The end of the holidays typically brings many small let-downs: the realization that the new year will be much like the last one; the strange silence after partying weekly for a month; and the worst, having to look at pictures taken at various events.

It often comes as a surprise to people that someone with self-esteem as high as mine should so absolutely hate seeing pictures of himself. It's well established that I love being me, but despite everything, I despise having pictures taken of me nearly as much as I dislike having to see the pictures afterwards, and I will actually go out of my way to avoid looking in mirrors. I don't find myself ugly or distasteful -- far from it, in fact, and as sedentary gamers go, I'm actually in world-class physical condition -- but for some reason, I just hate seeing images of myself.

Part of this problem is self-image. When I picture myself, I see more of a game-sprite than a body. It's generally human shaped, sure, but it lacks definition, there's only a very rudimentary face, the eyes lack pupils and so forth. The sprite is also, as most readers might guess, better dressed than I am, in Victorian suit and cape. No matter how hard I try, though, that image is never what others see, due primarily to some inconvenient laws of physics and reality. I don't mind that other people don't see me as I see myself -- if they did, I'd be thronged with worshippers, making showering inconvenient and driving to school an adventure. However, in the presence of mirrors, I am forced to see myself not as I truly am but as others see me, which, while not unpleasant, is always a bit of a shock no matter how many times one sees it. This is compounded with pictures, because in front of a mirror, I can move, get a better shot of myself, stand up straighter, that sort of thing, but on film, I am presented as a static thing, and I can't even improve the image by making it dynamic. Finally, this problem is exacerbated by the fact that while I am quite pleased with most of my body, I dislike seeing my own smile... and what's the one thing people always tell you to do when they take your picture?

I suppose that the essence of the problem is that I am a superior mind which, due to genetic disorders and little fault of my own, is housed within a sub-standard body. It's a difficult thing going through life feeling superior to most of those around you and then, due to a bit of silvered glass, being forced to admit that you aren't *totally* superior. I can outthink nine out of ten mundanes, but nine out of ten mundanes can beat me up, and who wants to have facts like that immortalized?

Maybe I just need to be photographed writing exams...

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I have received a couple of letters from people asking whether I would be writing an entry on a particular topic, and I haven't been replying to them quite yet. This is a topic not all of my readers know of, and which some will be surprised that they are hearing about here as opposed to from me personally. On Sunday, December 26th, 2004, my paternal grandfather passed away after a lengthy illness. Since then, the funeral has been held and, as of this writing, the shiva (goyyim may need to look up that word) is almost over. I have not been widely publicising this because the shiva is being held in a not very nice place and I would never ask even my closest friends to go through the discomfort of attending; it was generally simpler to just not bring it up. In any case, as an emotionally deficient individual, I don't actually feel any grief, and so I have not felt that I need any emotional support. I have thus been asked, by those who know about the death, why I haven't been writing an entry about something which is topical and timely and would provide deep insight into how I deal with things; I may write such an entry at some point, but not today. Today, we have something even more timely but much less insightful.

New Years is, of course, the time of resolutions. Most people lack the sense that I have of being utterly wonderful and generally nifty, and so they quite naturally strive to improve themselves at this time of year. Now, being that I am generally wonderful and nifty, I'm wise enough to see how silly it is to only resolve to improve yourself one time each year, so I strive for apotheosis year round. However, since people refuse to stop bothering me until I have a resolution, I have chosen the following resolutions for the new year.

1) I will make people laugh who I have not made laugh before. My reason for being is to bring entertainment and enlightenment through entertainment to others. I have a wide circle of people for whom I already fulfill this function; in the new year, I shall widen this circle.

2) I will confuse the weak. I strive always to seek out those who are not sufficiently confused and rectify their deficiency; never before have I made this my purpose. The strong embrace confusion; the weak fear it. Thus, when they see me, let them know fear! See also, resolution number 1.

3) I will give out business cards. A hapless individual gave me 350 blank business cards for Hannukah this year as a gag gift; it is wisely written, "he don't know me too well, do he?" I have printed up business cards and, during the year, shall distribute them to the unwary. See resolutions number 1 and 2.

4) I will continue to be me, or better. It is wisely written: "I am what I am, and that's what I am." For over five years, I have lived sucessfully as Eric 4.0 through Eric 4.1. Let this year see me continue to do so. Let the only circumstance which would change who I am be an improvement. I will continue to be Eric 4.1 for this year... unless Eric 5.0 is superior. See also resolutions number 1, 2 and 3.

Happy new year, them what deserve it.

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The reverence of the Path of Forsteri for such things as sandwiches and sugar-pies is well known among educated circles, but less well known is the reverence which the Path holds for tea. Drawing from ancient cultures in which tea was not only a food and a way of life but also an art form in and of itself, the Teamakers of Forsteri stand alongside the Imperial Sandwichmakers as an ancient, mysterious and respected food-related society.

The following outline represents just one of the many remarkable ceremonies available to the Teamakers.

The Seventh Pace Tea Ceremony
(For Orange Pekoe, white sugar and lemon or orange)

1) First, contemplate the tea.

Allow your mind to wander, considering past cups of tea and the beauty they held. Drift into a meditative state, and then, once you are one with the universe, allow your hands to unconciously select a mug. Generally, the largest mug available will be the best one; one can never have enough tea.

2) Boil water. While the water boils, assemble the other implements which will be needed. Locate the sugar and place it reverentially upon a table; lay a silver spoon atop it. Obtain a lemon and cut a thin slice of it, thanking the lemon for its sacrifice and promising that it has not suffered in vain. Select a tea bag; for this ceremony, only orange pekoe tea is appropriate. Green tea may be acceptable, with the proper rites of apology. Earl grey is out of the question. If lemon is not available, an orange or a small measure or orange juice may be justly substituted.

3) When the water is prepared, thank the kettle for its help, and perform the rite of testing. When the pain in your finger has subsided, add the sugar, lemon, and bag to your mug. Only then may you begin to slowly pour the water. As it falls from your kettle, contemplate the way it falls now and how it shall fall from the mug to you.

4) Pause to contemplate the tea. If the ceremony has been conducted properly, your tea will be at one with the universe, and in contemplating its perfection, you contemplate your own growth and enlightenment upon drinking. Mix the tea, stirring counter-clockwise with a silver spoon.

5) The breweing and mixing completed, contemplate the finished tea. Perform the Tea is Nifty happy dance. Ensure that you put down your tea before performing any happy dances.

6) Drink, and become closer to the universe. If you are filled with joy and contentment, you have done well. If you are filled with pain and sorrow, add more cold water to the tea.

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Today's entry was originally going to be the programme book to a musical entitled "It's a Very Vorlon Christmas." The programme book was going to contain fictional biographies of the writer and director, a cast list and the actors who play each character (plus understudies, in some cases) as well as the full list of all songs from the play and, finally, some of the dialogue from it.

