Intermission
Jim Vassilakos (jim.vassilakos@gmail.com)
Anachronism & Cliché in the Jinx Campaign
In #393 & #394, Jinx mentions the 9th circle of magic,
telling Furcas, “I need access to spells above the ninth
circle,” and later, “my knowledge is limited to those spells
of the ninth circle and below.” Naturally, I was thinking
“ninth level” and didn’t want to use the word “level,”
because it would have been such an obvious D&D-
reference, however, I wonder if using the term “ninth
circle” isn’t just as obvious, and if so, is it therefore too
derivative? (Of course, this, on the face of it, is a somewhat
peculiar question, because, after all, this write-up comes out
of an AD&D campaign; so what’s the point in masking it?)
In #394, Furcas and Jinx are drinking “Tabula Rasa,”
which has an effect on one’s memory. Of course, Tabula
Rasa is well-known as being Latin for “Blank Slate,” a
reference to the thesis that human beings have no built in
knowledge when they are born but must rather be taught
just about everything they will need to survive (compared
to the other animals, we are truly helpless). In this case, I
thought that “Tabula Rasa,” being of an ancient language,
was acceptable as the name of a magical wine, but I could
see the argument that it isn’t obscure enough.
Later in #394, Jinx asks how long the effects will last.
“An hour or two,” Furcas replies. Of course, I didn’t like
using our units of time in the dialogue. I suppose he could
have said “One or two of your mortal hours” or some-such,
however, the right approach, I think, would have been to
develop an alternate system of time for use in Hell,
although this might get unnecessarily confusing for the
reader. I actually attempted this at one point, but I wasn’t
crazy about the final results.
Later in #394, a wand materializes in the hand of Furcas,
and he waves it around to accomplish something. Granted,
wands are props of the genre, but are they so commonplace
as to have become trite, and if so, am I not demeaning
magic to have it employed so casually, even in Hell?
Among the worst of my offenses, I think, comes in #395,
where Furcas is telling Jinx that his parents1 referred to
Emperor Beelzebub2 as “Bubba”. In the first place, Bubba
evolved from the term “brother” as a term of endearment,
but because of its use in and association with the South
Eastern United States, it became something of a derogatory
term. Hence, does it make any sense that two devils in the
fantasy genre should be using it or that Furcas or Jinx
would be able to discern the derogatory overtone, given that
presumably neither have been indoctrinated into American
culture?
1
Devils even being capable of having parents or offspring was yet
another issue that I wrestled with for some time.
2
Coincidentally, in #395 Spike talks about “The Shame Game”
where gods are discredited via the obfuscation or defamation of
their names, and as a case in point, he mentions the well-known
case of Baal-Zebul (“Lord of the Temple”) being “oopsed” into
Baalzebub (“Lord of the Flies”).
However, even worse that this, I think, is the sheer fact
that two devils, even two on intimate terms, would have the
courage to create and use a derogatory nickname for their
Emperor. We also see much the same issue in #398 where
Cedric tells Jinx that the lord of a neighboring city doesn’t
much like the prince to whom they both owe fealty. In the
first place, why would Cedric necessarily know this, and
even assuming he did, why would he so casually share it
with Jinx? I think the reason things like this pop up in the
writing is that in 20th century (and 21st century) USA, in
which I was raised and currently live, we can say
derogatory things about our leaders without fear of
consequences. Hence, it’s all too easy to forget that in
earlier times people lived in terror of the whim of their
rulers, as even the smallest act of disrespect could result in
the most unpleasant repercussions for them personally or
even for their entire families. Hence, this sort of cavalier
attitude is, I think, itself anachronistic. Likewise, perhaps, is
Jinx’s apparent desire to see if the cities of the region that
she ventured to accidentally3 can rule themselves as a sort
of council of oligarchs (this, of course, being in line with
the American ideal of self-government).
All in all, the problems are legion, both numerous and
varied, and in many places, I’m ashamed to admit, the
writing seems terribly unpracticed. Nonetheless, inserting
these write-ups in A&E does give me the opportunity to
think about the story in greater depth and to solicit
comments, and to those who have commented, I thank you.
