways completely removed from physicality: male can become female,young can become old, weak can become strong, etc. Immersion into alter-nate worlds is an alteration of consciousness; the individual begins to viewhis or her self differently when projecting different or exaggerated person-ality traits. Even when portraying an identity exceptionally different fromthe Actual self-concept, the player must find a point of identification withthat “alter” and manifest his/her behaviors accordingly. Repeated immer-sion further solidifies these personas into more tangible mental forms.

A deeper understanding of the mind’s ability to create multiple sensesof self can be achieved through examination of the process of dissociation.Dissociation as a psychological concept refers to a particular set of copingmechanisms the mind inherently possesses in order to deal with extrememoments of conflict, pain, or trauma. According to Marlene Steinberg,these coping mechanisms include:

1. Amnesia. The inability of one’s memory to account for a specificand significant block of time.

2. Depersonalization. A feeling of detachment from one’s Self or theexamination of the Self as an outsider would. This mechanism mayalso include the sensation of separation from parts of one’s bodyor detachment from one’s emotions, like an automaton or robot.

3. Derealization. An experience of detachment from one’s environ-ment or a sense that one’s surroundings and those who were pre-viously familiar have become unreal or foreign.

4. Identity confusion. A feeling of uncertainty, puzzlement, or conflictabout who one “is.” This state is often perceived by the subject asa continuous internal struggle to define one’s self in a particularway and may also relate specifically to one’s sexual identity.

5. Identity alteration. A shift in role or identity accompanied byobservable changes in behavior such as speaking in a different

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voice or using different names. This subject may experience thisshift as a personality switch or a loss of control over the body tosomeone else within him/her.28

When these coping mechanisms occur in high frequencies and inconjunction with each other, the individual may develop DissociativeIdentity Disorder (DID), also called Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD).The mind discovers ways to avoid becoming debilitated by trauma, includ-ing the development of alternate identities who fulfill needed roles, “tak-ing control” of the body at key moments. Unfortunately, the inclusion ofthe word “disorder” in the name of the condition predisposes the world atlarge to view dissociative individuals as exhibiting a sickness that needs tobe rectified. I believe this belief to be inherently derogatory. Many of theso-called symptoms of dissociation can alternately be viewed as advantages,resulting from an active, creative, and intelligent basic consciousness.

The ultimate goal of therapy for dissociative individuals is a processknown as Integration. Usually, an Integrator is chosen—also known as theNarrator—and that individual serves as a mediator between each of thealternate selves. The Integrator begins to break down some of the disso-ciative processes, working to share and combine memories and create asense of unity. The Integrator allows for each alternate identity to expe-rience awareness in the body at once, familiarizes alters who have beenpreviously estranged, and reconciles the relationship between alters whoperceive themselves to be in direct conflict with each other.

Though dissociative theory presents fascinating explanations for thecreation of alternate selves, I hesitate to suggest that such behaviors resultexclusively from trauma for three reasons. First, fantastical escapism man-ifests in the minds of many children who have what most people wouldconsider a “normal” or “healthy” upbringing. As I described earlier in thischapter, the development of alter-egos, Imaginary Friends, and paracosmsdo not always correlate with childhood trauma or alienation. Though chil-dren engage in these activities to varying degrees, immersion into alter-nate modes of reality appears to be a consistent function of the child mindregardless of circ*mstance.

Second, these behaviors quite possibly manifest as a result of the cre-ative drive inherent in all human beings. Some individuals possess theability to access deeper wells of creative power than others, but humansby nature are designed to draw inspiration from the depths of the uncon-scious and represent these concepts in external, symbolic forms. Theseforms range from architecture to music to art to storytelling. Society often

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attempts to either quell or redirect highly creative individuals, channelingtheir abilities into “products” that are deemed “valuable” by the group.Thus, most creative displays by adults are, in effect, harvested from ayounger, more chaotic mindset. What, then, is the essential differencebetween the creation of an Imaginary Friend and the creation of charac-ters in a bestselling novel? Both processes involve the suspension of theprimary ego in order to express the mentality of a hypothetical other selfor selves. The difference lies only in the ability to translate that talent intoa societally-acceptable, economically-feasible medium. In essence, theimpulses are exactly the same and the creation of alter-egos in early lifelays the groundwork for the construction of more “mature” narrative struc-tures later in life.

Third, though clinical psychology as a discipline has the potential tooffer amazing insights into the inner workings of the human mind, moreoften than not, psychologists use their findings to prove the “pathology”of an individual, rather than to celebrate his or her uniqueness. The prac-tice of labeling immediately produces an “us” versus “them” mentality thatroughly corresponds with “normal” versus “sick.” Individuals who displaya high level of creativity, such as Vincent Van Gogh, are often touted aslunatics based on their unorthodox behavior patterns and roller-coasterlike emotions. However, if these artists can acquire patronage or acclaim,they become “rehabilitated” and even celebrated by the culture at large.

Indeed, critics are fascinated by such unorthodox behaviors and oftenequate genius with insanity; the biographies of few creative people readas “normal” in the mainstream sense. Offering examples such as WilliamJames and Sigmund Freud, Erikson suggests that “trained minds of genius... have a special identity and special identity problems.”29 These individ-uals feel an intense amount of pressure to utilize their gifts to producesomething of value to the world, an impulse that transcends the needs ofsimple day-to-day survival. Erikson believes, however, that such “specialidentity problems” afford these individuals the ability to “[formulate] ini-tially what we can then proceed to observe as universally human.”30 Erik-son explains, “We can study the identity crisis also in the lives of creativeindividuals who could resolve it for themselves only by offering to theircontemporaries a new model of resolution such as that expressed in worksof art or in original deeds, and who furthermore are eager to tell us allabout it in diaries, letters, and self-representations.”31

Though few people possess the potential for “genius” in the sensethat Erikson defines it, role-playing involves self-reflection in the form ofan identity crisis that manifests through an artistic medium. Like other

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artists, people who participate in role-playing games or attend fan con-ventions are also often deemed by the mainstream as “abnormal” and sub-sequently marginalized. However, role-playing faces further stigma in thatthe mainstream has yet to acknowledge it as an art form. Daniel MacKay’s2001 study The Fantasy Role-Playing Game: A New Performance Art seeksto establish the legitimacy of role-playing within the realm of artistic cre-ation. MacKay states, “Inevitably, the emergent art form of the twenty-first century, like cinema was for the twentieth century, will be somemanifestation of an immersive and interactive narrative form of story cre-ation.”32 For MacKay, role-playing games represent manifestations of theseemergent art forms, which would make the role-player a new type of artist.

Psychosynthesis

How can scholars begin to conceive of concepts such as identity alter-ation in less pejorative terms, associating it less with trauma and morewith a general sense of creativity? Turkle addresses this issue by empha-sizing that, because of our increased multiplicity due to the post-moderncondition, the necessity for a strong Integration of selves remains impor-tant. Turkle insists:

Without any principle of coherence, the self spins off in all directions.Multiplicity is not viable if it means shifting among personalities that cannotcommunicate. Multiplicity is not acceptable if means being confused to thepoint of immobility ... [one must develop] a healthy protean self. It is capa-ble, like Proteus, of fluid transformations but is grounded in coherence andmoral outlook. It is multiple but integrated. You can have a sense of selfwithout being one self.33

Turkle suggests that if individuals develop and maintain a strong sense ofIntegration, the inherent multiplicity of roles and identifications withinus can still establish a sense of cohesion.

This conception of one primary ego identifying and regulating sev-eral secondary selves was proposed by psychoanalyst Robert Assagioli inthe early twentieth century as an effective therapeutic technique. Assagi-oli, a contemporary of Freud’s, conceptualized the splitting of conscious-ness as a normal process inherent to the psyche and urged therapists andscholars toward a more positive view of the mechanism. His theory, psy-

chosynthesis, offers a view of psychotherapy that involves embracing themultitude of aspects of each of our so-called “sub-personalities” and con-ceptual archetypes. Rather than emphasizing the pathology of dissocia-tive behavior, he insists — like Goffman — that each of us emulates

142 The Functions of Role-Playing Games

particular roles throughout our lives. Proper exploration of these roles andintegration of each of their functions will allow human beings to achievea sense of the Transpersonal, or spiritual unity. Comparing the subdivisionof the psyche with other biochemical processes, he claims,

The same thing occurs in the human psyche, in which processes of disso-lution and reconstruction are being carried on incessantly. Sometimes theseprocesses of psychological assimilation (one might say of ingestion anddigestion) take place easily and spontaneously, but often psychological indi-gestion and toxic conditions occur and psychopathological abscesses andtumors are developed in the unconscious of the individual.34

Assagioli believes that his approach to therapy, psychosynthesis, can effec-tively guide this process of Integration after the “natural” process of egoidentity dissolution.

Assagioli’s conceptualization of the potential benefits of psychologi-cal fragmentation offers a framework for understanding ego alteration out-side of the context of trauma and pathology. If we are all — on somelevel—multiple, then dissociative theory can offer explanations for howthe process works in the brain and why some people exhibit these mech-anisms in a more severe manner than others. However our intellectual con-ceptions of the identity alteration process need not be relegated to the “us”vs. “them” mentality previously described.

If human beings, by nature, create alternate selves and the post-mod-ern condition predisposes us to further fragment our sense of identity,than role-playing games provide a fascinating outlet for self-expression.The primary self remains awake and active when role-playing, acting asIntegrator by facilitating the transition between in-character (IC) and out-of-character (OOC) interactions. Also, the practice of role-playing repre-sents both a creative expression and a communal activity. In this way, theplayful negotiation between selves remains controlled and safe for the par-ticipants.

If humans feel an inherent impulse toward the creation of alternateselves, from where does the content of these identities arise? White Wolf ’sThe World of Darkness actively encourages its role-players to adopt specific“archetypes,” explaining these character concepts in terms of Carl Jung’sidea of the collective unconscious.

Archetypal Enactment

The personality traits enacted through role-playing characters do notmerely reflect minor idiosyncrasies, though more developed identities do

6 . Role-Playing as Alteration of Identity 143

possess individual quirks. Instead, the majority of assumed identities take on a more universal aspect. The work of Carl Jung details this universality in symbolic language. According to Jung, at the dawn of consciousness, human beings produced certain psychological schema for understanding their relationship to the world. These concepts are still embedded in our unconscious minds in the form of ancient archetypes. In Man and His Symbols, Jung defines archetypes in the follow-ing way:

What we properly call instincts are physiological urges, and are perceivedby the senses. But at the same time, they also manifest themselves in fan-tasies and often reveal their presence only by symbolic images ... [thesearchetypes] are without known origin; and they reproduce themselves in anytime or in any part of the world—even where transmission by direct descentor cross-fertilization through migration must be ruled out.35

According to Jung, humans cross-culturally share a collective unconscious.The recurring symbols and archetypes in dreams are actually powerfulpsychic remnants of ancient forms of understanding, developed during theadvent of human language. Certain symbols became powerfully impor-tant as the structures of our brain evolved and these essential images repeatthemselves cross-culturally.

When playing roles, both in game-play and in the “real world,”humans unconsciously enact symbolic structures. Certain character typesrecur throughout dramatic narratives and hold particular power in thedeep imaginations of audiences. Embodied within these archetypes is amodel for behavior within a particular framework. Archetypes offer a com-plex symbolic identity resonating from the depths of human conscious-ness.

Role-playing games provide a forum for the emulation of alternateidentities and these identities combine age-old archetypes with individu-ally-imbued characteristics. An individual’s Actual Self might remain anadolescent student, but within the game world, that same player can por-tray a powerful warrior, wizard, or healer. The Actual Self may emulatecharacteristics of integrity and compassion, but the self in the game worldinstead may explore ethical quandaries by embodying, for example, thearchetype of the villain or the rogue. Such explorations offer several benefitsfor participants. The player can emotionally—and, sometimes, viscer-ally—experience alternate modes of consciousness and stories that differfrom those of their mundane existence. Role-players can practice person-ality aspects, many of which may be archetypal in nature, and can thenobjectively view the distinction between their own Actual identity and the

144 The Functions of Role-Playing Games

performed identity. This enactment process allows the individual to decideto either adopt such traits or to avoid them, depending on his or herresponse to the events and emotions in-game.

Popular archetypes emerge in mythological narratives and furtherreproduce in many of our current entertainment genres. Structuralists suchas Vladimir Propp, Claude Levi-Strauss, Erich Neumann, and JosephCampbell have attempted to unearth the fundamental units of human cul-ture through analysis of myths cross-culturally. Propp’s work, The Mor-

pholog y of the Folktale, charts the narratives of over four hundred Russianfairy tales, discovering a fundamentally similar chronological and thematicstructure in each.

Propp lists thirty-one important plot points that duplicate themselvesthroughout each of these stories, despite the appearance of surface-leveldistinctions.36 Propp then identifies seven major “spheres of action” for thedramatis personae: the hero; the villain; the donor; the helper; the princess—and, by extension, her father; the dispatcher; and the false hero. The heromust depart on some sort of search, be branded, pursued, and defeat hisadversaries, marrying the princess and ascending the throne. The villainis placed in contrast to the hero, presenting a source of struggle or pur-suit. Along the way, the hero receives aid from various persons. The donorprepares and provides the hero with a “magical agent,” such as a specialweapon or item necessary for success upon the quest. The helper charac-ter assists the hero in various ways, including spatial transference, liqui-dation of misfortune or lack, rescue from pursuit, offering solutions to difficult tasks, and transfiguring the hero in some important way. Theprincess represents “a sought-for person,” and her father generally acts to protect her by assigning difficult tasks to the hero and punishing the villain or false hero. The dispatcher serves an incidental function, making the initial lack known to the hero and sending him off on his quest. The false hero takes credit for the hero’s actions or tries to marrythe princess.37 According to Propp, though the surface characteristics ofthese myths may change, the basic roles remain inherent to the structureof fairy tales.

Though Propp’s work centers primarily upon Russian folktales, hisbasic formulation resonates with many mythological narratives around theworld. Joseph Campbell’s important book, The Hero with a Thousand

Faces, delineates a more universal hero’s journey, which he dubs the mon-

omyth. The monomyth represents the individual rite of passage each per-son must face as they transition from childhood to adulthood. The heroprovides an idealized model for the psyche to experience through the story

6 . Role-Playing as Alteration of Identity 145

and potentially enact through societal rites of initiation. According toCampbell:

The hero ... is the man or woman who has been able to battle his personaland local historical limitations to the generally valid, normal human forms.Such a one’s visions, ideas, and inspirations come pristine from the primarysprings of human life and thought. Hence they are eloquent, not of thepresent, disintegrating society and psyche, but of the unquenched sourcethrough which society is reborn. The hero has died as a modern man; but aseternal man—perfected, unspecified, universal man—he has been reborn.His second solemn task and deed therefore (... as all the mythologies of manindicate) is to return then to us, transfigured, and teach the lesson he haslearned of life renewed.38

The hero provides a crucial inspiration for the human spirit, and thus, themonomyth appears across cultures, across historical time, and acrossgeneric convention. In modern Western entertainment, for example, themonomyth is most explicitly replicated in the fantasy genre, though arche-typally heroic characters appear in science fiction, horror, action-adven-ture, and romance, to name a few.

In role-playing games, players often recreate heroic quests. The arche-types foregrounded by folktales and mythology are most commonly recog-nizable in fantasy-based RPGs such as Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) and Marvel

Super Heroes, though even in horror-based RPGs such as Vampire: the Mas-

querade and Call of Cthulhu, the players perform heroic deeds and secondarycharacters often serve Propp’s basic functions. The Warrior class in D&D mostsuperficially duplicates the classic hero—a physically strong and brave char-acter who must fight monsters to save his or her friends and society from peril.However, most RPGs operate more in line with Tolkien’s version of the heroquest, where individuals within a Fellowship bring their respective, uniquetalents to bear upon the crisis at hand. Usually players choose archetypes thatdiffer from those of other players in the group in order to provide strategicbenefits, as well as more extensive role-playing opportunities.

The various editions of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons most clearlyreplicate common mythological archetypes, borrowing heavily from fan-tasy authors such as J. R. R. Tolkien. In D&D, the common characterexhibits two important characteristics—class and race. The majority ofthese attributes reflect age-old mythological symbols. M. Joseph Young,one of the authors of the Multiverser role-playing system, succinctlydescribes these character attributes, as well as providing hints as to theirgenealogical roots.39 The following section offers a summary of many ofthe descriptions on his website.

146 The Functions of Role-Playing Games

Archetypal Classes in Dungeons & Dragons

The Warrior/Fighter is the standard infantry soldier, able to use anyweapons and tactics, though he or she is usually most comfortable fight-ing with feet on the ground. Several subclasses are associated with the war-rior. The Cavalier is the mounted knight, typified by the reality of latemiddle ages combat and the legends of Camelot. The cavalier is boundby the dictates of chivalry, must be courageous at all times, and is drawnfrom the upper classes of society. The Paladin, usually represented byLancelot du Lac of the Arthurian tradition, combines the cavalry prowessand bravery of the cavalier with a limited form of the spiritual power anddevotion of the Cleric. The Ranger, “clearly modeled on Strider/Aragornand the Rangers of Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings,” possesses skill in trackingand herbalism, gaining a little magic at higher levels. The Berserker, drawnfrom Viking lore, describes undisciplined fighters who work themselvesinto a fierce frenzy before battle and are sometimes able to transmogrifyinto wolves and bears.40 Barbarians, modeled after the design of Conan,are powerful brutish fighters from primitive areas who fear and disdaincivilization and magic, but will occasionally band together “for a goodbrawl.” Many barbarian abilities are connected to the kind of land in whichtheir tribe lives.