This didn't work out.

I sat down today several times and *attempted* to write, but Calliope was on Christmas vacation and LSD is too expensive, so rather than sit down at 11:11 pm and force myself to write (which never results in anything very good, at least from me, which is why I'll never be able to write professionally), tonight's Entry includes first, an essay I wrote a few years back for a religious debate website (which has long since gone offline, which was for the best) and if any of you manage to fight your way through that, I've decided to post the "scrap paper" notes from the last attempt I made at writing. The notes below don't constitute a good Entry, as evidenced at the fact that you're reading this paragraph preceeding it, but I'm sure that the seed for something entertaining was there, and I may try to come back to the idea some time in the future.

In the mean time, if any of my readers feel like trying to complete the programme book themselves and send me what they have, I'll put it up here, as long as it meets my exacting criteria.

The Bible
What is the bible, exactly? A good dictionary will tell you that a bible is "a book which is authoritative in its field," which is fair enough. But the Bible, with a capital B? That's something completely different.

As a student of religion, I've learned many different views on the Bible. Most of these views come from Jewish points of view, for obvious reasons. The first point of view is the most obvious: The Bible is a true tale, word for word. At least, the Old Testament is. It tells the story of "our people" as they move through the world, suffering under one king or another, and then they eventually settle down in Eretz Israel and live happily ever after, or at least until the Romans come to town. Now, I can't say I agree fully with this version, because quite frankly, if that's what my god and my ancestors are like, they're more trouble than they're worth.

The second viewpoint is basically the same, but slightly more "wise." The learned Rabbis will tell you that the whole of the bible is truth, except for the book of Job, which is only a story. This is a much better view in my opinion, since it takes the first ever recorded mention of Satan and says that it's made up. Satan and I are not on good terms- our goals overlap and our methods are counterpoint, so if the old guy exists I'm going to have to get rid of him.

I won't really go into everything I've learned about the bible; it took years to learn and would be at least as long in the retelling. As far as my view on the Bible goes, I'm something of an agnostic. I haven't decided yet whether I think the whole book is truth, or lies, or somewhere in between. I haven't decided if it's still reliable after a few thousand years of opinionated editors. In my world, the Bible is a focus of belief, a valuable tool for someone who needs something tangible to worship with but not worth much on its own. This isn't to say that the Bible isn't worth studying. All in all, it's one of the funniest books I've ever read, though it gets a bit long winded at times.

That's *the* Bible. Now let's talk about *my* Bible. If we're saying that a bible is a book which is authoritative in its field, which in this case would be teaching people how to live, I'm not going to pick just one book. I could refer you to the collected works of philosophers or comedians as the mood struck me, because my philosophies have been selected from amongst a forest worth of paperbacks. Only one work absolutely has to be mentionned: the Books of Adams, the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. This series, this five book long trilogy of four books, is truly my Bible. This isn't a statement I can justify at great length, but then again, most people can't tell you why they've picked their bible either. If "god wrote it" is a good enough excuse for them, "Douglas wrote it" is the excuse I'm going to use. The Bible exists to teach people how to live, almost no matter who you ask, and few books have taught me more about how to live, how to write, how to think, how to exist, than the HHGTTG.

It's not the only book -- set of books -- I could refer you to. Can we say, Monty Python? Pratchet and Gaiman's Good Omens? Optimus Prime? If a Bible is something to be used as a focus for belief, then to pick a single book may be dangerously unwise. To pick just the Bible itself might not be such a good idea. What is the Bible? Nothing, unless you want it to be something, and if you want it to be something, will it change your opinion if you hear what I think it is? Probably not.

So, when all is said and done, the Bible is your Bible is somebody else's Bible. Maybe. And maybe your Bible is a fish tank where the stones seem to spell out magic words, or a muffin that looks like Thor. The Bible is the Bible is the Bible, which isn't the Bible. And all of them, of course, might possibly are the Bible. The answer might not make much sense, but then again, neither does the Bible. That's what I think of it.

It's a Very Vorlon Christmas
It is the end of the Earth year 2260. A vast and seemingly unstoppable alien armada has burned, maimed, and killed its way across the galaxy on a direct course towards Earth, leaving in its wake the scorched hulls that are all that remain of the Human fleets. With less than twelve hours before the armada reaches Earth and destroys it, three Vorlons must visit the alien leader and use the last weapon at their disposal to fight it: shmaltz!

Staring
Bruce Campbell as General Sheridan
Dave Goelz, Frank Oz, and Steve Whitmire as Kosh, Kosh, and Kosh
Michael Ironside as The Angry Minbari
and
Chris Latta as E'ZeVahn Izer the Scourge

Song list:
ACT 1
Annihiliation is Coming to Town
Sung by Sheridan and the Angry Minbari

Proxima III Roasting on an Open Fire
E'ZeVahn Izer

We Three Vorlons
Sung by Kosh Kosh and Kosh

Act 2:
Annihiliation is Coming to Town (Reprise)
Sung by Sheridan and the Angry Minbari

Rudolph, the Living Starship
Sung by Kosh, Kosh, and Kosh

We Wish You a Vorlon Christmas (And the Truth Points to Itself)
Sung by full cast

And that's going to be the last Christmas themed Entry, at least for this year.

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We interrupt this entry to boast. Eric wrote the Graduate Record Examination and scored 99th percentile. That is all.

At this time of year, when more than any other time, That Other Religion dominates popular culture, one might take a moment to consider what elements of certain other faiths might be profitably stolen and used for one's own purposes. To this end, the Church of Forsteri has today shamelessly plagiarized That Other Religion to create its own list, The Seven Deadly Things, which the faithful should avoid lest they risk harm to themselves and others.

1) Pointy Things
The inherently deadliest of the Seven Deadly Things is the Pointy Thing. Whether this manifests as a pointed stick or a sharpened blade, Pointy Things are inherently dangerous, and remain so as long as they are Pointy. Only by removing the quality of Pointyness from a Thing can it be made safe.

2) Very Hot or Cold Things
Heat and cold are valuable tools and, used properly, result in Things becoming Nice and Comfy. When they are used imroperly, however, Very Hot Things and Very Cold Things inevitably make other Things Too Hot or Too Cold respectively. This is an insidious Deadly Thing because to remove all heat from a Very Hot Thing invariably makes it Very Cold. Thus, to face down Very Hot and Very Cold things requires a perfect understanding of the nature of the Universe and an inherent ability to find Balance within onself and within one's Things. One who has Balance has the power to make Very Hot Things and Very Cold Things into Nice and Comfy Things.

