2026 Undergraduate Research Showcase

Roleplaying or "Roll-playing": An Analysis of Humor in Dungeons and Dragons

Document Type

Student Presentation

Presentation Date

4-24-2026

Faculty Sponsor

Dr. Aiden VanderStouwe

Abstract

Dungeons and Dragons (DnD) is a tabletop-role playing game that has gained popularity through pop culture exposure, such as Stranger Things. While the setting and story are based in fantasy, the players’ language and actions have real linguistic value. Using published DnD rules, players create and embody characters to co-construct an overarching storyline. This poster seeks to show how multimodal roleplaying contributes to the social experience both in the game and in reality. To do this, I have taken a Linguistic Ethnographic approach (Tusting, 2019) to conduct participant observation on a long-term campaign being played in-person in a small city in Idaho. I analyze the verbal and physical roleplaying choices made to reveal how the performance of each individual player is deeply intentional to elicit reactions from other players. These choices are crucial to the co-creation of not only the storyline’s plot, but the tone as well. I conclude that multimodal roleplaying is essential not only to the game, but to the social experience as a whole.

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