Special thanks to Jason Hudgins for scanning this newsletter copy in for us!
RELIGION IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT
by Jeff Freeman
I have a couple of points to make in response to Dan Richards’ article in the last Newsletter.
First. I don’t accept that “our government is working on the idea to allow more religion into governments.” Our government, that is, our elected representatives, are doing their best to remain in office. Their greatest challenge, locally, has been from political groups that have organized around a religious platform. I do not consider this to be “our government” so much as it seems to fit the description of “grass roots” to a tee.
Secondly, it is not religion in government these people are shooting for, but religious values in public institutions. Calling them “religious values” on the other hand, would be a political killer. So they call them “Traditional Family Values.” The notion is that the values are traditional, not necessarily the family. What are these values? Honesty, integrity, self-reliance, self-control, etc. Take the religion out of public schools if you must (and yes, you must), but let’s not stop teaching that it’s wrong to steal, wrong to lie, wrong to cheat, etc.
That this minority is enjoying some political success does not mean they are attempting to establish a theocracy. Rather, it is due only to the tact that a many people agree with a large part, of their agenda. On a local level, only the most basic and agreeable list of values has met with any success. More ambitious rosters have been rejected outright (yes, there have been attempts to include “homosexuality is wrong”, too). Furthermore, such proposals have been restricted to “affirmations” without any real policy attached.
I think the threat to our freedom and our schools has been greatly exaggerated.
However, as Paul pointed out, Fundamentalists are the anti-RPG movement these days. And these groups are almost universally Fundamentalists. They are winning elections and they do so enjoy codifying Good and Evil into long lists of do’s and don’t’s.
It may be that Fundamentalists, in the public eye, can finally be forced to drop the “RPG is Satanic” patter. The Great Unwashed (i.e. We the People) demand that the problem be identified, the solution proposed, and the evidence that the solution will solve the problem laid on the table. Of course the entire anti-RPG thing is based on tossing out a solution (ban RPG as much and as often as possible) and then searching high and low for a problem that will be solved by that. Uh.. .teen suicide?
There are also odd contradictions that arise. For example, my own high school D&D club (in 1982) was shut down because the anti-RPGers claimed that D&D contained “religious symbology” and therefore violated Separation of Church and State. Now those same people are pushing for schools to accept, if not sponsor, Bible clubs and prayer meetings. They’ll have their cake and eat your too.
I won’t deny that there are some dangerous ideals rattling around all these political groups. 1 will deny that there is nothing good about them. As CAR-PGa members we should challenge the anti-RPG nonsense, whether it comes from our own camp or not Then some of us can go on to oppose the entire gathering, others to support it. Regardless of the outcome, it’s good for CAR-PGa and it’s good for them, too.
NEW FROM THE PUBLISHERS
AD&D: Deck of Psionic Powers accessory: $15.00.
AD&D: Crusades, historical reference: $18.00
AD&D: Red Steel, campaign expansion with audio CD: $30.00.
Mystara: Haii the heroes, adventure with audio CD: $15.00.
Mystara: Night of the Vampire, adventure with audio CD: $15.00.
Planescape: In the Abyss, adventure: $9.95.
Forgotten Realms: Volo’s Guide to the Sword Coast, accessory: $9.95.
Al Qadim: Caravans, accessory/adventure: $18.00.
Ravenloft: Monsterous Compendium appendix, vol. 3: $18.00.
Ravenloft: Masque of the Red Death and Other Tales, campaign expansion: $25.00.
All companies are welcome to submit listings for this column.
FINANCES
SATURDAY MORNING SUPER HEROES
by Jeff Freeman
Following in the steps of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, or at least hoping to, no fewer than four little-known comic books have come to the Saturday morning cartoon line-up. This is good news for SuperHero RPGers, as the shows are not only good for character, costume, and power ideas, but a good source for plot outlines as well. Set your VCR, you’ll want to fast-forward through the commercials pushing toys, McDonald’s, and video-games (which leave about 12 minutes of “show” for each half-hour recorded). *
My favorite, far and away the best cartoon I’ve seen in all the years I’ve been too old to watch them, is The Tick. The comic book, by New England Comics Press [Box 310, Qunicy, MA 02269, (617) 774-0140], fancies itself as a parody of the entire super-hero genre. True to form, the first episode of the cartoon Tick seemed to poke fun at every Champions game I’ve ever played. Parents take note: The Tick is one of the few Saturday morning cartoons actually suited for a younger audience.
