On the Metaplot: A Look at Transmedial Storytelling in Tabletop Role-Playing Games

Abstract

The vast phenomenon of the metaplot in role-playing games dates to the late 1970s and had its golden age in the enormous game lines of the 1990s such as Vampire: The Masquerade, as well as the edition shifts of Dungeons & Dragons. The metaplot, the ongoing story of the gameworld that is created and released by the game publisher, exists in tension with the player agency that is the core focus of tabletop role-playing games and therefore often unpopular, yet publishers persisted in creating it. Metaplot is intrinsically tied to the market logics of manufacturing role-playing game lines that sustain gaming companies, who must publish books to maintain a cashflow even at the risk of alienating customers. This paper presents a history of the phenomenon, a tentative taxonomy of metaplot elements, and a call for further research.