3) Bitey Things
It is said that Pointy Things and Very Hot or Cold Things are the works of Humanity. If this is so, then they must pale in the face of Nature's own Deadly Thing, the Bitey Thing. From the smallest protozoan to the largest animal and even including some plants, Bitey Things are everywhere and are a prevalent danger to the physical and spiritual well-being of all. Even the cutest of puppies and niftiest of weasels has within them the threat of the Bitey Thing. The Bitey Thing is particularly insidious because to remove the quality of Biteyness is to make the Thing unable to live, and so in many cases it is immoral, impractical, or simply very messy to render a Thing Not-Bitey. This Deadly Thing thus represents that some Deadly Things can never be fully done away with and will forever be with us, which sucks.

4) Heavy Things
From the weakest child to the mightiest warrior, no-one is so strong that they cannot be defeated by a single Heavy Thing. The Heavy Thing is the Bane of Existence to many who work in such diverese fields as domestic assistant, postal service technician and olympic weight-lifter, and all who live are faced with the burden of the Heavy Thing. The Heavy Thing represents the need for continual improvement in one's self and others, as one strives eternally to learn to shoulder their own personal Heavy Things, lest the very weight crush out the life.

5) High-Velocity Things
Representing the transience of all Deadly Qualities is the High-Velocity Thing. The sharpest Pointy Thing cannot cut if it is at rest; the Lightest Thing can be Deadly if it travels fast enough; Bitey Things tend to not only move under their own power, but to also be Very Fast Things when trying to Bite; and the difference between a Very Hot Thing and a Very Cold thing is truly nothing more than how fast the Bits of the Thing are moving. The Deadly Qualities of a Deadly Thing wax and wane, as a Point losses its sharpness or a Very Hot flame loses fuel, but so too do Not-Deadly Things take on Deadly Qualities, as a Nice and Comfy room becomes Very Cold in winter. All Things have Velocity, and to withstand the Very Fast Thing is to understand the transience of all Qualities and to learn to manipulate the Velocity of a Thing.

6) Broken Things
As surely as Things that are Very Hot become Very Cold with time, and that Things that are Pointy become many Smaller Things that are Pointy, so too do innocuous Things become Deadly Things. The Broken Thing is the power of a Thing Misused, and teaches us that the Simplest Thing, such as a level, or a pulley, or brakes, may become a Deadly Thing if it is not cared for, maintained, and disposed of properly. To overcome the Broken Thing is to have control over onself and one's environment and to understand that Things exist only so long as other Things interact with them; in a vacuum, there are no Things.

7) Humans
The Final deadly Thing is the Human, the source of all other Things. The Human represents nothing and cannot be overcome. It merely is, and in being a Thing, it is a deadly Thing. To seek to overcome Humans is to strive forever against the impossible, but as with the one faced with the challenge of having to spend too much money, such burdens must sometimes be reluctantly taken on. There is no lesson in Humans, and there is no Goal. The wisest Action one can perform is to simply expose the Human to the other Six Deadly Things and allow Nature to take its Course.

Thus endeth the Lesson, which was brought to you by the number 7 and the Letters D, S, and three Z's and a silent Q.

There are no fnords here.

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As most of my readers already know, I've had a very busy weekend, and haven't had time to write anything *new.* As such, I'm posting an actual essay which I wrote for my honours psychology class. Ironically, this entry, which I am putting online in under three minutes, is one of the longest I've ever written, being about 8 pages, double spaced and at 11 point font. Anyone curious about the research discussed in the paper in encouraged to look this stuff up on their own. Some APA formatting has been lost in conversion to HTML, and I can't be bothered to fix it.

Role-playing games, games in which players create complex characters with unique personalities and take on those characters’ roles to pursue a goal or a story, are among the fastest growing hobbies in Western society. Since the 1970’s when the first modern role-playing games were developed, thousands of games have been designed, running the continuum from vaudeville-style comedy to dark, gothic horror and from historical re-enactment to high-fantasy and science fiction. The popularity of such games is evident from the products’ expansions into the markets of videogames, cereals, cartoon shows, comic books, big-budget films, and popular culture in general. Such games are not universally accepted as socially-positive, however; as long as the modern role-playing game has existed, so too have individual games been criticized as being negative influences on children. The primary source of these accusations has come from non-scientific, religious, and usually heavily biased sources which accuse the games of promoting evil, Satanism, Paganism, antisocial behaviour, belief in magic, and other negative concepts, and despite the questionable nature of these sources, these accusations have shaped the current stereotype of the role-playing game player in society. The stereotype of the socially inept, antisocial, friendless and immoral adolescent is extremely common in Western society and role-playing games have become associated widely with criminality, irresponsibility, and dark religions. In actual fact, there is no justification for such stereotypes or the accusations which shape them; all scientific psychological research on the matter of role-playing games has shown that such games are socially positive and teach players critical thinking and problem solving skills while also promoting healthy social interaction and imagination and creativity. Furthermore, research exists showing that individuals who play role-playing games might actually be more psychologically healthy than non-players. Because role-playing games are often played by less physically oriented, more academically skilled individuals, the proportion of role-playing gamers in academic and scientific professions increases each year; studying the personality traits associated with playing such games, and the effects which playing has on people, is a significant and relevant field area for psychological inquiry.

Role-playing can be justifiably traced back to games involving acting going back centuries and can reasonably be said to be an evolution of the Ancient Greek theater games which formed the foundation of modern artistic and philosophical thinking, but modern role-playing games should be said to be have begun in 1974 with the release of the first version of Dungeons and Dragons, a medieval fantasy game heavily influenced by such works as The Lord of the Rings. Dungeons and Dragons has become a cultural icon to the point where it is defined in the Oxford English Dictionary as "... a fantasy role-playing game set in an imaginary world based loosely on medieval myth, in which players' characters undertake (individual) quests at the direction of a player in the role of the Dungeon Master" (The Oxford English Dictionary, 2004). Almost since its inception, however, Dungeons and Dragons has been attacked by religious groups as being socially-negative. In addition to taking place in a world devoid of mainstream Judeo-Christian religions and populated by worshippers of Pagan-themed polytheistic pantheons, characters in Dungeons and Dragons often cast magical spells or rely on magical items to solve problems facing them, which has led religious groups to argue that the game teaches that magic and wizardry and good, which runs counter to the teachings of the Christian Bible. Such groups argue that playing games in which they use magic and in which they worship fictional and sometimes genuinely evil gods will lead young children or easily-influenced adolescents to become worshippers of such forces out of character. Such accusations typically suggest that role-playing games naturally lead children towards Satanism in particular and, more generally, antisocial actions, criminality, drug addiction, rebellious behaviour, suicidal attempts, and perhaps even Schizophrenia as the line between the real world and game world blurs in their minds. These accusations have persisted in the thirty years which Dungeons and Dragons has existed, and can be found in numerous Christian writings. In 1981, Christian Life Ministries author Allen Ballard published a formal paper arguing that Dungeons and Dragons is "...a teaching on demonology, witchcraft, voodoo, murder, rape, blasphemy, suicide, assassination, insanity, sex perversion, homosexuality, prostitution, Satan worship, gambling, Jungian psychology, barbarism, cannibalism, sadism, desecration, demon summoning." This widely quoted report is typical of similar accusations, and notably groups Satan worship with such topics as Jungian psychology and homosexuality. Similarly, noted Christian author Dr. Gary North has argued that Dungeons and Dragons is "...the most effective, most magnificently packaged, most profitably marketed, most thoroughly researched introduction to the occult in man's recorded history" (1976) while author William Schnoebelen is often quoted by Christian sources as condemning Dungeons and Dragons based on the game’s "...total absence of Jesus Christ the Lord" (1989). While the vast majority of accusers of Dungeons and Dragons have been religiously motivated and Christian in particular, non-religious attackers of role-playing games do exist, although such individuals are no more scientific than their religious counterparts and often attack the same aspects of the games. The most famous and influential of these critics is Pat Pulling, whose son committed suicide following a game of Dungeons and Dragons and who, in response, began a crusade to prove that the game was a dangerous influence (Stackpole, 1990). In addition to appearing on dozens of talk-shows and news programs and to briefly working with law enforcement agencies to compile a method of detecting role-playing tendencies in young offenders, Pulling wrote widely on the topic, arguing that "it appears that a significant amount of youngsters are having difficulty with separating fantasy from reality... role playing has modified their behaviour to the extent that they react in real life situations in the same fashion that they would react in a gaming situation" (Pulling, 1988). Pulling was a significant force in shaping modern perceptions of Dungeons and Dragons, role-playing games in general, and players of such games. Unfortunately, Pulling’s arguments were based on research which was incomplete at best; despite her frequent claims to be an expert on role-playing games, Pulling made factual errors practically every time she attempted to explain what games were or how a particular game functioned (Stackpole, 1989; 1990).

