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plotlines that cannot be realized, and character traits that simply cannot be maintained. Buckingham (2006) also argues that while computer game users do have power over their gaming experience, “this power is bounded by the constraints of the game system and of the representational possibilities of the game” (Carr et al., 2006, p. 188). He goes on to say that “activity on the part of the players—or even of the most creative fans—should not be confused with agency, that is, the power to define the dominant parameters for cultural production” (p. 188). For players to truly have agency, they must shape the system itself.

Narrative Agency

This notion of agency is also key to making the connection between the structure and purpose of the TRPG and thus defining it as its own genre. Jessica Hammer (2007) defines several types of agency including textual, narrative, psychological, and cultural agency (p. 73). While any interactive text may give the feeling of agency (psychological agency), the TRPG affords real narrative agency, which Hammer (2007) defines as control over the story (p. 73). This agency is built into the way the game is designed. A player in a computer game can subvert the structure of the narrative by hacking the code or using cheats. Yet, this subversion is outside the scope of the intended use of the game; like Carr’s evil avatar, it exists only in the realm of the reader. In contrast, the TPRG not only allows for, but encourages such subversion in its very structure.

For one, exploration of space in the TRPG is more malleable. In CRPGs, spaces must be laid out and programmed in advance. Even games with randomly created spaces already have coded in them the types of spaces and items that will appear in those spaces. In most games, there are spots where the user simply can’t click to go any farther—space is finite. Furthermore, there are often areas of the map that don’t open up until the player has completed certain quests or levels. In some CRPGs, a player might even find the location of another area of the map, but if he or she attempts to go there too soon, chances for survival aren’t good. Failure means re-starting the game from a saved point; the story can only progress through success. The challenges in different parts of the game are more difficult and, without the character gaining additional skills through going up a level, they may prove too much, causing a re-start. In games that generate content more randomly as players progress, challenge levels may adjust depending on the level of the player character; however, these adjustments are made only on character level not player ability. The player may choose an ability level at the beginning of the game (easy or hard, for example), but will usually need to start the game over to adjust that level. In both CRPGs and TRPGs, characters improve as they meet challenges by gaining experience points; this is one of the direct influences TRPGs had as an antecedent genre on CRPGs. Thus, a challenge that may be unbeatable at first will become more doable as the character advances; however, the player’s ability is separate from the character’s ability. Some challenges in TRPG may also be designed for higher level characters. However, a DM can easily adjust the difficulty of an adventure or direct players a different way. A DM in a continuing home game will have a pretty good idea whether or not the players in that game are capable of handling the challenge at level 10 that the rule book says they should be able to handle. Furthermore, he or she might decide that the players who are level five should go ahead and take on the level 10 challenge because their failure will be key to building the story he or she wants to tell. Thus, the DM is an essential element of the tabletop game. The DM, as a role (whether that role is called a DM, a storyteller, a Gamemaster [GM], or another name), is a key feature of the TRPG that allows for narrative agency.

Much of a computer game designer’s job involves placing clues in the gaming world to direct the player down a certain