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By Root 429 0

be present in order to qualify as a TRPG, is the presence of a gamemaster. The gamemaster may be referred to as a Dungeon Master (DM), a storyteller, a referee, or something else, but is always the person who has the final say within a gaming session. In addition, the game must be primarily collaborative rather than competitive. The players may seek to defeat monsters and challenges presented by the DM, but they work together to do so. Likewise, players may sometimes be at odds (as was the case with David and Whisper) but the point of this confrontation is not ultimately competition. Alex and I pursued the conflict between our characters because we both enjoyed playing them the way we felt they would act, not because we wanted to beat the other player at the game. One could even argue that the conflict between Whisper and David shows how Alex and I worked collaboratively to tell aninteresting story. Finally, in order to fit the genre of the tabletop RPG, face-to-face social interaction must exist. This interaction may be supplemented by online activities (as it was with the Sorpraedor group), but as we have seen, this in-person social interaction is a key reason players present for engaging in the TRPG. The medium of face-to-face interaction also allows for a degree of narrative agency that is currently not easily attainable in computer-mediated games, and this agency adds the narrative experience players enjoy. Although my definition is similar to Mackay’s (2001) definition, I focus on the narrative experience rather than narrative form. As we have seen in chapters 4 and 5, the form of the TRPG may not fit with some definitions of narrative, but the game, nevertheless, creates the experience for the players of participating in a narrative. This definition, thus, allows us to see the ways in which TRPGs differ from other genres not only in terms of form but also in terms of rhetorical purpose.

Limitation of Genre: Different Player Perspectives

Although I have defined the TRPG in rhetorical terms, it is important to note the limitations of genre theory, particularly when it begins to focus on audience rather than form. As Russell (1997) notes, the same texts may function as different genres depending on the rhetorical purpose and audience that they address (p. 518). He offers Hamlet as an example. When used as a script by actors, the rhetorical purpose is different from when literary scholars analyze the play or it is taught in a literature classroom. Each instance involves a different activity system, and therefore forms a different genre (Russell, 1997, p. 518). At first glance, the idea of gamers who focus on different aspects within the same game seems reminiscent of Russell’s example of Hamlet, functioning as a different genre within different activity systems. However, do these differences in game play really represent different systems? Are there really unified communities with unified style of play that can be used to define genres? Certainly that is possible. For example, MMORPGs sometimes have an option for competitive rather than cooperative play. In his analysis, Kelly (2004) defines the group of player verses player (PvP) gamers as an entirely different community than regular MMORPG gamers. However, my experience with TRPGs shows that different types of players exist even within one group. One player in a group may be enjoy acting out his or her character while another may just want to fight battles (what is commonly called “hack and slash” gaming). Is it possible for each player in a group of six to experience the game as a different subgenre? At what point does the concept of genre cease to be useful?

Fine (1983) notes that “D&D players can be divided into two groups, those who want to play the game and those who want to play it as a fantasy novel” (p. 207). From my research, including the descriptions given by other gamers, the desire to play TRPGs as fantasy novels seems to be the force that has kept this genre alive in spite of computer games that are far more accessible and may even use the D&D gaming