The Wunderkammer-Gesamtkunstwerk Model: A Framework for Role-Playing Game Analysis and Design Lars Konzack Copenhagen University Royal School of Library and Information Science (RSLIS) Fredrik Bajers Vej 7K DK-9220 Aalborg Ø +45 98157922 mtw296@iva.ku.dk ABSTRACT This article presents the Wunderkammer-Gesamtkunstwerk (Wu- Ge) Model as a framework for the analysis and design of role- playing games. This framework is divided into four parts: Sub- Creation, Ludus, Performance, and Narrative. Sub-Creation is the world-building of the role-playing game. Ludus is the game mechanics and play rules. Performance is how the role-playing game is performed by the players. And Narrative is the storyline of the role-playing game. The model seeks to connect rather than tear these four parts and does this by the concept of Gesamtkunstwerk which means that indeed all the parts should work together as a whole work of art. Another concept is the Wunderkammer which means cabinet of curiosities. In this context the role-playing game is seen as a Wunderkammer and every item, concept, or idea put into this Wunderkammer is somehow changed by the relation to the other curiosities of the Wunderkammer. Furthermore, the Wu-Ge Model presents a structure based on two dichotomies: Concrete vs. Abstract and Action vs. Contemplation. Performance and Narrative belong to the Concrete, while Ludus and Sub-Creation belong to the Abstract. Performance and Ludus belong to Action, while Sub- Creation and Narrative belong to Contemplation. This means that the role-playing game wavers between the abstract and the concrete and between active and contemplative states. The aim of the article is to show how this knowledge can be used to not only analyse role-playing games but use it as a way to design role- playing games as well. The Wu-Ge Model helps define role- playing games and understand how they work as Wunderkammer and Gesamtkunstwerk. Keywords Role-playing games, performance, narratology, ludology, sub- creation 1. INTRODUCTION Traditional role-playing theory has been preoccupied with game culture, play experience and design components (Fine 1983, Gygax 1989, King & Borland 2003). A study of role-playing game books has been done by e.g. Sean Patrick Fannon. This is a thorough review of role-playing game books at the time, including ratings of their complexity, popularity, completeness, and versatility (Fannon 1999). Little effort, however, has been put into understanding the function of these books as a medium to convey, not only the role-playing game experience, but that of role-playing worlds as well. We may remember Dungeons & Dragons, Warhammer FRPG, Call of Cthulhu, Shadowrun and Vampire: The Masquerade from our own gaming experiences. Some of us may never even have read any of these game rulebooks – just shared in the performance and rules that they contained, but even so the game master, and, most likely, some of the other players would have perused these secluded tomes, and tried to convey their experience into a role- playing game scenario. Each of these game worlds put forth a direction of events and a virtual space to investigate or explore. It’s more than just an event; it’s a Wunderkammer (chamber of wonders) the game master and players can explore and draw material from, to be used for the further exploration of the game world. Without these thoroughly described game worlds there is nothing to uncover but the rude pleasures of emotional feedback. LARP (live action role-playing), on the other hand, has been compared to improvisational theatre or performance theatre (Choy 2004, Fatland 2006, Flood 2006, Lampo 2011). In this view, LARP is a direct continuation of a theatre tradition; a view only made possible by forgetting LARP’s rich and intricate intermediary lineage from tabletop role-playing games. This cultural heritage is not unimportant and should not be taken lightly; it actually influences content. While there may of course be Shakespeare or Brecht inspired LARPs, most of the LARP scene is inspired from the role-playing book tradition, and, accordingly, that of their game worlds. Some might think we should leave this heritage behind and move on, but on the contrary we should use this cultural heritage and develop it because that is what distinguishes LARP from other cultural products or cultural experiences. One of the things that make tabletop role-playing unique compared to e.g. improvised theatre is that under normal conditions there is no external audience. Furthermore, tabletop role-playing games have a distinct literary/gaming tradition of their own, of making fully comprehensible game worlds in relation to drama. The drama then becomes much more than just performance but works on a larger scale of ideas and conceptions. In order to seize this we must turn towards role-playing theory. Ron Edwards presents the so-called GNS (Gamism, Simulationism, and Narrativism) theoretical perspective, as derived from tabletop role-playing games. It is an attempt to understand the players behavior rather than role-playing games as a medium in its own right – though, of course, it has value in role- playing game design, simply due to the fact that if you know what the players want it enables you to design role-playing games for