IGTheme: Werewolves and other Shapechangers
I’ve long wanted to run a campaign where the PC was a
werewolf (or some-such) but didn’t know it. He or she
would go to the town inn and fall asleep but in the morning
find clothing shredded, perhaps blood on the fingers or
face, and the window wide open. Then, after cleaning up,
taking inventory, and going outside, he or she would hear
how some local person was murdered late at night. Pretty
awful thing to do to a player, but call it the way I’d start
campaign, if only I didn’t fear that the player might take
offense at their character being so twisted and screwed-over
by the GM. Is this wrong?
Morality in RPGs
I think that all stories are, to some extent, focused on the
question of what is right and what is wrong. As children, if
our parents (or society) had been doing their job, we would,
of course, have learned morally-packed tales, stories about
fate’s kindness to the good and the persecuted, and heroes
and heroines who, through courage and intelligence, win
the prize. These stories are perhaps meant to give us heart
and to, even more-so, I think, illustrate what is best in
humanity. They are the reflection of the best that is within
3
See my comment to Joshua in A&E #394.
us, and so we say that their internal reward (and, thus, our
moral appreciation) lay not in whatever the heroes have
won, but rather in their very act of trying, bearing whatever
consequences fate may have in store for them.
“Grace under pressure,” one well-known author called it.
That’s ultimately what characterization is about…to set up
the criteria for success, so that we can understand the
characters as we understand ourselves. And that, of course,
is part of the lure of roleplaying; the very best players have
had the experience of really caring about their characters
and really getting their point of view, groking them, one
might say, or becoming intimately involved in their travails,
and the very luckiest GMs have had the experience of
conducing them towards this goal and then observing their
choices and acting the part of merciful fate if we find them
so deserving. (Of course, that calls upon us to play God, our
moral arbitration circumvented by the rules only so far as
we choose to allow, and much has, of course, been said on
this…one might say that it is a quandary.)
Back in #358, Brian Misiaszek asked, “Are you an RPG
Racist?” with respect to D&D and the whole kill-the-
monsters genre. He argued that such games teach a form of
racism, and in light of this perspective, I suppose perhaps
Vampire and Werewolf and the whole we’re-the-monsters
genre was perhaps some eerie form of sub-cultural
backlash. I mean, games do teach, just as stories teach, and
I guess the question I would submit to you (at the risk of
starting a great flame war, which I sincerely hope will not
be the case) is: Which games do you believe are the most
conducive to teaching moral lessons, and why, or do you
rather think that system really doesn’t matter, genre doesn’t
matter, none of it really matters except for the spirit and
invention that the GM and the players both bring to the
game? Or, on the obverse, do you think this question itself
is somehow missing the real point, and if so, then what was
your all-time favorite roleplaying experience, and did it not
in any way relate to this question of morality in RPGs?
How Did They Meet?
A few months ago, what I presume was a relatively
inexperienced GM requested ideas on how to start a
campaign beyond the traditional cliché of having the PCs
all meet in a tavern. The particulars of the campaign and
characters were as follows:
• Medieval Fantasy Campaign
• PC #1: Male Halfling Mercenary
• PC #2: Female Human Noble
• PC #3: Female Elven Scribe
I thought about it for a minute or two and came up with
something pretty close to the following:
The noble's uncle, as a joke, because he was drunk, or
perhaps because he had his brother murdered so that he
could ascend to the throne4 sends his niece, of whom he’s
not terribly fond, into harm’s way with a halfling as her
bodyguard, because he considers her to be a halfwit and
therefore only in need of half a bodyguard. Also, he orders
4
…nodding respectfully toward Shakespeare.
one of the court scribes to keep an accurate diary of their
misadventures, as he doesn't trust his daughter to get any of
the details right, and in any case, he harbors suspicious
with respect to her literacy.
It's always a good idea to put the PCs in their place early
on, just so they know where they stand. After they win fame
and fortune, you can have a scene with them returning
triumphant, and it will be all the sweeter.
This little exercise made me think that brainstorms of this
variety could be useful not only in terms of providing GMs
with ideas on how to establish a framework for their
campaign, but it might also be useful in terms of creating a
grab-bag of party backgrounds for GMs to use whenever
the PCs encounter an NPC party either out in the wilderness
or somewhere deep in the dungeon. And, of course, such
exercises need not be restricted to the fantasy genre.
