Roll for initiative : role playing & playing a role — queer representations in D&D

At its core, Dungeons and Dragons immerses players in a dual reality. Led by a storytelling Dungeon Master (DM), players toggle between the immediate reality of the gameplay and the fictional narrative setting of the game’s campaign. Each player creates a character through which to navigate the fictional narrative setting. For many, character creation offers a means to imagine and assemble a collection of traits that go far beyond what is permissible outside the fictional world. Working from a theatre and performance studies perspective, I explore the contours of these traits and the details of the costumes, properties, and other theatrical elements that shape the characters. More specifically, I focus on how these traits and choices connect with minoritarian gender and sexual identities outside the game. I first consider a recent play and performance, both of which feature D&D and explorations of queer identity: Qui Nguyen’s 2011 play, She Kills Monsters (SKM); and DNDQ Live’s touring (2021-present) production of Dungeons and Drag Queens (DNDQ). Both examples feature D&D gameplay in which themes of gender and sexual identity are central to their young adult characters’ identities. Grounded in the theories of Judith Butler, Jose Esteban Muñoz and Bo Ruberg, I highlight key themes and actions in these plays that suggest how D&D gaming can foster positive expressions of queer identity. In chapter three, I share data from voluntary research interviews I conducted with self-identified queer, young adult (18-30) D&D players. In these interviews I asked questions aimed at understanding the interviewees lived experiences with D&D gaming, including game performance and in-scene choices, particularly in light of consciously expressed gender and sexual identity. Using Virginia Braun and Victoria Clarke’s 2022 reflexive thematic analysis, I coded and analyzed the data to identify themes describing how players understand and navigate the dual realities at play within the game and their individual sense of identity outside the game. In light of the evidence shared in both chapters, I conclude by arguing that D&D can offer generative opportunities for members of LGBTQ2SIA+ communities to consider constructs like gender and sexual identity through their explorations in game performance.

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