Free Stuff! Chapters from Role-Playing Game Studies: Transmedia Foundations

Among all the other interesting works that came out for Free RPG Day, the scholars who wrote Role-Playing Game Studies: A Transmedia Approach put a handful of chapters from the book up for free download.

The book came out from Routledge last year after having been in the works for a very long time. I have read it, and it is mostly good. It’s the first and thus far only book to present in one place all the different strains of RPG studies.

These links originate from a Facebook post by the editor Jose Zagal, and I’m reproducing them below for convenience, along with the rest of the table of contents. I will update the post as more chapters become available.

1 The Many Faces of Role-Playing Game Studies
Sebastian Deterding and José P. Zagal

PART I: DEFINITIONS

2 Definitions of “Role-Playing Games”
José P. Zagal and Sebastian Deterding

PART II: FORMS

3 Precursors
Jon Peterson

4 Tabletop Role-Playing Games
William J. White, Jonne Arjoranta, Michael Hitchens, Jon Peterson, Evan Torner, and Jonathan Walton

5 Live-Action Role-Playing Games
J. Tuomas Harviainen, Rafael Bienia, Simon Brind, Michael Hitchens, Yaraslau I. Kot, Esther MacCallum-Stewart, David W. Simkins, Jaakko Stenros, and Ian Sturrock

6 Single-Player Computer Role-Playing Games
Douglas Schules, Jon Peterson, and Martin Picard

7 Multi-Player Online Role-Playing Games
Mark Chen, Riley Leary, Jon Peterson, and David W. Simkins

8 Online Freeform Role-Playing Games
Jessica Hammer

9 The Impact of Role-playing Games on Culture
Esther MacCallum-Stewart, Jaakko Stenros, and Staffan Björk

PART III: DISCIPLINARY PERSPECTIVES

10 RPG Theorizing by Designers and Players
Evan Torner

11 Performance Studies and Role-Playing Games
Sarah Hoover, David W. Simkins, Sebastian Deterding, David Meldman, and Amanda Brown

12 Sociology and Role-Playing Games
J. Patrick Williams, David Kirschner, Nicolas Mizer, and Sebastian Deterding

13 Psychology and Role-Playing Games
Sarah Lynne Bowman and Andreas Lieberoth

14 Literary Studies and Role-Playing Games
David Jara and Evan Torner

15 Learning and Role-Playing Games
Jessica Hammer, Alexandra To, Karen Schrier, Sarah Lynne Bowman, and Geoff Kaufman

16 Economics and Role-Playing Games
Isaac Knowles and Edward Castronova

17 Science and Technology Studies and Role-Playing Games
Rafael Bienia

18 Game Design and Role-Playing Games
Staffan Björk and José P. Zagal

19 Communication Research and Role-Playing Games
William J. White

PART IV: INTERDISCIPLINARY ISSUES

20 Worldbuilding in Role-Playing Games
Karen Schrier, Evan Torner, and Jessica Hammer

21 Role-Playing Games as Subculture and Fandom
Esther MacCallum-Stewart and Aaron Trammell

22 Immersion and Shared Imagination in Role-Playing Games
Sarah Lynne Bowman

23 Players and Their Characters in Role-Playing Games
Sarah Lynne Bowman and Karen Schrier

24 Transgressive Role-play
Jaakko Stenros and Sarah Lynne Bowman

25 Sexuality and the Erotic in Role-Play
Ashley ML Brown and Jaakko Stenros

26 Representation and Discrimination in Role-Playing Games
Aaron Trammell

27 Power and Control in Role-Playing Games
Jessica Hammer, Whitney Beltran, Jonathan Walton, and Moyra Turkington