The City (that’s its name) is just infested with super-heroes. Look out any downtown sky-scraper window and ther’ll be a hero or two “on patrol”. They even crash into one another occasionally, presumably because they are looking for bad guys instead of watching where they are going.
in episode one. The Idea . . . . launch a crime wave and a haH-dozen super heroes respond to thwari ideir evil plans. Unfortunately, one hero cannot find a place to change into his hero costume. Captain Chameleon is taken out of action when he accidentally steps on something plaid. Before the Tick can apprehend them, the Idea Men make a very original getaway in a dirigible. The Tick was also impressed, “Cool, they got a blimp!”
Of course the characters are silly and the dialogue is sillier, but there were still a number of ideas worth shamelessly swiping for my own personal use. For that matter, the whole show just put me in a Heroic mood. Can’t think of anything for your next super-hero game? See if The Tick won’t inspire you.
GO AHEAD ON FANDOM
It is semi-official (they haven’t told me but have some of our members); Fandom Directory is back in production. However, what we normally start in September, is starting in November this tune, and the deadline is the same, Boxing Day.
Since a fair portion of the membership has come in since this document suspended publication, a brief description is needed. Fandom started i■ ■ directory of comic book tans ‘ ‘ ■ ■ cc kly spilled over into science and fantasy
fiction, then to games. usts indiv iduais. organizations, publications, conventions. and stores. Therefore, you can iegiti- mately get counted several times by listing whatever category you qualify mr.
This is important because it takes a himdred entries to keep a given interest in the book (although you get a free year below it if you should happen to drop under), and a hundred to get listed at all.
CAR-PGa was the first interest to get the required number on the first try when we got Game Advocacy as an interest group. However, that was back with the minimum was fifty and the next year it was raised to a hundred, which we barely made that time. We need to consolidate this category.
We are also trying to get two more groups started: Board Wargaming and Miniatures Wargaming. Currently, all three are listed simply as Role/War Gaming. The main value of Fandom Directory tor us has been that it is the only source of demographic data on a large scale. For instance, our figures on the percentage of gamers who are female, comes exclusively from that source. With a constant 6V4 % indeterminate (Pat, Chns,initials, etc.), we have watched the femalepercent- _ . age rise from five to twenty. However, because the base figure includes board and miniatures gamers too (with a far higher percentage of male participants), the true RPG figure may well be much higher.
The second advantage is its main purpose: a means to locating fellow hobbyists nearby, or in a strange town if just moved or there temporarily. We have had some success in using it in recruiting for CAR-PGa, although not good enough to spend stamps on for mass mailings; most of this has come through the periodicals listed rather than individuals.
The third advantage for us has been in having members send their forms to the Chair rather than directly to Fandom Directory. We are well enough established with the publisher that we only need to send in the data rather than the forms, which keeps down postal costs. In the meantime, we can get an advanced listing of our own members and can keep an eye on how near we are to reaching the minimum in Game Advocacy (or the other adventure games we are trying this year).
Finally, CAR-PGa is in the organizations list, with a small display ad giving all state/provincial/national coordinators as well as directors, the CAR-PGa newsletter is listed in the periodicals, and this has attracted the notice of a few who have ultimately joined us as a result. That is not too bad a return on a postage stamp.
Therefore, make as many copies of the Fandom form as you and your friends will need and start filling them out. Do it now rather than at a more convenient time and the deadline will not sneak up on you.
THE INSANITY CONTINUES
by Paul Cardwell, Jr., from material in Pyramid, November 1994
Just to prove that the FBI has no more sense than the Secret Service, Tri Tac Games was raided. Tri Tac has a game called Bureau 13, in which a secret division of the FBI fights supernatural criminals and monsters with magic and such high-tech gadgets as Harrier V/STOL jets. In the publicity for this game, Tri Tac made up obviously fake ID badges purporting to identify the bearer as a member of Bureau 13. They were twice the size of any normal ID badge, were on high-visibility orange and pink paper, and had no photo of the “agent” or any other thing that real IDs have.
