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Invited Paper

No. 6 (2025): Tools of the Trade: Props, Techniques, and Inspirations for Analog Role-Playing

ANTs on the TRPG Table: Collaborating with Actor-Network Theory to Understand Role-Playing

Submitted
May 14, 2025
Published
2025-11-22

Abstract

This article introduces actor-network theory (ANT) as an innovative methodological approach for studying tabletop role-playing games (TRPGs). Moving beyond analytical frameworks that prioritize narrative and ludic elements, I examine how material actors co-shape gameplay experiences. Through multi-sited ethnographic fieldwork conducted across various gaming locations in Germany from 2010 to 2014, I developed a systematic approach for analyzing material agency in TRPGs. The research introduces the novel methodological technique of "speaking materials," where material actors are given narrative voice to illuminate their often-overlooked contributions to the role-playing network. This approach reveals how seemingly chaotic arrangements of gaming materials actually constitute sophisticated collaborative networks that enable role-playing to function. By demonstrating how material actors mediate relationships between human participants, game mechanics, and narrative elements, this study provides researchers with transferable tools for examining the material dimensions of role-playing games, also across different cultural contexts. While this study is situated within specific German gaming communities and was conducted before the widespread adoption of digital tools in TRPGs, the methodological approach offers broader applications for understanding material-player relations in diverse contexts.

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