PhD Thesis: Role Playing Materials

How do we interact with physical objects during LARPs and mixed/tabletop role-playing games? Costumes, computers, pen and paper are not neutral and passive elements, but change and are changed during RPG sessions. They work together with narrative and ludic elements: if we think about things as social elements, how do they make role-playing games work?

Rafael Bienia, PhD at Maastricht University, draws upon the fields of game studies, and science, technology and society studies to conduct ethnographic fieldwork among role-playing communities in Germany.

His PhD thesis may be downloaded for free at http://www.zauberfeder-verlag.de/zf_RPM.html