Part 3 (1/2)

The next category of speech that Cook-Gumperz (1992) refers to as narrative planning speech (p. 188) is essential both to the childrenas makebelieve games and D&D. While planning for the three-year-old girls consisted of deciding who would use what doll and the like, adult games involve much more complex planning. Often this form of talk involves complex negotiation of the game rules. This type of talk can also be seen in the above transcript. The dice rolls that determine Garethas success as a musician are based on the charisma ability score. According to the official game rules, charisma is not affected by drinking (Cook, 2002). Mary sees that logically playing a musical instrument would also involve dexterity, an ability that is affected by intoxication. Thus, she challenges this rule, and the group negotiates it.

Although Cook-Gumperz (1992) includes narrative planning speech as a subdivision of off-record speech, my model places it above off-record speech on the narrativity scale because in this type of discourse the players are no longer a pa.s.sive audience, but actively involved in planning how the game will progress. This level still exists outside the narrative in the AW but creates a bridge between the actual world and the game world through its discussion of gaming tactics. However, just as everything discussed in this frame does not become a part of the narrative, every idea posed in this frame does not become a move in the game.

Although the social frame affects the narrative, the final story that is created from the role-playing gaming session does not usually reflect this stage of thought. A several-hour debate over what action to take next and the rules surrounding the action is reduced to one line in the write-up of the orc adventure: aWe discussed amongst ourselves the political repercussions of the situation and decided that if at all possible it would be best for humans to stay out of this orcish war.a The players were involved in a complex discussion of the storyworld here, yet the discussion did not take place in the storyworld. Likewise, narrative planning speech is not the actual oral narrative, but instead stalls this narrative while details are negotiated between the players.

The Game Frame.

Like the social frame, the game frame operates in the actual world in that the players are sitting in this reality face-to-face playing the game. However, a new sort of logic comes into play in the game framea”the logic that governs the rules of the game itself. Because the make-believe games Cook-Gumperz (1992) studied did not involve the type of complex game mechanics seen in D&D, she does not include a type of speech for actions such as statements of intention or dice rolls, both of which are crucial to the game frame of TRPGs. The game frame is governed by the rules of the game and is composed of moves in the game. It thus accesses another possible worlda”that of the gamea”which is governed by its own logic separate from both the logic of the AW and the narrative world.

The transcript in the previous section shows how game logic may be different from logic in either the AW or the narrative world. Mary a.s.serts that it is not logical to be able to perform a musical instrument at full capacity while intoxicated in either the AW or the narrative world. However, the game logic, governed by the game rules, maintains that this is fully possible. The partic.i.p.ants go on to negotiate how this logic of the game syncs up with logic in the AW and the APW; yet the game logic exists as a system of its own. In fact, gamers often joke about the way that game logic can conflict with logic in the AW and APW. When a character goes up a level, he or she gains additional abilities. Yet, these abilities are usually not a direct consequence of anything in the narrative world. A rogue may suddenly be able to pick locks better even when he or she has been adventuring in the forest far from any chance to practice lock picking technique. This increase in skill makes logical sense within the logic of the game world rather than the narrative world and thus is accepted by most players.

I identify two types of talk in the game frame: narrative suggestions and dice rolls. Narrative suggestions involve statements of intention in which the player describes the actions his or her character attempts, which may or may not involve dice rolling. Like narrative planning speech, narrative suggestions have a greater effect on the TAW than off-record speech because actions taken within the game cause what happens next in the story. The main difference between narrative planning speech and narrative suggestion is that narrative planning speech often involves a good deal of negotiation and discussion of ideas that may or may not end up being followed by the players. The group may discuss whether or not to attack the orcs, for example, and if they attack how to orchestrate that attack. This discussion of tactics is not taken seriously as a narrative suggestion until it is articulated in the game frame. A player may suggest that Alexas character, David, attempt to entangle the orcs before attacking, but until he states, aOk. I try to entangle the orcsa or aI cast the spell entangle on the orcs,a this speech does not const.i.tute an action in the game world.

