Narrativas colaborativas e participativas no RPG Call of Cthulhu

Abstract

In this research, we try to contribute to the understanding of the role-playing games’ (RPGs) place in the field of art. RPGs promote the creation of narratives through a ludological medium, a combination to which we attribute the term “ludonarrative”. We address the RPGs using real game examples from the seventh edition of Call of Cthulhu — a rules system inspired by the work of H. P. Lovecraft’s cosmic horror. We show that the ludological aspect of the RPG is perpetuated from the division of player roles — who have distinct narrative powers — until its final product, being essentially indivisible from the narrative. On this matter, distinct RPG rule systems also contribute to the creation of distinct plots, which can only be understood through a code similar to that found in popular fiction when dealing with genres (horror, science fiction, fantasy, etc.). Call of Cthulhu gamifies many elements in its ludonarrative — such as the body and mind of the characters — trying to mimic Lovecraft’s style, which differentiates it from the ludonarrative found in other ludological rules set (such as Dungeons & Dragons, for example), that will look for other inspirations and gamify different aspects of the narrative. Based on the conception of the RPG ludonarrative, then, we describe how narratological elements — such as the characters and the narrators, their focalization and voice — behave during the game session. The player, we conclude, must behave simultaneously as their ludonarrative’s author and audience, while being able to “sew” their narration — either in the epic or dramatic form — to that of the other participants, in a similar way to the rhapsodic narrator described in contemporary theater theory.