Feel free to read my proposal or the abridged introduction below.

THE FEELING OF LIVING IN A STORY:

THE HEURISTICS OF PROFESSIONAL TTRPG PERFORMERS'
OPTIMAL EXPERIENCES AT THE INTERSECTION OF
NARRATIVE DESIGN AND IMPROVISATION

I create stories in two worlds: in theatre as a director, stage manager, stage combat performer, actor, and writer, and in games as a creator of tabletop role-playing games (TTRPGs) and gamified STEM and English language instruction. Due to my passion for gaming, I am in the process of transitioning my career into game design. As part of this pivot, I am learning everything I can about how stories function within games with the goal of becoming a game writer and narrative designer. Luckily, I am working on my PhD dissertation at NYU in Educational Theatre, which enables me to do a deep dive into this most fascinating of subjects!

Research Questions

How do TTRPGs use collective improvisation and narrative design to create the feeling of ‘living in a story’?

This inquiry is equal parts about technique and subjective experience, exploring how meaningful experiences are designed, felt and internalized by tabletop role-playing game performers. I posit that the use of collaborative improvisation and the four constructs of narrative design I’ve chosen (micro-flow, meaningful play, dual-world engagement, and emergent complexity) allow moments of ‘lived-story feeling’ to emerge. Perhaps I will discover that another construct is required, as well.

Sub-Questions

1.       Micro-Flow:
How do players and game masters experience and sustain episodic bursts of focus and engagement during TTRPG sessions, and what narrative design elements or improvisational techniques facilitate these moments?

2.       Meaningful Play:
In what ways do the rules, collaborative storytelling, and emergent gameplay of TTRPGs contribute to players’ perceptions of meaningful play, and how does this interplay enhance the feeling of narrative agency within the story?

3.       Dual-World Engagement:
How do players navigate the balance between immersion in their characters’ fictional world and meta-awareness of their roles as co-creators, and what impact does this dual-world engagement have on the co-creation of a cohesive narrative?

4.       Emergent Complexity:
How do player decisions and improvisations interact with the game’s mechanics to create emergent complexity in TTRPG narratives, and what role does this unpredictability play in fostering the lived-story feeling?

Overview: The Lived-Story Experience as a State of Flow

“How do we get the feeling of living in a story?”

Brennan Lee Mulligan, Adventuring Academy, Season 4, Ep. 3 (2022)

For this project, I will focus on explicating a phenomenon I will refer to as the ‘lived-story feeling’ in attribution to professional tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) narrative designer and improvisor Brennan Lee Mulligan’s “feeling of living in a story”. This is a state of optimal experience which I believe player-performers, and perhaps their audience, can feel when the principles of narrative game design align with the skillful use of collaborative improvisation.

Some performers of TTRPGs have identified this lived-story feeling as a type of flow, as demonstrated through the following exchange that occurred between the cast of Worlds Beyond Number while discussing how they get into character by using elements of narrative design, such as worldbuilding, as anchors for improvisation (2023).

Brennan Lee Mulligan:     There's a moment where you're on stage, or where you're at the table, and the little you inside of your head that is managing your day-to-day activities and sort of logging them in the story of you—the you that watches yourself from within—there's a moment where you're on stage, or at the table, or any other kind of performance, where that thing melts. Where the sugar stirs into the tea and dissolves, and all of a sudden you are existing in a state of being, released from the burden of identity and ego. And, boy, what a tasty little dessert that is. Yum, yum!

Aabria Iyengar:               A fact. Just my last note on that is—because I've had people ask how I went from sports to this, and it's because it's the same thing. Sports is high level performance, and that same sort of like—they call The Zone more often than not in sports—but it's that same ego death.

Erika Ishii:                       Flow.

Aabria Iyengar:               Yeah, and Flow. Yeah. So we all just out here seeking flow, baby!

Erika Ishii:                       I. Crave. That.

Lou Wilson:                     We all seek Flow.

According to these performers, the feeling of living in a story is characterized as a transient and liminal state of flow where the story becomes real to them in that moment, bringing their immersion and engagement to a deeply satisfying level. Key to their description is that these experiences happen in moments when certain factors align, but the traditional definition of flow emphasizes a sustained state achieved during uninterrupted absorption in an activity (Csíkszentmihályi, 2008). In TTRPGs, the story is built through various collaborative actions that are interwoven with each other. Thus, performers must contend with constant interruptions in all aspects of their art form as the game cycles through modes of listening to narration, improvisational acting and on-the-fly adjustments, minding rules and game systems (mechanics), rolling dice and responding to their outcome, negotiating social contracts with other performers, and performing for an audience. Some of these are factors shared with live theatre performance, and others are unique to the study of immersion and engagement in games. While sustained flow does not seem to be the correct construct to describe the ‘lived-story feeling,’ the field of narrative design offers several interconnected constructs—micro-flow, meaningful play, dual-world engagement, and emergent complexity—that provide a multifaceted framework for analyzing its dynamics through the study of immersion and engagement.