Pulling demonstrates the recurring theme in attackers of role-playing games: while they are motivated by pure intentions and a desire to protect others from a harmful influence, their understanding of the games and the players is fundamentally flawed by their own biases and they demonstrate an unwillingness to consider information which runs counter to their preconceived notions, arguing that anyone who disagrees with them is evil or misguided and blind to "the truth." When objective scientific research is carried out, however, it is demonstrated time and again that role-playing games in general and Dungeons and Dragons specifically is not a harmful influence on children or adults. The first scientific research on this topic was conducted by Dr. Armando Simon, an American clinical psychologist who chose to investigate whether or not Dungeons and Dragons was harmful to children. Simon compared young and old players of Dungeons and Dragons who had played the game for various amounts of time, and found that no correlation between years of playing and emotional stability was found. Furthermore, Simon reported that the whole group of participants showed "a mundane profile devoid of the emotional instability associated with suicide and homicide" (Simon, 1987). Ten years later, when accusations similar to those levelled against Dungeons and Dragons were brought against another game, Vampire: the Masquerade, Simon repeated his first study with this game. No correlation was found between years of playing and emotional stability; the sample was slightly more eccentric than that of the first study but still normal and healthy (Simon, 1998).

Other researchers after Simon have similarly found that role-playing games are not harmful and are not played by already unstable individuals. Carroll & Carolin (1989) administered the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire to light-involvement players, meaning players who spent only a few hours each month playing Dungeons and Dragons, heavily involved players who played each week, and non-players, and found that no significant personality differences existed between groups. One of the earliest studies to address the accusation that Dungeons and Dragons contributed to personality disorders, this study demonstrated that not only were more heavily-involved players not any more unhealthy psychologically than lightly-involved players but that no differences existed between players and non-players at all. This finding immediately opposes the most basic accusations against Dungeons and Dragons, most of which argue that even a brief one-time experiment with Dungeons and Dragons causes psychological and spiritual harm. The study also demonstrated that the game is not played exclusively by psychologically unhealthy individuals, which weakened the second major argument of most attacks on Dungeons and Dragons. Only one year later, a second study by DeRenard and Kline (1990) demonstrated that players of Dungeons and Dragons in undergraduate populations may not only be no more unhealthy than non-players but that they might actually be more psychologically healthy. This study found that undergraduate players of Dungeons and Dragons experienced less feelings of meaninglessness than non-players, which suggests that arguments that Dungeons and Dragons contributes to feelings of meaninglessness and suicidality are groundless. The authors suggest that this effect may be due to Dungeons and Dragons being both an engaging hobby and an inherently social activity; players of Dungeons and Dragons not only have an activity with which to give their time greater meaning and pleasure but also have a guaranteed group of friends and acquaintances with which to spend that time. Following this research, the third accusation against Dungeons and Dragons, that it contributed to criminal behaviour, was attacked by Abyeta & Forest who found that role-players do not report more criminality than non-players and that in fact non-players test higher in psychoticism (Abyeta & Forest, 1991). While this study, unlike the two which preceded it, did not look specifically at Dungeons and Dragons, the finding that role-players reported no more criminality and furthermore tested lowers on ratings of psychoticism further weakened the arguments opposing Dungeons and Dragons and further suggested the possible beneficial and adaptive effects which role-playing may have.

Little research was conducted on role-playing after these studies until 1998 when another game, Vampire: the Masquerade, became known in the media. In 1998, the media began to report several cases where players on this game, which uses themes and setting much darker than Dungeons and Dragons, were involved in robberies, supposed cult activity, and even murders. While a small number of such stories were proven to be true, most ended up being minor events blown out of proportion by journalists; in several cases, the role-playing angle had been invented by reporters entirely. These stories prompted renewed research into role-playing by Carter and Lester and by Rosenthal and colleagues. Carter & Lester (1998) tested players of Vampire: the Masquerade and Dungeons and Dragons as well as other non-playing undergraduates, finding that players did not differ in depression, suicidal ideation, psychoticism, extraversion, or neuroticism from other non-players. Rosenthal and colleagues (1998) simultaneously demonstrated that players of Vampire: the Masquerade and Dungeons and Dragons are not more neurotic, antisocial, or lacking in social relationships than the average US national guardsman; players were compared to national guardsman because, in addition to being non-players, national guardsman are widely considered to be highly intelligent, highly motivated, highly capable and highly healthy individuals, physically and psychologically. The fact that neither of these studies demonstrated any difference between players and non-players on measures of antisocial behaviour, psychoticism, or neuroticism is strong evidence that players of role-playing games are not psychologically unstable individuals and that healthy individuals are not harmed by their exposure to such games.

