This handbook collects, for the first time, the state of research on role-playing games (RPGs) across disciplines, cultures, and media in a single, accessible volume. Collaboratively authored by more than 50 key scholars, it traces the history of RPGs, from wargaming precursors to tabletop RPGs likeDungeons & Dragonsto the rise of live action role-play and contemporary computer RPG and massively multiplayer online RPG franchises, likeFalloutandWorld of Warcraft. Individual chapters survey the perspectives, concepts, and findings on RPGs from key disciplines, like performance studies, sociology, psychology, education, economics, game design, literary studies, and more. Other chapters integrate insights from RPG studies around broadly significant topics, like transmedia worldbuilding, immersion, transgressive play, or player-character relations. Each chapter includes definitions of key terms and recommended readings to help fans, students, and scholars new to RPG studies find their way into this new interdisciplinary field.

这本手册首次将跨学科、跨文化和跨媒体的角色扮演游戏（RPG）的研究状况收集在一起，便于查阅。本书由50多位主要学者合作撰写，追溯了RPG的历史，从战争游戏的前身到桌面RPG，如《龙与地下城》，再到真人角色扮演的兴起，以及当代计算机RPG和大型多人在线RPG特许经营，如《辐射》和《魔兽世界》。各个章节调查了关键学科对RPG的观点、概念和发现，如表演研究、社会学、心理学、教育学、经济学、游戏设计、文学研究等等。其他章节围绕广泛的重要主题整合了RPG研究的见解，如跨媒体世界构建、沉浸感、跨性别游戏或玩家与角色的关系。每一章都包括关键术语的定义和推荐的读物，以帮助新加入RPG研究的粉丝、学生和学者找到进入这个新的跨学科领域的途径。