In my observations, players use either future tense or present tense when stating the actions of their characters. Lacy (2006) determines the present tense is used most frequently in TRPGs. He states that the use of present tense serves to mark are-orientating to the RPG framea (Lacy, 2006, p. 64). Although further linguistic study is necessary, the use of tense initially seems like a way to distinguish between narrative planning speech and a narrative suggestion. The use of present tense may also serve to show how certain a player is of the success of their suggestion, in terms of it being incorporated into the narrative frame. Observe the tense usage in the following transcript from the Sorpraedor campaign. In this scene, Maryas bard (Gareth) tells us about her upcoming gig at the Foppish Wererat tavern.

At the beginning of this transcript, we see the group going back and forth both planning what is next and stating their actions. Mark states, in present tense, that he is going with Mary. However, I state in future tense that I will go with Mary. Mary seems to be in the frame of planning as well as she expresses uncertainty over whether or not this part of the story is one that the group as a whole would like to pursue or whether it is something for her character to do alone. When we reach line 12, however, there is a clear move to narrative suggestion. Mark no longer states his individual intent, but speaks for the party and their decided action: aWe go clubbing.a The DM then proceeds with narrative speech describing the journey to the Foppish Wererat. Because going aclubbinga is not the sort of thing that requires a dice role to confirm, this narrative suggestion skips over this stage and becomes a part of the narrative.

If dice rolling is necessary, the player moves to that level on the chart. Dice rolling acts are higher in their degree of narrativity because once the dice are rolled, there is usually no going back to the point of suggestion. A player will call out the dice rolled, such as aI got a 23,a and the DM will respond by narrating the action within the narrative itself, aYou hit the orc.a A narrative suggestion may lead to a dice roll or may be overturned by the DM. Alex may say, aI cast the spell entangle on the orcsa as a narrative suggestion, but the DM may state, aYour character doesnat know that spell,a thus preventing this narrative suggestion from taking root in the narrative frame. More likely, however, the DM would state, aRoll the dice to see if you hit.a At this point the success or failure of the dice roll will then determine what happens in the narrative.

The Narrative Frame.

Once the players begin to discuss things in-game as characters, they begin to compose the textual world. The narrative frame differs from the game frame because it involves the actual construction of the textual world. It thus possesses the greatest level of narrativity. This frame is made up of in-character speech and narrative speech. Cook-Gumperz (1992) refers to moments when the player takes on the voice of the character as ain-character speecha (p. 184). In addition to in-character speech, the TAW consists of narrative and descriptive utterances spoken by the DM. CookGumperz (1992) observed similar types of speech in the childrenas games. Instances when the children actually narrated the story they were creating are examples of anarrative speech.a Cook-Gumperz (1992) found that when the children explained events as if they were telling a story, they maintained a areading tonea; an even tone with careful word enunciation (p. 184). I also observed this type of tone when the DM narrated the action of the D&D adventure. At these times, the DM is often granted a longer turn of talk, which is characteristic of narrative speech. In the case of a pre-written module, the DM may literally be reading as certain pa.s.sages in these adventures are often set aside for the DM to read directly to the players. As mentioned in the previous chapter, these accounts can also contain description, such as when the DM described the scene at Blaze Arrow. However, even these descriptive scenes can be seen as temporally motivated. The description of Blaze Arrow tells the story of the battle that happened before the party arrived. Pa.s.sages like this both describe the scene and advance the aplota of the story.

In-character speech and narrative speech possess the highest levels of narrativity because they are the TAW formed by the oral discourse of the gaming session. However, in-character speech is one level below narrative speech because it involves both the DM and the players and is thus always subject to the authoritative power of the DM (who may retract it). For example, when Whisper went to open the cursed scroll tube, Nick made a statement in-character as Fletch, saying, aNo, donat do that!a However, the DM ruled that Whisperas action took place so quickly and by such surprise that the characters did not have time to react and thus Fletchas speech never reached the TAW of the narrative. However, unless directly countermanded by the DM in this way, in-character speech becomes a part of the TAW and does not need to be re-stated when the DM narrates the action.

