Mais le théâtre suppose un public et, comme nous l'avons déjà dit, les joueurs ont un double statut: le créateur du message est également son référent. Lisa Padol1 fonde en grande partie sa définition sur ce point:

un jeu de rôle permet aux gens de devenir simultanément à la fois les artistes qui créent une histoire et le public qui la voit se dérouler.2

Une histoire qui se déroule suppose donc tout une création narrative, point que privilégie Liz Henry:

Les participants des jeux de rôle (...)sont engagés dans un processus complexe de narrativité de groupe; ils sont les auteurs, les narrateurs, les personnages, les acteurs, les lecteurs, et le public d'un texte qui est à la fois une expérience et une orientation vers le produit.3

On peut donc dire que le rôliste occupe beaucoup de fonctions littéraires au sein du texte, ce qui constitue une particularité qui lui est propre. C'est en effet une "expérience" car la narration se vit par le biais des personnages, qui doivent en général, "produire" quelque chose, c'est-à-dire atteindre des objectifs ou remplir une mission. Bien que le cadre soit virtuel, les interrogations, les décisions des personnages et les conséquences qu'ils doivent assumer sont une réalité du jeu, et donc les émotions qui en résultent sont censées être ressenties, à différents degrés, par le joueur pour donner à son personnage une réaction cohérente.

En effet, son succès fait que certains la reprennent en la modifiant quelque peu, comme John H. Kim sur le site anglo-saxon Darkshire2 qui, un peu comme The Forge, analyse et critique le jeu de rôle. Kim, qui choisit de nommer cette théorie "Le Modèle Triple "(The Threefold Model)" change le terme narrativisme pour dramatisme3, mais le sens reste le même. Au niveau du simulationnisme, il met également l'accent sur le fait que "la résolution des évènements dans le jeu se base seulement sur des considérations en rapport avec le monde du jeu, sans prendre en compte d'éventuels éléments méta-jeu pour affecter la décision"4.

"In fact, [GNS]'s success has led others to take it up and modify it somewhat, such as John H. Kim, on the English-language site Darkshire, which, like the The Forge, analyzes and critiques RPGs. Kim, who chose to name this theory "The Threefold Model", replaces the term narrativism with dramatism, but the meaning remains the same."

Jozan (M): Casts three spells in combat, and hits twice (out of two attacks) for around 17 total damage
Tordek (M): Hits twice (out of two attacks) for 26 total damage
Mialee (F): Casts no spells and does no damage in combat
Lidda (F): Hits once (out of three attacks) for 3 total damage

There are 19 rules examples using named characters, and none of them include women. There are also thirty-something examples without any names, where they use "he" for the generic pronoun throughout the book. There are five unnamed sample NPCs on page 39 of which one is female -- a maid.

There are also a great many characters mentioned as part of the background -- some real and some fictional. In particular, there is detailed background in Victorian Age section on pages 22-33, and the fictional Mars and Venus background sections (pages 148-200). There are also some characters and background scattered through the rest of the book. There are roughly 45 named characters by my count. With the exception of a special section on page 32, there are three women mentioned: Queen Victoria, Queen Elizabeth I (mentioned once), and Miss Jennie Jerome (mentioned once as the American wife of Lord Randolph Churchill). There is, however, a special section on page 32 entitled "Remarkable Woman" which describes seven women of the period.

The reason there's a "sweet spot" in the current game is that it's the approximate range of levels where, purely by coincidence, the math of the system actually works. In those levels, PCs don't drop after one hit, and they don't take a dozen hits to wear down. In those levels, characters miss monsters occasionally, but less than half the time, and monsters miss characters only slightly more often. It's pure chance, really, but it means the game is fun. Outside of those levels, the math doesn't work that way, and the game stops being fun.

In Fourth Edition, we've totally revamped the math behind the system, and that's a big part of the way that we've extended the sweet spot across the whole level range.

