Manyfold Theory

Iteration 7

Part One:Defining Tabletop Roleplaying Games

(For our purposes)

A Game Is:An activity governed by rules,

which are meant for entertainment.

Whist, Tag, Dungeons & Dragons,Fallout 3, Checkers and Chess; How To

Host A Murder; these are all games.

A Roleplaying Game Is:An game which includes roleplaying a

character whether by through performance, narration, or displaced action (tokens).

Dungeons & Dragons, Fallout 3, How To Host A Murder, World Of Warcraft;These Are All Roleplaying Games.

A Tabletop Roleplaying Game Is:A roleplaying game in which the roleplaying is restricted to “around a table” forms, and

has no digital dependencies.

Dungeons & Dragons, Ars Magica, Vampire: The Masquerade, Fiasco,

GURPS, Breaking The Ice;these are all tabletop roleplaying games.

Part Two:Event, Play, Fiction

TTRPGs Happen At Social Events:

At a gathering, a barbecue, or other event, usually held specifically to “hold” the game.

Event

Some Things Are “Playing”,Some Things Aren't.

A TTRPG group that doesn't agree on what play is, and what it isn't, in terms of

acceptable methods and actions, has a serious problem. Rules cover this.

EventGameplay

Gameplay Creates And Uses Fiction.

The imaginary “stuff” - characters, scenes, items, and so on - of a roleplaying game are

the fiction of the game.

EventGameplayFiction

Part Three:Gaming, Roleplaying,

Authoring

The Fiction Can Be Altered With A Variety Of Methods.

Three easy categories for these methods are Gaming, Roleplaying, and Authoring

Roleplaying:Altering the fiction by portrayal of a

character, speaking as that character and narrating their actions. In general,

roleplaying tends to the first person.

Gaming:Altering the fiction by manipulating tokens

and abstractions covered by the rules. If you roll dice to hit an enemy, you're

gaming when you do that.

Authoring:Altering the fiction by directly describing said fiction, without necessarily including any mediation through rules. In general, authoring trends towards speaking in the

third person.

Mixed Action:The above categories are handy!

But they are not absolutes.

For example, Improv-style play means using authorial power in a roleplaying voice.

Describing stunts or detailing the environment as part of action mixes up

authoring and gaming. “Ritualized speech” rules, such as in Polaris and Wushu, can

scramble all three.

Part Four:Motives For Action

(A Partial Selection)

CATHARSIS is a feeling of release that follows an intense or overwhelming experience. Not

necessarily a tragic or traumatic experience, but usually an emotional one. Catharsis

generally can only occur as a payoff to Roleplaying (and having author rights, as in

Improv, can actually get in the way).

IMMERSION is the feeling of being deeply engaged in a character or in the 'reality' of the

fictional world. Players looking for this (especially really serious kinds) generally want to avoid

gaming that strongly pushes one of the other kinds of enjoyment, and often want to avoid

authoring (including creation-oriented Improv) completely.

AGON is the thrill of winning against another person at the table. When the GM takes on the role of some adversaries and plays to whup the players, that’s agon. When a couple of players engage in creative one-upmanship, trying to

spout the coolest thing (in theatre terms, trying to upstage each other rather than collaborate),

that’s agon again. Agon can be good, but only if it’s acknowledged, constrained, and used

deliberately. Most Agon comes out of Gaming behaviours.

ALEA is the gambler’s thrill - the fun of taking a big risk, the tension that comes with it, win or lose. Games with dice rolls, and especially ones

where big stakes are riding on thatone throw of the dice, are good at giving alea.

Alea is pursued through Gaming.

FIERO is the joy of beating a challenging encounter, or overcoming a difficult obstacle. A pushover task isn't a source of Fiero – a knock-down, drag-out fight that requires tactical know-how to merely survive? That's where it lives.

Gaming is where Fiero comes out most reliably, but not the only place; ask an Old School player about beating a bastard encounter with wits, and

you may hear about some roleplayed Fiero.

LUDUS is the fun of pure mechanism, of exploring the game-as-rules-simulation.

Character optimizers are often getting Ludus fun “offstage” when they build and refine characters,

and merely “fulfilling” it when they use those characters in action. Complex rules engines that model things are reliable sources for Ludus fun.

KAIROSIS is the feeling that of fulfilment that comes when an arc of fictional development

completes – a character is tested and changes, a situation grows more complex, and is resolved. Actively seeking kairosis often means authoring, though it may only be authoring certain details relevant to you (revealing yourself from stunt-level disguise in Spirit Of The Century, picking

out character developments from Fallout in Dogs in the Vineyard).

THERE ARE many other kinds of enjoyment to be sought (at least a dozen more); the ones

given were selected as the ones that most contrast with other theory, show how a drive for

fun can push you towards a certain kind of action in play – If you're playing a heavy-

authoring improv game, searching for Fiero is not likely to work out well.

Part Five:In Sharp Relief

(Stuff That's Especially Obvious In This Light)

“Roleplaying vs. Roll-Playing”Is snark directed from people who dig

Immersion, Catharsis, and some kinds of Kairosis, at people who are chasing 'Gaming

fun' like Ludus, Fiero, or Alea.

“Traditional vs. Story-Gaming”Is a division of games that is mainly used to differentiate games where only the GM has any strong Authorial voice, and ones where

players have some explicit and notable degree of access to Authoring.

ImmersionHas been getting weirdly short shrift from theorists for a bit now. Seriously, guys.

“Step On Up” or “Gamism”Usually just means

Fiero-chasing, gaming-heavy play, in most casual discussions.

(Though this isn't the original meaning.)

“Story Now” or “Narrativism”Usually just means

Kairosis-chasing, authoring-heavy play, in most casual discussions.

(Though this isn't the original meaning.)

“Simulation”When used casually, typically just means

Ludus-seeking play that's aimed at the world rather than the characters (GURPS wants to

give you Ludus, baby. Hardcore.)