State of the Field: Narrative Design and Theatre

Narrative design is the interdisciplinary practice of crafting the structure, flow, and interactive elements of storytelling within a medium. Theatre practitioners would recognize forms like immersive and interactive theatre, devised theatre, forum theatre, transmedia productions, and gamified performances as utilizing elements of narrative design to structure audience interaction, collaborative storytelling, and non-linear narratives (Govan, Nicholson, & Normington, 2007; Machon, 2013; Boal, 2002). In mediums like TTRPGs, live-action role-playing games (LARPs), video games, and transmedia platforms, narrative design focuses on crafting dynamic story frameworks that integrate player or audience agency, creating emergent and interactive narrative experiences (Ryan, 2001; Salen & Zimmerman, 2004; Murray, 1997). It encompasses the integration of gameplay mechanics, narrative progression, and player agency to create meaningful, immersive experiences. Narrative design extends traditional narratology by embedding storytelling into interactive systems, emphasizing how story elements like plot, character, and setting evolve through user participation and choice (Salen Tekinbaş & Zimmerman, 2004; Murray, 1997).

Narrative design and theatre share a focus on storytelling, engagement, immersion, and performance, but differ in their use of interactivity and agency. Both rely on participants—actors in theatre and players in games—to enact roles and shape narratives, often blending structured frameworks with improvisation. In theatre, live performance adapts to audience feedback, while narrative design enables players to directly influence story outcomes through mechanics, mirroring collaborative ensemble work. Immersion is central to both fields, achieved in theatre through sensory and performative elements and in narrative design through interactive gameplay. Both also embrace emergent complexity, with theatre fostering dynamic stories through actor contributions and narrative design allowing players to co-create evolving storylines. Theatre’s improvisational techniques, like those of Viola Spolin and Keith Johnstone, provide tools for training narrative coherence and flexibility, which are similarly valued in narrative design. Together, these shared principles highlight the synergy between the two fields.

Narrative design is an evolving field that bridges storytelling and interactivity, making it a natural ally to theatrical practices. Both fields aim to engage participants in meaningful experiences, whether through live performance or interactive systems. By integrating principles of improvisation, audience engagement, and emergent complexity, narrative design can inform and be informed by theatre, creating opportunities for richer, more participatory narratives.

Flow in Interactive Performance: The Four Constructs

The concept of flow, as defined by Mihaly Csíkszentmihályi, describes an optimal state of focus and engagement characterized by clear goals, immediate feedback, a balance between challenge and skill, and the merging of action and awareness (2008). Experiencing flow has been hypothesized to be unique to human consciousness, or even a defining trait of consciousness, and has been sought out by us since the beginning of time for entertainment, social change, therapeutic benefit, connection, or simply as validation of being alive (Groos & Baldwin, 2018; Huizinga, 1998; Nachmanovitch, 1990). This framework has been influential in understanding immersive experiences, but its application to the improvisational nature of TTRPGs and performative narratives has sparked significant critique and expansion. Narrative design scholars such as Katie Salen, Eric Zimmerman, and Janet Murray argue that the uninterrupted absorption central to flow theory is insufficient to capture the fragmented, dual-world engagement inherent in games and improvisational performance. This has led to the development of complementary constructs such as micro-flow, meaningful play, dual-world engagement, and emergent complexity, which I have chosen from different sources to form a cohesive analytical lens. Used together, they reflect the unique dynamics of engagement and immersion in TTRPGs.

Definitions of the Four Constructs

Micro-Flow

Micro-flow refers to brief, immersive states of optimal experience achieved during focused, manageable gameplay tasks that provide immediate feedback. In games, micro-flow moments often arise from engaging with clearly defined rules or mechanics, enhancing player immersion and satisfaction.

Sources: Grobel (1991); Juul (2013); Fullerton (2014); Csikszentmihalyi (1990).

Meaningful Play

Meaningful play describes the relationship between player actions and system feedback (analyzed through rules, play, and culture), where choices and outcomes are integrated into the narrative and mechanics, creating a sense of agency and coherence.

Sources: Salen & Zimmerman (2004); McGonigal (2011); Fullerton (2014).

Dual-World Engagement

Dual-world engagement captures the simultaneous immersion in a fictional narrative world and the physical, social reality of gameplay, creating a dynamic interplay between imagination and present context.

Sources: Murray (1997); Fine (1983); Bowman (2010); Torner & White (2012); Bizzocchi & Tanenbaum (2012).

Emergent Complexity

Emergent complexity arises when simple, iterative systems (e.g., rules, random factors, and mechanics) generate intricate, unpredictable patterns of narrative and interaction through player collaboration and improvisation that are ‘larger than the sum of their parts’.

Sources: Bizzocchi & Woodbury (2003); Bizzocchi (2007); Brown (2016); Juul (2013); Strugnell, Berry, Zambetta, & Greuter (2018); Fullerton (2014); Walsh (2011).

You can continue reading my proposal by downloading the PDF embedded in the page.