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Currently, barriers to access are high for new or inexperienced designers in the fields of tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) design. TTRPGs remain a relatively unexplored design space, to the detriment of designers and system homebrewers– those who wish to modify existing TTRPG systems, rather than write new ones. A useful solution to this issue is to compose a pattern language representative of these systems. A pattern language provides a useful blueprint for designers of complex design systems, simplifying the TTRPG design process. In this thesis, we create a conceptual language which presents a simple-to-understand method of developing a TTRPG’s core elements alongside a set of pre-defined options and goals. This pattern language will then be simulated by an application developed within the JavaScript engine Blockly, as both a demonstration and as a tool with which designers can write systems. This tool, which we have named Assemble, will demonstrate how designers could benefit from utilizing pattern languages in computer-aided design contexts for TTRPG systems.

To investigate the possibility of entertainment to be a part of peace education for adults, the author wrote a Call of Cthulhu TRPG (CoC) scenario for this case study. The players who participated in this scenario afterward answered an open-ended survey. On the one hand, the survey results point to limitations of the current version of the scenario but also implied essential factors for developing and managing CoC TRPG scenarios and sessions for peace educational purposes. First, for effective sessions, the scenario needs to incorporate the main theme intelligibly for players. Second, letting players think about how their characters perceive social issues may help players rethink their views and contribute to raising awareness of an issue. Third, sessions benefit from adapting them to different formats of play: offline and remote play, voice chat, and text chat sessions., 大人の平和教育の一部にエンターテイメントを利用する有用性を探求するために, 筆者はクトゥルフ神話TRPGのシナリオを本研究のために書き下ろした.このゲームセッションの参加者による自由記述式アンケートの回答から, 現在のバージョンのシナリオの弱みが明らかになったが, 同時にクトゥルフ神話TRPGのシナリオとセッション運営を効果的に発展させるために重要な要素が判明した.第一に, 平和教育に効果的なセッションのためには, メインテーマを参加者にわかりやすくシナリオに織り込まなくてはならない.第二に, セッションはプレイヤーにキャラクターがどのように社会問題を捉えるかを考えさせることで, ひいてはプレイヤー自身が社会問題についての意識を高めるきっかけとなる可能性がある.第三に, セッションは異なる形式に対応するべきである.TRPGセッションの形式は大きく分けてオフライン(対面)プレイとリモートプレイがあり, リモートプレイにはボイスチャットセッションとテキストチャットセッションが主な形式として存在する.

To investigate the possibility of entertainment to be a part of peace education for adults, the author wrote a Call of Cthulhu TRPG (CoC) scenario for this case study. The players who participated in this scenario afterward answered an open-ended survey. On the one hand, the survey results point to limitations of the current version of the scenario but also implied essential factors for developing and managing CoC TRPG scenarios and sessions for peace educational purposes. First, for effective sessions, the scenario needs to incorporate the main theme intelligibly for players. Second, letting players think about how their characters perceive social issues may help players rethink their views and contribute to raising awareness of an issue. Third, sessions benefit from adapting them to different formats of play: offline and remote play, voice chat, and text chat sessions.

Tabletop role-playing games (TTRPG) have faced stigma since their inception in the 1970s, and this stigmatization persists to some degree today, arguing these games teach anti-social behaviours. On the other hand, academics have argued for the benefits of game play. These contradictory discourses have led to the question: What are the learning outcomes associated with tabletop role-playing? This study analyzed qualitative semi-directed interviews with nine individuals who have identified themselves as having experienced hardships on which TTRPGs have had a positive effect. Experiences identified by the participants included incarceration, social exclusion, gender transition and mental health-related challenges. It was found that all participants experienced, to varying degrees, social and societal isolation related to their hardships. However, TTRPGs had perceived benefits—for example, self-development, skill development and achievement—which went beyond the gaming context, and had an effect on different aspects of the participant’s lives. I argue that TTRPGs provided a context which acted as a liminal space, helping players transition away from social and societal isolation towards a form of social participation. This suggests that TTRPGs may help players engage in citizenship. This study expands on current RPG research, by looking at the actual experience of playing these games and the long-lasting impact they can have on players.

