Die Dissertation Role Playing Materials untersucht die materielle Seite von Larp, Mixed Reality und Pen'n'Paper Rollenspielen. Wie kooperieren Gewandung, Virtuelle-Realität-Brille, oder ein Bleistift mit Erzählung und Spielregeln? Neben Antworten auf diese Frage versucht das Buch das Verständnis von Rollenspiel als eine Handlung zu erweitern, die nicht nur von Menschen geprägt wird.Role Playing Materials examines how larp, mixed and tabletop role-playing games work. Costumes, computers, pen and paper are not passive elements. Materials change and are changed during role-playing game sessions, because they work together with narrative and ludic elements. If we think about materials as social elements, how do they make role-playing games work? To answer this question, Role Playing Materials draws on ethnographic fieldwork among role-playing communities in Germany. The analysis draws upon the fields of game studies, and science, technology and society studies.

Rafael Bienia (wintochowice, Poland, 1981) obtained a Magister Artium degree in Comparative Literature and English Studies at Johannes Gutenberg-Universität in Mainz, Germany. Rafael has worked for the corporate communications department at Deutsche Telekom AG in Darmstadt (2007-2011) and as a teacher at Maastricht University (2011-2015). He received his basic teaching qualification (BKO) in 2014. Rafael wrote Role Playing Materials at the Literature and Arts department of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at Maastricht University (2011-2015).

AcknowledgementsChapter 1: Introduction 13Chapter 2: Methodology& Theory2.1 Introduction, or Following Materials to Multiple Role-Playing Game Sites2.2 Introduction to Actor-Network Theory, or Building a Vocabulary2.2.1 Actors, or various sites of action2.2.2 Network, or action at a distance2.2.3 Agency, or making a difference2.2.4 Mediator and intermediary, or translating agency2.3 Methodology, or Selection of Qualitative Empirical Data2.3.1 From participant observation to field notes2.3.2 From semi-structured interviews to transcripts2.3.3 Ethical considerations2.4 Theory, or an Actor-Network Vocabulary for Game Studies2.4.1 Play2.4.2 Role playing2.4.3 Game2.4.4 Role-playing games2.4.5 Table 1. A vocabulary for an actor-network study of role playing2.4.6 Situating the study2.5 Conclusion, or a Vocabulary for Writing about Role Playing MaterialsChapter 3: Larp3.1 Introduction, or Following the Garb3.2 Problem, or Stories and Rules are not enough3.3 Results, or Material Work in German Larp3.3.1 A rhizome of actions3.3.2 A short actor-network history of German larp3.3.3 Role playing with garb3.4 Conclusion, or an Actor-Network Study of German Larp in the 2010sChapter 4: Mixed Reality Role-Playing Games4.1 Problem, or an Emerging Technology4.2 Introduction, or Reassembling Realities4.2.1 A second chance for augmented and virtual reality technology4.2.2 Computers everywhere4.3 Results, or Following Emerging Technologies with Role Playing4.3.1 Obscurus 2 or Larp and Augmented Reality4.3.2 Virtual reality and role playing4.4 Conclusion, or Before the Blackbox of Mixed Reality Role-Playing Games