While it may seem that narrative speech is only available to the DM, there are instances where players may also engage in it. When a player is fairly certain that an action will not require a dice role, he or she will go ahead and narrate it more directly. Similarly, narrative suggestions that go unchallenged by the DM or do not need dice rolls to determine their success or failure may rise to the level of narrative speech. However, these are below narrative speech by the DM on my model because it is the DM that ultimately controls whether playersa narration becomes a part of the TAW. A player may declare, aI order some ale at the tavern.a This sort of suggestion does not usually require a dice roll and would become narrative speech. Thus, this type of speech may function as both a narrative suggestion and narrative speech. However, there might be special circ.u.mstances in which the DM would determine that a dice roll is needed. If the bartender had a grudge against this particular character and was ignoring him, the DM might ask that player to roll for diplomacy to see if he or she is able to get the attention of his unwilling host. Thus, it is ulti mately the DM that determines whether a narrative suggestion stands as narrative speech or whether the action must be further negotiated before entering the TAW.6 In TRPGs, the amount of in-character speech varies depending on the style of play that the group of gamers prefers to engage in. In general, the Sorpraedor campaign does not involve a lot of in-character speech; however, there were several notable instances of it during the orc adventure. When Cuthalion negotiated with Grumbach, Mark delivered an incharacter speech as Cuthalion7 that was so eloquent, the DM granted him extra experience points8 for it. The DM also uses in-character speech when representing another character in the story. For example, after Cuthalionas speech, the DM responded in-character as Grumbach. In his linguist a.n.a.lysis of TRPGs, Ken Lacy (2006) finds that players often mark speech as in-character by prefacing it aquotative markings,a or statement such as aI saya (p. 67). I also found this to be true of in-character speech. Even when direct quotative markings were not present, a change in intonation marked in-character speech. However, because the game world includes its own logic system, these devices are not always necessary to show when a character versus a player is being referred to.

Because narrative speech creates the TAW, it represents the top level of my model with the highest degree of narrativity. Narrative speech is most often spoken by the DM. If the DM is describing a scene, such as the scene upon entering Blaze Arrow or the Temple of Elemental Evil, the present tense may be employed to give the players a sense of temporal immersion, or if the DM is responding directly to the narrative suggestions, he or she may declare that the action in question was a success in past tense. The use of past tense here is different from the prevalence of present tense during the majority of the game. Also, as Lacy (2006) notes, the DMas speech is more often in third person rather than first person (p. 66).

The following transcript takes place just after the previous transcript as the players meet up with KaaGoth at the Foppish Wererat. It ill.u.s.trates some of the linguistic differences between players and DMs.

Note here that the DM refers to the non-player character in third person, stating aheas doing the same.a Because the DM runs multiple characters, he remains far more removed from those characters than do the players.9 In contrast, Mary refers to her character Gareth in first person, even when the separation between character and player could be potentially confusing. In fact, in line 34, the aIa that aa.s.sumesa is Mary reacting in the actual world to the narrative world. She a.s.sumes, but needs the DMas confirmation, that certain events took place in the narrative. The aIa that has been playing songs is Gareth, the character in the narrative world. Ultimately there is not room for confusion here because it does not make sense in the logic of the narrative world that Gareth would be wondering whether or not he had performed certain actions, and it does not make sense in the actual world that Mary has been playing songs. Possible-world theory, then, helps to explain the lack of traditional linguistic markers when moving in and out of character.

In this example, also note the use of in-character speech in lines 27a”28. This speech is preceded by a change in intonation. Aside from the dice roll in line 32, which Mary makes to determine how successful Gareth is at joining in the music, this transcript takes place mainly in the narrative frame. Together, Mary and the DM narrate the scene in the Foppish Wererat that the rest of the party observes. However, at many times narrative speech may be a long narration by the DM alone.

In TRPGs, multiple worlds exist, but the world presented in the DMas narrative speech directly creates the storyworld. It is this level that possesses full narrativity. Because of this level, players feel as though they are immersed in a story, even as they continually s.h.i.+ft between frames and worlds. This sense of being immersed in a narrative world is one of the main reasons for playing TRPGs. The narrative speech frame may be the least interactive of the levels in my model, particularly when it involves only the speech of the DM. However, the significance of the narrative speech frame is directly impacted by the other levels of the model. Thus, interactivity and immersion go hand-in-hand in the TRPG.