I denna studie undersöks hur bordsrollspel kan användas i en behandlingskontext. För att studera detta har vi genomfört en kvalitativ studie av verksamma utövares medverkan i podcaster och panelsamtal uppladdade på Youtube där de berättar om metoden. Resultatet visar att bordsrollspel används i två, delvis överlappande, syften: social färdighetsträning och behandling av psykisk ohälsa. Bordsrollspel beskrivs som en social aktivitet med många inneboende positiva följder för spelaren, exempelvis ökad samarbetsförmåga, perspektivtagande och känsloreglering. När aktiviteten leds av en tränad behandlare kan spelet användas för att nå uttalade terapeutiska mål. Detta ställer emellertid stora krav på spelledaren som behöver ha god kännedom om både behandling och spelet. Behandlingen riktar sig främst till ungdomar med svårigheter med socialt samspel, men den har också potential att användas med vuxna klienter. För att diskutera materialet har ett symbolisk interaktionistiskt perspektiv använts. This study examines how tabletop role-playing games (TTRPGs) can be used as an intervention. We have conducted a qualitative study of practitioners' participation in podcasts and panel discussions published on Youtube where they talk about TTRPGs as an intervention. The results demonstrate how TTRPGs are utilized with two, partially overlapping purposes: social skills training and treatment for mental health conditions. TTRPGs are described as a social activity with a number of inherent benefits for the player, such as increased collaboration skills, perspective-taking and emotional regulation. Whilst being led by a trained professional the game can be used as a tool to reach defined therapeutic goals. This, however, requires the game master to be well-versed in both the role of therapist as well as game master. The intervention studied is primarily used with adolescents struggling with social interactions, but also has potential to be used with adult clients. To discuss the results a symbolic interactionist perspective has been used.

I denna uppsats undersöks användningen, användbarheten, samt för- och nackdelar medäventyrsrollspel som behandlingsform vid psykisk ohälsa och autismspektrumtillstånd.För att studera detta har vi genomfört en kvalitativ intervjustudie med verksammapraktiker. Resultatet visar att behandlingens struktur är liknande för olika klientgrupperäven om behandlingsfokuset kan skilja sig beroende på klientens problematik.Återkommande teman är användandet av fantasin som verktyg vid behandling,äventyrsrollspelet som ramverk, social träning samt möjligheten till personligutveckling vilket är positiva aspekter av behandlingen. Dock är behandlingen begränsadför individer med vissa typer av problematik och skulle därmed fungera bättre som enkompletterande terapi. Den har även högt ställda kompetenskrav på behandlare som villanvända metoden. I diskussionen använder vi symbolisk interaktionism som teoretisktramverk för att tolka resultatet. This study explores the usage, applications, as well as the pros and cons of utilizingtabletop role-playing games as a method of therapy for individuals with mental illnessand autism spectrum disorder. Qualitative interviews were conducted with practitionerswho apply the method. The result shows that the method is structured similarly fordifferent client groups while treatment focus changes according to individual diagnoses.Some recurring themes were: fantasy as a tool for therapy, the tabletop role-playinggame framework, social training, and possibility for personal growth which are allpositive aspects of the treatment. However, the treatment has limitations when used onindividuals with certain types of mental health problems and would instead work betteras a complementary treatment. However, a high level of competence is required forpractitioners who wish to utilize the method. In the discussion we seek to answer ourexplored issues through a symbolic interactionist theoretical standpoint.

Appeared in 1974 with the publication of Dungeons & Dragons, tabletop role-playing games rapidly became a controversial and influential leisure in the popular culture. From an ethnography of the game, this text presents several ways to get involved in fictional universes through the role-playing game. RPGs are analyzed as a playful, social and creative exercise which is invested physically, emotionally and through the imagination by the players. In order to present different ways to be immersed in the fiction, I describe how role-players see the playful and fictional universes. Through the examples of a construction of a scenario and of games, I show up some collective and personal factors which guide the creation of the collective narrative.; Apparus en 1974 avec la publication de Donjons & Dragons, les jeux de rôle sur table sont rapidement devenus un loisir controversé et influent au sein de la culture populaire. À travers l’ethnographie du jeu et de son contenu, ce texte aborde les manières d’investir des univers fictionnels ludiques par l’exercice du jeu de rôle sur table. Ce dernier est donc analysé comme une pratique ludique, sociale et créative qui est investie personnellement et collectivement par le corps et l’imagination des joueurs. Afin de présenter différentes manières de s’engager dans la fiction, je décris les façons dont les rôlistes conçoivent les univers fictionnels ludiques. À travers l’exemple du montage d’un scénario et de parties, je mets en exergue les facteurs d’implications personnelles et collectives dans la fiction, qui guident la création du récit collectif.

