In roleplaying games, the storyteller and the audience directly collaborate in the creation of the story. This makes roleplaying games part of a relatively small group of narrative forms (including wargaming, some fan fiction, and improv) that make blurring the line between the creators of a story and its consumers a major draw. What draws people to this form of storytelling, and how have RPGs used theme and mechanics to foster it? What common threads exist in different narrative forms that focus on collaborative creation, and where do they differ?