Thus, in light of all the benefits, I was wondering if any
of you would be interested in partaking? If so…
1. Roll d4 or choose a number 1-4:
(1) Fantasy
(2) Modern
(3) Science-Fiction
(4) Create a Genre (see below)
2. Roll d6 or chose a number 1-6: This is the number of
characters in the “party”.
3. Roll d6 to determine (or just decide) each character’s
sex: 1-3 Female, 4-6 Male.
4. Roll d6 on Table #1A to determine each character’s race
or ethnicity:
Table #1A5
d6 Fantasy Modern Science-Fiction
1 Dwarf African Human
2 Elf Asian Modified Human6
3 Half Elf Caucasian Animan7
4 Halfling Middle Eastern True Alien Race8
5 Human Native American Robot9
6 See Table #1B
5
It is difficult to come up with generic racial tables, as each
campaign is unique. Hence, I tried to come up with tables that
were specific enough to be useable while still being general
enough to be non-campaign/non-game specific. Hence, feel free to
revise these tables to better suit your campaign.
6
See my comments to Lee in this issue.
7
Jaron Martin strongly advocated using animen in Ragamuffin.
The idea is that several animal species are borderline sentient if
not sentient already, and that with a given degree of mastery of
genetic manipulation, we could transform dogs, man’s proverbial
best friend, into something akin to Traveller’s Vargr, and that,
likewise, we could do the same with many other animal species
(perhaps Chewy is an uplifted bear).
8
Most SF-RPGs include aliens. You’ll need to select one that it
appropriate for your campaign. I would recommend creating a
sub-table in advance of actually rolling. Also, in cases where the
alien has additional or fewer sexes, you’ll have to re-roll “sex”
accordingly.
9
Or, if you were to allow it, the character could be a computer,
remotely controlling several robots, androids, or what-have-you.
 Comments on A&E #398:
Table #1B
1-3 Mutt10 Ty Beard: Thanks for the thoughts on insurgencies in
4-6 Other11 Traveller. In particular, I think you hit on an important
trend in the effect of advanced technology on
5. Roll d12 on Table #2A to determine each character’s reconnaissance and how that aids the regular force. In short,
profession/career: I can see it making governments all-knowing in a way that
they aren’t yet, and what this will ultimately mean is
Table #2A12 difficult for me to fathom. Certainly, Traveller has not
d12 Fantasy Modern Science Fiction adequately explored this, at least not to my knowledge,
1 Assassin Academic13 although I suppose it’s all up to the individual referee. In
2 Bard Industrialist Engineer any case, it might be interesting to explore this in greater
3 Monk Lawbreaker14 detail.
5 Noble Law Enforcer15 re your thoughts on Vietnam: “The Wars of John
6 Priest Medic16 McCain” by Jeffrey Goldberg in the October 2008 issue of
7 Sage Media17 The Atlantic jives nicely with some of what you’re saying
8 Scribe Military about the war possibly having been winnable, or at least it
9 Thief Politician apparently was in the perception of many in the military,
9 Warrior Retired Noble although this problem, which I think you correctly
10 Wizard Spy identified, of how to deal with the lines of supply keeps
cropping up. Oddly, however, you mention the Soviets in
11 Dual-Class Wage Slave Pilot/Navigator
Afghanistan as being an applicable model for how the
12 Other18
Imperium might fight an insurgency, but then you go on to
admit that this is false, again because of this dissimilarity
6. By now you should have your campaign type and your
with respect to the issue of the supply lines (the Imperial
list of characters. Now’s your chance to rise to the
Navy can control the space around a planet, effectively
challenge, so to speak, showing us how you’d have the
cutting off all foreign supply). Hence, I would think that the
party meet, thereby establishing the basic framework for the
only effective comparables would be insurgencies that took
campaign. Or, if you prefer, tell us an example of how you
place on islands against a power that controlled the seas.
once started a campaign or even how you’d like to start one
How did those turn out?
in the future.