Scientific research has shown that role-playing games are not unhealthy or maladaptive, and may in fact have psychological benefits for players. In addition, researchers have shown that using role-playing games as treatment for psychological disorders may be effective. Research into using role-playing for therapy actually predates studies demonstrating that role-playing games are healthy. Zayas and Lewis (1986) found that children with hyperactivity disorders and problems in social interaction could be helped by playing Dungeons and Dragons; they showed that the children benefited from a shared social activity which promoted creative thinking, group interaction, and problem solving, and that the children formed adaptive social ties together as they were presented with dilemmas and challenges over the course of the game. In the same year, Mather (1986) successfully used fantasy role-playing computer games in therapy for students with learning disabilities. She suggested that "adventure games can contribute to the development of academic skills such as reading comprehension, spelling, critical thinking, and creativity. It is contended that adventure games can be of value for bright but unmotivated learning disabled students because of the motivational power of fantasy." These two studies powerfully demonstrate that role-playing games, particularly those based on rich fantasy worlds, can encourage creative thinking and positive social skills. Several years later, this finding was supported by Blackmon, who found that Dungeons and Dragons could be used to treat patients with schizoid personality disorder; creating a character and exploring an imaginary world is argued by Blackmon to help the patient learn problem solving skills and to teach the patient how to form attachments to others as well as to focus on reality in terms of what is currently happening around the patient, rather than an abstract and disconnected concept (Blackmon, 1994). It must be noted that not all disorders can be treated with role-playing, however; Ascherman (1993) brought a role-playing game into a severe psychiatric inpatient setting, and found that playing in a fantasy world reinforced patients’ pathologies and resistance to therapy. Clearly, while role-playing games may not be useful in treating all patients, particularly those whose disorders may be based on difficulties perceiving or remaining focused on reality, other less severe disorders may be greatly improved by the social interaction, positive affect, and creative thinking found in role-playing games.

Role-playing games have long been accused of being socially-negative and maladaptive if not outright corrupting and harmful, and the popular stereotype of players of role-playing games is of socially awkward and friendless adolescents. In actual fact, however, role-playing games are played in numerous cultures, on every continent, and by individuals of all age groups and have been shown to be healthy and perhaps even to have beneficial effects on players. Further research is warranted on the personality types who might most enjoy and benefit from role-playing games, but as the current state of research shows, role-playing games in general and Dungeons and Dragons in particular are socially-positive and are an excellent pass-time for young and old individuals.

References
Abyeta, S. & Forest, J. (1991). Relationship of role-playing games to self-reported criminal behaviour. Psychological Reports, 69, 1187-1192.
Ascherman, L.I. (1993). The impact of unstructured games of fantasy and role playing on an inpatient unit for adolescents. International Journal of Group Psychotherapy, 43, 335-344.
Ballard, A. (1981). Answers to Common Questions About Dungeons and Dragons. Los Angeles, CA: Christian Life Ministries.
Carroll, J.L.& Carolin, P.M. (1989). Relationship between game playing and personality. Psychological Reports, 64, 705-706.
DeRenard, L. & Kline, L.M. (1990). Alienation and the game Dungeons and Dragons. Psychological Reports, 66, 1219-1222.
Mather, N. (1986). Fantasy and adventure software with the LD student. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 19(1), 56-58.
North, G. (1976). None Dare Call it Witchcraft. USA: Arlington House.
Oxford English Dictionary. http://dictionary.oed.com/
Pulling, Pat. Interviewing Techniques for Adolescents. (1988). United States: B.A.D.D.
Schnoebelen, William (1989). Straight talk on Dungeons & Dragons. Ontario, CA: Chick Publications.
Simon, A. (1987). Emotional stability pertaining to the game of Dungeons & Dragons. Psychology in the Schools, 24, 329-332.
Simon, A. (1998). Emotional stability pertaining to the game Vampire: The Masquerade. Psychological Reports, 83, 732-734.
Stackpole. M.A. (1989). Game hysteria and the truth. Self-Published.
Stackpole, M.A. (1990). The Pulling Report. Self-Published.
Zayas, L.H.;& Lewis, B.H. (1986). Fantasy role-playing for mutual aid in children's groups: A case illustration. Social Work with Groups. 9, 53-66.

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Busy as this week has been, what with exams, applications, and planning not one but two one-shot games, I'm skipping out on going through my modest question pile and instead just writing about stuff I want to.

In the Imperial military, no unit is so feared as the Survivors. While the Nightrunners have seen more combat and the Killer Penguin Death Squads have earned more kills, the Survivors are warriors who are simply too stubborn to die, and stand up again every time they are put down. The Survivors are the last surviving warriors of other units, warriors whose recuperative abilities have brought them back from the brink of destruiction time and again long after the rest of their squards had been reduced to slag. Now, grouped together, crudely painted with the red X mark of the Survivors, and pointed at the enemy, these warriors march forth again against their foes. At long last, the roster of one of the Empire's most secret elite units can be revealed... with full colour pictures!

The Ancients were one of the first units of warriors to be used by the Empire. To give them an aged,weathered look, artifically corroded metals were used in their construction. While this did give the ancients the look they were meant to have, it also meant that they were more prone to damage from quite nearly any source, and in addition, broke down nearly ten times as often as newer model warriors. Eventually, time and wear reduced their number from the original twelve to the last surviving one.

A squad doomed to destruction from the moment they stepped off the assembly line, the Zombies were a unit of warriors created with faulty self-repair systems. While they did have the capacity to repair nearly any wound, as did other warriors, the Zombies could restore functionality but not physical form. They could give their remaining arm the strength to wield their weapon, but they could not regrow the arm they had lost in the first place. The squad aquitted itself valiantly on the field of battle but eventually simple attrition reduced the Zombies to one last warrior. Even with half of its face gone, one hand blasted off, a hole right through its chest wide enough to stick an arm through and one leg rebuilt from scavenged spare parts, the last Zombie still stands at the forefront of any assault.

The last of the Stormtroopers has seen more combat than any other warrior among the Survivors. Created primarily for show and not for combat, the gleaming white Stormtroopers were shipped to the battlefront by mistake and nearly wiped out in their first combat. The sole surviving warrior was sent to the Survivors and, against all odds, had outlasted any number of other, more combat ready models.

It takes a certain kind of mindset to wield a sawed-off gauss flayer, but the last of the Agents is just that sort of warrior. A prototype model of cybernetic warrior, the Agents were patterned after the one of the most feared archtypes in human conciousness, and operated sucessfully for a long time as infiltrators and teleport-behind-the-lines troops. One occurence of bad luck ruined the unit, however, as an attempted teleportation dropped the entire squad literally into the middle of an enemy unit; the molecularly fused bodies were never fully identified. The last surviving Agent carries on the squad's mission, a few more replacement parts later but still one of the Survivors' deadliest warriors.

The attempt to create a warrior patterned after one of the universe's most powerful heroes led to the creation of the Googlies, cartoon-eyed, super-suited, giant lasergun-wielding warriors who knew no fear and left no targets unscorched. While the Googlies programming perfectly replicated the behaviour of their template (sending them charging into battle with such cries as "eat gauss flux energy, everyone in the vicinity!"), their experimental super-suits proved to be only marginally more effective than standard warrior armour, and the squad had been reduced to two warriors left by the end of their third mission. When one of them was destroyed in a bizzare pocket-rocket mishap, the last one was sent to the Survivors, where it has been gleefully mutilating evildoers ever since.

