Abstract

The introduction of interactivity to popular narratives has changed the relationships of authors and readers to those works, as well as the relations between the authors and readers themselves. In fact, the nature itself of those new texts is being put to question as they are no longer set but open; no longer the result of single minds, but that of a collaborative effort between conceptors and interactors. In this context, recreational role-playing games (e.g.: Advanced Dungeons & Dragons) are seen as precursors to computerized interactive narrative media (i.e. such as computerized text-based adventure games, Muds, CD-Roms, hypertext narratives, etc.). After a review of various conceptions of interactivity, play is put forward as the most productive metaphor to start thinking about narrative interactivity. Different aspects of role-playing games (social, ludic, ideologic, etc.) are then introduced, after which their historical filiation with computerized interactive media will be presented. Finally, a discussion of the new ways in which power and pleasure are articulated around the open text will be initiated, where it will be shown how role-playing games can contribute to that reflection