Toni White

Date of Award

2022

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Humanities

First Advisor

Carr, Emily

Area of Concentration

English

Abstract

Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) is a game that pioneered the tabletop roleplay game genre. Given its foundational status within the genre, I pinpoint and analyze the ways D&D provides community and escapism, particularly considering the benefits minority and marginalized players gain from these concepts outside the game’s fiction. Conversely, this project points to examples in a larger pattern of D&D alienating those same marginalized players with complacent use of harmful stereotypes. I outline the ways the game has influenced pop culture and game design (with the creation of game mechanics such as the “Hit Point” and “Alignment Chart”) to center a player-character focused mindset. Alongside this, I review two monsters from D&D classified as “playable races”: the orc and the tiefling. The problematic influences of the Orc and the racial stereotypes that carry over into D&D contrast with the tiefling, a monster adopted by many queer players who find empowerment over freedom of gender-expression, reclamation of demonic imagery, and having narrative control over their otherness. In response to these critiques and benefits, I apply the analysis creatively in the form of a Dungeons and Dragons Adventure Module that lays out communication tools, roleplay etiquette, and a sample of a larger adventure campaign.

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