Designed to excell in underwater combat, the Frogmen were built with light armour, waterproof internal systems and plastic webbing at their fingers and toes. While this resulted in an efficient and deadly underwater squad, the Frogmen were deemed a failed experiment when analysis indicated that their battles actually brought them near water less than ten percent of the time, and into water less than one percent of the time. Light armour resulted in the gradual but inexolerable decimation of the squad, and the last Frogman was eventually sent to the Survivors.

Mighty and imposing, the Skulls were a much feared unit for a short period. Built to resemble humans with exposed skulls and flaming eyes, the Skulls were an elite unit of heavily armoured, heavily armed warriors to struck terror into their enemeis and left burning wreckage in their wake. The unit's reign of terror ended, however, during their first night combat; while enemy snipers used the darkness for cover, they found that the Skulls walked around the battlefield with convenient lights marking where their heads were. The last Skull was modified to be able to turn its flaming eyes on and off and sent to join the Survivors.

A short lived, failed experiment, the Berzerkers were a unit of warriors programmed to dual wield their dreaded gauss flayers. The assumption that the warriors would be able to lay devastating covering fire across the battlefield failed to take into account the weight of each gauss flayer, and the Berzerkers failed to perform to expected levels; while enemy casualties were more than four times the number of Berzerkers lost, the fact that all but one of the friendly kills could be attributed to another Berzerker suggested that the project was a failure. The last Berzerker, still wielding a flayer in each hand, has fought alongside (and a safe distance away from) the Survivors ever since.

Designed primarily for close combat, the Bluespines had vastly augmented physical capabilities requiring so much power to operate that energy crackled along their spines when they were fully charged. Wielding gauss flayers modified for maximum effectiveness in close combat, the Bluespines left a trail of battered foes across several battlefields until hitting the simple obstacle of a vastly larger force. While plans are underway for a second generation of Bluespines to build on the unit's sucess, the last Bluespine has been relegated to the ranks of the Survivors.

The Shields were yet another failed experiment in new designs for warriors. The Shields were built with the budget for all their armor spent on their fronts. Known for their distinctive heavy armor plated chests and heads, the Shields were eventually destroyed by a general who teleported units behind them, who tore the Shields to pieces before they could turn around. The last Shield was sent to join the survivors and can typically be found in the front lines of a charge, with two other Survivors standing behind it.

The Brass Skeletons were another of the first units of warriors built. No single story tells of the squad's destruction; the Brass Skeletons served with distinction in uncounted battles but fell, over time and one by one, until only a single Skeleton remained. Squadless, it took on the red X and became one of the Survivors.

The last Survivor and the most recent addition to their ranks, the last surviving Superconductor is what remains of an experimental, hyperaccelerated squad of warriors. By constructing the entire squad out of an artificial form of gold, a squad was built with accelerated response times and generally enhanced speed, and it is said that at their height, the Superconductors would dodge the bullets fired at them while picking off their own enemies with casual shots.The cost of the golden wiring made creating large numbers of Superconductors prohibitive, however, and the relatively soft armour proved to be a vulnerability in close combat; after only a few missions, only one Superconductor remained, who was promptly reassigned to the Survivors.

The roster of the Survivors changes rapidly, as the last surviving warriors from disparate units enter the deadliest combats and, one by one, go to join their fallen squadmates. It is certain, however, that as long as they are still needed, and as long as otherwise intact squads of warriors continue to be decimated on battlefields, there shall always be Survivors!

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This being the season of toys, this seemed like a good time to answer a question I've left on the back burner for a while. After the Entries about various Dungeons and Bandersnatches stuff, I got two requests for lists of some of the magic items from that and other games I've run. Having nothing better to do today, and since, to the best of my knowledge, not a single one of the players from my John Abbott games reads this Journal, it seemed like a good answer for today.

The Boots of Surprising and Springing
Enchanted boots based on the more well known Boots of Striding and Springing, these magical boots were designed to allow the wearer to make immense leaps and bounds with perfect control and minimal effort. The magic cast upon the boots was inherently flawed, however, and while the jumping ability was more powerful than the normal boots, they could only be activated by a surprised wearer, who would then leap mightily... in whatever direction they were facing at the time. The Boots had a long, proud history of brief ownership by a variety of adventurers before finally being burned ceremonially along with the body of their last master after his unfortunate (and surprising) passing.

The Inertia Sword
A cursed blade of nearly vorpal strength, any wielder other than the one the blade had been designed for would find that as they swung the sword around, the tip stayed in place while the blade itself lengthened almost comically to follow the path of the swing. The curse would manifest as the tip then sprang back to its normal place at the end of the sword, through the shortest distance in space -- typically, through the wielder. Initially dangerous, the sword was over time mastered by several warriors who learned to make use of its shape-changing nature to wrap walls of sharp steel around themselves.

The Flat Critter
A living, sentient, and intelligent creature engineered by the Wizard of Ooze as a cheap replacement for enchanted talking cobblestones, the flat critter was a perfectly two dimensional pink circle, one side of which had a face. The flat critter was intelligent and capable of giving excellent advice, but its primary use, discovered by mistake by a party of adventurers, was that its edges were razor sharp. Thus began the flat critter's sucessful career as a vorpal frisbee, which ended with the unfortunate demise of its first and last owner in the Netherhells. The flat critter found a new career, though, as the demons of the Netherhells soon invented a game wherein doomed souls could try and catch frisbees to win their freedom.

The Rod of Destruction
The product of centuries of Netherhells engineering, the Rod of Destruction was a unique and powerful item capable of hurling blasts of destructive force at any foe. Before being destroyed in combat, the rod was approximatly two feet long, double barreled, made of cobalt blue steel and with a walnut stock, and could hold up to two shells at a time.

The Apocalypse Spell
Devised by a school of wizards as a last resort in case their school was ever captured by their foes, the Apocalypse Spell was a scroll kept under heavy protection and which all students were warned was the deadliest spell the order kept. The order's school sat upon a mountain which had been inverted so that it formed a cone whose single point touched the ground; the Apocalypse Spell negated the anti-gravity magic which held the mountain in place. When the spell was cast, gravity asserted itself and the mountain returned to its natural way of lying on the ground -- much to the chagrin of those inside the school at the time.

The 88 Magnum
Another feat of Netherhells engineering, the 88 magnum was designed to be the most powerful non-magical handgun in the multiverse. Able to hold eight bullets of a varriety of types, weighing less than three pounds, and measurig less than ten inches from end to end, the 88 magnum was capable of putting a bullet through an elephant lengthwise; sales brochures associated with the 88 magnum proudly proclaimed that where its predecessors could shoot through doors and walls, the 88 magnum could shoot through a school. Before being discontinued, only twelve 88 magnums were built, and all were destroyed by the Netherhells government within a year of their release.