A Timeline Tree of Tabletop Role-Playing Games, celebrating more than 40 years of game design innovations. Over 1000 ttrpgs and 800 game designs, webbed through 1500 links. From 1974 to 2019. These linked data are coded with dot language., Un arbre chronologique et phylomémétique des innovations de conception de jeux de rôles, depuis 1974 jusqu'en 2019, rassemblant plus de 1000 jeux et 800 innovations de game design. Cet ensemble de données liées est programmé dans le langage dot.

Appeared in 1974 with the publication of Dungeons & Dragons, tabletop role-playinggames rapidly became a controversial leisure which has importance in the popular culture. Mixing fieldwork and bibliography analysis, this text deepens the connections and reciprocal influences between manners of being in group and creating a diegetic narrative inside a fiction universe. Analyzing role-playing games as a leisure allowing participants to invest a fictive universe in order to create a narrative make the social, linguistic and literary codes emerge. These codes constitute the structure of the game and the creation.; Apparus en 1974 avec la publication de Donjons & Dragons, les jeux de rôle sur table sont rapidement devenus un loisir controversé et important au sein de la culture populaire. En mêlant travail de terrain et analyse bibliographique, ce texte approfondit les rapports et influences réciproques entre les manières d’être en groupe et de créer un récit diégétique dans un univers de fiction. En analysant le jeu de rôle comme un loisir permettant à un groupe de participants d’investir un univers fictif pour y créer un récit fait apparaître les codes sociaux, linguistiques et littéraires qui constituent les structures du jeu et de la création.

Jedną z najważniejszych przyjemności gier RPG jest możliwość wcielania się w wyobrażone postaci. Proces kreowania i rozwijania ich tożsamości będzie określał charakter danej gry. W poniższym artykule chcę przyjrzeć się możliwościom konstruowania tożsamości bohatera gracza, jakie projektanci implementują w systemach reguł gier. W dyskusji o elementach reprezentacji postaci, a najczęściej w takich kategoriach przedstawia się tożsamość bohaterów, nierzadko zapomina się o wymiarze mechanicznym gry. Mój artykuł skupia się na warstwie zasad i reguł kreacji oraz rozwoju postaci dwóch systemów RPG. Za przykład posłuży klasyczna gra Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 oraz bardziej współczesna Klanarchia. Materiałami do analizy będą karty postaci obu systemów oraz fragmenty podręczników. Posłużę się językiem opisu reguł gier Miguela Sicarta oraz ludologiczną perspektywą takich autorów jak Jesper Juul i Espen Aarseth, a także popularną wśród projektantów gier fabularnych tzw. teorią GNS. Wyniki badania zasad obu gier pozwolą zrozumieć sposoby budowania tożsamości mechanicznej bohatera gracza oraz ich związek ze stylem zabawy, jakie proponuje każdy z przywoływanych tytułów. One of the biggest pleasures of role-playing games is the possibility to play as a fictional character. The character creation and development processes constitute the identity of a given game. In this paper, I want to observe and describe the possibilities of building character identity through rule system. In the discussion about the elements of representation of a given game character, often its mechanical side is ignored. This paper concentrates on the character creation and development processes of two tabletop RPG games. As an example I’ve chosen a classic – Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 and a more modern Polish system – Klanarchia. The materials for the analysis will be character sheets and rulebooks for both games. I will use the game elements terminology of M. Sicart, the ludological perspective of authors like J. Juul and E. Aarseth, and also the GNS theory, popular amongst RPG designers. The results of the game rules study will serve the better understanding of different ways for mechanical character identity creation and its relationship to the style in which the games are designed.