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{
    "pk": 63876,
    "title": "(Role)Playing with Power? Establishing the Boundaries of Power Fantasy in Lockdown",
    "subtitle": null,
    "abstract": "<p>Power fantasy, or media that are described as such, has been generally attributed to harmful or anti-social behaviors, typically those associated with toxic masculinity. After the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, power fantasy grew in demand with many new players giving tabletop role-playing games a chance, albeit through numerous virtual interfaces. Many of these players attributed TTRPG play with an empowering quality, one that helped support them emotionally, socially, and mentally through the 2020 lockdowns. Yet, discourses within and around the tabletop role-playing community also challenged the foundations of fantasy role-playing games, questioning game elements like “race” and creating alternative rules and entire TTRPGs in response. This article questions the extent that TTRPGs can “empower” players by looking to how discussions of racial justice in tabletop role-playing spaces trouble traditional depictions of power fantasy, exploring how the use of power fantasy in tabletop role playing games can be instruments for imagining more vibrant possible worlds.</p>",
    "language": "eng",
    "license": {
        "name": "Creative Commons Attribution 4.0",
        "short_name": "CC BY 4.0",
        "text": "Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.\n\nNo additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.",
        "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0"
    },
    "keywords": [
        {
            "word": "COVID-19"
        },
        {
            "word": "power fantasy"
        },
        {
            "word": "TTRPG"
        },
        {
            "word": "virtual tabletop"
        },
        {
            "word": "VTT"
        },
        {
            "word": "empowerment"
        },
        {
            "word": "racial justice"
        }
    ],
    "section": "Article",
    "is_remote": true,
    "remote_url": "https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5tp698kn",
    "frozenauthors": [
        {
            "first_name": "Cameron",
            "middle_name": "Lee",
            "last_name": "Irby",
            "name_suffix": "",
            "institution": "",
            "department": ""
        }
    ],
    "date_submitted": "2026-03-10T01:27:43.053490Z",
    "date_accepted": "2026-03-19T17:23:12.984501Z",
    "date_published": "2026-03-31T13:01:00Z",
    "render_galley": {
        "label": "PDF",
        "type": "pdf",
        "path": "https://journalpub.escholarship.org/analoggamestudies/article/63876/galley/49332/download/"
    },
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            "label": "PDF",
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            "path": "https://journalpub.escholarship.org/analoggamestudies/article/63876/galley/49332/download/"
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}