Myles Corcoran: re Tudor Talents & Williams discovering
And if you don’t feel up to it or prefer to just let the players
that poor Rufus, who he just got done killing, was actually
devise their common history without GM-interference,
possessed by Cloptowe: Did he still regret nothing? Also, in
that’s fine. I just wanted to give folks something else to do
your campaign with how magic works, would it have been
aside from discussing politics, or criticizing each other for
possible to exorcise the spirit? All in all a very nice write-
discussing politics, or loquaciously philosophizing over
up, and I love your turns of phrase as well as the
whether members should even be allowed to discuss
interspersed dialogue.
politics, and, if so, then to what extent and under what
re my thoughtless condescension: Actually, it was
conditions…and, of course, what must their political
intentional, but not because I truly feel a serious temptation
philosophies specifically be in order to be tolerated…and so
to give up on you. I actually enjoy your zine; that much
forth. The election is behind us, folks. Let’s game!
should be readily apparent from the comments that I have
given you thus far. Rather, I wanted for you to feel, for just
10
Roll twice on Table #1 and combine the results. (Incidentally, I a moment and, granted, only to small degree, what I can
find nothing derogatory about this term. Most of us are probably only imagine you made Ty feel when he read your remark
“mutts,” at least by the standards of our ancestors.) of #396, in particular, the part where you wrote, “…I wish
11
Create a table of uncommon races or ethnicities particular to you’d just leave the APA.”
your campaign and roll on that to determine outcome. Now, you might suppose, quite naturally, that I should
12
Just as with the race table, feel free to revise this table to suit just stay out of it. After all, why should one person strain or
your individual campaign. even jeopardize his or her relationship with another because
13
Academics can be anything from mad scientists doing cutting- of what the second party said to some presumably loud-
edge research to burned-out middle school teachers. mouthed third-party? And the only answer that I can give,
14
Lawbreakers include both petty thieves and career criminals. which I have little expectation of you understanding, much
This profession can include smugglers, drug kingpins, illegal less appreciating, is because I felt that it is the right thing to
weapons dealers, contract killers, career burglars, jewel thieves,
do for reasons having to do with the rightness of protecting
art thieves, conmen, etc.
15 those who have a loud mouth (or a loud pen) on matters of
Law enforcers can be police, FBI, Interpol, etc.
16 politics (not that Ty actually needs protecting, as I am sure
Medics can be full fledged medical doctors or just somebody
who knows how to splint a broken arm. his comments have made clear).
17
Media includes reporters/journalists, celebrity anchors, actors, As for my not complaining about Ty’s behavior, I guess
pop-music stars, filmmakers, writers, etc. the reason is that rather than allowing himself to be shunned
18
Either create a sub-table suitable for your campaign, or, if into silence, he has persistently advocated his point of view
you’re not feeling up to it, just re-roll. without regard to the attack of the rabid, tennis-hating
Chihuahuas19, and in so doing has proven that he’s a more
determined person than I (and, thus, a better man), and I
can’t help but admire him for that. Also, I should add, that
although he’s been both fixed and forceful in his opinions,
he’s not requested that anyone else be quiet with respect to
theirs, nor, to the best of my knowledge, has he stated a
wish that any of the contributors should leave the APA. The
fact that you did this vexes me, just as you accurately
presumed that it would, and so that I call you to task for it
should not come as a surprise (although, I will admit, my
tactic was dishonest except insofar as I find your
intolerance intolerable, which, actually, come to think of it,
was exactly my point). Finally, I will note for the record
that if this situation were reversed and a bunch of
republicans were telling you to be quiet, I’d be in your
corner preaching to them about the virtues of tolerance, not
because I expect it would earn me any favors, but simply
because I have to live with myself, and to not do so would
be against the core of my beliefs.
As for your accusation about me not being a fence-sitter: I
plead guilty, your honor. As with every election season, I
eventually had to get off the fence and make a choice. This
time around, I went with the democrats and voted for
Obama (sorry Ty/Louis). Just as with the last presidential
race, I had much venting to do afterward, but in light of my
decision to spare A&Ers my political drivel, I just posted it
to my blog instead. If you’d like to read my tortured
thoughts on the matter (perhaps merely for the amusement
of seeing how a crazy person attempts to reason, which is to
say, hazardously), you may check it out20, although I warn
you in advance that this may cost you sanity points, and I’m
not sure that you have so many that you can afford to
squander them on mere trifles.