The FBI at least conducted the raid properly (aside from the matter of lack of grounds). The staff, like Steve Jackson’s with the SS, cooperated and unlike the SS, the FBI agents did not damage computers or destroy “works in progress” (which i M dk* ftdet^a# n minionsJ. Mayve±iey
destroyed, a ide against the company was opened In dXe
FBI’s gigantic collection of dossiers.
DENMARK
I; D. Vince Hensel;!; J
When I first joined CAR-PGa, Pau! Cardwell asked me to do a report on the Danish situation for roleplaying gamers. With the enthusiasm of the newly converted. I went about asking fellow convention goers at different conventions what they thought T should write. The majority of the questioned replied… (nothing).
This i_, however strange as it might seem, a positive sign. We are quite many gamers in a small country -1 make a guess of some 2-3,000 or more players out of a five million population. That’s not bad. Hereto must then be added the boardgames-only gamers, and the addicts of magic: The Gathering, of whom I have little idea about the numbers, but let us call it another 500-1,000 people.
The positive part is that no complaining means little trouble. The respondents to the mini-mini survey I conducted, mostly through word of mouth, replied that they had nothing in particular to complain about regarding the gaming situation, and the majority commented that gaming in Denmark is a stable and quiet situation. There are a vast number of local gaming clubs and more or less official networks (most of the latter based on word of phone); these do a decent job in that they provide facilities for the games to take place in, and an occasional event. Most clubs have an annual convention, usually with some 100-200 attending – the top scorer, in my opinion, is ARL in Aalborg which offers two annual conventions plus a smaller con for members only, of which the first two are normally attended by some 300-350 people. For Denmark, that’s a huge convention. There are a few which are bigger, and received somewhat of a ‘cult’ status (Fastaval, Spiltraef), but these are one time a year only.
We don’t have any major problems; there are the occasional press barfs from various religious institutions, but no one really takes them seriously – in Denmark, there is a great tendency to let fanatics rattle on as they please, and not bother; with the exception of a certain bunch of German Neo-Nazis who were chased out of the country by public demonstrations in September and October. In other terms, we can get very upset when the matter is racism, but we don’t bother to take such institutions as the Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Inner Mission very seriously. Not even when these two specifically have a great following in the country – there is a lot of debate going on regarding whatever else they do, but when they release attacks against this or that, no one bothers to listen. It is more like the press is attacking them, in response to the way exmembers report having been treated by them (specifically the Jehovah’s Witnesses).
In comparison with England and the USA, we are quite provincial, I think. But I think it is a good thing that though we rarely get press attention, when we do it is normally positive. I am, though, gathering a collection of attacks released in former times by various religious institutions. You’ll get them when I’ve finished translating them.
NEW TREND WORLD-WIDE
[The new attack on RPG seems to be to label us immature misfits, nerds, dweebs, or what other names the can come up with for those who value knowledge above mass culture (ed.).J
I noticed a RPG-related TV program here recently. A 3-part miniseries for youth called Magic Places, done by Finnish Swedish Television (dialogue in Swedish, Finnish subtitles). In short, the story is as follows: A boy runs away from home to spend the summer with an old school friend’s family in Ahvenanmaa (Aland, an island between Finland and Sweden). The old friend (girl ) and her best friend immediately notice he is a bit weird – he’s into roleplaying games The guy has trouble relating to life and especially girls and can only really communicat wjfh them through playing an RPG he bought just atrei arriving. A. , Places. This is partly because of troubles at hon^ partly because his best gaming friend fell in love and left the hobby for a girlfriend. There’s a bit of a romantic triangle before the guy works out his problems and leaves RPGs to pursue more worthwhile hobbies like dating and playing in a rock band. Happy end…