Another major class in Dungeons & Dragons is the Cleric. The cleric,“although in many ways the clergyman of the party, is actually a knightof holy orders, dedicated to his god and his faith more than to fighting.”41

This class combines healing magic with somewhat limited combat skills.Related to the cleric is the Druid. Modeled after past Celtic legends, druidspossess weaker defenses and stronger attacks than other clerics. Druidicmagic is slightly more offensive and less curative and, like berserkers, druidsgain the ability at higher levels to change to various animals. Gary Gygax,the originator of Dungeons & Dragons, describes the Druidic moral phi-losophy as “true neutral,” meaning that these characters view “good andevil, law and chaos as balancing forces of nature, which are necessary forthe continuation of all things.”42 His further description reflects someknowledge of the historical Druidic tradition mixed with his own concep-tual enhancements:

Druids can be visualized as medieval cousins of what the ancient Celticsect of Druids would have become had it survived the Roman conquest.They hold trees (particularly oak and ash), the sun, and the moon as deities.Mistletoe is the holy symbol of the druids, and it gives power to their spells.They have an obligation to protect trees and wild plants, crops, and never

6 . Role-Playing as Alteration of Identity 147

destroy woodlands ... no matter [ ] the circ*mstances. Even though a woods,for example, [was] evilly hostile, druids would not destroy it, althoughnothing would prevent them from changing the nature of the place if thedesire and wherewithal existed. In a similar fashion, they avoid slaying wildanimals or even domestic ones except as necessary for self-preservation andsustenance.43

Many of these characteristics are also reminiscent of Tom Bombadil andthe Ents in Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, creatures who protect the wood assacred groves but who rarely interfere in the causes of the external world,preferring to maintain the balance between good and evil. In The Lord of

the Rings, The Ent Treebeard succinctly summarizes this “true neutral”philosophy: “Wizards are always troubled about the future. I do not likeworrying about the future. I am not altogether on anybody’s side, becausenobody is altogether on my side, if you understand me: nobody cares forthe woods as I care for them.”44

The Wizard is the third major class in this classic RPG. Wizards aremore dedicated to the pursuit of magic than to any other thing, even godsand moral attitudes.45 In D&D, spells are divided into specific “schools”or “spheres,” representing the discipline in which the wizard would haveacademically specialized. D&D offers individualized classes for certain spe-cialized schools, including Illusionists, whose magic revolves primarilyon making reality appear different.46 Another powerful character type isthe Psionicist, who uses highly developed mental powers as if they weremagic, exerting control over reality.

The Wizard archetype present in D&D hearkens back to Gandalf theGrey in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, though Tolkien’s magic isfar less defined and delineated than Gary Gygax’s. According to David Day,Tolkien’s books characterize Gandalf as a “comic, eccentric fairy-tale magi-cian” who “has something of the character of the absent-minded profes-sor and muddled conjurer about him.”47 Day articulates the Wizard’straditional role of “mentor, advisor, and tour guide for the hero (or anti-hero),”48 otherwise known as the Helper or Donor in the Proppian desig-nations of the terms. Day explains, “Wizards are extremely useful andversatile as vehicles for developing fairy-tale plots as their presence in somany tales testifies. Wizards usually provide a narrative with: a reluctanthero, secret maps, translations of ancient documents, supernatural weapons(how to use), some monsters (how to kill), location of treasure (how tosteal), and an escape plan (negotiable).”49

In role-playing games, however, the wizard can also inhabit the roleof Hero, depending on the configuration of the party: the personality

148 The Functions of Role-Playing Games

characteristics of the players and their alter-egos, the goals of the charac-ters, etc. Thus, while certain archetypes may have served a specific func-tion in the plot historically, the story changes considerably when actualindividuals inhabit it. In addition, some players enjoy playing “againsttype” or modifying the original archetype by adding character idiosyn-crasies.

D&D’s fourth overarching class is that of the Rogue. Rogues followtheir own individual creed and sometimes swindle, beguile, or fool oth-ers for personal gain or amusem*nt. One subclass of the Rogue is theThief, or “expert treasure finder,” who is trained in arts of stealth. Basicthief abilities include moving sneakily, surprising opponents, pilferingobjects, and opening locked doors and boxes. Young cites Bilbo Bagginsof Tolkien’s The Hobbit as “a fair example.” Another Rogue class is theAssassin, who earns his or her living by killing others. Assassins are theultimate spies and must represent themselves as Evil regardless of theirmotivations for selecting jobs. Assassins cooperate in guilds but prefer towork alone. The Rogue subclass of Bard, “a minstrel/thespian pushed upa notch,” learn the arts of stealth and combat before “pursuing a pseudo-religious career as musical magicians.”50 Bard characters tend to be excel-lent at singing, dancing, storytelling, and other types of performance,wandering to different lands earning money for their entertainment.

Rogues find their roots in the age-old archetype of the Trickster.According to Louis Hyde in Trickster Makes This World, this archetype con-sistently challenges rigid assumptions and traditions.51 Instead of settlingin a particular location, Trickster characters tend to live nomadically. InHyde’s words, the Trickster “is the spirit of the road at dusk, the one thatruns from town to town but belongs to neither. There are strangers onthat road, and thieves, and in the underbrush a sly beast whose stomachhas not heard about your letter of passage.”52 This archetype also chal-lenges common conceptions of ethical behavior by blurring distinctionsin a multiplicity of ways:

In short, trickster is a boundary-crosser. Every group has its edge, itssense of in and out, and trickster is always there, at the gates of the city andthe gates of life, making sure there is commerce. He also attends the internalboundaries by which groups articulate their social life. We constantly distin-guish—right and wrong, sacred and profane, cleans and dirty, male andfemale, young and old, living and dead—and in every case trickster willcross the line and confuse the distinction. Trickster is the creative idiot,therefore, the wise fool, the gray-haired baby, the cross-dresser, the speakerof sacred profanities. Where someone’s sense of honorable behavior has left him unable to act, trickster will appear to suggest an amoral action,

6 . Role-Playing as Alteration of Identity 149

something right/wrong that will get life going again. Trickster is the mythicembodiment of ambiguity and ambivalence, doubleness and duplicity, con-tradiction and paradox.53

Trickster characters represent the passage from one space to the next andthe blurring of distinctive boundaries. Thus, rogues are often masters atdisguise, stealth, and riddles. Young attributes rogue-like characteristicsto Tolkien’s Bilbo Baggins, who engages in riddles with Gollum, findssecret doors to the dragon’s cave, steals treasure from Smaug, etc. Thehobbit’s modern manifestations of the Trickster attributes form the tem-plate for the more contemporary rogue archetype in role-playing games.

Archetypal Races in Dungeons & Dragons

D&D only offers a handful of playable races, though the Monster

Manual offers a larger variety of creatures arising from a multitude of dif-ferent mythological sources. The most common playable race is Human,since, according to Young, the game is designed to prefer this class. In earlyeditions of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, only humans could start as oneclass and later change to a different one, offering the benefits of both.54

Though the game designers relaxed stringent restrictions such as these inlater editions, providing in-game advantages for playing a human in a fan-tasy world seems slightly counterintuitive. Perhaps players enjoy the themeof the triumph of humanity even within the possibilities of a strange, mag-ical world.

Still, players can create characters with alternate races. One such raceis the Halfling, based upon the hobbits in Tolkien’s work. Young describeshalflings in similar way to their depictions in The Hobbit and The Lord of

the Rings. He states, “These little people stand about three feet tall andhave large hairy feet. They are in the main quiet, decent people. In thewords of one of their number, ‘Adventures make one late for dinner.’ How-ever, occasionally one of their number will get a peculiarity, become a bitodd, and for some reason—perhaps a genetic flaw—become an adven-turer.”55

According to Day, Tolkien once wrote to his publisher that he madehobbits small “partly to exhibit the pettiness of man, plain unimaginative,parochial man ... and mostly to show up, in creatures of very small phys-ical power, the amazing and unexpected heroism of ordinary men ‘at apinch.’”56 Though Tolkien’s hobbits possess attributes specific to the ruralEnglishmen, the archetype appears in the travels of many a hero’s journeyas the friendly innkeeper or the country bumpkin. The qualities exhibitedhere as pertaining to Halflings also represent the humble environment and

150 The Functions of Role-Playing Games

expectations from which the hero originates in standard formulations ofthe monomyth.

A similar race to the Dwarf is the Gnome. Gnomes are more toler-ant than Dwarves of other races and of magic, and are skilled with illu-sions and machines. Gnomes have an intricate society based on their loveof all kinds of arts, pranks, and long life. They love indulgence and cele-brate on a grand scale. All gnomes must learn some form of art by the timethey come of age, be it music, painting, cooking, building, or any otherform that is considered creative.57 Subraces of gnomes include SurfaceGnomes, Svirfneblin (underground-dwelling), Tinker Gnomes (techno-logically-minded), Rock Gnomes, Forest Gnomes, Chaos Gnomes(flamboyant), Whisper Gnomes (sly and stealthy), Ice Gnomes, and FireGnomes.

The alchemist Paracelsus may have originated the term of Gnome inthe sixteenth century, adding the “earth gnome” to his list of elementals.58

He describes them as taciturn, little old men who could shift to the sizeof giants and were greedy, malicious, and miserable creatures. These per-sonality qualities are not found in the Gnomes of D&D; instead, thesequalities more resemble the Duergar dwarves.59 The gnome is often fea-tured in Germanic fairy tales, including those by the Brothers Grimm, usu-ally resembling a gnarled old man, who lives deep underground and guardsburied treasure. In European folklore, mythical creatures such as goblinsand dwarves are often represented as gnomes, and vice versa, so some con-fusion arises. The hugely popular “garden gnomes,” ceramic dolls firstdesigned in the mid–nineteenth century, further altered the conception ofthe creature. Based on Germanic myths, the garden gnomes reside on theirowner’s lawns, reflecting the stories of the gnomes’ willingness to help inthe garden at night.60 The garden gnome embodies the playful spiritinvoked by the archetype in D&D, though Gygax’s formulation of thegnome remains at least partially an original, modern conception.

The characteristics of Dwarves in D&D vary depending on their sub-race. Dwarves mine for precious gems, gold, and silver and are character-ized by their greed, superstition, and mistrust of magic. According to thewebsite “Literary Sources of D&D,” Dwarves are an amalgamation of manytales:

The primary sources, especially for D&D dwarven society and lifespans,are The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings; Three Hearts and Three Lions [by PoulAnderson] is also an important source, but not as much so as Tolkien’sworks. (Also, the terms “dwarves” and “dwarven” were coined by Tolkien.The original forms are dwarfs and dwarfish, as evidenced by Disney’s movie

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Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs). The Germanic story The Ring of theNibelungen and the “Rumpelstiltskin” fairy tale retold by the BrothersGrimm are probably close ancestors of D&D dwarves. Germanic loredepicts dwarves as living in caves, guarding mineral wealth, and being veryskillful in making things from stone and minerals. French folklore (and fromthat, Three Hearts and Three Lions) depict dwarves as forest-dwellers, similarto D&D’s hill dwarves. The dwarven ability to detect the slope of an under-ground passage is specifically mentioned in Three Hearts and Three Lions,which is most likely the immediate source for inclusion of that ability inD&D.61

The archetypal tradition of the Dwarf is long and rich and players com-monly choose this race to role-play. Other types of dwarves also exist inthe game. Hill dwarves, the most common sub-race in D&D, stand aroundfour feet tall and at least one hundred fifty pounds. Their skin runs fromdeep tan to light brown, their bright eyes are almost never blue, theircheeks are ruddy, and they can have brown, black, or gray hair.62 TheDuergar dwarves, also called Gray dwarfs, live deep underground, are thin-ner than other dwarves, and have gray hair and skin.63 The Duergar tendto be evil and avaricious.

The other most commonly-played race is that of the Elves. The elvenlifespan is remarkably long and they almost never die of old age. They tendto possess an innate beauty and easy gracefulness and are often viewed asboth wondrous and haughty by other races, though their natural detach-ment is seen by some as xenophobia or introversion. Slightly shorter thanthe average human, elves are noticeably more graceful and slender thanhumans and their features are more angular and defined, including long,pointed ears and wide, almond-shaped eyes.64 Most elven characters inD&D are High elves, though other sub-races exist. The Gray elves tendto avoid anyone not of the elven kind. Wood elves (also called Sylvanelves) are even more reclusive, not mixing with the organized societies ofother races on any repeated or regular basis. Wood elves possess a strongaffinity toward trees and woodland creatures.65 Drow elves (or Dark elves)tend to be evil, dark of skin, and white of hair. The Drow dwell in under-ground in the deep reaches of the earth.

The Elves of D&D strongly resemble their counterparts in The Lord

of the Rings. The Sindaran elves in Tolkien are represented by Celebornand Galadriel of Lothlorien as well as the Wood elves of Mirkwood. Drow-like elves, on the other hand, are not represented explicitly in the series.Old Norse texts refer to “black elves” (or “swart elves”) who live in sub-terranean realm, but these creatures seem “virtually interchangeable” with

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Norse references to dwarves, gnomes, giants, and demons.66 D&D makesclear distinctions between archetypes that often get confused with eachother in myth and folklore.

This chapter delineates the major archetypes present in Dungeons &

Dragons, which strongly resemble recognizable figures in mythological nar-ratives. However, many other role-playing systems exist, and within thema multitude of other archetypes. Game systems such as the World of Dark-ness take into account modern formulations of character types as well asancient ones and the archetypes tend more toward deeper psychologicalaspects rather than surface racial or professional qualities. In Vampire: the

Masquerade, for example, the majority of Vampires hail from specificbloodlines, including the Toreador, the Ventrue, and the Nosferatu. Blood-lines—also referred to as Clans—function similarly to racial characteris-tics in D&D. For example, the Toreador tend toward artistry and highsociety, the Ventrue toward leadership and finance, and the Nosferatutoward stealth and information gathering.67

However, personality aspects are complexified by the system; char-acters also possess a Nature—or basic personality type—and Demeanor—or outward personality type. Sample archetypes within these categoriesinclude Caregiver, Fanatic, Judge, Loner, and Visionary.68 Such charac-teristics reflect a depth of identity not found within the high fantasy gamesystem of Dungeons & Dragons. Ultimately, though, each individual role-player invests his or her character with varying levels of psychologicaldepth, regardless of the genre or game system from which their characteroriginates.

Summary

The roots of the creation of alternate identities in the human psychecan be traced to early childhood. Children begin to investigate their senseof self in early childhood through pretend play, storytelling, imperson-ation, and the creation of paracosms and Imaginary Friends. In adoles-cence, they seek a stable sense of ego identity through interaction withparticular groups and the internalization of social codes and mores. Asadults, they learn to adopt particular fronts, playing multiple roles depend-ing on context.

In the postmodern world—particularly with the advent of onlinecommunities—humans must establish a stronger fluidity of identity inorder to adapt to the fast pace of cultural change. They develop a senseof multiplicity within the self, rather than focusing on a rigid set of ego

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characteristics. These multiple identities are also known as “sub-person-alities” and they tend to reflect archetypes. Archetypes are symbolic struc-tures, bubbling up through the collective unconscious and are easilyidentified by their continual recurrence in mythology cross-culturally. Theearliest and most influential role-playing system, Dungeons & Dragons,

highlights major mythological archetypes, allowing players to enact theseage-old symbolic roles while adding their own creative flair to their char-acters.

The playful enactment and negotiation of identity is a primary attrib-ute of role-playing games. Rather than representing what some perceiveas an “abnormal” escapism into fantasy, role-players tap into their owninherent archetypal structures and explore them in the safe space of thegame world. Combined with the other two functions of problem-solvingand community building, identity alteration is the third important psy-chological aspect of role-playing. The final chapter of this volume will pro-vide an ethnographic evaluation of identity alteration within role-playingenvironments, explaining how players develop their personas and estab-lishing a typography to delineate how the characters relate to the eachplayer’s primary sense of self.

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Character Evolution andTypes of Identity Alteration

Finally, we will venture to explore the content of the actual roles theplayers enact. I use the term “venture” because these characters remainsomewhat ephemeral conceptually throughout their “existence” in theminds of gamers. Attempting to understand the cause of their inception,the motivations behind their enactment, and the reasons fueling their evo-lution over time can often seem a frustrating process. Creativity is, bynature, an unconscious process. Pinpointing its stages requires a certainlevel of self-awareness and reflection. Fortunately, many of my informantsoffered flashes of insight into these issues.

This chapter will highlight several key factors with regard to the cre-ation and enactment of role-playing characters, including the inceptionof the character, which begins as an overall Gestalt of concept. The con-cept then blossoms and evolves through the development of a background,co-creation with other role-players, in-game interactions, and advance-ments in the story line. Next, we will detail a typology for the varioustypes of characters. These categories are based less on the archetypal essenceof the persona and more on the player’s feeling of “sameness” betweentheir primary identity and the character concept. Often, the characterswork to serve a certain function for role-players, be it psychological explo-ration, boundary transgression, or simple stress relief. Guided by the man-ner in which my respondents describe their characters, I offer nine majortypes of roles: the Doppelganger Self, the Devoid Self, the Augmented Self,the Fragmented Self, the Repressed Self, the Idealized Self, the Opposi-

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tional Self, the Experimental Self, and the Taboo Self. However, as char-acters often refuse to fit neatly into categories, even archetypal ones, somecharacters will share qualities of multiple categories.

Finally, we will explore the relationship between the characters andtheir players, including the extent to which these entities “exist” withinthe minds of their creators before and after the events of the game cease.The level of connectivity between the primary sense of self and the char-acter changes from player to player. Ultimately, however, the process ofcreating, enacting, and evolving a role-playing character appears to leavea lasting impression in the minds and hearts of players.