Because playersa actions in the game frame influence the narrative frame, their level of immersion in the narrative frame is directly related to their level of immersion in other frames. The sense a narrative experience of the TRPG comes not from one frame, but from all three frames; and all three frames affect the narrative to varying degrees. Off-record speech is least likely to affect the narrative; this is particularly true of off-record speech that serves only as a bond within the social sphere. Yet, if this social sphere collapses, so does the narrative sphere. If players do not return to the game because they do not fit in the social setting, their characters may end up with their heads thrown into a camp as a warning, as with the twins Mirador and Mardowin. All the frames are necessary for an enjoyable narrative experience. We need not see all levels of the TRPG as narratives in order to see that this is, as Cook-Gumprez (1992) calls make-believe, a anarrative game.a

6.

Immersion in the TRPG.

I saw David take the amulet down the pa.s.sageway toward the drow, convinced that he meant to betray us. I had given it to him in good faith, to show that I could be trusted, and he had outright stolen it. The party was divided; they scattered. I came across Cuthalionas paralyzed body, and while searching for a healing potion, I saw it. Somehow he had the amulet. After all that! I took the powerful magic item back, forced some magic healing liquid down the elfas throat, and quickly ran off. I had always thought Cuthalion understood, but to find him with the amuleta”I wiped away a teara”it seemed I had no friends left. After wandering alone in the woods, I stumbled across an abandoned cottage and stopped to sleep, to rest, to think...

When we turn to look at narrative in terms of an experiencea”when we look at it as social and rhetoricala”our questions about narrative and the relations.h.i.+p between narrative and game s.h.i.+ft. For one, we must ask, what const.i.tutes a narrative experience? Furthermore, what does a narrative experience offer us? What is the rhetorical exigency that elicits a narrative response? What needs does it meet? Tabletop role-playing games (TRPGs) can be extremely immersive for the players involved, and this immersion can bring together a group of people through their common reaction to the role-playing game text being created.

While Whisper was waiting in the cottage attempting to sleep, as a player, I was temporarily removed from the rest of the Sorpraedor group. As I awaited my turn, I wrote the following in my personal blog: aFor those that donat play, I canat really explain it to you. But Iave had a total adrenaline rush going since about 4:00. The tension, the excitement ... all maxed out. Itas amazing. And the story. Oh, my G.o.d ... the story is so gooda (Jan. 11th, 2004, at 7:40 P.M.). The game that continued that evening was one of the ones I remember most from my time during the Sorpraedor campaign. It continued as follows: I had barely drifted off when I heard voices, familiar voices. The party had found me. I prepared for the inevitable confrontation, perhaps even death. David entered the cottage and immediately called me out. I tried to leave, but he pulled out his sword as if to attack me. Gareth was next, and seeing the situation, immediate attempted to come between us. Fletch also stepped between us, his sword drawn. Suddenly, Garethas magical viola was casting a spell, though I couldnat tell what spell it was. Fletch seemed to recognize it though, and attacked the viola, at which point, Gareth grabbed his musical instrument and informed the party he would be back in town.

But it only served as a momentary distraction from the larger conflict between David and me. Cuthalion was in the doorway, pointing his bow and arrow, and instructing us all to lower our weapons.

aI donat know what sheas done to you,a said David, clearly indicating me, aBut you know as well as I, this canat go on.a With that the halfling lunged at me with his sword, while I attempted only to disarm him.

In the back of my mind I thought, aI have my claws. No one knows about my dragon claws. Even with no spells, I can defend myself. But I mustnat fight my fellow party member. For the sake of the rest of the group, he cannot die by my hand.a And indeed he did not. I continued to dodge his blows, while Fletch and Cuthalion sided with me. An arrow landed in the halflingas back and he slumped over. The conflict was over.

This personal example was an extremely immersive gaming experience for reasons that I outline in this chapter. However, my own experiences are well supported by the comments of other players, and this chapter will draw on both my experiences and the comments made by other roleplayers in online forums and on the online survey I distributed. These combined experiences show that the TRPG is valuable to players because of the way it immerses them in a narrative experience.

