Legitimate Peripheral Participation by Novices in a Dungeons and Dragons Community

Abstract

Introduction

Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) is a cooperative tabletop roleplaying game in which players gather together to tell stories. Expert players have a wealth of experiences and game knowledge from which to draw upon while playing the game. Novices, on the other hand, have little experience to depend on when navigating the first few gaming sessions.

Objectives

The primary objective of this investigation was to describe how different novices become socialized to the D&D culture in this small community at the beginning of a new gaming campaign.

Methods

The present study is a cross-sectional qualitative participant observation of D&D novice socialization through the lens of communities of practice (CoP). Observation and interviews of two experts and five novice fifth edition D&D players revealed interactions and choices made by players related to the dissemination of cultural and practical knowledge and the fluidity of player and character identity within the scope of observed gameplay.

Results

The results showed that for some novices explicit in-game training was required to learn their role at the table, but socialization could come more quickly for novices who took extra steps to gain experience by engaging in the wider distributed and virtual community through online forums or viewing streamed actual-play D&D games. Three interaction types—player-to-player, player-to-dungeon master (DM), and character-to-character—for three distinct purposes—understanding game mechanics, describing scenes, and interacting in narrative—were observed. Additionally, the character choices regarding gender and in-game actions were explored.

Conclusion

The cooperative nature of D&D can afford novices explicit training from expert players at the table. However, as was observed during the game and confirmed in the interviews, socialization into this D&D gaming community also came from legitimate peripheral participation of the novices who engaged in the wider, virtual D&D community through online forums, actual-play streams and podcasts, and general knowledge of the fantasy genre.