The Masterwork Cherry Pie +3
Located deep in the heart of a dungeon consecrated to Ragon, the masterwork cherry pie +3 was the finest pie ever forged by mortal hands, made with pastry from the paraelemental plane of sugar and cherries from the home of the gods. After slaying the orc who guarded it, adventurers ate the pie and enjoyed it immensely.

The Wargolem of Sorinia
Created by the same mage who designed and enchanted such creatures as Ragon, the Wargolem was a golem, lacking a mind and will, towering over sixty feet tall and bristling with more weapons than some small cities; such was the complexity that at least six people were needed to pilot it. Designed to lay waste to entire kingdoms within a few days, the golem's creation prompted the assaults on Sorinia's lands which led to the destruction of the mage's libraries and, eventually, the mage herself. The golem was buried by Sorinia's enemies, and it remained underground for millenia until its discovery and excavation by Virrar Crysthalus. Adventurers attacked and destroyed the golem before it could regain its full power and functionality.

The Sandman's Bag of Sand
The Sandman, according to myth, is said to carry a magic bag of sand, with which he put people to sleep. The Sandman would enter homes unseen late at night and sprinkle some magic sand on the faces of those trying to drift off. When Ragon created his own Sandman, he insisted that a magic bag of sand be used to put people to sleep. Ragon could never get it work quite right, however, and in any case, perpetually sprinkling magical sand on people was a costly endeavor, requiring a constant supply of new magic sand, which did not come cheap. Ragon's solution was to update the myth of the Sandman to modern times, and so based his magic sand on the bags of sand used far and wide to put people to sleep. The Sandman's Bag was an enchanted blackjack; if it struck the back of the head of a target, the target would instantly fall into a deep, dreamless sleep -- and would typically awaken with a headache, afterwards.

The Enchanted Siege Equipment
"Well, it works for crossbows" was the epitaph of a battlemage who conceived of applying the basic, low-level enchanments comonly found on bows and crossbows and applying them to ballistas and catapults. These enchanted siege engines were eventually perfected and turned to the cause of dragon-slaying; the effectiveness of a self-aiming, sharpened tree trunk was rapidly applauded. Though effective, enchanted siege engines never caught on and failed to see widespread use, since the amount of power needed to enchant a weapon of such size was often lethal to the casting wizard.

The Sack of Justice
After being pickpocketed one time too many, a powerful wizard created a magical bag whose purpose was to trap those foolish enough to try and steal it. Subtle enchantments ensured that the sack was the first item a thief would try and steal, and a telepathic link to the caster ensured he always knew when it was taken. If the bag was lifted, the mage would confront the thief and ask what the item was, and when the thief replied "it's a sack" the mage would counter "well if this is a sack, then get inside." At this point, the thief would be sucked into the bag, unable to escape unless let out from the outside. The mage was continually astounded by how many times the same trick would work on the same thief; his record was to suck the same thief into the bag four times in a five minute period.

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Early in the fall semesters, Concordia's clinical psychology masters students often recruit volunteer students for personality assessment; students who volunteer get a free assessment of their personalities and the masters students get... "participants." Being the kind soul that I am, I took part in one of these assessment sessions in September and received the results earlier this week. As a special treat, I will reveal what actual psychological testing has revealed about me.

For the benefit of those with backgrounds in psychology, the testing I underwent consisted of the MMPI short form, a condensed questionnaire of about 250 yes-or-no questions (the full version is over 520 items); these items make up a variety of subscales and include items which try to get at whether the person is introverted or extroverted, social or anti-social, depressed or manic, that sort of thing. This test is one of the most reliable and valid measures in psychology (which I find silly having filled it in, as will be indicated below in a few areas). The second part of the test I took consisted of some projective tests -- stuff that requires a lot of inference by the administrator, rather than computer-scoring like the MMPI. The TAT is a storytelling test, where a series of pictures are shown to the participant and they try to tell a story based on it, filling in what characters are thinking and feeling. The other projective test is known as the house/tree/person wherein the participant draws each of those three things however they choose, and conclusions are drawn from what is in or absent from the picture. Projective tests have fairly low reliability, but as will be discussed, they seem to have worked on me, as the psychologist made some interesting inferences from the tests.

So anyway...

The MMPI uses a variety of subscales, which anyone on google can find easily enough. My scores were basically normal on most of them (I'm not amoral, immature, or repressed, yay!) but a few interesting findings came up. First of all, and perhaps most entertainingly, I scored unusually *low* on depression questions; in fact, the incredibly low score I obtained actually suggests hypomania, a reduced form of manic behaviour. This is further broken into two sub-subscales, which are basically excess energy and excess ego. People who know me will attest to the fact that I am not hyperactive or overly energetic, which suggests that the basis for my manic-like score is questions about self-image. In essence: I have the self-perception of someone in the midst of a minor manic episode. Of course, we'd expect no less from the Chosen of a god.

The second interesting finding was that, accoring to the test, I am a hypochondriac (low score, non-clinical, but still hypochondriac). Since people are used to seeing me walk around in the winter with no jacket, and I rarely if ever get sick, I initially found this very amusing. There is actually a excellent explanation for this one: questions which score for hypochondria are also highly correlated with people who have chronic pain conditions, which is the category I fall into. This is one of those cases where I question the validity of the MMPI, but as I'd be first to admit, I'm hardly typical of the average person.

The third interesting result of the test was that I score unusually high -- though again, sub-clinically -- on scores which are highly correlated with schizophrenia. This does not mean that I am schizophrenic; it suggests that I demonstrate certain schizophrenia-like behaviours, such as emotional detachment from others and an active fantasy life (to the occasional exclusion of reality). Interestingly, this subscale does not take into account schizophrenic symptoms such as delusions or hallucinations, but is based solely on behaviour; I don't hear voices, but apparently, I sometimes act as though I do (or at least, am at elevated risk to someday).

The rest of the test showed nothing very interesting. I scored more introverted than extroverted (no shock), scored a bit high on emotional detachment and overly-rational behaviour (again, no great shock) and a bit high but still within normal ranges on delusions on grandeur (nobody's perfect). The general test suggests strongly that I am a private individual who rarely volunteers information about himself, is generally emotionally detached from others, is slow to form deep interpersonal relationships, leads an active fantasy life and believes himself to be moderatly superior to most people around him. To be honest, the only criticism I could make would be that I probably believe myself to be more than "moderately" superior... other than that, it looks like they got me pretty well pegged.