• Nat, age 8, played "Sir Aralon (Lord of Fear)" -- a lawful good human fighter
• Zack, age 6, played "Sir Hittr" -- a lawful good human magic user
• Truman, age 7, played "Sir Dragonair" -- a neutral good dwarf fighter
• Milo, age 7, played "Eodred" -- a neutral good elven magic user
• Keary (Nat and Zack's dad) played "Ralf" -- a lawful good human cleric

• Bowdyn of Ressa, played by Mark our newcomer, a stone-mason who is fighting with his wife over his decision to come to the new city.
• Jaroud the Hound-Master, played by Dennis, an enterprising dog trainer who has now struck a deal with a shady boss in the city.
• Judyn of Denach, played by myself, a formidable older merchantwoman full of schemes to advance the order and herself.
• Kalrun the Veteran, played by Daniel, a retired soldier who has forsworn killing and adopted a teenage girl orphaned by war.
• Maban the Soothsayer, a young woman first raised by a monstrous Nolah not knowing who her parents were, then by Ilvirans in awe of her. She is developing a reputation as a crazy witch and prophetess.

1. The Challenge of Playing, having a sense of accomplishment over a hard task being overcome and completed.
2. The Exciting Alternative, seeing game play as a stimulating way to spend time, divert from less interesting tasks.
3. The Discovery Narrative, having an interest in the game's narrative elements that allow a level of wish fulfillment.
4. Competition with Peers, having some skills and abilities to compare with others, prove self as better.
5. Catalyst for Socializing, playing the game as a reason to spend time with others.
6. Creative Control, enjoying the ability to manipulate gaming elements.
7. Pleasurable Immersion, feeling present in the game to the exclusion of other thoughts, worries.

• The survey asked whether respondents had modified rules or scenarios, created them from scratch, or distributed them. Oddly enough, more people reported modifying rules systems than scenarios.
• None of the top four game categories had competition or challenge as statistically significant factors for their play.

"Gamist play, socially speaking, demands performance with risk, conducted and perceived by the people at the table. What's actually at risk can vary - for this level, though, it must be a social, real-people thing, usually a minor amount of recognition or esteem. The commitment to, or willingness to accept this risk is the key - it's analogous to committing to the sincerity of The Dream for Simulationist play. This is the whole core of the essay, that such a commitment is fun and perfectly viable for role-playing, just as it's viable for nearly any other sphere of human activity."

bluegargantua

A British naval captain boards a French warship (this being the Napoleonic era) and discovers a dragon's egg in the hold. This does not surprise him. In his reality, dragons are in common use by the military; popular breeds include Winchesters and Regal Coppers. But dragons bond at birth, and when the egg hatches at sea, our hero, Captain Laurence, must become the dragon's rider--which distresses him, since, as everyone knows, "no woman of sense and character would deliberately engage her affections on an aviator." Laurence's induction into the strange, insular world of 19th century dragon riders and his unfolding relationship with his highly intelligent mount, Temeraire, make enthralling reading--it's like Jane Austen playing Dungeons & Dragons with Eragon's Christopher Paolini.

P.S. so called "Story-games," heck I'd go so far as to even say Narrativism as a movement, have come about, in my opinion, largely due to the existence of GM's who never really wanted to be in sole control of the game, and wanted to play themselves. That is, we didn't want to give up the tools we had as GMs, but we also didn't want to have to "perform," but, rather, get to participate the way the players participate. So it's no surprise that we ended up with games that facilitate this.

I'll buy that, though by "sole control of the game" I think you mean "sole control of the GM's portion" -- i.e. background and NPCs and impersonal events. From peoples' statements here, it sounds like a lot of the drives also stems from having groups where only one person is willing to GM.

I've almost never had that. In my experience, typically around half the group are willing to GM. I also love the creativity involved in being a traditional player -- breathing life into a character and coming up with unexpected directions. That's one of the attractions of larps to me -- that they vastly reduce the amount of typical GM stuff. There are generally no NPCs, and few impersonal events and narration.

• Role playing games, e.g. frameworks, storytelling and graphics; art, design and creative industry
• Role playing culture, psychology, media, economics, and sociology
• Role playing technology, surveys, vocabulary, training and education
• Other aspects of role playing and related research and development

• Lifelike 2007
• Role, Play, Art 2006
• Dissecting Larp 2005
• Beyond Role and Play 2004
• As Larp Grows Up 2003

The Serious Games Initiative is focused on uses for games in exploring management and leadership challenges facing the public sector. Part of its overall charter is to help forge productive links between the electronic game industry and projects involving the use of games in education, training, health, and public policy.

kynn

• Should games about serious subjects be designed to encourage serious reflection? How should they do so and to what extent?
• Could more RPGs find a useful place in education, training, health, and public policy? How should we approach design of such games?