The Evolution of the Character Concept

The evolution of a role-playing character is analogous to the plant-ing and growth of a flower. Like a flower, the genesis of a character arisesfrom a single seed. That seed may stem from a particular fascination ofthe player—something he or she needs to express or wishes to explore.The player plants the seed in the soil, creating a foundation for the con-cept. The soil, in this case, may include various character building activ-ities, such as back story writing, the allocation of points on a charactersheet, or costuming. These activities allow the character concept to growroots before ever interacting with the game environment or the other play-ers. Once the player solidifies their concept, the newly formed seed beginsto sprout as a result of environmental influences, such as the Storyteller,other player characters, the game system, and various in-game scenarios.Thus, the player may possess an initial idea of how the character willevolve, but that concept will necessarily shift based on the unfolding inter-actions with the external environment. Finally, with enough time andenergy, the character can open like a flower, developing into a multi-faceted, complex persona.

There are four central stages to the evolution of role-playing charac-ters. The first stage involves the Genesis—or origin/inception—of thecharacter concept. Most character concepts arise from some combinationof inherent archetypes, game-specific mechanics or abilities, narrativesfrom literature, popular culture references, and personal experiences. Thesecond stage involves the Development of the character, in which theplayer builds upon the initial idea through various creative exercises meantto make the concept more material in his or her mind. The third stageinvolves Interaction between the character and the game world. In thisstage, the character shifts from being a mere concept to an actual persona

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that must make certain decisions based upon situations outside of theplayer’s control. Given enough time and devotion, the character may reachthe final stage of development based upon these various interactions, theRealization of the character. When a character becomes fully Realized,the player has a distinct sense of the character’s past and present motiva-tions, their complexities and idiosyncrasies. A fully Realized character willstill develop and evolve over time based on new scenarios and interactions,but the player has established a strong understanding of the persona as adistinct entity, rather than just a concept.

In addition, at each stage of development, characters possess a par-ticular relationship with their players. I prefer to think of the player as thePrimary ego identity; in other words, the player’s Primary sense of self rep-resents the individual who operates in daily, “real world” activities. Play-ers still experience the Self as a stable, unified sense of identity, even whenenacting the persona. However, the more immersed in the game world theplayers become, the more they perceive the character as a distinct entityfrom the Primary Self. Thus, this chapter will describe nine different waysthat the player experiences their character with relationship to their dailyidentities. The goal of the typology is to establish the concept that fullyRealized characters manifest as distinct Selves, with various degrees of sim-ilarities and differences from the Primary ego identity.

The Four Stages of Character Evolution

The first stage of the evolution of character is the act of creation, orthe Genesis stage. The impetus behind creating a character can stem frommany sources, including the following:

• The Storyteller or a fellow player may ask someone to play a par-ticular persona in order to further a story line or to fill an arche-typal gap in the group.

• The player may find inspiration from a work of literature, a pop-ular culture text, an historical time period, or a personal experi-ence.

• The player may wish to create a character in order to role-playwith their out-of-character (OOC) friends.

• The player may feel the need to explore an underdeveloped aspectof their own psyche or of the game world in general.

Regardless of the reasoning behind creating a character, the Genesis stagerepresents the beginning of the creative process. Creativity, by nature, is

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often stimulated by other imaginative works. Players will draw inspira-tion both from one another and from the various external texts that haveinfluenced them in their lifetime.

The Development stage allows the player to more fully delineate thedetails of their character before introducing him or her into the gameworld. This process usually involves some combination of the followingcharacter building activities: searching for avatar pictures, purchasing cos-tuming, writing back stories detailing the character’s history, creating time-lines, painting or drawing the character, exchanging ideas with otherplayers, and allocating points on the character sheets provided by the gamesystem. Though the Development stage can be co-creative, this part ofcharacter evolution usually marks the last point at which the player hascreative control over the character. Once the character enters the game,during the Interaction stage, the player can influence the events transpir-ing in the story, but cannot fully control the world. The Storyteller ulti-mately decides the fate of the character, though other players certainlyhelp influence the unfolding of the plot. In this way, the Interaction stagedistinguishes role-playing from other, more solitary forms of charactercreation, such as novel writing.

After a fair amount of time and game immersion, certain characterconcepts may evolve into fully developed entities. The players of thesepersonas often describe the strange experience of a mild form of splittingof their consciousness, in which the primary Self and the character thinkand behave differently from one another. Though aspects of the charactermay remain consistent, the persona has evolved as a result of the uniqueexperiences and circ*mstances provided by the context of the game world.I refer to this final stage as the Realization of the character, though theultimate evolution of the persona usually ends up varying widely from theoriginal concept. The concept functions as a form of hypothetical guide-line, whereas the execution of the character within the constraints of thegame scenarios creates the actual contours of the persona.

Furthermore, the character may experience multiple levels of Real-ization the longer the player explores his or her limits. For example, I haveplayed Viviane for over ten years in three distinct Vampire: The Masquer-

ade games. As a persona, her personality has ranged from coldly socio-pathic to wildly hedonistic to philosophically profound, depending uponthe game-related circ*mstances and my own OOC-related experience ofreality. In the first game, she engaged in various unfortunate and diabol-ical acts, a story line which ended with Viviane allowing herself to die outof sheer nihilism and despair. However, I continued to play Viviane as a

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Realized entity in two other games, with alternate scenarios. Thus, I havecontinued to explore the depths of her psyche with each new interaction.Viviane has evolved as a character alongside my own personal evolutionas a player; one might even say we learn from one another’s experiences,both in the “real world” and the game.

The Genesis and Developmentof the Character Concept

Characters arise from a variety of sources and motivations. Sometimes,the Storyteller will request that a gamer design a specific type of charac-ter to fill skill-related gaps in the party, performing the role of a cleric orwarrior, for example. Other times, a player may wish to explore a partic-ular concept, time period, or culture. Regardless of the reasoning behindits inception, players agree that the original concept rarely reflects the waythe personality of the character develops over time. According to Gary AlanFine, “Players must construct a Gestalt—a conception of what their char-acter is like—that is necessarily highly stereotyped, and then play accord-ing to that conception.”1 Players then “work from scant, sometimescontradictory information to construct a meaningful identity.”2 ThisGestalt establishes a preliminary theory of mind, creating a tentative spacewithin the player’s mental framework for the character to inhabit.

This Gestalt holds the initial seed of the persona, which further blos-soms through several types of character-building activities. The playerestablishes the basic characteristics of the persona by creating a charactersheet, utilizing the rules of the game system. The character sheet gives theplayer an initial sense of the strengths and weaknesses of their persona andsometimes establishes personality idiosyncrasies that work to enhance role-playing and deepen interactions. Other character-building activitiesinclude: outside research into related fields, background writing, costum-ing, purchasing specific dice, painting miniatures, drawing pictures of thecharacter, etc. Character creation can also develop through out-of-char-acter conversation with other players through a process of co-creation.These character-building activities broaden the scope of the player’s con-ception of their character before game play even begins.

Though not all role-players invest a large amount of time into char-acter creation and development, several of my respondents described exten-sive character-building activities. The first step toward a character “comingto life” requires the player to personalize the archetype offered by the gamesystem. As “Elton” states, “The [games] all force you into a particular role.

7. Character Evolution and Types of Identity Alteration 159

And you take that stereotypical character and play with it for a while,tweak it, and add in your own flavor and eventually you get your own char-acter.”3 Josh S. describes this “tweaking” process in detail, explaining theinception of Jeremiah, his character in a Vampire LARP:

Starting out ... I made the stats card up, [thinking] “I want to be a dex-terity-based fighter.” And that’s where it starts. No name. No idea where Iwould be. Then, the name generally just pops in my head after I’ve beenworking on the numbers.... It’s not something strange or out of the blue. Itjust shows up. “Well, my name is Jeremiah.” Then, generally I give my char-acters accents, because it helps me transition into being the character ... [in asouthern accent] “Well, Iaaahm Jeremiaaah.” Once I get those two things,then the character kind of grows from there. I’ll [think], “If I were this guy,what would I do?” Well, [in the] Old West, I’d play cards, because I don’tlike working outside. Cause Jeremiah doesn’t like working outside. It couldhave gone either way; it could have gone, “Well he loves to work, he’s aworkaholic” ... but it didn’t. That didn’t call to me. So the character makeshimself.4

Josh first established the Gestalt for his character—the name, abilities,and location of origin. During this process, particular personality aspectsbegan to bubble up from Josh’s imagination, leading him to speculate thatthe character “makes himself.” Once the players access their inner well ofcreativity, they often describe the experience of watching the charactersdevelop of their own accord, already established as preliminary entities.

Josh S.’s explanation of the inception of Jeremiah is remarkably sim-ilar to the way in which I create characters. Almost all my personas havehigh social and mental aspects, while I tend to undervalue physical attrib-utes; I generally dislike combat, both in- and out-of-character. Thus,despite my original character concept, my characters almost always havehigh appearance, charisma, and intelligence scores. I then decide whatculture and time period from which the character hails. Within this cul-ture, I detail what sort of occupation the character will perform, whichusually manifests as some form of intellectual, socialite, healer, or artist.I will then spend a great deal of time agonizing over the proper name.Sometimes, this name will “arrive,” just as the name Jeremiah popped intoJosh’s mind. Other times, I will pour over lists of baby names and readthe meanings behind potential candidates. After the all-important nameemerges, I begin to outline the background of the character, which oftenincludes extensive research into the time period and culture from whichthe persona arises.

For example, I once spent weeks developing a character for a newVampire LARP before I met the majority of the players in-person. I decided

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to create a five-hundred year old Toreador vampire from the Italian Renais-sance named Eustacia Boccasavia. I had been fond of the first name Eusta-cia since I read Thomas Hardy’s The Return of the Native in high school.5

Searching through Italian-English dictionaries online, I then concoctedthe last name Boccasavia, which means “sensible mouth.”6 This surnameencapsulated the character concept nicely: an expert courtier who givessage advice and instruction. Then, I chose a physical representation, afamous person who not only looked “like” Eustacia, but also embodiedthe energy that I wanted the entity to possess. I downloaded hundreds ofpictures of model/actress Monica Belluci. These photos exhibited a senseof grace, class, and sensuality, while retaining a hint of mystery.

I then wrote an elaborate, twenty-eight page short story detailing theevents of her life from before her birth in 1510 to the year 1580. I insertedphotos of Belluci throughout this narrative, offering visual augments. Idrew her overall paradigm and manner of speaking from Baldassare Cas-tiglione’s The Book of the Courtier and even inserted a scene in the storythat involved her obtaining and reading a copy of this manuscript.7 I alsoread a history of the Italian Renaissance in order to better understand thepolitical dynamics from which Eustacia originated, eventually deciding toestablish her original location in the city-state of Milan. I then spent daysaccumulating costuming, which eventually included: extensive makeup;a long, black wig; dress pumps; costume jewelry; several corsets; bustleskirts; and ball gowns.

Though such character-building activities may seem excessive, eachcomponent added to my Gestalt of Eustacia. The costuming and picto-rial representations enhanced my immersion in the persona and the backstory aided my understanding of how the character spoke, moved, thought,and reacted. These aspects allowed me to present a unified concept ofcharacter, both as an avatar in the online role-playing forums and in-per-son at the LARP.

Though some role-players simply throw a concept together and “wingit” at the game, many of my respondents reported engaging in more com-plex character-building activities. Long-lived Vampire characters, in par-ticular, require at least some conception of history and players try to fillin the gaps in their own knowledge through study. Chris states, “If I’m,for example, role-playing a character from 1920s Italy, I’m going to readabout 1920s Italy, and that requires research. I [may] read some booksfrom that era, some poetry, or maybe listen to some music, and the back-ground writing comes last from that.”8 Matthew explains, “If I wanted acharacter to know about something, I made sure that I knew as much as

7. Character Evolution and Types of Identity Alteration 161

I could to ensure that the integrity of their answers were as accurate aspossible.” He describes the back story of one of his Vampire characters,William, which “focused on his life and times during the American Rev-olution, how his surrogate father was the one who started the Sons Of Lib-erty, to his abandonment and eventual embrace [into vampirism].”9 Omegadetails an instance in which he heavily researched the cultural roots ofsatyrs in order to best perform one character concept:

I actually spent two weeks researching satyrs: their pictures, their mental-ity, the lores that are from both the German background and also from theGreek background, ... the style of speech, ... the mannerisms, ... the campi-ness, ... and the shamelessness that they would have. I tried to find, throughall of that background, a personality that would match the character that Iwas trying to create and the shape and the feel of the character.10

Unfortunately, Omega’s satyr character died after two game sessions. Still,he insists, “I think the research itself and the going that deep into it wasworth it. Because that was the deepest I’ve ever gone into building a char-acter.”11 Indeed, for some role-players, part of the pleasure of developingcharacters lies in imagining life in a different time and culture and learn-ing more about those aspects. The staid “facts” of history suddenly comealive when the player imagines what a facet of their consciousness wouldthink or feel under alternate circ*mstances.

Players also often collaborate in the development of their characters.Some characters exist in a socially symbiotic relationship with others, asfamily members, allies, or even enemies. The players will co-create thedetails of their character back story, weaving their individual historiestogether. “Elton” describes this process in the following passage:

We would, accidentally sometimes, and sometimes on purpose ... createthese characters that have linked backgrounds. So, then that comes out in-game, where you may have allegiances between certain characters because,“Well, we were back in Paris during the French Revolution and so we wentthrough that together and now we’re here. So, we have this allegiancebecause we have the kinship of having gone through that experiencetogether.” Or enmity. You may have an enemy because of that.12

Sometimes, a character concept starts out weak, only blossoming whenplayers combine creativity.

For example, I recently played an NPC in a Vampire LARP namedHortense Throckmorton. Because she was a “non-player character,” meantas a tool for plot development, I created a persona that I knew I wouldnot personally find appealing or emotionally engaging. Hortense hailedfrom nineteenth-century England and embodied many of the repressive

162 The Functions of Role-Playing Games

elements of the Victorian paradigm, including sexual repression and anobsession with maintaining an air of bourgeois respectability. I intendedto play her for only a couple of sessions, using her as a way to instruct newplayers on the “proper” etiquette of vampiric court life. However, Matthewentered the game, creating a character from the same a clan named Alas-taire. The Storyteller placed us in the position of “sister” and “brother”from the same “sire,” meaning that the same man turned both of our char-acters into vampires. Matthew and I then engaged in extensive, out-of-character AOL Instant Message conversations in which we detailed ourcollective background. From these conversations, I learned far more aboutHortense than I initially thought I wanted to know. She developed into athree-dimensional character in my mind, rather than a flimsy “house ofcards” construction based on a stereotype.

While preliminary character-building activities help the player under-stand the complexities of their persona before enactment, the character onlyfully “emerges” through actual role-play. Often, the original concept failsto stick and the character develops along other lines. I originally intendedmy Viviane character, for example, to be a streetwise graffiti artist. Thisconcept quickly fell to the wayside, though, because her personality man-ifested in the game far more strongly as a snobby, hedonistic social climber.As Daniel MacKay explains, the character comes into fruition only whenthe player experiences an altered sense of self :

The character comes to life in moments of alterity, where the player expe-riences the sensation of being another. The character concept is the point oforigin for a character, but the words the player speaks in-character, inresponse to the constellation of addresses that occur during a session,become the inborn character concept that the player could not haveidentified when he first set himself upon the task of creating a character.13

Though writing a back story may produce a feeling of alterity in the player,the character “behaves” uniquely when forced into situations by the Sto-ryteller and through interaction with other players. Thus, players may notfully understand what their character will come to represent with relationto their primary sense of self until after having played him or her for longperiods of time. These meanings also shift over time, particularly withextensively-played characters.

The Realization Stage and Character Typologies

As characters experience events in role-playing situations, they growand evolve. The in-game events mark them in ways unforeseen by even

7. Character Evolution and Types of Identity Alteration 163

the Storyteller. Sometimes, the characters exhibit personality traits far dif-ferent from the player’s. Other times, the boundary between character andplayer seems more blurry. Experienced players, however, expect “good”role-players to attempt to maintain a strong sense of distinction betweenin-character and out-of-character thoughts, feelings, and actions. Playerscapable of strongly representing their alternate persona encourage othersto immerse themselves in the game more deeply, enhancing the experienceof the story.

Role-playing theorists attempt to create blanket explanations for thesource of characters and for the reasons behind the player enjoyment.MacKay explains, “The roles that the players adopt allow them to delveinto their emotional depths, their affective selves, and to express their feel-ings and ideas, but they do so through the creative distance the role pro-vides.”14 Michelle Nephew claims that all role-playing characters representan unconscious wish-fulfillment on the part of the players. She states,“The player’s unconscious desires are allowed to become manifest in therole taken, since the persona of the character allows the player a disguisebehind which to hide.”15 While these explanations may provide some indi-cation of the impulse behind character enactment, they fail to fully explainthe complexities of characterization.

To rectify this problem, this chapter details the various “types” ofcharacters players enact. While chapter six focused on the age-old arche-types offered as concepts to players of games such as Dungeons & Drag-

ons, this typology focuses more on the player’s relationship to the character.When describing their various personas, many of my informants detail thesimilarities and differences between their primary personality traits andthose of their character. They explain what functions they believe theircharacters serve and how closely their personas reflect their sense of ego-identity in the “real world.” Classifications like these become difficult,though, because characters can often serve multiple functions for the play-ers. I rely primarily on the language my respondents use when describingtheir characters for hints as to the relationship between the primary selfand the persona.

