Date of Award

Winter 3-21-2026

Document Type

Masters Thesis

Degree Name

M.A. in Anthropology

Organizational Unit

College of Arts Humanities and Social Sciences, Anthropology

First Advisor

Esteban Gomez

Second Advisor

Kelly Fayard

Third Advisor

Rafael Fajardo

Copyright Statement / License for Reuse

All Rights Reserved
All Rights Reserved.

Keywords

Dungeons & Dragons, Game studies, Gender diversity, Safe spaces, Tabletop games, Worldbuilding, Frame analysis

Abstract

Many gamers prefer to play tabletop roleplaying games, or TTRPGs, in order to a) join a community, and b) tell a story collaboratively with friends and acquaintances. This thesis discusses selfhood-making, safe spaces, and allegory in imaginary worlds from the perspective of Erving Goff man’s frame analysis. It relies on a theoretical framework of imagined communities, the magic circle, and subcreation. This research culminated in the understanding that people play TTRPGs for a variety of reasons - collaborative storytelling and exercising critical thinking skills, but respondents overwhelmingly reported that they enjoyed the ability to socialize with friends and strangers, and join a community.

While plenty of work has been done on video game studies, TTRPGs remain an untapped vein of study. As tabletop games continue to flourish, it is critical to understand the inner workings of this community and what values they hold dear.

Copyright Date

3-2026

Publication Statement

Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.

Rights Holder

Cal Quayle

Provenance

Received from ProQuest

File Format

application/pdf

Language

English (eng)

Extent

138 pgs

File Size

918 KB

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