Published

26-9-2025

Type of Work

Article - Journal

Abstract

This article is in two parts: a creative prose artefact, and a critical exegesis situating the artefact in a wider context. It illustrates how roleplaying games explore community and identity, through a creative / critical lens. A prose dramatisation of a cooperative TTRPG (table top roleplaying game) session, played online over Discord and online gaming platform Roll20, juxtaposes the collaboratively imagined world, and the reality from which it is an escape. Themes of gender identity, isolation, precarious work and fluctuating health are explored within the timeframe of the Covid outbreak in Adelaide mid-2020, with the roleplaying session serving as a respite from insecure work and health challenges, while supporting creative agency and the expression of meaningful selfhood through collaborative play and problem-solving. This reflects a broader phenomenon of the increased popularity of online TTRPGS since Covid, and how they can serve as bulwarks against isolation, may assist in safely expressing and navigating gender identity, and act as an inclusive space for those living with an impairment (temporary or long term). The benefits of collaborative roleplay through TTRPGs in higher education, including support of neurodiverse, non-binary and non-traditional learners, are also discussed.

Citation

Muslera, P. (2025). 'What The world Would Be’: How Creating A Shared World Through Collaborative Roleplaying Helps Us Deal With Real-world Challenges. Imaginings: creative practice and inquiry: Vol. 1: Iss. 1, Article 9.
Available at: https://creo.sae.edu.au/imaginings/vol1/iss1/9

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