One of the key features of the TRPG is its ability to immerse the players in the world and story that the game creates. As we have seen, examples of narration from Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) adventures often address the readers in the second-person, pulling them directly into the storyworld, situating them in a place, and immersing them. Yet, not all of the TRPG is spent being immersed in the story. In fact, a character is sometimes the strongest immersive feature of role-playing because of the playersa direct connection with their avatars. Spatial, temporal, and emotional immersion work together in the TRPG to give the player a narrative experience.

In order to understand the overall significance of immersion as part of the TRPG form and the way in which it contributes to the ability of TRPGs to respond to the needs of their players, we must first define what it means for a text to be immersive. Some modules may be played in just one evening, but in order for a TRPG campaign to continue for several years, player interest must be maintained. To do this, TRPG campaigns must immerse their partic.i.p.ants in more extensive worlds, such as Sorpraedor. They must have interesting and exciting stories, and they must have engaging characters. Furthermore, the gameplay itself must maintain suspense and interest. Fine (1983) states that players amust lose themselves to the game. The engrossment is not total or continuous, but it is what provides for athe funa within the gamea (p. 4). This ability to sustain interest is often much less of a concern in games that are only intended to last for one session; however, even these adventures hold a great potential for immersion. To be immersed is to be interested.

In her book on virtual reality, Ryan (2003) outlines three modes of immersiona”spatial, temporal, and emotional. Ryan (2003) contends that spatial immersion is a aresponse to setting,a temporal immersion relates to plot, and emotional immersion relates to characters (p. 121). Yet these definitions only pertain to immersion within a narrative. I take a more literal approach to these three type of immersion to explore the ways that players are immersed in terms of s.p.a.ce, time, and emotions in the TRPG. The degree to which players are immersed in the story is directly related to the social environment in which the game takes place.

Spatial, Temporal, and Emotional Immersion in the TRPG Storyworld.

Ryan (2003) states that for a text to be immersive it must create a s.p.a.ce to which the reader can relate. This spatial setting is a place for apotential narrative actiona but is not narrative because it amay lack the temporal extension [required] to develop this action into a plota (Ryan, 2003, p. 15). As discussed in chapter 4, a storyworld does not presuppose a narrative structure. Spatial immersion is found in narratives, but also in gamesa”even those without narrative elements.

TRPGs do involve an exploration of a world, yet the way in which this s.p.a.ce is created and the extent to which it can be immersive, differs in face-to-face TRPGs from computer games. For example, Murray (1998) notes that athe slamming of a dungeon door behind youa is more concrete in an online visual environment than in a face-to-face D&D game (p. 82). The lack of a visual element may make spatial immersion more difficult to achieve in D&D than in more visually oriented games; however, this type of immersion is still important to the game. Without the visual component to TRPGs, players may have difficulty picturing the exact setting that the DM lays out. Wizards of the Coastas market survey shows that in 2000, 56 percent of gaming groups used miniatures to solve this dilemma (Dancey 2000). This number has no doubt increased since Wizards of the Coast came out with their new line of D&D collectable miniatures (minis).1 Each player selects a small figure to represent his or her character.2 The DM will select additional figures to represent monsters or non-player characters (NPCs). When the game calls for exploration of s.p.a.ce, players often use graph paper to map out the journey for future reference. Similarly, the minis are often used to show the relative position of characters to one another on their journey. These minis can also be placed on a battle map, a plastic surface with graph paper-like hexes, each representing five feet. Because D&D combat rules often offer suggestions as to what you can or cannot do at certain distances, these battle maps help players visualize the scene and decide on their actions. The Sorpraedor campaign often uses battle maps and minis during battle sequences; however, some gaming sessions that focused more on information gathering or puzzle-solving would progress completely without them. Players may change minis frequently depending on what is readily available at the time of play. An unused die or token has been known to stand in for a monster or NPC when needed. Battle maps are marked on with erasable markers to roughly mark out terrain, only to be erased and remarked time and time again. Even though some gamers may get more interested in the visual representation of s.p.a.ce by painting and designing scenery such as miniature castles, these tools exist more for showing spatial relations.h.i.+ps than for immersing players visually.