The Doppelganger Self

Some role-players enact personas that closely resemble their primarysense of self. Players may construct a Doppelganger Self, who thinks and behaves as they would, despite discrepancies on the character sheet. Iplayed in a mirror game, for example, in which we each imagined ourselves,in our current positions in life, suddenly turned into vampires. This inter-

164 The Functions of Role-Playing Games

esting exercise forced us to think “as if ” our primary selves were placed inthe unique situation of suddenly becoming night-dwelling predators. In thiscase, the Doppelganger Self provided a heightened sense of self-awareness.

However, the majority of the time, experienced role-players dismissthe practice of enacting personas similar to the primary identity as amateur-ish. Many players create a Doppelganger Self when new to the game andstill learning the world, as playing someone similar to one’s self is far easier.As Fine suggests, “Some players admit that they or others play themselves.Younger, less-skilled players are particularly likely to adapt the traditionalgaming posture of winning however they can.”16 However, Fine insists thatthe “hard-core, long-term, older gamers” believe “that what makes thesegames unique is that a player portrays a figure distinct from himself.”17

For serious role-players, the game lies not only in the continued suc-cess and survival of the character, but in the successful enactment of anentity other than the self. Kirstyn explains, “You are the source. And unlessyou want to play yourself again and again, which some do and, subse-quently, are not very fun to role-play with, you have to create a space forthis separate entity.”18 She playfully refers to the “real world” identity asthe “primary character” in the following passage:

These are those who show up, throw a few concepts together ... and call ita day. That’s about all the thought they give to the character. They will stilldress the same way as their actual self, (primary character), talk the sameway, and generally act the same way. And despite the persona they assume,their character’s desires and general interests are remarkably similar to thoseof the primary character. These gamers essentially play themselves but with“kewl powerz!”19

Some players, then, only create surface-level characters, never fullyimmersing themselves into the game environment.

However, many of my respondents indicated a sense that certain char-acters they play possess inherent similarities to their primary sense of self.Though Matthew often engages in extensive character-building activities,he suggests, “There is a lot of them in me, as I generally take some aspectof myself to help make the character become more real for me.”20 Similarly,Carley intimates, “Moria has ... a similar energy to me. I really don’t knowhow else to describe it. It’s not a general demeanor even. But like, as I seeher in my head, we share certain mannerisms and our general style of move-ment.”21 Alex, who often portrays female characters online, describes one ofhis only male personas in the following manner: “Adenauer was a drunk-ard, though wise, and a politician. I suppose I forget much about how Iplayed him, though he was an exploration of myself in virtual form.”22

7. Character Evolution and Types of Identity Alteration 165

John explains how one of his characters, Findo, exhibits similar per-sonality traits to himself, despite Findo’s fantastic existence as a gnome inan alternate world. He states, “[Findo’s] given to sometimes unreasonablelevels of debauchery. And if it’s not fun, it’s not worth doing with thatcharacter. He wants to see the positive in everything. He wants everybodyto like him. He wants to just generally have a good life. Out of all thecharacters I play he’s the only one like that. And I’m the most like that.”23

As I explained in chapter six, the gnome archetype in Dungeons & Drag-

ons is often fun-loving and playful. Thus, Findo’s archetype allows Johnto express aspects of his own primary personality in ways that other char-acters do not.

Thus, the Doppelganger Self need not necessarily be viewed as a shal-low form of role-playing. The similarity between the primary self and thepersona can also work to enhance self-esteem, offering an “ordinary” per-son the opportunity to do extraordinary things and make a difference incrisis situations.

The Devoid Self

One interesting role-playing exercise during character creationinvolves developing a persona that lacks an essential quality that the playerpossesses in the “real world.” The Devoid Self may have a physical dis-ability, a lack of empathy, or have been raised in more austere circ*mstancesthan the player experienced. A good way to think of the Devoid Self isthe Doppleganger Minus some essential quality.

Guillermo’s first tabletop character, Athaniel, was blind. He wouldrequest that the Storyteller explain to him everything the character couldperceive through means other than vision and would even play blindfoldedor with a hat over his eyes. This practice aided him in immersion and hebelieves that it enhanced the experiences of other players as well. He states,“I think it helped them get into the experience, because they were havingto explain these things. Not take them for granted, but really say thesethings out loud.”24 Interestingly, the Devoid Self often behaves in radi-cally different ways than a Doppleganger might. Removing, for example,one’s empathy will severely change the way the character behaves withinthe universe of the game, even if the other personality qualities are essen-tially identical.

The Augmented Self

Likewise, some players enact personas that are similar to their pri-mary identity, but have some form of Augmentation. The Augmented Self

166 The Functions of Role-Playing Games

may have a super power, inexhaustible wealth, or immortality. Again,though the personality remains the same, the actions of the AugmentedSelf may veer wildly from those of the player based on these special abil-ities. The Augmented Self can be thought of as the Doppleganger Plus someother key quality.

In some ways, few characters ever evolve purely as Dopplegangers, orexact replicas of the primary ego identity. Almost all RPGs feature someform of supernatural augmentation for the characters. Possessing the abil-ity to read minds, turn invisible, cast magic, or fly will change the waythe character views reality, particularly in terms of his or her decision-mak-ing process. In the “real world,” for example, a player would have to watchsomeone closely and interpret their body language to detect a lie, whereasa supernatural power in the game world might give them an “automaticsuccess” in this sort of situation. Indeed, some players report replying ontheir supernatural powers or other mechanics in the game world to com-pensate for abilities that they feel their primary self lacks.

The Fragmented Self

In many cases, the persona enacted in RPGs emerges from a merefragment of the player’s personality. This fragment becomes accentuated,ballooned, or sometimes twisted. What may have originated as a subduedaspect of the player’s self becomes the center of the character concept.Darren explains, “I think that for me playing a character is really moreabout picking an aspect of my own personality, no matter how dormantand how latent, and magnifying, and amplifying it to the forefront andmaking it the driving part of the character I play. So in this way, it doesrelate to my own personality, or at least a possible version.”25 This personamay come to represent the player’s sensuality, their manipulativeness, theirinterest in a particular field of study, their dream of pursuing a specificprofession—literally, anything from within them. John reflects, “Findo’sprobably got my sense of humor. Azul had my aggressiveness.”26 The free-dom of the play space allows the individual to experience a small piece ofthemselves, expand it, magnify it, and ultimately, examine how it func-tions when carried to certain conclusions.

These elements may manifest as “positive” or “negative” traits. Theymay represent a tiny facet of the player’s inner self or a large facet that isthen isolated and amplified. Fine explains, “Some players argue that oneplays a character as an extension of one’s person—one’s person in a moreextreme fashion.” One of Fine’s informants, Andy, states, “You always kindof play your character in the way you think he might ... and they’re usu-

7. Character Evolution and Types of Identity Alteration 167

ally traits that you have ... but you’re playing them in a more exaggeratedform.”27 However, this explanation fails to address the content of these per-sonas and what functions they serve as tools for the primary conscious-ness to better experience and examine itself.

Therefore, the seed of these characters generally arises from a men-tal interest or perhaps psychological or spiritual need inherent to the indi-vidual at the moment of creation. These seeds may represent importantaspects of self that need expression, such as a sense of grief, or of a merepassing fancy, such as an interest in a particular style of music. Guillermodescribes the creation of his first character, Athaniel. He explains, “Iimbued him with the things that I like to do, but on a larger scale. I tryto consider myself a creative person, like, for instance, I enjoy writing. So,I made him a food critic who can describe, because he’s blind, amazinglywell all these sensations, the tastes and everything like that ... I also loveto cook.”28

Oftentimes, these aspects will play themselves out in specific arche-types. When a player enacts an archetype, certain aspects of self bubbleto the surface and project outward, sublimating what socially defined rolesthe individual may have in the “real world.” For instance, if a player enactsthe archetype of “rogue,” he or she must uncover aspects of sneakiness,greediness, or trickery within themselves and find the motivation for theactions of the character. In The World of Darkness, the Gangrel vampireclan and the various types of werewolves provide players the opportunityto explore their animalistic side, a process known as anthropomorphic role-play, or anthro. Desiree indicates that playing a Gangrel in Vampire hasbeen her favorite role-playing experience to date. She describes,

The passion, the fun ... It was very exciting for me to be animalistic andto be able to concentrate on my animalistic behaviors, instead of concentrat-ing on the healing aspects of others. I could be irrational. I could be emo-tional. I could be a little bit crazed. And that was fun because it’s very muchunlike who I really am. It’s a second part of me, but a very small second partof me. So it was nice to act out that part.29

The role-playing experience allowed Desiree a release from her daily socialrole as massage therapist, allowing her to explore more instinctive and“irrational” responses to situations.

One common archetype players enact involves overt sexuality and the manipulation of others through seduction. Because the remnants ofPuritanism in American culture often discourage open displays of sexual-ity, especially among females, players utilize the safe space of the game toenact seduction archetypes, such as the rake or the femme fatale. Vampire

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particularly encourages such representations, as the drawing of another’sblood is experienced as ecstatic by both parties, and the vampire often mustuse manipulation to convince humans to offer themselves. At one stage inher evolution, my character Viviane Morceau delighted in the seductionand manipulation of others. Years later, I realized that, unconsciously, Ihad chosen the French word for “piece” for Viviane’s last name. I haveoften felt that the character represented a fragment of my personalityamplified to an extreme degree.

Other of my respondents expressed a similar amplification of sexualexpression through roleplaying. Haley admits, “With my characters, I canbe much more sensual and sexual than I am in my own life because I’mvery shy ... [in] the real world, there’re real consequences whereas in game,no big deal.”30 Kirstyn describes her first role-playing character, a Tore-ador named Saffir, who used seduction as her art form:

This is the first place in my psyche I explored, a strange choice for achubby, low-self-esteem racked, barely-been-kissed, 17-year-old, gothic vir-gin, with a history of sexual abuse to go. I was slowly coming into my ownbut truly had no feeling of myself. I had always been a very sensual, if notsexual, creature. Some might say that I was obsessed with being desired, andI would often sit in front of my mirror when no one was home and act outvarious seductions in my head. Doing this in real life had always seemedfolly.... With Saffir though I could be as sexually open as I pleased with ...relatively few consequences and judgments made by my peer group. Theywould see me as an actress.31

In Kirstyn’s case, the game provided an outlet and safe space for her toexplore her nascent sexual expression. Walter played his Elsbeth characterwhile a corpsman in the Navy. He likens his military experience to “beingin an emotional coma,” and his Elsbeth character allowed him to accesshis deeper feminine self, as well as his sense of sensuality. He explains,“She was a powerhouse socially. She allowed me to be desirable. Sheallowed me to be elegant. She allowed me to be sensual even, in a timewhen those were all things that were denied to me in my real life. And ifI hadn’t had that escape ... I really think that there would have been evenmore damage done.”32 The emotional strain of the military experience was,in some part, alleviated by Walter’s involvement with role-playing gamesand his enactment of Elsbeth.

Ultimately, these Fragmented Selves help provide a sense of intro-spection within the player. Alex explains, “Sometimes it helps me knowabout negative things like a tendency toward violence or my greed, andother times it helps me realize positive things like my ability to think

7. Character Evolution and Types of Identity Alteration 169

abstractly or my loyalty. Each little revelation may not sound like much,but each has had their impact on how I think of myself and how I actbecause of it.”33 By “watching” Viviane’s moral deterioration through eventswithin the game, I can better curtail such negative behaviors in the “realworld.” Thus, while the game provides an outlet or release for subduedaspects of self, it can also function as source of self-reflection. The play-ers can observe how aspects of the self would behave along alternate time-lines, enhancing their overall sense of experience and awareness.

The Repressed Self

Related to the Fragmented Self, the Repressed Self also represents asubdued aspect of the player’s personality. More specifically, I refer to theRepressed Self as another term for the Inner Child: the youthful, naïveself within each of us. Role-players sometimes use games as an outlet foryounger, more carefree parts of themselves to emerge. The constraints ofreal world responsibilities and trials can weigh heavily upon people’s shoul-ders. The game space provides an open expression for “childish” behav-iors, an outlet for the Inner Child to emerge and play within the createdconfines of the game system. These entities often display a certain sim-plicity of spirit and desire, as well as a relative level of naivety about eviland pain in the world. These aspects also sometimes manifest as a tem-porary lack of comprehension of “proper” behavior, thus inspiring ademeanor of well-meaning mischievousness.

The Repressed Self also often reflects a desire on the part of the play-ers to make other people laugh and to not have to be constantly taken seri-ously. As Alex describes, “Flarea was my first ‘furry’ character, being ananthro based off of the Pokemon she’s named after. Basically, this charac-ter was made for the sole purpose of acting like an idiot. Hell, she couldonly say ‘Flarea,’ after all.”34 The Repressed Self is often enacted throughthe rogue, or Trickster, archetype. “Elton” explains his motivations forcreating “a Prankster type Rogue in the D&D environment”:

I really, truly enjoyed that character because it was an excuse for me to cutloose, and I’m generally a pretty repressed individual, I’m generally veryquiet ... this character was really my way of more being able to ... be thatperson that I wanted to be, and cut loose, and poke fun, and be that person.That was part of the reason he really stuck out. I could cause all the com-motion I wanted and it didn’t have any consequences.35

The desire to “cause commotion” is often trained out of us. Adult lifedemands a certain level of seriousness and of respect for the boundaries oth-ers. The boundaries become more permeable with role-playing characters,

170 The Functions of Role-Playing Games

and players often enjoy when characters “cause commotion,” as interestingstory lines emerge as a result of the insertion of a chaotic element.

In a sense, the Repressed Self may be viewed as a conscious form ofregression into a younger state of consciousness. According to the Interna-tional Dictionary of Psychoanalysis, “The Latin equivalent of regressionmeans ‘return’ or ‘withdrawal’; it also signifies a retreat or a return to aless-evolved state.”36 Guillermo describes how one of his characters, Jinkari,reflects a younger side of himself. He admits, “Jin is twelve years old. Alot of times I honestly feel like a very immature person. I mean, ridicu-lously immature, and so it’s easy for me to draw, for him, how would mycharacter react. And I also try to imbue him with a great deal of inno-cence and humanity.”37 Kirstyn describes the activities of her Vampire

character, Alicia:

With the mentality of a very stubborn child and the appearance of a ten-year-old Snow White ... Alicia often found herself in the middle of conflict.[She was] sometimes openly manipulative, very often playing upon the littlehumanity left in her fellow vampires. She was known for running aroundthe Prince’s court complete with “blankee,” slippers, and stuffed animals andcould often be seen rolling on the ground while the Prince was speakingbecause it was “boring.” The boring excuse was one that she regularlyapplied to get out of common task that other in her station would have todo.... While certainly capable of acting her age (approximately two hundredyears old), because of her appearance, no one expected her to behave olderand so she didn’t.38

Kirstyn’s Repressed Self was able to break social conventions and behaveimmaturely despite her age, and, in turn, Kirstyn was also able to do so,if only vicariously through the character.

My own Repressed Self has manifested as Hailee in a Mage: The Ascen-

sion tabletop campaign and as Blythe in a Vampire: The Masquerade LARP.

Both characters shift in age, sometimes behaving like a young girl and,other times, like a precocious teenager. Both characters believe that lovecan solve all problems and possess an inherent incomprehension about“how people can be mean to each other.” Of course, such entities are especially vulnerable in the World of Darkness, which attempts to portraya reality even darker than the “real world.” However, their youthful zeal often inspires new levels of compassion and self-reflection in othercharacters. In one scenario, for example, Hailee’s adventuring partyencountered an extremely sad demon that had been separated from his original plane of existence. The other party members wished to kill thedemon, but Hailee “solved the problem” by creating a magical cocoon of

7. Character Evolution and Types of Identity Alteration 171

unconditional love and embracing the demon with it. Experiencing thiscompassion, the demon was able to depart. The Storyteller did not antic-ipate this solution, and other characters of mine would have solved theproblem radically differently, but Hailee’s unique, child-like perspectiveoffered a consequently unique solution.

The Idealized Self

Role-playing games provide players the opportunity to perform amaz-ing feats in extreme circ*mstances. Henry explains that RPGs offer “asense of excitement and adventure that usually doesn’t present itself to mein real life.”39 John states, “Sometimes, you do some pretty amazing things.I remember slaying dragons at the side of my companion, saving the world,and righting wrongs. It’s like you’re a hero and you get to be a hero withyour friends.”40 Desiree enjoys role-playing for this reason as well, stat-ing, “I want to save and I always want to give and I always want to be thehero.”41 For some players, the opportunity to portray the hero figure formsthe basis behind their desire to play.

Regardless of whether or not the character acts heroically, role-play-ing characters often present an Idealized Self, a persona that possesses qual-ities the player wishes he or she had. As Fine explains, “Taking on a rolehelps one overcome deficiencies of one’s ‘real self.’ The gaming commu-nity is described by participants as being protective for its members, andthrough the development of gaming competence coupled with the abilityto enact idealized roles ... individuals claim to gain confidence.”42 Thisconfidence arrives from playing out scenarios successfully, but also at devel-oping characters that can perform the tasks necessary for success.

Several of my informants described how certain characters possessedphysical attributes they felt they personally lacked. Haley developed severeC-spine scoliosis at a young age, which causes extreme amounts of dailypain. She explains, “Usually, [the characters] have what I don’t. They havea physical ability. They’re strong and they’re healthy, and since I’m not,they get to have that.”43 Matthew, a two-time survivor of leukemia, alwaysplays “warriors of some kind.” He intimates, “Often times I felt power-less [as a child], and even to this day, I myself protect my friends with afurious rage if they are crossed. It sure takes a lot to even bring me to ‘rage,’but if my friends are insulted, people won’t hear the end of it until resti-tution is paid.”44 He enjoys having the physical strength he often lackedas a child and the characters provide him the opportunity to avenge wrongsdone to his loved ones, even if enacted only within a game context.

