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Tabletop role-playing games (TTRPGs) have been attracting academic attention since the 1980s, starting with Gary Alan Fine’s monograph Shared Fantasy: Role-Playing Games as Social Worlds. In the following decades, the cultural impact of role-playing games has only grown. Specifically, Dungeons & Dragons has inspired countless blockbuster video games and entered mainstream popular culture by being referenced and showcased in hit TV series like Stranger Things. In 2010s, TTRPGs have also spawned a new form of spectator entertainment – actual play with shows like Critical Role, which has become a successful transmedia franchise with its own spin-offs and tie-ins.
This course approaches TTRPGs from a media/game studies perspective, including concepts and theories such as mediatization or critical political economy. The goal is to understand role-playing games as both media artifacts/texts and play experiences by analyzing the impact of narrative themes and mechanics as well as the broader production contexts. To do so, the course will be based on an active and critical engagement with selected examples of TTRPGs, showcasing both the conventions and subversions in this area. Each session will start with a theoretical introduction by the lecturer and a class discussion about the assigned reading. Afterwards, we will go over the fortnightly assignments, leading us to a TTRPG playthrough. To unpack and analyze the play experience, we will debrief using conceptual inventory and methodological frameworks acquired throughout the course. The class requires active participation and in-person attendance. The students will be asked to prepare for the fortnightly sessions by doing the assigned readings. The final assignment uses the format of the so-called UnEssay – students choose their own topics related to the core themes of the class and present the UnEssay in any way they please (paper, homebrew game content, actual play, presentation, video essay, website, etc.; more on the format below). The class will consist of seven 160-minute sessions (with a 10-minute break in the middle) scheduled every other week. This format is necessary for in-class playthroughs of TTRPGs. Poslední úprava: Švelch Jan, Mgr., Ph.D. (20.01.2025)
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Grading scale: A: 91–100%, B: 81–90%, C: 71–80%, D: 61–70%, E: 51–60%, Fail: 0–50% Final grade consists of four parts: (1) attendance & class participation; (2) fortnightly class assignments; (3) Discord participation, and (4) UnEssay. Attendance & class participation: 28% (attendance is mandatory; rated based on quality of preparation; participation in each of the seven sessions contributes up to 4% toward the final grade) Fortnightly class assignments: 45% (see the exact percentage points for individual assignments below; rated based on quality) Discord participation: 7% (max 2% per comment or post on top of the fortnightly assignments; capped at 7%) UnEssay: 40% (mandatory; rated based on quality) To successfully complete the class, students need to score at least 51% from among the graded parts of the course – attendance and UnEssay (including Assignment 6: UnEssay Proposal) are mandatory. In total, it is technically possible to earn 120% if students submit all assignments and score the maximum points from all assignments and class activities. Assignments 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 are voluntary. Poslední úprava: Švelch Jan, Mgr., Ph.D. (20.01.2025)
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Fine, Gary Alan. 2002 [1983]. Shared Fantasy: Role-Playing Games as Social Worlds. The University of Chicago Press. Hedge, Stephanie, and Jennifer Grouling, eds. 2021. Roleplaying Games in the Digital Age: Essays on Transmedia Storytelling, Tabletop RPGs and Fandom. Studies in Gaming. McFarland. Jones, Shelly, ed. 2021. Watch Us Roll: Essays on Actual Play and Performance in Tabletop Role-Playing Games. McFarland. Peterson, Jon. 2020. The Elusive Shift: How Role-Playing Games Forged Their Identity. Game Histories. The MIT Press. Trammell, Aaron. 2023. The Privilege of Play: A History of Hobby Games, Race, and Geek Culture. New York University Press. Zagal, José P., and Sebastian Deterding, eds. 2018. Role-Playing Game Studies: Transmedia Foundations. Routledge. Poslední úprava: Švelch Jan, Mgr., Ph.D. (10.01.2024)
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Link to the up-to-date syllabus for 2024/2025: JKM153 Role-Playing Game Studies Research Seminar syllabus 2025.docx
Session 1 Theory: Introductions & Safety Tools Assignment 1: Fill in the Tabletop Safety Checklist. Playthrough: For the Queen (DM-less TTRPG)
Session 2 Theory: TTRPG History & Combat Simulations Reading: Chapter 2: Player vs. Environment (37–69) of Švelch, Jaroslav. 2023. Player vs. Monster: The Making and Breaking of Video Game Monstrosity. Playful Thinking. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press. Assignment 2: Analyze a classic D&D monster. Optional Assignment: Create a Shadowdark character (you can use the online tool https://shadowdarklings.net/) Playthrough: Shadowdark’s starter adventure Lost Citadel of the Scarlet Minotaur (dungeon crawl TTRPG with modernized and streamlined mechanics)
Session 3 Theory: Political Economy of TTRPGs Reading: Knowles, Isaac, and Edward Castronova. 2018. “Economics and Role-Playing Games.” In Role-Playing Game Studies, edited by José P. Zagal and Sebastian Deterding, 300–313. London: Routledge. Assignment 3: Build a character on D&D Beyond and explore the monetization of this platform. Playthrough: D&D 5e oneshot (Phandelver and Below: The Shattered Obelisk)
Session 4 Theory: Actual Play and Mediatization of Role-Playing Games Reading: Friedman, Em. 2022. “How the First Decade of Actual Play Has Defined the Template.” Polygon (blog). September 14, 2022. https://www.polygon.com/23334732/how-the-first-decade-of-actual-play-has-defined-the-template. Assignment 4: Analyze an actual play episode, excluding Critical Role. Playthrough: Session Zero for an Actual Play Campaign (The goal is to design an actual play series drawing on best practices and the analyses of actual play episodes from Assignment 4. Session zero refers to a planning stage of a TTRPG campaign during which players and the GM discuss core themes, worldbuilding, game systems, character narrative arcs, character builds, etc.)
Session 5 Theory: Genre, Theme, and Mechanics in TTRPGs Reading: Albom, Sarah. 2021. “The Killing Roll: The Prevalence of Violence in Dungeons & Dragons.” International Journal of Role-Playing, no. 11 (December): 6–24. https://doi.org/10.33063/ijrp.vi11.281. Assignment 5: Analyze representation of colonialism, disability, racism, or sexism. Playthrough: a modern or non-fantasy TTRPG (selected by the students, e.g., Arc, Candela Obscura, Daggerheart, Glitter Hearts, Thirsty Sword Lesbians, Wanderhome); continued in Sessions 6 and 7
Session 6 Assignment 6: Prepare a proposal for your UnEssay. Playthrough: continued from the previous session
Session 7 Playthrough: continued from the previous session Poslední úprava: Švelch Jan, Mgr., Ph.D. (20.01.2025)
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