The Art and Theory of Immersive Roleplay

This is a very long, very dry essay about tabletop roleplaying games with a focus on "traditional" roleplaying games of the in-character immersive variety. The author is an enthusiastic roleplayer and not in any way a social theorist, psychologist or drama theorist. Take it all with a pinch of salt. Since writing this essay, the author has refined some of his views slightly. A more up-to-date statement of some of his ideas on immersive roleplay can be found in the free-to-download PDF of the beta-test version of the Soul's Calling RPG Basic Handbook, available at:- http://www.lulu.com/shop/matthew-west/souls-calling-basic-handbook-playtest-e-book/ebook/product-20744754.html - in particular in the Appendix on the intended playstyle for the game, although material in the Intro, in Chapter 3 and in Chapter 8 may be of particular interest.