Players report other qualities their character possess that they envy.

172 The Functions of Role-Playing Games

Carley, who often plays gay male characters, quips, “Damien gets all thesex I wish I could get, and I would be a lot more like Damien if I werehot enough.”45 Josh describes his character Hoodie as “more of an aspira-tion” of his. He explains, “He’s always on top of the situation. He’s alwayscool-headed even when there’re a lot of problems. He’s able to take careof it. He does what he needs [to do], but he always smiles and jokes. He’skind of something I want to be, so I base my decisions in general on whathe would do.”46 Josh, like many players, uses his Idealized Self as a bench-mark for proper or desirable behavior.

Some respondents attempt to play pacifistic characters, even thoughthe game often necessitates some sort of mental or physical combat. Thesecharacters often embody the player’s sense of spiritual idealism. One ofmy Vampire characters, Geneveve, represented a Mother Healer archetype.Her paradigm involved altruism and compassion at all costs and eventu-ally, she decided to drop out of the cutthroat vampiric society completelyin order to seek spiritual transcendence. Haley describes one of her char-acters, Illeana, as “a healer pacifist half-fey. She flies everywhere and won’thurt anybody, but she uses [the spell] Calm Emotions quite often to endbattles.”47 Kirstyn details the thought process of her shaman character:“While passionate about her beliefs, she is ultimately a pacifist. [She] sub-sequently often finds herself either letting people continue down ‘darkpaths’ after her warnings or she is forced to take action—if what one isdoing will cause harm to others—and take life.”48 One of Omega’s char-acters, Nightshine, jointly established his own city with other party, aplace founded on tolerance for others regardless of race or class. Omegaexplains, “[Nightshine’s] whole philosophy is ‘Love your friends for theyare your family.’ And there’s nothing that he wouldn’t do for somebodyelse. He is a self-sacrificing fool, in some people’s opinion, and he wouldstop the world from turning if it meant to save one single life.”49 Thesecharacters reflect a deeper understanding on the part of the players of thedamage done by violence and a desire to embody a healing archetype ratherthan a destructive one.

Other players report constructing characters that embody idealizedcomponents, but have to adapt these aspects to the demands of the gameworld. Walter’s character, Elsbeth, offered an interesting blend of manip-ulation and compassion:

[Elsbeth] was manipulative, but she was, by definition, never self-serving.She always, always kept her eye on what she perceived as the greater good.So that was kind of interesting too to be playing a character who was moti-vated by basically noble things, like defending others and keeping stability

7. Character Evolution and Types of Identity Alteration 173

in the realm and helping people through their crises but could use thesereally underhanded vicious tactics at times to accomplish it.50

My character, Eustacia, manifests somewhat similarly to Elsbeth in thather primary concern is the safety of others, but she also understands themachinations of court politics and can navigate them to achieve theseends. Successful characters must find ways to manage the conflict betweentheir inner beliefs and external pressures.

The Oppositional Self

Players sometimes find enjoyment in the creation of a character incomplete opposition with their primary personality. These characters mayembody behavior patterns that the player finds abhorrent, such as thedesire to murder, betray, or otherwise destroy the lives of others. Johndescribes his assassin character, Azul: “[Azul] was responsible for a lot ofdeath in the game. I mean, he would seek out damage to do, contracts tofind. He was proactive about finding people to go kill. I’ve never playeda character like that.” In addition, he exclaims, “I’m adventurous but Idon’t like to kill people while I’m about it!”51 Erin describes her rogue char-acter, who would steal from people, as “selfish.” She states that the char-acter was “dynamically different” from herself, explaining, “I always tryand do stuff for anybody who needs help or if there’s anything that I cando for somebody else, even above and beyond what I’m capable of, I’ll tryand help them.”52

However, Oppositional Selves do not always behave in a reprehensi-ble manner. Sometimes, these characters simply reflect attributes that theplayer would never normally association with him or herself. For instance,when I created Hortense, I imbued her with behaviors and preferences indirect contrast with my own. Hortense believes strongly in censorship andadopting the paradigm of the patriarchal status quo, whereas I have alwaysrejected, or at least challenged, such values. Matthew would ask me ques-tions such as, “What’s Hortense’s favorite scent?” I thought of the scent Ifind least appealing and responded, in this case, with “baby powder.” Hort-ense adores authors such as Emily Dickinson, who I find trite; she deteststhe French, while I am a francophile. Hortense is not exceptionally evil.In fact, she cares deeply about the small number of people she allows intoher inner sanctum. I describe her more as “me in negative.”

As I explained in chapter three, sometimes exploration of an Oppo-sitional Self aids players in better understanding both themselves and peo-ple with whom they would not normally relate. As Darren states, the“characters that we play represent a facet of our personalities, or maybe

174 The Functions of Role-Playing Games

even the inverse. Somehow ... we reach out to try and understand a per-sonality type or trait that we normally try to avoid in ourselves.”53 Henryexplains, “I’ve played a few characters who were military personnel and/orvery pious religious people, but I know I will never join the military, andthough I have strong views about spirituality and the nature of the super-natural, I do not practice in any religion.”54 Chris also plays character dia-metrically oppositional from his belief system. He describes the logicbehind the creation of his were-rat character, Burrito Supreme, whichoccurred after 9/11:

There was a lot of patriotic fervor in the air ... I kinda saw for the firsttime how extreme people can get about their nationalistic tendencies. And Ithought that it would be honest ... because I wanted Burrito Supreme to bea fanatic, I wanted him to really love Ratkin. I didn’t relate to it, but ... Iguess understanding helps really. I get the reason why people are so patri-otic, are so “pro” something like that. I’m not that kind of person at allthough ... I believe it to be a sin, because I believe it’s ... a form of pride.And pride is a sin.55

In this case, playing the character allowed Chris to better understand theemotions people were experiencing in the “real world.” In this sense, thecharacter became a vehicle for exploration of other people’s mentalities.

The Experimental Self

The next category of role-playing characters arises when a playerattempts to create a character as an “experiment.” These personas mayexist as bizarre concepts, highlight interesting themes in the game, or maypresent difficult role-playing challenges. Some of my respondents detailedcharacters toward whom they seemed not to have an emotional attach-ment or affiliation, but who made the game itself more exciting or inter-esting. “Elton” describes one such character in the following passage:

I remember one character in particular that I created who was ... astrongly evangelical preacher who was convinced that [he was] Jesus. And[he was] just psychotic enough to meld the religious with the rules of thevampire. And it was one of those experiments where I was just like, “Let’ssee what happens when I make this.” And it was completely incompatiblewith the universe that this role-playing game existed in. But it was one ofthose experiments where I was just playing around with numbers and rulesand character creation [and thought], “Let’s throw this out, see if it floats.”And it was a horribly fun character. Horribly, horribly fun.56

Experimental characters often function to test the bounds of the role-playing experience. Chris describes how he used the LARP format to

7. Character Evolution and Types of Identity Alteration 175

enhance immersion into his Burrito Supreme character through costum-ing. Because Burrito Supreme was born a rat and later became human,Chris wanted to portray him as more animal than hom*o sapiens. Hedescribes,

My roommate had a rat for a pet and I played with the rat for threedays.... And I finally got the personality down.... We went to the pet shopand she got me a leash. She got a little baggie of treats and stuff for pets thatshe could give me.... And I played him as animalistic as possible. I [blew] uplittle water balloons and kept them in my pockets ... I would never standupright, I would always just kind of stand hunched over, because I was veryuncomfortable with the idea of standing upright. I would pop a balloon soit would simulate me peeing my pants, right in front of somebody. Con-stantly, [my roommate] would feed me random food, and I would put it inmy mouth and just keep chewing on it, but never swallow it, and whentalking to people and trying to speak English, I would just spit this food outof my mouth and sometimes onto them, sometimes onto myself.57

Though playful and humorous, this type of forethought raises the bar forother players in terms of role-playing. It forces them to rethink many of their assumptions about both the process of role-playing itself, but also about the nature of the often supernatural, larger-than-life beingsthey portray.

The Taboo Self

Some characters allow players to explore taboo subjects through thesafe space of the role-playing game, an environment which remains, forthe most part, consequence-free. Common taboos explored with thesepersonas include: incest, cannibalism, murder, rape, abuse, and transgen-derism. While non-gamers may view the exploration of these topics shock-ing, the Taboo Self can often be used to create a space for in-characterand out-of-character discussion about normally off-limits topics. Indeed,the Taboo Self often works to reaffirm the moral stance of the players,rather than to subvert it.

Integration

The experiences players have with characters deeply mark them, particularly if they enact one persona over a long stretch of time. Becausethe RPG creates a ritual space for players to inhabit, the moments they share within that space, both in-character and out-of-character, affect their understanding of themselves and others. MacKay claims,

176 The Functions of Role-Playing Games

After going through the process of creating a cohesive character from vari-ous fragments, players can then carry this experience over to their real life. Ihave observed this process in many of my role-player friends, many ofwhom confess to experiencing a sense of unity underlying the chaos andfragmentation of everyday reality because of the paradigms derived fromrole-playing.58

According to MacKay, for role-players, the experience of reality is morefragmented than the structured reality of the RPGs.

Many of my participants report relying on the judgment or person-ality strengths of their characters during times of “real life” struggle. Ioften “call upon” Viviane or Eustacia when I need to handle a delicate socialsituation. Omega explains that he relies on his favorite character in timesof “crisis” because “she never panics. She would react quickly, quicklyassigned a goal or a task to what she believed needed to be done, and shewould just carry it through.... She would chose the best path for thatinstant. And afterward would look back and see if there were pieces sheneeded to pick up or if she actually did the right thing.”59 Haley explainsthat her “character,” Xilliara, already existed in her mind before role-play-ing. Xilliara’s personality developed more fully in the game space of role-playing. Haley explains, “I found that she had become stronger, moreself-confident, and even more self realized. The biggest difference is thatnot only did playing Xillaira make her a more whole ego, it made mestronger and more sure of who I was. I know it sounds strange but themore I played her the better I knew myself.”60

Indeed, many players report that enacting other entities helped thembetter understand their primary sense of self. Darren explains, “All mycharacters teach me something about myself because I get to externalize apart of me and really look at how it interacts and plays with other peo-ple.”61 Desiree believes that playing pretend actually enhances people’ssense of honesty. She asserts, “[Role-playing] has allowed me to be morehonest with myself and others. Because when you’re pretending and you’reparticipating in a fantasy world, there’s more honesty than anyone everwants to admit.”62

This chapter responds to a need within gaming research to more fullydelineate the types of roles that players enact and their relationship withthose roles. Describing character-building activities, delineating the evo-lution of the character, and creating a basic typology aids in such a chal-lenge. Ultimately, though, efforts to fully describe what a role-playingcharacter “is” seems as elusive as defining the origins of imagination andcreativity. However, when players create a character, they establish an

7. Character Evolution and Types of Identity Alteration 177

internal space within their minds for that entity to inhabit and withinwhich it can grow. Interactions both in-game and out-of-character con-tribute to the evolution of these entities, as do a myriad of other activi-ties, such as drawing, writing, and reading. Long-played characters oftenexist beyond the life-span of the game, reappearing in the player’s mindin the future. Players even report that they have even utilized the skillsand personality traits developed through role-playing in “real life” situa-tions. These situations strongly suggest that the experiences explored inrole-playing games enhance the “reality” of mundane experience in sur-prising, meaningful ways.

178 The Functions of Role-Playing Games

Conclusion

Role-playing is rooted in essential aspects of human social behavior,and role-playing games in their current, systemized forms emerged as sub-cultural phenomena resulting from developments including culture-wideparadigm shifts regarding diversity; increased interest in the genres repre-sented by the games; and the technological advances of the informationage. Thus, the practice of role-playing arose from both specific culturaltrends and more essential human behaviors. This volume has briefly exam-ined these contributing threads, as well as explained the different types andcategories of role-playing games.

Role-playing has manifested in a multitude of cultural contexts, frombusiness to military training to health care and leisure. Role-playing lendsto a heightened sense of community among players, encouraging interac-tion between people who might not normally socialize with one another.The practice of adopting an alternate persona, identity alteration, estab-lishes a “theory of mind” within players. Role-played personas offer play-ers the opportunity to shift paradigms and increase various interpersonalskills, from empathy to group cooperation. RPGs reflect a form of ritualperformance in which group cohesion is established and maintainedthrough the enactment of powerful archetypes and narratives.

Role-playing games encourage higher-level mental processing abili-ties, including scenario building and problem solving. Gaming providesthe opportunity for participants to acquire personal, interpersonal, cul-tural, cognitive, and professional skills. RPGs establish an elaborate struc-ture that encourages gamers to evaluate the world in terms of a set of rules.These games offer extensive scenarios that require puzzle-solving, as well

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as tactical and social maneuvering. Far from simply offering “mindlessentertainment,” role-playing games actually encourage the developmentand expansion of mental abilities.

The process of enacting a role involves, on some level, the creationof an alternate sense of self. While some RPGs encourage character devel-opment more than others, for a game to be considered “role-playing,” Ibelieve that some sort of suspension of one’s primary identity and immer-sion into an alternate mental framework should transpire. This alterationof identity occurs while co-creating shared worlds and narratives in a struc-tured environment. These practices arise from early forms of imaginativeplay, including the creation of paracosms, Imaginary Friends, and otherforms of pretend play. As adults, people must enact a variety of differentroles in order to succeed in daily life. Contained within each of us existsa multiplicity of identities, rather than a unitary ego-identity. The con-tent of these identities often arises from cultural symbols and inherentpsychological archetypes. Thus, we socially “role-play” on a daily basis,though this behavior remains largely unconscious and reflexive.

Role-playing games draw attention to the process of role developmentand enactment and often heighten the player’s sense of self-awareness.Role-playing characters exist in a complicated relationship with the player’sprimary sense of self. The character concept is “born” and develops throughvarious character-building activities, including back story writing, cos-tuming, and co-creation with other players. In a theory arising from theresponses of my participants and from my own experiences as a role-player,I establish nine types of role-playing characters; these character types relateless to the initial archetypal inspiration and more to the player’s feeling of “sameness” or “difference” between their primary sense of ego-identityand the alternate persona. These characters often remain active mentalformulations after the conclusion of game play, offering players experi-ences and personality traits that remain useful in “real world” situations.Thus, though role-players “escape” to a fantasy world, they return to their lives with a variety of useful skills and a stronger sense of self-aware-ness.

This volume has explored three major functions of role-playing inboth “serious” and leisure contexts. Role-playing allows players to buildcommunity, problem-solve through the enactment of scenarios, and cre-ate and perform alternate identities. These aspects of the role-playing expe-rience offer exceptional benefits to role-players of all ages. Contrary tomedia representations, participation in role-playing games is not merelyan escapist or psychologically dangerous activity. Players overwhelmingly

180 The Functions of Role-Playing Games

report positive experiences and state that these games offer them manyopportunities for personal growth.

When examined together, these three psychological functions workto establish an overall theory of role-playing. This theory integratesdescription, interpretation, and analysis, providing a functional model forfurther research. Unfortunately, I could not address at length other fasci-nating aspects of role-playing, such as the relationship between gamingand gender/sexuality and the quality of immersion between in-person ver-sus virtual gaming. However, the interviews I collected for this project pro-vide ample material to explore such avenues in future work. Therefore,this volume is not intended to provide a comprehensive list of the variousissues raised by participation in RPGs. Rather, I have selected what Ibelieve to be the most important and universal aspects of role-playing,regardless of format.

This model establishes a functional theory for inclusion within thelarger spectrum of game and leisure studies. Additionally, my overall goalfor this project has been three-fold. I intend for readers familiar with RPGsto feel that gamers are fairly represented in this study, as all too often, mediatexts such as newspaper articles and documentaries ridicule and margin-alize role-players. I also intend for readers unfamiliar with role-playinggames to feel they have gained substantive insight into the fascinatingpotentialities offered by this practice. Finally, this work formulates a the-ory regarding the evolution of characters that will hopefully become use-ful not only to scholars in gaming studies, but also those interested in thenature of creativity and art. Like scholar Daniel MacKay, I strongly con-sider role-playing games a form of art, melding creative writing, gaming,and improvisational drama in a co-created Shared World. The ultimategoal of this volume, then, has been establish theoretical formulations thatwill work to validate the study and practice of role-playing as an emerg-ing art form.

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Appendix:Interview Questionnaire

• What role-playing games have you played in the past?

• In how many role-playing groups have you participated?

• Do you have any background in theater and/or improvisation? Howwould you say role-playing is similar or different?

• Describe the role-playing groups in which you’ve participated. Howwould you describe the attitudes/personalities of the GMs? Howlarge/small were these groups? How long did you participate?

• How did people interrelate in these groups?

• Did you feel that you were part of a community once getting involvedwith role-playing games?

• What were some of the memorable interactional dynamics you recallfrom these groups?

• How many major characters have you had? Minor?

• Describe each of your major characters.

• How would you define this character in terms of “type?” E.g. Warrior,Thief, etc. If you could describe this character’s concept, what wouldit be? Did you delineate a Nature/Demeanor for this character?

• For each: Does this character relate to your personality? Why or whynot?

• Do you feel this character represents a part of you?

• Why did you find this character interesting to play from the beginning?

183

• How did your character change over time?

• Did you participate in any out–of-game activities to build character,such as story-writing, backgrounding, drawing, etc.?