| — | FROM PAUL C ARDWELL, JR. Garanto, Larry (994. September). Police encounters. Shads 26-30. Generic background material for various police functions in different settings of RPG. 5 pagers. Jones, Spike Y. (1994, October). Who’s afraid of the big, bad ghost? Dragon, 19-22,24. Not a discussion of ghosts, the undead, but rather of techniques for adding a bit of spooky suspense to the scenario. Described in AD&D terms, but easily translated to other systems. 5 pages. Satran, Michael (1994, October). Dead or alive? Dragon, pp 10-14, 16. Logical and medieval legal issue of whether magically resurected character is alive or undead, question of inheritance, etc. as applies to logical gaming. Generic format. 5 pages. Adkisson, Peter (1994, November). Dialog. Comics Retailer, 46-47. Reply to Gray (noted last issue). Wizards of the Coast will continue to emphasize gaming over collecting. Claims only some Magic cards are collectibles anyway. 1 page. Cardwell, Paul Jr. (1994, Nov.). What is CAR-PGa? Pyramid, 78-79. Intro for non-member gamers. 2 pages. FROM CLARISSA FOWLER Student News (1994, June 5). When you life depends on your every word. China News, page unstated. Teaching English at National Cheng Chi University by means of RPG conducted in that language. Some Chinese text missing . FROM OMAR DINIZ Cabral, Alexandre (1994, October 2). Guerra etema. Planeta Globo, page 3. Magic: the Gathering reviewed. FROM JENNIFER CLARKE WILKES Jensen, Trevor (1994, July 14). Student ruled insane in slashing, psychologists say teen’s fantasy world led to attack on classmate. [Fort Lauderdale] Sun-Sentinel, 3B. Mortal Kombat video game gets insanity verdict. Insanity seems well established, but symptoms predated Mortal Kombat. 2 pages. Campbell, K.K. (1994, September 1). Keep your laws off my crime games. Eye, page 19. Commentary on Rock bill in Canada. CAR-PGa quoted. Smith, Emily (1994, Sept. 1). Night of the drinking dead. Eyepage 22. Guide to goth bars of Toronto. [Agodibaris a night club for gothic novel fans and would-be vampires (ed.).] One has a second-Tuesdays Masquerade game. Rock, Allan (1994, October 6) (personal correspondence to Jennifer Clarke Wilkes). Form letter to anyone commenting on the bill. 2 pages. Cliffe, Ken (no date). Runes. White Wolf, #47, page 4. Commentary on Rock bill from a Canadian working at White |
Wolf; concentrates on power granted to individual customs agents, differences from traditional Canadian views, and effect
| on White Wolf magazine (which is printed in Canada). |
MEMBERSHIP UPDATE
Address Change
Wendy Trachta, 3214 N. Chestnut St. #143, Colorado Springs, CO 80907-5043. [This is the fourth, and latest, address this month, so stay tuned. We are trying to get the matter straightened out (ed.).]
Status Change
B. Vince Heuschkel. HuskkLvA 46 kid : . DR-7000 Fredericia, Denmark, is our new Regional ”4or for Europe. Fluent in Danish and English, functional in Norwegian and Swedish, and marginal in German, she also publishes Fair Tidings, a game magazine in English.
NOTE FROM THE CHAIR
In the past, the January issue has been sent to all members because of the annual report. Because of the Fandom Directory, this year this will be the one going to all members (and a few lapsed members as well, in hopes). While we are at it. most of you will find a membership form. This should be filled out even though you have already done so as the previous one is getting rather out-of-date. That way both the membership form and the Fando^i Directory form(s) can come back, together and save postage.
c i those ikh already doing so, I would urge you to subscribe to the Newsletter. All of those dropping out of CAR-PGa have been non-s jbwribers (rather obvious, since it is worth a point and drop-outs spend a year without adding points). Only one non-subscriber currently holds active status, and of the five subscribers in inactive status, all but one have joined (or in one case, rejoined) in the last year. There is a correlation. There is still no official word on the threatened postal increase, so here is a chance to subscribe under the old rate. If the threat to raise postage is carried out (10% increase), we will have to raise North American postage to $8.50 and overseas to $15.00. We have already had to stop multi-year subscriptions because of this possibility, but you can still get in under the old price. We still have no monetary dues, but those who subscribe also pay their dues (work for the cause); those who don’t either lag behind or drop out.
It would also help if you made a few copies of both the membership and Fandom Directory forms before filling yours out, so you could have some for others to fill out too.
