Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School Dungeons, Dragons, & Star Wars: Sound in TEmmaab Jensenletop Role-Playing Games Follow this and additional works at the DigiNole: FSU's Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected] FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF MUSIC DUNGEONS, DRAGONS, & STAR WARS: SOUND IN TABLETOP ROLE-PLAYING GAMES By EMMA JENSEN A Thesis submitted to the College of Music in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Music 2020 Emma Jensen defended this thesis on March 30, 2020. The members of the supervisory committee were: Michael B. Bakan Professor Directing Thesis Denise Von Glahn Committee Member Stephen McDowell Committee Member The Graduate School has verified and approved the above-named committee members, and certifies that the thesis has been approved in accordance with university requirements. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Thank you to my parents, Robin and Cindy. You have given me endless love and support throughout my life. I don’t know if there is anything I can say to match that, but thanks for believing in your daughter. To my brothers, Eli and Isaac, thank you for (sometimes) wanting to play games with me. From Clue to Mansions of Madness, Pokémon Colosseum to Guitar Hero: I couldn’t ask for better moments to cherish with my siblings. Thank you to my thesis advisor, Dr. Michael B. Bakan. Your enthusiasm, guidance, and attention to detail have been instrumental in the formation of this thesis. Thank you for answering all my questions and for pushing me through the moments when I felt stuck. Thank you to the other esteemed members of my committee, Dr. Denise Von Glahn and Dr. Stephen McDowell. Dr Von Glahn, your brilliant questions, careful reading, and thoughtful critiques helped polish my thinking and my writing. Dr. McDowell, thank you for your perceptive assessments and encouraging me to foreground my theoretical offerings. You have been a wonderful committee, and I look forward to the possibility of working with you all again in the near future. Thank you to all the teachers and professors who have guided me to ethnomusicology. Mrs. Antoinette Babcock, Mr. Darcy Brandenburg, Dr. Julia Chybowski, Dr. Elizabeth DeLamater, and Dr. Alison Shaw: you have all kindled and rekindled my passion for music throughout my life. I can’t thank you all enough for the dedication and care that you have gifted to me and your numerous students. Thank you for helping me arrive here. Finally, thank you to all of my informants and friends who let me borrow some of their words to write this thesis. Adam, Alex, Ben, Chris, Chuck, Eric, Esteban, I R NUB, Kent, Lexi, Mike, Noah, Robert, Sam, Samantha, Sarah, Shaine, and Shannon: this thesis would have never iii come to fruition without your expertise. Special thanks to the Star Wars and Restona groups who allowed me to watch their gaming sessions and take notes at their tables. Thank you all for sharing your time, your thoughts, and your passion. I hope I have done your words justice. This is only a small measure of my gratitude, but none of the following pages would have been possible without you all. Thank you. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Figures ................................................................................................................................ vi List of Common Abbreviations .................................................................................................... vii Information on Informants and Interviews .................................................................................. viii Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... ix PREFACE ........................................................................................................................................1 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................5 CHAPTER 2: MUSIC IN TABLETOP ROLE-PLAYING GAMES............................................24 CHAPTER 3: VOICE IN TABLETOP ROLE-PLAYING GAMES ............................................72 CHAPTER 4: HAPTIC AUDITION AND AMBIENT NOISE IN TABLETOP ROLE- PLAYING GAMES .....................................................................................................................109 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION ....................................................................................................137 APPENDIX: LIST OF INTERVIEWS ........................................................................................142 Bibliography ................................................................................................................................143 Biographical Sketch .....................................................................................................................146 v LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1.1 “Red Dragon City Raid” SoundSet (screenshot by author). .......................................29 Figure 1.2 “Red Dragon City Raid” SoundSet featuring “Dragon Fire” shortcut button (screenshot by author). ...............................................................................................31 Figure 1.3 “Brindol Town” SoundSet (screenshot by author). ....................................................31 Figure 1.4 “Market Morning” shortcut button created by author (screenshot by author). ..........32 vi LIST OF COMMON ABBREVIATIONS 1e, 2e, etc.: A numbered edition (e.g., 1e means 1st edition); most often used in the context of Dungeons & Dragons CR: Critical Role podcast CRPG: Computer role-playing game D(#): Dice with (x) number of sides; e.g., a twenty-side dice is a D20 D&D: Dungeons & Dragons DM: Dungeon Master DMing/ DMed: A verbal form of “Dungeon Master” (i.e., Dungeon Mastering or Dungeon Mastered) D/GM: Dungeon or Game Master, meaning both could apply in the given context GM: Game Master MMORPG: Massively multi-player online role-playing game PHB: Player’s Handbook (from D&D) RPG: Role-playing game SWRPG: Star Wars Role-Playing Game TAZ: The Adventure Zone podcast TRPG: Tabletop role-playing game vii INFORMATION ON INFORMANTS AND INTERVIEWS Most of my informants elected to be called by their first or full actual names. Only one of the eighteen total participants decided to use a pseudonym. In the instances when I refer to players who I do not directly name as my informants, especially in public gaming situations at conventions, I have changed their names and omitted any details that might otherwise identify them. References to anonymous players are included in relation to my own experiences, or to quotations from my identified informants, and are not meant to represent the views of these anonymous players. Unless otherwise noted in the text, all quotations originate from single interview sessions with informants. Interviews are listed alphabetically by first name of informants in the Appendix at the end of the text and include dates and interview methods (in person, by phone, or via email). viii ABSTRACT In this thesis I posit that sound – including music, the voice, and ambient and environmental noises – is necessary for creating immersive environments in tabletop role-playing games (TRPGs). It is the first ethnomusicological study to examine the role of sound in these TRPGs, although previous, related musicological scholarship has focused on video game and computer role-playing games (Cheng, 2014; Miller, 2012). Throughout the thesis, I draw on my own experiences with these games, participant-observation and observation of other TRPG groups, and interviews I completed with eighteen informants. Through analysis and interpretation of data collected using these fieldwork methods, I examine specific examples of how music is used in gaming sessions, explore how the use of music relates to Daniel Mackay’s “imaginary- entertainment environment” (2001), and offer the term “movie simile” to describe common comparisons that players make between film and TRPG soundtracks. My theoretical framework on voice draws from Brian Kane’s model (2014) to discuss how players utilize echos, logos, topos, and technê to create meaning and worlds in their games, as well as to illustrate how real- life experiences with the voice affect a player’s reception of natural and character voices. Additionally, I offer the term “haptic audition” to describe how tactility and space affect the ways in which players experience these sonic gaming environments. Throughout the thesis, I describe my model of sonic and perceptual layers that include the musical layer, the vocal layer, and the third and fourth layers, which include ambient and environmental noises, respectively. ix PREFACE My name is Annika Washington. I am a ballet student at The Juilliard School of Dance – or, at least, I was until two days ago. Unfortunately, it seems that being admitted to Emily Card’s Sanatorium has branded me a “liability” to my own safety and that of other students. The letter I received told me there is a possibility that I could be readmitted when my “condition ameliorates,” but… well, whatever. We’ll see. In the meantime I guess I’ll just use the grounds to practice. Who says you need a bar to do ballet? … Right? It’s not all bad here. Plenty of sunshine, a piano in the sitting room, and even people I get along with pretty well. I can’t remember their names right now, but there’s an old guy, a young dude who has