In the 40 years since their inception, tabletop role playing games have gone undergone very little change as an interactive medium. One of the major additions has been the development digital tools as a part of this medium. However, the affect on the flow of tabletop role playing experience have remained unexplored. This thesis intends to amend this through explorative research into the impact of digital tools on the tabletop role playing experience, as well as developing theoretical understanding of the experience. This will be done through an analysis of what is essential to experience as well as the experiences participants have while interacting with the shared fantasy that the experience takes place in. In order to approach the research question, “What is a tabletop role playing experience, and how does the use of digital tools in that experience affect the flow of said experience?” I employed two phenomenological methods; Giorgi’s Method Rules and the hermeneutic circle.
Data was gathered from over 140 participants. The majority of these participants took part in two surveys that investigated the affect of digital tools on the role playing. In addition to these surveys, two play tests were held in which one type of participant, referee or player, were required to use digital tools exclusively. These participants were then interviewed or given a questionnaire. The trends and implications of the surveys were used to determine the perception of tools used in the experience and the play tests were used to see what impact this had on the flow of the experience. Through analysis of the findings, the tabletop role playing experience was defined and conceptualized. Additionally, it was deduced through analysis of that dated that the implementation of digital tools had an impact on the flow of the experience dependant on the role of the participant. The play test referee experienced a minor improvement in flow due to digital tools, while players experienced a “stutter” in their flow due to the constant need to switch between tools.