CALENDAR
November
18-20; Eyecon, Emporium, London, ON; 123 King St., London, ON N6A 1C3.
18-20; MidCon, Birmingham, UK; Brian Williams, 30 Rydding Lane, Millfield Estate, W. Bromwich By 1 2HA, UK.
18-20; Shauncon, Howard Johnson Central, Kansas City, MO; Box 7457, Kansas City, MO 64116.
19; Ellis Con, H.H. Ellis Tech School, Danielson, CT; John Saskell, 613 Upper Maple St., Danielson, CT 06239.
December
3; Warp’dcon, Drew University, Madison, NJ; Richard Ditullio, Box 802, C.M. Box 1405, Madison, NJ 07940.
- 11; Southwest Comic Festival, Austin Convention Center, Austin, TX; Box 650201, Austin, TX 78765-0201.
January 1995
- 16; Games University, Red Lion Hotel, Ontario, CA, Ultraviolet Productions, Box 668, Upland, CA 91785.
- 15; Crusades, Comfort Inn, Darien, CT; Box 403, Fairfield, CT 06430.
14-15; Start, Markethalle near Mainstation, Hamburg; Martin Koschmall, Am Beeck 7,21224, Rosengarten, Germany.
14-16; Battlecon: Old Towne Ramada Hotel, San Diego, CA; 3023 Hancock St., Suite C, San Diego, CA 92110. 27-29; RoundCon, Columbia, SC; Box 80018, Columbia, SC 29225.
February 1995
3-5; Winter War, Chancellor Hotel, Champaign, IL, Donald McKinney, 986 Pomona Dr., Champaign, IL 61821.
- 12; Winter Fantasy, Milwaukee, WI; Box 515, Lake Geneva, W 53147. ,
17-19; GenghisCon, Denver, CO; Box 440058, Aurora, CO 80044.
17-20; OrcCon, Los Angeles, CA; Box 3849, Torrance, CA 90510.
March 1995
3-5; Cold Wars. Lancaster. PA: 902 Langley, Glen Bumie. MD 21261.
3-5: Egyptian Campaign. Carbondale, IL; Strategic game Society, 3d Floor Student Center, Carbondale, IL 62901.
24-26: ScotCon, Wooster, OH, Box C-2102, Wooster, OH 44691.
April 1995
27-30: CruiseCon, Bahamas: 1-800-529-3976.
29-30; Saints’ Con, SCSU, St. Cloud, MN; St. Cloud State University Games Club, 1404 12th St. SE, St. Cloud, MN 56304
May 1995
26-29; Three Rivers GameFest, Pittsburg, PA; Box 3100, Kent, OH 44240.
July 1995
21-24; ManorCon, Birmingham, UK.
August 1995
1-3; Operation Green Flag, Farmington, ME; 5 South St., UMF, Farmington, ME 04938.
1-3; UMF-Con, University of Maine, Farmington;
3-6; AvalonCon/DipCon; Hunt Valley, MD; TAHGC, 4517 Harford Rd., Baltimore, MD 21214.
10-14; Gamefest, Old Towne, San Diego, CA; 3954 Harney St. San Diego, CA 92110.
©Copyright 1994 by the Committee for the Advancement of Role-Playing Games (CAR-PGa), ISSN 1071 7129. The C AR-PGa Newsletter is a monthly publication of the Committee for the Advancement of Role-Playing Games (CAR-PGa), Inc. It is available by subscription of $7.50 per year or 75 cents per copy ($12.00 per year or $1.25 per copy overseas). Back issues are available. The editor is the Chair, Paul Cardwell, Jr. The address is 1127 Cedar, Bonham, TX 75418. Contributions of material from the membership are urged. We go to press on the last day of the month, so get the material in as much before that time as possible. The size of the Newsletter depends on what is submitted. Permission is granted to copy anything in the Newsletter, provided we are given a credit line in the publication copying it, and it doesn’t have someone else’s copyright on it.
A mark here indicates your subscription ends with this issue. Renewal, as with original subscriptions, is $7.50 NAFTA, $12.00 overseas, for the full 12-issue year.
A mark here indicates your subscription ends with the next issue.
A mark here indicates that this is a complimentary copy. You currently have points. If no more are made, you will have points next month.