Undercurrents: A Computer-Based Gameplay Tool to Support Tabletop Roleplaying

Undercurrents is a computer-based tool designed to support tabletop roleplaying without dictating its rules, pacing, or social dynamics. Its central thesis holds that computers are most valuable in tabletop play when they serve as instruments under player control rather than as authorities that structure the game. Developed in response to the limitations of traditional computer role-playing games, which impose fixed rules and rhythms, the tool offers secret messaging between players and the game master, timed audio-visual presentations, a wiki for real-time session documentation, and related utilities. Its design was grounded from the outset in input gathered through three focus groups of tabletop game masters, all male and aged 16 to 45, whose feature requirements shaped the prototype.

The initial evaluation was modest in scope. A single group of four players completed one 5½-hour session using the prototype, and their feedback was positive, with no reports that the tool disrupted the social experience of play. The authors are candid about the limits of this result: the sample was small, the test was non-longitudinal, and the findings may reflect novelty effects or the influence of researcher presence. These caveats frame the conclusion that computer support can enhance tabletop roleplaying without controlling it, a claim the authors intend to test through longitudinal and independently conducted studies.

The work looks ahead to extensions that would broaden the tool's utility. Proposed additions include digital rights management for PDF materials, bookkeeping support, dice rolling possibly through the MachDice application, and recording features intended to aid research comparing mediated and non-mediated play. The authors also suggest that Undercurrents could bridge computer-mediated and face-to-face interaction, enabling participants separated by distance to continue playing together. The project was supported by EU grant 214793 for the TA2 project, and its reference list draws on more than sixty sources spanning tabletop, computer, and pervasive games research.