Call of Cthulhu

"Writing Back" to Which Empire?: Constructing Chinese Identities in Tabletop Roleplaying Games in Singapore

This paper examines how Chinese identities among tabletop roleplaying game (TTRPG) players in Singapore are constructed in relation not only to the West but also to the rising power of China.

• The paper argues that Singaporean Chinese TTRPG players occupy a doubled geopolitical position, often describing their identity as neither Western nor mainland Chinese enough, and asks which empire their "writing back" through play is addressed to.
• Its central claim is that players experience identity as dynamic and processual through homebrewing, and the author concludes the addressee may be as much the rising power of China as the former colonial West.
• Call of Cthulhu sessions are described as enabling postcolonial irony, with players revisiting imperial history as historical flâneurs.