• What did you learn from playing this character?

• Describe some situations in which you’ve had to solve a problem in-game.

• Is this problem something you might have to deal with in the real world?

• If so, do you think gaming has helped you deal with such a problem inyour “real life?”

• If not, do you think this scenario taught you any skills that help you inthe real world?

• Can you think of any gaming situations that have helped you in reallife situations?

• Can you think of gaming situations that have taught you any specificskills?

• Tell me about your social life growing up.

• How would you have classified yourself as a teenager? Later in life?

• How would you describe most gamers? Gamers you associate with? Doyou identify with any of these characteristics?

• Do you participate in any fan behavior outside of gaming? What kind?What genre?

• What sort of relationships have you built with other gamers? Be specific?

• Do you feel gaming has had positive effects in your life? Why or whynot?

• Negative effects? Why or why not?

• Do you think gaming is a positive practice for people in general? Whyor why not?

• Negative practice? Why or why not?

• Has role-playing allowed you to explore relationships you would neverhad out of character?

• Has role-playing allowed you to explore sexual scenarios you never wouldhave out of character?

• Has role-playing allowed you to explore alternative lifestyles or genderidentifications IC?

• Has role-playing changed/enhanced/or become a detriment to your sexlife?

184 Appendix

Chapter 1

1. Gary Alan Fine, Shared Fantasy: Role-Playing Games as Social Worlds (Chicago, IL:University of Chicago Press, 1983), 195–196.

2. Joseph Campbell, The Hero with aThousand Faces (Princeton, NJ: PrincetonUniversity Press, 1973), 3.

3. Joseph L. Henderson, “Ancient Mythsand Modern Man,” in Man and His Symbols,ed. Carl G. Jung and M.-L. von Franz (Lon-don, UK: Dell Publishing, 1964), 112.

4. Arnold Van Gennep, The Rites of Pas-sage, trans. Monika Vizedom and GabrielleCaffee (Chicago, IL: University of ChicagoPress, 1960), 11.

5. Victor Turner, The Ritual Process:Structure and Anti-Structure (New York: Al-dine De Gruyter, 1995), 96.

6. Daniel MacKay, The Fantasy Role-Play-ing Game: A New Performing Art ( Jefferson,NC: McFarland, 2001), 111.

7. MacKay, 112.8. MacKay, 15.9. MacKay, 18.

10. MacKay, 15.11. MacKay, 17.12. Sandy Petersen and Lynn Willis, Call of

Cthulhu. 5.6 Ed. (Oakland, CA: Chaosium,Inc., 1999).

13. Carrol Fry, “The Goddess Ascending:Feminist Neo-Pagan Witchcraft in MarionZimmer Bradley’s Novels,” Journal of PopularCulture 27, no. 1 (Summer 1993): 67–80.

14. Mythopoeic Society, “Members,”Mythopoeic Society, http://www.mythsoc.org/members/ (accessed May 1, 2008).

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17. Stallone, 303–304.18. Stallone, 309–310.19. David Pringle, The Ultimate Encyclope-

dia of Fantasy: The Definitive Illustrated Guide(Woodstock, NY: The Overlook Press, 1999),222.

20. Pringle, 17.21. Lawrence Schick, Heroic Worlds: A His-

tory and Guide to Role-Playing Games (Buf-falo, NY: Prometheus Books, 1991), 18.

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185

Chapter Notes

on Reality, Identity and Experience in FantasyGames, ed. J. Patrick Williams, Sean Q. Hen-dricks and W. Keith Winkler ( Jefferson, NC:McFarland, 2006), 125.

28. Graeme Davis, Tom Dowd, Mark Rein-Hagen, Lisa Stevens, and Stewart Wieck, Vam-pire: The Masquerade, 2nd Ed. (Stone Moun-tain, GA: White Wolf, 1992), front page.

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to Generation Y: Inside the New Adult Genera-tion (Sydney, Australia: Allen & Unwin,2006), 17.

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34. I use Vampire: The Masquerade as anexample, as the Vampire system is relativelysimple to understand compared to mathemat-ics-heavy games such as Dungeons & Dragons,3.5 Edition. Part of the project of White Wolf ’sWorld of Darkness involved an attempt tostrip down the complexity of its game systemin order to access a wider variety of playersand focus on Storytelling over mechanics.

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Chapter 21. Adam Blatner and Allee Blatner, “The

Art of Play,” in Interactive and ImprovisationalDrama: Varieties of Applied Theatre and Perfor-mance, ed. Adam Blatner with Daniel J.Wiener (Lincoln, NE: iUniverse, 2007), 272.

2. Blatner and Blatner, 272.3. Blatner and Blatner, 275–276.4. Lawrence Schick, “The History of

Role-Playing Games,” Heroic Worlds: A His-tory and Guide to Role-Playing Games (Buf-falo, NY: Prometheus Books, 1991), 17.

5. David L. Young, “Theatresports andCompetitive Dramatic Improvisation,” Inter-active and Improvisational Drama: Varieties ofApplied Theatre and Performance, ed. AdamBlatner with Daniel J. Wiener (Lincoln, NE:iUniverse, 2007), 284.

6. Young, 284.7. Brian David Phillips, “Interactive

Drama as Theatre Form,” in Journal of Inter-active Drama: A Multi-Discipline Peer-Re-viewed Journal of Scenario-Based Theatre-StyleInteractive Drama 1, no. 2 (October 2006), 53.

8. Phillips, 53.9. Young, 284.

10. Martha Fletcher Bellinger [1927], “TheCommedia Dell’Arte,” TheatreHistory.com,http://www.theatrehistory.com/italian/commedia_dell_arte_001.html (accessed May 1,2007).

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ography,” Intuitive Learning Systems, http://www.spolin.com/violabio.html (accessed May1, 2007).

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Contributions,” in Interactiveimprov.com,http://interactiveimprov.com/morenowb.html(accessed Nov. 4, 2007).

19. Adam Blatner, “Psychodrama, Socio-drama, Role Playing, and Action Methods,” inInteractive and Improvisational Drama: Vari-eties of Applied Theatre and Performance, ed.Adam Blatner with Daniel J. Wiener (Lin-coln, NE: iUniverse, Inc., 2007), 153.

20. Blatner, “Considering Moreno’s Con-tributions.”

21. Blatner, “Considering Moreno’s Con-tributions.”

22. Blatner, “Psychodrama, Sociodrama,Role Playing, and Action Methods,” 154.

23. Daniel J. Weiner, “Rehearsals for

186 Notes—Chapter 2

Growth,” in Interactive and ImprovisationalDrama: Varieties of Applied Theatre and Perfor-mance, ed. Adam Blatner with Daniel J.Wiener (Lincoln, NE: iUniverse, 2007), 167.

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25. Bailey, 166–167.26. Bailey, 167.27. Bailey, 167–168.28. Bailey, 168.29. Bailey, 169.30. Wiener, 175.31. Weiner, 174.32. Weiner, 175.33. Weiner, 175–176.34. Hannah Fox, “Playback Theatre,” in

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35. Fox, 4.36. Fox, 5.37. Fox, 5.38. Fox, 5.39. Mecca Burns, Doug Patterson, and

John Sullivan, “Theatre of the Oppressed,” inInteractive and Improvisational Drama: Vari-eties of Applied Theatre and Performance, ed.Adam Blatner with Daniel J. Wiener (Lin-coln, NE: iUniverse, Inc., 2007), 218.

40. Burns, Patterson, and Sullivan, 219.41. Burns, Patterson, and Sullivan, 222.42. Ronald Miller and Armand Volkas,

“Healing the Wounds of History,”in Interac-tive and Improvisational Drama: Varieties ofApplied Theatre and Performance, ed. AdamBlatner with Daniel J. Wiener (Lincoln, NE:iUniverse, Inc., 2007), 34.

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35–36.45. Ronald Miller and Armand Volkas,

36–37.46. Ronald Miller and Armand Volkas,

39–40.47. Ronald Miller and Armand Volkas, 36.48. Ronald Miller and Armand Volkas, 40.49. Ronald Miller and Armand Volkas, 42.50. Rosilyn Wilder, “LifeDrama with El-

ders,” in Interactive and ImprovisationalDrama: Varieties of Applied Theatre and Perfor-mance, ed. Adam Blatner with Daniel J.Wiener (Lincoln, NE: iUniverse, 2007), 23.

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53. Baim, 207–208.54. Baim, 212–213.55. Adam Blatner, “Creative Drama and

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74. Arnold van Gennep, The Rites of Pas-

Notes—Chapter 2 187

sage, trans. Monika B. Vizedom and GabrielleL. Caffee (Chicago, IL: University of ChicagoPress, 1969), 15.

75. van Gennep, 21.76. Victor Turner, The Ritual Process:

Structure and Anti-Structure (Chicago, IL: Al-dine Publushing Co., 1969), 14.

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Immersion, Identity: The Interplay of Multi-ple Selves During Live-Action Role-Play,”Journal of Interactive Drama: A Multi-Disci-pline Peer-Reviewed Journal of Scenario-BasedTheatre-Style Interactive Drama 1, no. 2 (Oc-tober 2006), 11.

79. Harviainen, 15.80. Christopher I. Lehrich, “Ritual Dis-

course in Role-playing Games,” The Forge,October 1, 2005, http://www.indie-rpgs.com/_articles/ritual_discourse_in_RPGs.html (ac-cessed Nov. 3, 2007).

81. Lehrich.82. Turner, 96–97, my emphasis.83. Senior players may, in some cases, be

given access to higher level characters if gainedthrough gaming experience. Unfortunately,some level of nepotism can exist within gam-ing frameworks, as friends or family of thegame organizers may be offered bonuses or ad-vantages over the rest of the population. Suchexceptions can work to undermine the ritualprocess, but are possible within any socialframework and should not be singled out asexclusive to role-playing groups.

84. Adam Blatner, “Designing and Con-ducting Rituals, Ceremonies, and Celebra-tions,” Interactive and Improvisational Drama:Varieties of Applied Theatre and Performance,ed. Adam Blatner with Daniel J. Wiener (Lin-coln, NE: iUniverse, Inc., 2007), 46.

85. Large RPGs may require more than oneGM, as the workload can be exorbitant. Theseindividuals must be able to resolve conflicteasily and sometimes rank each other basedon duties or seniority in order to avoid futurecontests for authority.

86. The Tank designates the strongest ormost powerful individual who will go first inbattle, serving as a shield for weaker charac-ters.

87. Lehrich.88. Stallone, 311.89. Lehrich.

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188 Notes—Chapter 3

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Notes—Chapter 4 189

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13. Boreum Choi et al. “Collaborate andShare: An Experimental Study of the Effectsof Task and Reward Interdependencies in On-line Games,” CyberPsycholog y and Behavior 10,no. 4 (2007): 591 –595.

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livers Tools for a Real Life,” The Australian(October 20, 2007): 30.

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39. Joyner and Young, 229.40. Rob Foels and Thomas J. Tomcho,

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53. Choi et al., 592.54. Stover, 211.55. Elizabeth Quill, “Course Uses an On-

line Game to Teach Leadership,” Chronicle ofHigher Education 54, no. 2 (September 7,2007).

190 Notes—Chapter 4

56. Janice Podsada, “A Path to Employ-ment: Firm’s Software Program Helps PeopleWith Cognitive Problems Gain Job Skills,”The Hartford Courant (April 25, 2007).

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stand Resource Scarcity,” Curriculum Review,45 no. 6 (February 2006).

94. Joyner and Young, 229.95. Aline Mendelsohn, “Real Men Play

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96. Staff writers, “U.S. Army RecruitersCreate Military-Life Video Games,” TorontoStar (May 25, 2002).

97. Janese Heavin, “Mock GunmanTeaches Police : Skills at School,” ColumbiaDaily Tribune ( July 26, 2007).

98. Rick Rothacker, “Session Ponders ID-Theft Scenario,”Charlotte Observer (March 31,2006).

99. Mark Davis, “Game Gives Teens NewView of Family Finances: Role-playing Exer-cise Gives New View of What Really GoesOn,” Kansas City Star (Oct 29, 2006).

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115. Mendelsohn.116. Chen and Michael, 83.117. Stover, 210.118. Chen and Michael, 86.119. Chen and Michael, 85.120. Chen and Michael, 86.121. Chen and Michael, 89.122. Chen and Michael, 88.123. Chen and Michael, 87.124. Chen and Michael, 87.125. Chen and Michael, 93.126. Chen and Michael, 112.127. Chen and Michael, 117.

Notes—Chapter 4 191

128. Chen and Michael, 112.129. Chen and Michael, 117.130. Chen and Michael, 118.131. Chen and Michael, 120.132. MacKenty, 47–48.133. Ray Braswell and Marcus D. Chil-

dress, “Using Massively Multiplayer OnlineRole-Playing Games for Online Learning,”Distance Education 27, no. 2 (August 2006):188.

134. Chen and Michael, 146.135. Chen and Michael, 148.136. Chen and Michael, 149.137. Chen and Michael, 191.138. Chen and Michael, 193.139. Chen and Michael, 180.140. Chen and Michael, 181 –182.141. Chen and Michael, 183.142. Chen and Michael, 193.143. Chen and Michael, 181.144. Chen and Michael, 193.145. Chen and Michael, 195.146. Chen and Michael, 184.147. Chen and Michael, 184.148. Owens and Steen, 289.

Chapter 51. “Elton,” interview by author, Ft.

Worth, TX, January 28, 2008.2. Gary Alan Fine, Shared Fantasy: Role-

Playing Games as Social Worlds (Chicago, IL:University of Chicago Press, 1983), 57.

3. Fine, 73. Fine uses the masculine pro-noun throughout his study because, by 1983,the fantasy gamers were almost exclusivelymale. While males still make up the majorityof role-players, a far larger number of femalesparticipate in contemporary RPGs.

4. Chris, interview by author, Austin,TX, December 7, 2007.

5. Alex, interview by author, e-mailmessage, December 5, 2007.

6. Haley, interview by author, Austin,TX, December 9, 2007.

7. Chris, interview.8. John, interview by author, Austin,

TX, December 7, 2007.9. Ron Edwards, “Chapter Four: The

Basics of Role-Playing Design,” GNS andOther Matters of Role-playing Theory, TheForge, http://www.indie-rpgs.com/articles/8/(last accessed 2/19/2008).

10. John, interview.11. Walter, interview by author, Austin,

TX, January 13, 2008.12. Matthew, interview by author, e-mail

message, January 7, 2008.

13. Graeme Davis, Tom Dowd, MarkRein-Hagen, Lisa Stevens, and Stewart Wieck,Vampire: The Masquerade, 2nd Ed. (StoneMountain, GA: White Wolf. 1992), 104.

14. Davis et al., 23.15. Josh S., interview by author, Austin,

TX, December 9, 2007.16. Heather L. Mello, “Invoking the

Avatar,” in Gaming as Culture: Essays on Real-ity, Identity and Experience in Fantasy Games,ed. Sean Q. Hendricks, J. Patrick Williams,and W. Keith Winkler ( Jefferson, NC: McFar-land, 2006), 189.

17. Walter, interview.18. Desiree, interview by author, Ft.

Worth, TX, January 26, 2008.19. Darren, interview by author, e-mail

message, December 22, 2007.20. “Elton,” interview.21. Erin, interview by author, Dallas, TX,

January 10, 2008.22. Chris, interview.23. Kevin, interview by author, Dallas,

TX, January 8, 2008.24. Fine, 42.25. Fine, 78.26. Fine, 79.27. Josh T., interview by author, Dallas,

TX, January 8, 2008.28. John, interview.29. Kevin, interview.30. John, interview.31. Monte Cook, Jonathan Tweet, and

Skip Williams, Dungeons & Dragons Player’sHandbook: Core Rulebook I (Renton, WA:Wizards of the Coast, 2000), 89–90.

32. Guillermo, interview by author,Austin, TX, December 7, 2007.

33. Walter, interview.34. Guillermo, interview.35. Davis et al., 222.36. Maxine Schnall and Maxine Steinberg,

The Stranger in the Mirror: Dissociation, theHidden Epidemic, (New York : Cliff StreetBooks, HarperCollins, 2000), 11.

37. Schnall and Steinberg, 31.38. Schnall and Steinberg, 32.39. Bill Bridges, Robert Hatch, and Mark

Rein-Hagen, Werewolf: The Apocalypse,(Clarkston, GA: White Wolf Game Studio,2000), 55.

40. Davis et al., 55.41. John, interview.42. Desiree, interview.43. Josh S., interview.44. Guillermo, interview.45. Erin, interview.46. Omega, interview by author, Austin,

TX, January, 27, 2008.

192 Notes—Chapter 5

47. “Elton,” interview.48. “Elton,” interview.49. Chris, interview.50. Davis et al., 38.51. Chris, interview.52. Davis et al., 32–35.53. Richard E. Dansky, Laws of the Night

(Stone Mountain, WA: White Wolf, 1997),124.

54. Walter, interview.55. Walter, interview.56. Darren, interview.57. “Elton,” interview.58. Davis et al., 187–188.59. “Elton,” interview.60. Henry, interview.61. Henry, interview.62. Mello, 191.63. Mello, 192.64. Chris, interview.65. Omega, interview.66. Desiree, interview.67. Omega, interview.68. Desiree, interview.69. Chris, interview.70. John, interview.

Chapter 61. Sook-Yi Kim, “The Effects of Story-

telling and Pretend Play on CognitiveProcesses, Short-Term and Long-Term Narra-tive Recall,” Child Study Journal 29, no. 3(1999): 175–192.

2. Kim.3. Kim.4. Sigmund Freud, Freud: Dictionary of

Psychoanalysis, ed. Nandor Fodor and FrankGaynor (New York: Barnes and Noble Books,2004), 143.