The projective tests showed little of interest that hadn't already been shown by the MMPI. The stories I told were unusually detailed and had very strong beginnings, endings, and plots... possibly because I storytell D&D games every week and so I've got a lot of practice turning single images into long, complex stories. The stories were not abnormally high in violence, criminality, or depression, but there was a marked lack of emotion in the stories I told as compared to stories most people tell. Whereas stories told by the average participant has a fair bit of emotional information -- what each character is thinking and feeling at a given time -- my stories focused a great deal on what characters were thinking but contained only a minimum of emotional content. This was interpreted by the administrator as being fairly consistent with the MMPI results, and I'd have to agree. Sadly, we did not discuss the results of the house/tree/person test... probably because, when the administrator asked me if I thought the images were likely to hold any meaning, I answered "not with lousy drawing skills like mine."

So there you have it: the results of an actual psychological examination conducted on me by a trained administrator in controlled laboratory settings. The results suggest strongly that I am an unusually creative, intelligent, arrogant individual with few close friendships but very close ties to those I do associate with at length.

I told you so.

If you've found this entry interesting, mail Eric about it.
If you didn't find this entry interesting, go to hell.

Well, no, that's actually not what today's Entry is about (even though it's true). I think I made my feelings of the holiday season amply clear back in Entry 59, and anyone with even the most basic understanding of my opinions on television, music, and crowds can guess how I feel about the whole month of December. That said, I'm celebrating the first night of Hannukah (that's tonight, for the benefit of undereducated readers) by writing about something completly unrelated. Today, loyal readers get their first sneak preview of the LARP being considered for proposed Halloween celebrations slated for December 18th!

The Backstory:
December 18th, 2004. A group of people has gathered to celebrate Halloween. They believe that, by holding the party in December, they will escape the notice of the vile forces which turn dozens of college-student Halloween parties into bloodbaths every year. They are wrong.

Though none of the guests know it, a handful of those attending the party have been attacked on their way there and replaced with mutant killer robot zombie werewolves. These monsters wish nothing more than to destroy everyone attending the party. The guests will quickly realize what is happening, however, and as an angry mob, are more than capable of defending themselves, if they can figure out who has been replaced. Finally, at a party full of gamers, it comes as no surprise that some are unusual people; some have studied monsters for years and are ready to find and stop the mutant killer robot zombie werewolves; some can see the future and speak with the dead; and some of them like the monsters more than they like the other people at the party...

It will be long Halloween party... for many, it may be their last.

The rules:
Players take on the role of themselves, attending a Halloween party in late December. Unknown to the people at large, several people attending have been waylaid, killed, and replaced by mutant killer robot zombie werewolves. Over the course of the evening, it will become apparent to the human characters (henceforth referred to as "townsfolk") that monsters are in their midst, and reacting as humans are wont to do, they will begin lynching whoever seems most suspicious at a given moment. Will the mutant killer robot zombie werewolves destroy all the humans, or will they trick the humans into killing each other? Will the humans deduce who the monsters are, and even if they do will they choose to destroy the monsters or help them? You get to decide!

Players will choose (and/or be assigned) roles of townsperson or monster; a small number of townspeople will receive extra abilities, such as: seer, monster hunter, medium, or monster sympathizer. The goal of the monsters is to kill a minimum number of townsfolk and escape. The goal of the townsfolk is to not be eaten. Many characters have special goals which they will also have the chance to attain. As the game progresses, more and more people will be killed; as each character is slain, they return immediatly as a ghost, still able to party but no longer able to change the outcome of the game; furthermore, ghosts cannot recal the moment of their deaths, and cannot normally say who slew them. The game functions primarily in character interaction (you are at a party, after all), but at half-hour intervals, characters may use their special actions.

The special actions:
Every character will be able to take special actions based on if they are townsfolk, monster, or special character.
Monster: Nominate Victim; Nominate Lynching; do nothing
Townsfolk/Monster Sympathizer: Nominate Lynching; do nothing
Seer: Nominate Lynching; Consult the Fates; do nothing
Medium: Nominate Lynching; Speak with Dead; do nothing
Hunters: Nominate Lynching; Detect magic; do nothing
Ghosts: Nothing.

• Consult the Fates: Peering into the past and the future, the Seer is able to ask the gods one question, such as: What character type is ****? How many monsters are there now? Was I nominated by the monsters/townfolk? The fates themselves will provide the truthful answer.
• Detect magic: The Hunter knows how monsters work, and can spot them with a combination of accumen, practice, and instinct. Every half hour, the Hunter can tell if one person is human. Be warned, however... the monsters may not be the only ones at the party who are not quite human.
• Do Nothing: Paralyzed by fear (or alcohol), the character does nothing one turn. This reduces suspicion about that character, and reduces the number of votes against them on votes cast against them by monsters and lynchers.
• Nominate Lynching: The townfolk have one weapon: sheer numbers. Rising up with torches and pitchforks, the townspeople select one victim as being "most suspicious" and string him or her up.
• Nominate Victim: The monsters all cast votes to see who they will attack, and when they select a victim, nothing can save the poor fool.
• Speak with Dead: The medium can peer beyond the veil of life, and ask the dead questions they could not otherwise answer.

Special actions are resolved as follows. Votes are written down by players and given to the judge, who goes through them.
1) The characters most nominated by the monsters as their victim of choice is killed. In case of a tie, one is chosen randomly... or maybe they both get eaten.
2) The seer may ask one question of the fates.
3) The hunter(s) may detect if one person is human.
4) The townsfolk lynch the most nominated victim. In case of a tie, both victims have the chance to give a very brief defense speech (about 30 seconds) and the mob votes for one to live and one to die.
5) Dead characters return as ghosts.
6) The medium may ask one question of any ghost.

The Time
Character sheets are handed out between 8 and 10:30 pm, and players may interact freely. At 10:30, the partiers realise something is amiss... there are monsters nearby! They have half an hour to prepare. At 11 pm, special actions are performed and resolved, and the game continues for half an hour. Special actions are again collected at 11:30, and at 12:00, 12:30, 1:00, and 1:30. At 1:30 (or later if enough players remain and are still enjoying themselves) victory conditions are judged.

The Victory:
1) The humans win if all monsters are killed (instant victory) or if they still outnumber the monsters 2 to 1 at the end of the game. The hunter(s) win if the townsfolk win regardless of whether or not the hunters survive. Note: the humans can only claim instant victory if they are persuaded that no monsters remain; nothing stops the humans from continuing to lynch each other even after the killings stop.
2) The monsters win if the number of non-monsters (not counting the kinfolk) equals the number of monsters at any time or if the number of townsfolk is less than the number of monsters at the end. The kinfolk wins if the monsters win (and the kinfolk still lives).
3) The seer and medium win if they are still alive at the end.
4) Individual characters win if they survive and complete their special goals.
Technically, being dead, ghosts cannot win. However, they can still take some vicarious pleasure in knowing that their faction has won, and they can still work towards their special goals.

If you've found this entry interesting, mail Eric about it.
If you didn't find this entry interesting, go to hell.