Just rol[l/e] with it : the sense-making practices of a tabletop roleplaying game community

Introduction: A study was conducted into tabletop roleplaying games, using theoretical lenses from both information research and tabletop roleplaying game research, to observe the complexity of the relationship between the players and the official rulebooks. Method: A series of qualitative interviews was conducted with two groups of tabletop roleplaying gamers (a large, established group and a smaller, group of less experienced players) based on how they interact with the source material (the rulebooks). Analysis: Coded transcripts were analysed for trends and patterns of discourse, and the theoretical perspective of sense-making (from information research) was applied, to provide meaning to two common and related discursive frameworks from tabletop roleplaying research: the divide between ludologists (or role players); and how illicit knowledge is constructed through metagaming. Results: The study found the discursive frameworks surrounding metagaming and the role/roll player divide to be less a dividing factor and more a concept all players grasped with in the project of co-creating a fantastic reality: a sense-making process. Conclusions: From the point of information research, the study found that tabletop roleplaying games are an example of an information-rich leisure activity that allows and encourages its participants to ignore the official rules surrounding it. From the point of view of tabletop roleplaying game literature, the study casts doubt on the role/roll player dyad commonly adopted by theorists.