5. Freud, 153.6. David Cohen and Stephen A. MacK-

eith, The Development of Imagination: The Pri-vate Worlds of Childhood, (London, UK: Rout-ledge, 1991), 14.

7. Cohen and MacKeith, 77.8. Cohen and MacKeith, 14.9. Cohen and MacKeith, 22.

10. Gary Alan Fine, Shared Fantasy: Role-Playing Games as Social Worlds (Chicago, IL:University of Chicago Press, 1983), 130.

11. Fine, 131 –132.12. Alain de Mijolla, ed., “Family Ro-

mance,” International Dictionary of Psycho-analysis, Enotes.com, http://soc.enotes.com/psychoanalysis-encyclopedia/family-romance(accessed January 9, 2007).

13. Mijolla.

14. Stephanie M. Carlson et al., “TheCharacteristics and Correlates of Fantasy inSchool-Age Children: Imaginary Compan-ions, Impersonation, and Social Understand-ing,” Developmental Psycholog y 40, no. 6(2004), 1173.

15. Carlson et al., 1178.16. Carlson et al., 1174.17. Carlson et al., 1175.18. Erik H. Erikson, Identity: Youth and

Crisis (New York: W. W. Norton and Com-pany, Inc., 1968), 87.

19. Erikson, 87.20. Erikson, 87.21. Erikson, 94.22. Peter R. Wright, “Drama Education

and Development of Self : Myth or Reality?”Social Psycholog y of Education 9 (2006): 47.

23. Wright, 47.24. Wright, 48.25. Erving Goffman, The Presentation of

Self in Everyday Life (New York : AnchorBooks, 1959), 23–24.

26. Turkle, Sherry, “Identity Crisis,” inCyberReader, ed. Victor J. Vitanza. Upper Sad-dle River, NJ: Pearson Longman, 2005), 57–58.

27. Turkle, 63.28. Marlene Steinberg and Maxine

Schnall, The Stranger in the Mirror, Dissocia-tion: The Hidden Epidemic (New York :HarperCollins, 2000).

29. Erikson, 21.30. Erikson, 21.31. Erikson, 134.32. Daniel MacKay, The Fantasy Role-Play-

ing Game: A New Performance Art ( Jefferson,NC: McFarland, 2001), 157.

33. Turkle, 60–61.34. Robert Assagioli, “Some Suggested

Lines of Research,” Psychosynthesis: Individualand Social (New York: Viking, 1965), 1.

35. Carl G. Jung, Man and His Symbols,ed. by Carl G. Jung and M.-L. von Franz(London, UK: Dell Publishing, 1964), 58.

36. Vladimir Propp, Morpholog y of theFolktale (Austin, TX: University of TexasPress, 1998), 26–35.

37. Propp, 79–80.38. Joseph Campbell, The Hero With a

Thousand Faces (Princeton, NJ: PrincetonUniversity Press, 1973), 19–20.

39. M. J. Young, “First Edition AdvancedDungeons & Dragons Charac-ter Creation,”http://www.mjyoung.net/dungeon/char/step002.html (accessed January 26, 2008).

40. Young.41. Young.42. Gary Gygax, Official Advanced Dun-

Notes—Chapter 6 193

geons & Dragons Players Handbook (LakeGeneva, WI: TSR, Inc., 1978), 20–21.

43. Gygax, 21.44. J. R. R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings

(Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1994).45. Young.46. Young.47. David Day, The World of Tolkien:

Mythological Sources of The Lord of the Rings(New York: Gramercy Books, 2003), 120.

48. Day, 120.49. Day, 120.50. Young.51. Louis Hyde, Trickster Makes This World

(New York: North Point Press, Farrar, Strausand Giroux, 1999).

52. Hyde, 6.53. Hyde, 7.54. Young.55. Young.56. Day, 110.57. “Gnome (Dungeons & Dragons),”

Wikipedia.com, http://en .wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnome_(Dungeons_&_Dragons) (ac-cessed January 26, 2008).

58. “Gnome,” Wikipedia.com, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnome (accessed January26, 2008).

59. Aardy R. DeVarque, “Literary Sourcesof D&D,” Geocities.com, http://www.geoci-ties .com/rgfdfaq/sources.htm (accessed Janu-ary 26, 2008).

60. “Gnome.”61. DeVarque.62. Young.63. Young.64. “Elf (Dungeons & Dragons),” Wiki

pedia.com, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elf_(Dungeons_&_Dragons) (accessed January26, 2008).

65. Young.66. Day, 44.67. Graeme Davis, Tom Dowd, Mark Rein-

Hagen, Lisa Stevens, and Stewart Wieck, Vam-pire: The Masquerade, 2nd Ed. (Stone Moun-tain, GA: White Wolf, 1992), 132–139.

68. Davis et al., 88.

Chapter 71. Gary Alan Fine, Shared Fantasy: Role-

Playing Games as Social Worlds (Chicago, IL:University of Chicago Press, 1983), 215.

2. Fine, 216.3. “Elton,” interview by author, Ft.

Worth, TX, January 28, 2008.4. Josh S., interview by author, Austin,

TX, December 9, 2007.

5. Thomas Hardy, The Return of the Na-tive, ed. John William Cunliffe (New York: C.Scribner Sons, 1917).

6. “Italian Surnames: Etymology andOrigin, Surnames Starting with B,” ItalyWorld Club, http://www.italyworldclub.com/genealogy/surnames/b.htm (accessed June 1,2008).

7. Baldassare Castiglione, The Book of theCourtier, trans. Sir Thomas Hoby (London,UK: David Nutt, 1900).

8. Chris, interview by author, Austin,TX, December 7, 2007.

9. Matthew, interview by author, e-mailmessage, January 7, 2008.

10. Omega, interview by author, Austin,TX, January, 27, 2008.

11. Omega, interview.12. “Elton,” interview.13. Daniel MacKay, The Fantasy Role-Play-

ing Game: A New Performance Art ( Jefferson,NC: McFarland, 2001), 86.

14. MacKay, 122.15. Michelle Nephew, “Playing with iden-

tity: Unconscious Desire and Role-PlayingGames,” Gaming as Culture: Essays on Reality,Identity and Experience in Fantasy Games, ed.Sean Q. Hendricks, J. Patrick Williams, andW. Keith Winkler ( Jefferson, NC: McFarland,2006), 122.

16. Fine, 207.17. Fine, 211.18. Kirstyn, interview by author, e-mail

message, February 1, 2008.19. Kirstyn, interview.20. Matthew, interview.21. Carley, interview by author, e-mail

message, February 10, 2008.22. Alex, interview by author, e-mail mes-

sage, December 5, 2007.23. John, interview by author, Austin, TX,

December 7, 2007.24. Guillermo, interview.25. Darren, interview by author, e-mail

message, December 22, 2007.26. John, interview.27. Fine, 208.28. Guillermo, interview by author,

Austin, TX, December 7, 2007.29. Desiree, interview by author, Ft.

Worth, TX, January 26, 2008.30. Kirstyn, interview.31. Kirstyn, interview.32. Walter, interview by author, Austin,

TX, January 13, 2008.33. Alex, interview.34. Alex, interview.35. “Elton,” interview.36. Alain de Mijolla, ed., “Regression,” In-

194 Notes—Chapter 7

ternational Dictionary of Psychoanalysis,Enotes.com, http://www.enotes.com/psychoanalysis-encyclopedia /regression (accessedJune 1, 2008).

37. Guillermo, interview.38. Kirstyn, interview.39. Henry, interview by author, e-mail

message, December 22, 2007.40. John, interview.41. Desiree, interview.42. Fine, 61.43. Haley, interview.44. Matthew, interview.45. Carley, interview.46. Josh S., interview.47. Haley, interview.

48. Kirstyn, interview.49. Omega, interview.50. Walter, interview.51. John, interview.52. Erin, interview.53. Darren, interview.54. Henry, interview.55. Chris, interview.56. Elton, interview.57. Chris, interview.58. MacKay, 68.59. Omega, interview.60. Henry, interview.61. Darren, interview.62. Desiree, interview.

Notes—Chapter 7 195

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Abt, Clark 99ActingOut 42active learning 82, 86, 91, 98–99adolescence 21, 34, 47, 67–68, 127, 136–

136, 144adventuring 8, 20, 30, 118, 150, 174Age of Empires 99Age of Mytholog y 99Airport Tycoon 99Airsoft 97alchemy 151alignment (in Dungeons & Dragons) 112, 118,

123, 147–149alternate reality 18, 55American Civil War: Gettysburg 99America’s Army 95–96Amtgard 28, 45, 97, 102Anderson, Poul 151Angel Five 97anthropomorphism (also known as Furries)

168, 170, 176archetypes 3, 4, 12, 13, 23, 26, 38, 42, 55,

61, 75–77, 126, 142–154, 156–158, 164,166, 168, 179–180; see also Dungeons &Dragons

Aristotle 73–74; see also tragedyArneson, Dave 16, 18, 19; see also Dungeons

& DragonsThe Art of Play 33Arthurian tradition 147Assagioli, Robert 142–143Auden, W.H. 130Auspices (in Werewolf) 76avatars 31, 32, 158

baby boomers 21back story/background 4, 20, 24, 26, 51,

115, 131, 156, 158–163, 180

Barker, M.A.R. 111, 130; see also Empire ofthe Petal Throne

The Beast (in Vampire) 122–123; see alsohumanity

Blackmoor 18, 19Blatner, Adam 33, 37, 43, 51; see also The

Art of Play; Blatner, AleeBlatner, Alee 33Blizzard Entertainment 24Boal, Augusto 40board games 18, 24The Book of the Courtier 161Borel, Jacques 130Bradley, Marion Zimmer 17Brontë sisters 130Brothers Grimm 151bulletin boards/forums 32, 121, 161

Call of Cthulhu 17, 146; see also Lovecraft,H.P.

campaign 18, 74, 107; see also chronicleCampbell, Joseph 14, 77, 145–146Castiglione, Baldassare 161catharsis 74, 87Celtic traditions 147Chainmail 19Champions 73, 109character development: birth/genesis/cre-

ation of 4, 25, 27, 28, 31, 106, 115,155–163, 168, 175, 180; character sheet 26,115, 156, 158–159; development/interac-tion/realization/evolution of 4, 20, 23,26, 57, 113, 115, 119, 137, 155–157,163–178, 180; relationship to players 4,28, 57–58, 63–65, 157–180

characters (typology) 4, 5, 58, 155, 157–178, 180; augmented self 5, 155,166–167; devoid self 5, 155, 166; doppel-

203

Index

ganger self 5, 155, 164–168; experimentalself 5, 155, 175–176; fragmented self 5,155, 167–170; idealized self 5, 155, 172–174; oppositional self 5, 63, 155, 174–175;repressed self 5, 57, 118, 127, 155,170–172; taboo self 5, 123, 155, 176

chase play 92–93chat rooms 100chess 18, 95, 121childhood 67–68, 89, 102, 105, 127–136,

140–142, 145, 153; see also chase play;imaginary friends; impersonation; innerchild; isolation; paracosms; pretend play

chronicle 27, 108, 119; see also campaignCity Dionysia 74Civilization series 84, 92, 99classes (Dungeons &Dragons) 16, 116,

146–150; archer 116; assassin 149, 174;barbarian 147; bard 149; berserker 147;cavalier 147; cleric 116, 144, 147, 158;druid 147; illusionist 148; paladin 147;psionicist 148; ranger 132, 147; rogue 144,168, 170, 174; thief 149; warlock 118; war-rior 116, 144, 146, 147, 158, 172; wizard116, 134, 144, 148

co-creation/interactive creativity 4, 8, 12,13, 15, 19, 31, 39, 55, 57, 59, 73, 78, 131,134, 158, 162, 180

collectible card games 11collective unconscious 22, 143–144, 154combat 46, 64, 95–97, 108, 110–114, 122,

160, 173Commedia dell’arte 35Communitas 15, 16, 50, 52Compass Theatre 36competition 34, 71, 99, 116–119Conan the Barbarian 147conflict between players/characters 61–62,

70–72, 116–123; see also player-versus-player (PvP)

conflict resolution 12, 19, 104–105, 107; seealso fortune

consciousness 14, 15, 58–59, 66consistency 19, 52conventions (cons) 29, 53, 77, 142cooperation 34, 42, 47, 52, 60–61, 63–64,

71–72, 116–123cops and robbers 106, 129The Coriolis Effect 74cosplay 29costuming 4, 24, 27, 29, 31, 35, 44, 46, 49,

53, 64, 75, 137, 156, 158–159, 161, 176, 180Coupland, Douglas 21cowboys and indians 129creativity 5, 21, 36, 37, 39, 43, 44, 60,

78, 85, 90–91, 94, 105, 107, 121, 126–134, 140–142, 151, 155, 156, 157, 160, 177,181

Credit Counts 94cultural forms of art 7, 8, 13, 14, 141–142, 151,

181; architecture 140; comic books 17, 70;dance 47, 149; film 7, 8, 13, 23, 70–72, 92,98, 100; music 7, 47, 70, 73, 90, 149; nov-els/writing 7, 8, 13, 47, 69–72, 90, 92, 98,106, 109, 141, 158, 178; oral histories 47,149; poetry 13, 46–47, 74; television 23,70, 92, 98; theatre/drama 7, 8, 13, 23, 28,33, 46, 47, 49, 51, 68, 92, 94, 119, 136;video games 3, 7, 11, 18, 29–32, 70, 72,90, 93–95, 98, 101–102; visual art 7, 47,72, 90, 140, 151, 158–159, 178

Cyberpunk 17

Dactyl Nightmare 96Dance Dance Revolution 99, 102Dangerous Contact 97Day, David 148de Camp, L. Sprague 16–17demon 171de Troyes, Chrétien 17diablerie (in Vampire) 120–123diegesis 49dissociation 58, 114, 133, 139–142; amnesia

114; depersonalization 114; derealization139; identity confusion 134–135

Distributed Earth Model and Orbiter Simula-tion 98

downtime 115dragons 14, 15, 21, 62, 72, 129–130, 150,

171; see also Shadowdungeon crawling 111dungeonmaster 12, 21, 25; see also gamemas-

ter; referee; storytellerdungeons 15, 19, 20, 111–113; see also dun-

geon crawling; labyrinthsDungeons & Dragons 3, 11, 16, 18, 19, 21, 24,

25, 30, 55–56, 62, 65–66, 73, 80, 103–104, 106, 108, 111–113, 116, 124, 146–154,164, 166, 170; see also classes; races

Durkheim, Emile 48dwarves 19, 32, 62

edutainment 99Eliade, Mircea 77elves 32, 62, 134empathy 3, 5, 8, 41, 43, 47, 59–69, 86, 89,

166, 179: three forms 59Empire of the Petal Throne 111, 130–131engrossment 131; see also immersionEnts 148epics 13, 15, 74Erikson, Erik 134–135, 141; see also psy-

chosocial developmentescapism 5, 7, 9, 37, 52, 67–68, 102, 106,

180–181Eslea, Mike 58ethics/morality 85–86, 93–94, 112, 116–117,

125, 144, 148–153ethnography 2, 3, 4, 54–79, 103–126,

154–178

204 Index

eucatastrophe 56, 61Everquest 23, 31experience points 75, 115

Fable 30fairy tales/folk tales 13, 17, 131family romance 131–132fan behavior 69–70, 142fantasy (psychological) 7, 8, 9, 47, 55–57,

79, 128, 131–132Final Fantasy series 30Fine, Gary Alan 12, 59–61, 70, 130–131,

159, 165, 171first-person shooters 102first responders 97–98fortune 25, 107, 111, 114; see also conflict res-

olutionFox, Jonathan 40Freud, Sigmund 123, 128–129, 131–132,

141–142frontiers 12, 19, 20fronts 136–138, 153Fry, Carol 17Full Spectrum Warrior 102fun 82–84, 93, 102

game developers 25, 77, 150game system 11, 19, 20, 25, 26, 28, 31, 75,

105–108, 123, 159: class-and-level 20; dicepools 25, 27, 107, 159; min-maxing 107–108; point system 25, 26, 107; ranks 26;rock-paper-scissors 29, 107; skill-based20, 107; statistics (stats) 26; see also rules

game theory 18gamemaster (gm) 8, 12, 25, 51, 124; see also

dungeonmaster; referee; storytellergaming studies 181geeks 51, 53, 60, 67, 80, 109–110; dorks 67,

80; goths 60, 69; misfits 110; nerds, 53,60, 67, 69, 80, 109–110; outcasts 67–68,110; rejects 68

Geese Theatre UK 42, 59gender 62–66, 176, 181Generation X 1, 3, 12, 20Generation Y 12, 23genius 141–142genre 1, 16, 55–57, 69–70, 146, 179; action-

adventure 146; anime 29; cyberpunk 17;fantasy 1, 3, 11, 12, 16, 17, 19, 20, 21, 30,36, 52, 55–57, 61, 70, 106, 125, 131–132,146, 150; gothic-punk 21, 22, 29, 56; hor-ror 1, 11, 17, 21, 22, 47, 56, 146; romance146; science fiction 1, 3, 11, 17, 19, 20, 21,30, 52, 56, 70, 146

Gibson, William 17Glucoboy 101gnomes 62, 166goblins 19Goffman, Erving 12, 37, 47, 136–138, 142Grand Strateg y 99

Gygax, E. Gary 16, 19, 20, 23, 24, 147–148;see also Dungeons & Dragons

hack-and-slash 30–32; see also levelingHalloween 35Hardy, Thomas 161Harviainen, J. Tuomas 49Healing the Wounds of History 41–42, 59hemispheres, left and right 43Henderson, Joseph 14heroes 14–15, 20, 24, 56, 63, 75, 129, 131–

132, 145–146, 148, 171hero’s journey 14–16, 22, 30, 75, 145–146,

150; see also monomythhigh fantasy society (HFS) 28, 45hippie culture 17hobbies 78, 83The Hobbit 55, 130, 148–151; see also

Tolkien, J.R.R.hobbits 19, 150Howard, Robert E. 17Humanity (in Vampire) 122Hyde, Louis 149hygiene 71

identity 12, 20, 33, 39, 47, 49, 57, 72, 89,125–178; alteration of 4, 8, 13, 18, 29, 72,85–87, 114, 125–181; dissociative identitydisorder (DID) (also known as multiplepersonality disorder) 4, 133–134, 139–142;domains of the self (actual, ideal, andought) 135–136, 138–139, 144; id, ego,superego in Freudian terminology 123,128–129; integration/integrator 140,142–143, 176–178; multiplicity 4, 12, 127,136–143, 153, 180; persona 5, 27, 28, 59,63, 66, 86, 115, 126, 134, 139, 156–178,180; see also dissociation

imaginary friends 4, 128, 132–134, 140–142,153, 180

imagination 34, 43, 128–130, 158, 177immersion 12, 23, 29, 32, 49–50, 60,

64–65, 68, 74, 90, 94, 96, 100–101, 105,116–117, 126, 131, 139, 140, 142, 158, 161,164–166, 176, 180; see also engrossment

immortality 121, 167immortals (in MUDs) 31impersonation 132–133, 140, 153Improv Olympics 36In-character (IC) 27, 32, 50, 63, 65, 71, 75,

78, 113, 115, 117, 155–178Incident Commander 97inner child 170–172intellect 109–110interactive drama 33, 34–46, 142Invisible Theatre 40isolation (childhood) 3, 66–68, 70

James, William 141Johnstone, Keith 36

Index 205

Jung, Carl 14, 76–77, 143–144

Kriegspiel 18

labyrinths 19Lancelot du Lac 147lasertag 97leadership 8, 52, 75, 87, 124, 138Lehrich, Christopher 50, 52–54Leiber, Fritz 17Leslie, Alan 92leveling 30; see also hack-and-slashLévi-Strauss, Claude 145LifeDrama 42liminality 15, 48–54, 74–75, 86LinguaMOO 99Loose Moose Theatre Company 36The Lord of the Rings 3, 16, 55–56, 116, 132,

147–148, 150, 151–153; see also J.R.R.Tolkien

Lovecraft, H.P. 17

Machiavelli, Niccolò 122; see also The PrinceMacKay, Daniel 15, 16, 17, 70, 142, 163,

176–177, 181Mage: The Ascension 66, 171; see also White

Wolf Studiosmagic 17, 18, 19, 30, 45, 131–132, 145,

147–148, 151, 167Malory, Sir Thomas 17Mario Teaches Typing 99Marsh, Tim 59Marvel Super Heroes 146mask lifting 42The Masquerade (in Vampire) 120–121; see

also Vampire: The Masquerademasquerade balls 35massively multi-player online (MMO) 31massively multi-player online RPG

(MMORPG) 24, 31, 99, 111, 119master of ceremonies (MC) 51The Master of the Masque 35mathematics 108–109, 113, 124mechanics 25, 29, 70, 75, 106, 110, 113,

115–116, 123, 131, 167medieval/Renaissance society 12, 17, 18, 28,

45–46, 53, 70Meritt, A. 17meta-gaming 115metaphor 38meta-plot 25, 51, 109, 115, 123, 131Microworlds 91–92Mind’s Eye Theatre 28miniatures 18, 19, 24, 96, 159mobile objects (Mobs) 31modules 25, 74, 111, 131monomyth 14, 145–146, 151; see also hero’s

journeymonsters 63, 65, 111, 146, 148Moreno, J.L. 37–38, 61

The Morpholog y of the Folktale 145mud object oriented (MOOs) 31, 99multi-user dungeons (MUDs) 30multi-user shared hallucination (MUSH) 31Multiverser 146mythology 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 23, 73, 75–77,

131–132, 145–154Mythopoeic Society 17

narcissism 34, 58, 87narrative 12, 13, 14, 16, 19, 30, 35, 47, 49,

92, 141, 144, 179Nature and Demeanor (in World of

Darkness) 153neo-paganism 12, 17, 45Neumann, Erich 14, 23, 145non-player characters (NPCs) 25, 31, 61,

65, 73–74, 111, 162non-zero-sum game 34, 120; see also coop-

erationNorse mythology 152–153nostalgia 72

Oh Deer! 93O’Neill, Cecily 43orcs 19The Oregon Trail 99Out-of-character (OOC) 27, 29, 32, 50,

65, 70–71, 73, 75, 78–79, 113–115, 155–178

“out of the box” thinking 5, 9, 56–58, 66,105, 123–124

pacifism 173Packie & Marlon 101paintball 94, 97Paracelsus 151paracosms 4, 129–131, 140, 153, 180paradigms 1, 3, 17, 44, 59, 62–66, 89, 117–

118, 128, 174, 177, 179party 116–119, 159; coterie 116passive learning 82, 98pen-and-paper gaming 11, 23Pendragon 17persona 5, 27, 28, 59, 63, 66, 86, 115, 126,

134, 139, 156–178, 180Piaget, Jean 58, 92play-by-post 32Playback Theatre 40player characters (PCs) 25, 73–74, 155–178player-killing 119player-versus-environment (PvE) 120player-versus-player (PvP) 119playing house 129pleasure principle 58, 128–129Pokemon 170politics 54, 63, 69, 97, 111, 119–126, 174power 53, 59, 61, 63, 73, 119–123, 129Pratt, Fletcher 17Prensky, Mark 44

206 Index

pretend play 1, 4, 26, 34, 47, 92–93, 104–107, 127–129, 153, 177, 180

The Prince 122Princedom (in Vampire) 120–123, 138, 171problem solving skills 4, 8, 63, 79–126, 171;

cognitive 4, 5, 8, 43, 58, 59, 88–93, 96,128, 179; cultural 4, 41–42, 63, 86,88–89, 96, 179; interpersonal/social 4, 5,8, 33, 34, 39, 42, 43, 63, 82, 86–88, 179;personal 4, 8, 33, 42, 85–86, 179; profes-sional 4, 8, 43–44, 93–94, 179

process drama 43Propp, Vladimir 145, 146, 148psychodrama 37, 41, 61psychosocial development 134–135psychosynthesis 142–143; see also sub-

personalities

Quandaries 86Quest Atlantis 87questing 107, 111

races (in Dungeons & Dragons) 16, 62–63,150–153; dwarves 151–152; elves 152–153;gnomes 151, 166; halfling 150; human 150

racism 62–63, 66Rappaport, Roy 48Reach Out Central 88“real world” (relationship with) 4, 5, 7, 8,

52, 53, 59, 66–68, 72, 75, 83, 85, 88,90, 96, 98, 101–102, 104–105, 109, 123–127, 130–131, 134, 144, 155–178, 180–181

realism 63, 95reality principle 128–129re-creation societies 45–46reenactment societies 3, 17, 28, 43–46, 53,

94, 97referee 12, 18, 25, 51, 95; dungeonmaster;

see also gamemaster; storytellerregression 171rehearsals for growth 39religion 17, 48, 66, 89, 175renaissance faires 17, 28, 45–46The Return of the Native 161Ring of the Nibelungen 152risk and reward 50, 83, 93, 97, 102,

112–113, 126rite of passage 14, 15–16, 48, 50, 132, 145ritual 1, 3, 8, 9, 11, 15–16, 20, 34, 38, 39,

40, 41, 42, 46–52, 55, 70, 72, 74–75, 80,83, 179

Roberts, Garyn 20robots (bots) 31role-playing: business 1, 33, 43–44,

80–84, 87, 91–94, 100, 124–125; dramatherapy 1, 3, 33, 34, 37–38, 54, 59,80–81; education 1, 3, 9, 33, 34, 43–44,54, 59, 80–81, 84, 88, 90–91, 93–94,98–102; government 86, 97–98; healthcare 1, 33, 40, 42, 80, 82–83, 87, 89,

93–94, 96, 98, 100–102; improvisationaltheatre 1, 3, 24, 28, 33–36, 59, 94, 119;journalism 86, 93; law enforcement 80,88, 94, 97, 129; leisure 1, 9, 33, 34; mili-tary 1, 4, 9, 18, 33, 44, 80–81, 86, 89, 94,95–97, 107, 129; psychotherapy 9, 11, 33,37–38, 61, 80, 102; religion 80, 83; socialaction groups 33, 36, 40–42, 53

role-playing games (RPGs) 8, 11, 15; com-munity building 1, 3, 5, 8, 11, 15, 23, 29,32–79, 179; dangers 5, 7, 9, 37, 53–54,80–81, 96, 102, 180–181; history 2, 3,11–24; identity alteration 1, 4, 8, 9, 11–12,18, 32, 45, 127–179; problem solving 1, 3,4, 8, 11, 32, 33, 63, 179; stigma 5, 16, 52–53, 55, 66–72, 78, 83–84, 109–110, 124,181; themes 3, 19, 73; see also scenariobuilding

role-playing games (types): live action(LARP) 2, 8, 11, 12, 23, 24, 27, 32,49–50, 63, 64, 74, 75–77, 93, 97–98,100, 102, 104–126, 160–162, 171, 175;tabletop 2, 8, 11, 12, 23, 24, 27, 29, 50,64, 70, 75, 77, 104–126, 171; virtual 2, 3,8, 11, 12, 23, 24, 29–32, 64, 87–88,99–101, 105, 161, 165

role theory 37role-training 33Rome: Total War 99rules 12, 19, 25, 26, 28, 52. 62, 71, 73, 104–

108, 129Rumpelstiltskin 152

sacrifice 73satyrs 162scenario building 1, 3, 4, 8, 11, 32–33, 35,

37, 61, 79–126, 179; puzzles 4, 8–9, 90,104–105, 110–116, 179; riddles 112, 150;social 4, 59, 61, 63, 104–105, 110, 180;tactical 4, 104–105, 110–116, 180

Schick, Lawrence 18, 34Schwartz, Peter, 81Second City 36, 94Second Life 32, 99, 102seduction 168self-awareness 5, 8, 9, 43, 59, 86, 136, 155,

165, 180self-concept 136, 138self-discrepancy 135Seneschal (in Vampire) 121serious games 81, 99, 101sexuality 63–66, 176, 181The Shadow ( Jungian) 14Shadowrun 19Shakespeare, William 35shamanism 50, 173Shepherd, David 36SimCity 99SimHealth 98The Sims 92

Index 207

simulations 18, 44, 84, 92, 95–98, 100, 107Simuworlds 91–92Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs 152, 171social interaction 3, 8, 52, 54, 55, 59–62,

66–72, 78–79, 83, 86–88, 124–126, 179social roles 7, 8, 9, 12, 14, 32, 33, 37–39,

47, 127–138Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA) 17,

28, 45–46, 53, 97, 102solo gaming 116spheres of action: hero, villain, donor,

helper, princess, dispatcher, false hero 145Spolin, Viola 36spontaneity 34, 36, 37, 39–40, 44, 85Squire Quest 102Stableford, Brian 56–57Stallone, Thomas 45–46, 53Star Trek 19, 100Star Trek RPG 19Star Wars 110Start-up 99Status (in Vampire) 121stereotypes 69–72, 80, 158–160, 163Stills, Paul 36stock characters 25storyteller (ST) 8, 12, 25, 26, 27, 31, 51, 56,

61, 65, 66, 71, 73, 106, 108, 112, 115–116,119–124, 131, 156, 158, 163–164, 166, 171; seealso dungeonmaster; gamemaster; referee

storytelling 1, 11, 12, 46, 56, 57, 78, 92, 116,128, 140, 148

structuralism 145subcultures 3, 11, 15, 17, 18, 53, 57, 70, 179sub-personalities 142, 154symbols 16, 35, 49, 50–51, 140, 144, 154, 180synaptic pathways 89–90systemic thinking 9, 90–92, 104, 126

Tactical Iraqi 96Tactical Studies Rules (TSR) 19; see also

Arneson, David; Gygax, E. Garyteamwork 87, 116–119Tennyson, Lord Alfred 17theatre games 36Theatre Machine 36Theatre of the Oppressed 40TheatreSports 36theory of mind 3, 34, 57–58, 60, 63–66,

87, 133, 159third-person effect hypothesis 703D Wild Land Fire Simulation 98Three Hearts and Three Lions 152time in RPGs 113–116; combat rounds

113–114; downtime 115–116; timeline 81,115, 158, 170

Tolkien, J.R.R. 3, 16, 17, 18, 19, 55–56, 73,116, 130–132, 146–152; see also eucatastro-phe; The Hobbit; The Lord of the Rings

Tolkien Society 17totemism 76–77

tragedy 74transpersonal 143trauma 4, 40, 42, 86, 114, 133, 139–142Traveller 19treasure 111, 118, 148–149tribal communities 17, 35, 40, 50, 76–77Trickster 76, 149–150, 170Turkle, Sherry 138–139, 142Turner, Victor 15, 49–50, 74; see also com-

munitas; liminality

Uber Goober 23Ustinov, Peter 130

Vampire: The Masquerade 3, 21–22, 25, 26,27, 56, 63–65, 76–77, 105, 107–108,114–116, 119–125, 146, 153, 158–162, 171,173–175; character sheets 26–27; clans137, 153; see also White Wolf Studios

vampires 22, 76, 119–123, 137, 164, 168, 171,175

Vance, Jack 17van Gennep, Arnold 15, 48Van Gogh, Vincent 141VECTOR 96video games 3, 7, 11, 18, 29–32, 90, 93–95,

98, 101–102; see also virtual environmentsvillains 111, 144–145virtual environments 2, 3, 15, 23–24,

29–32, 96, 101, 139, 181visioning 82Volkas, Armand 41

Wall Street Trader 99war gaming 3, 18, 19, 24, 34, 36, 95–96,

110, 119Warhammer 24, 96–97Watch, Discover, Think, and Act 101Weiner, Daniel 37–39wererat 118, 175–176Werewolf: The Apocalypse 76–77, 116; see also

White Wolf Studioswerewolves 22, 76, 147, 168; breed 76;

packs 76, 116White Wolf Studios 3, 19, 21, 22, 25, 27,

28, 56, 76, 105, 108, 111, 119, 143; see alsoMage: The Ascension; Mind’s Eye Theatre;Vampire: The Masquerade; Werewolf: TheApocalypse; World of Darkness

wish-fulfillment 164World of Darkness 3, 19, 21–22, 56, 76–77,

105, 108, 143, 153, 168, 171World of Warcraft 3, 24, 31, 32, 99, 103; see

also Blizzard Entertainmentwraiths 22

Young, M. Joseph 146

zombies 22Zoo Tycoon 93, 9

208 Index

(PDF) The Functions of Role-Playing(BookFi.org) - DOKUMEN.TIPS (2024)

FAQs

What are role-play pdf notes? ›

Role play is based on an assumption that many values in a situation can not be expressed in. words and the communication can be effective if the situation is dramatized. Role playing is. played under a director but the other dramas the actor have no scripts no rehearsal but adjust.

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What is the role-play method of teaching pdf? ›

Role playing is an interesting example of an active learning and teaching strategy. It can incorporate drama, simulations, games, and demonstrations of real life cases related to any topic.

What is the role of the teacher in role play? ›

Teacher in role validates and supports the children's involvement in a make-believe situation by enabling the teacher to work and 'play' alongside them. It is an instant way of setting a scene and directly involving the pupils.

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What is an example of role play in the classroom? ›

The best example of role playing activities in a classroom are the ones that are most fun. This could range from super heroes and cops and robbers to enacting a hospital or a railway station scene.

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What are the six steps in conducting a role play? ›

Here are six considerations when hosting role play training:

Set clear objectives. What do you want participants to learn from the role play? ...
Choose the right scenarios. ...
Provide clear instructions. ...
Create a psychologically safe and supportive environment. ...
Provide feedback. ...
Repeat the process.

May 18, 2023

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What is the primary objective of using role play? ›

Role-play, or role-playing, allows a learner to assume the role or tasks of a job by practicing or simulating real working conditions. The objective of role-playing is to learn, improve or develop upon the skills or competencies necessary for a specific position.

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How to start a role play script? ›

Here are some general tips for writing a good roleplay starter:

Don't make it too short. ...
Don't get lost in the details. ...
Make it make sense. ...
Don't force your roleplay partner's character to act out-of-character. ...
Remember that YOU are starting the scene. ...
Don't be too worried about impressing the other person.

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What is your definition of roleplay? ›

Role-play is the act of imitating the character and behavior of someone who is different from yourself, for example as a training exercise. We have to communicate with each other through role-play. 2. transitive verb/intransitive verb. If people role-play, they do a role-play.

What is role play essay? ›

Role-play is a special kind of case study, in which there is an explicit situation established with students playing specific roles, spontaneously saying and doing what they understand their “character” would, in that situation. Role-plays differ from other case studies in the immediacy of the experience.

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What is role play ppt? ›

DEFINITION  Role play is a method by which learners participate in an unrehearsed dramatization, acting out an assigned part of a character as they think the character would act in reality. PURPOSES  To convey information.  To develop specific skills.  To develop a situation for analysis.

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(PDF) The Functions of Role-Playing(BookFi.org) - DOKUMEN.TIPS (2024)

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What are role-play pdf notes? ›

What is the role of the teacher in role play? ›

References