Robert Dushay: RYCT me on the mythology article of
#397 and the originality of God breaking apart to create the
angels: That was actually one of the few areas that was,
more or less, original, and I say that with some hesitation,
as I think much of the inspiration came from Bob (see my
article of #351). Other areas that might at first appear to be
original were actually derivative.
For instance, the initial rebellion by Kos (Gian ben Gian)
was mentioned in the write-up of “Iblis” in Legions of Hell,
the first volume of the Book of Fiends by Green Ronin
(2001). There’s a vaguely similar story that I found in an
1891 translation of the first volume of the Rauzat-us-Safa
(pgs 36-40), which itself purports to draw from a translation
of the Book of Adam by Abu Ali Ja’fer Bin Yaqûb-ul-
isfahani (and I thought I had a difficult name), and it talks
about how there were these four cycles of civilization
before humans were created, and in each turn of the wheel,
so to speak, termed a “cycle of recompense” in the text, the
Jinns or Genii went through much the sort of history that
we in The West have been going through as of late, where
each time the society becomes wealthy, it also becomes
complacent, turns away from its previous God-fearing
ways, and turns toward the satisfaction of vice: “…they
began to sin, to disobey, to be obstinate and haughty.”
Later, “…they became disobedient, because their nature
19
See the beginning of the 5th page of my submission for #394.
20
http://jim-vassilakos.livejournal.com
was intent upon aggrandizement.” Later still, “The wicked
sons of Jan blasphemed and sinned; the Most High sent
prophets to admonish them and to advise them, but all in
vain.”
In this version of the tale, Eblis/Azazil (Iblis/Satan) was
originally a Jinn (one of the race of Genii), and being not
yet grown to maturity, he was made a prisoner of the angels
after they came to make war upon the Jinn. He was taken to
Heaven, educated by the angels, and eventually he
improved so much that he was made a teacher of angels.
Anyway, things didn’t quite work out in the end. The Jinn,
who he hoped to reform, were not capable of being
reformed, at least not for very long, and, in any case, God
had other plans, something that Eblis, no doubt, found
difficult to accept.
One of the things I found interesting about this tale,
particularly because it is indisputably old, is that the author
has at some level a good sense of history and how it
operates. Civilizations rise and fall. He ascribed their
turning away from God as the reason for each fall, but
whether or not the divine actually exists, moral vice can be
said to be a form of societal decay, inducing weakness and
eventual collapse, and here is this ancient writer basically
saying, “Watch out.” And it’s not just the idea that this
happens but also the idea that it happens over and over and
over again, the repetition of rise and fall, the Eternal forever
watching. As ancient as he no doubt was, he knew this. He
knew it stone cold, and he wanted to convey it to the reader,
and that’s something that I find very interesting.
Nonetheless, I didn’t want to use the whole story. I
wanted to keep it short and sweet, but at the same time, I
wanted to mention this previous rebellion and briefly
describe how Lucifer and other angels were once on the
same team. Also, it gave me a perfect opportunity to create
the origin of Kossuth21, arguably the most powerful of the
Elemental Lords. But it doesn’t address this cyclical nature
of history, except insofar as one conflict follows another.
Also, the part about Abdiel coming with news of the
rebellion is straight out of Milton’s Paradise Lost. I’m not
really crazy about Milton at this point in my life, but there’s
certainly a lot of source material there that could be mined.
(Incidentally, I think I heard they were making a movie,
which should be interesting.)
As for the earth being of fire at one end and a great ocean
at the other, this was partially an oblique reference to our
own universe, the Big Bang at the beginning, and (if there’s
not enough mass) a possible ocean of endless space at the
end, although the notion of a rebounding or oscillating
universe seems to be gaining popularity. There is, of course,
also the obvious yin-yang symbolism of fire as a destructive
element, whereas water is the element of life, and so such a
world, bounded by these two elements, is a nod to the
creative-destructive dualism that is at the heart of nature,
which, of course, also falls in line with the write-up’s
imagery in the very first few words.
But, for the most part, I tend to agree with you insofar as
the whole Judeo-Christian-Islamic theological epic seems
just a bit overdone. I mean, we’re all too familiar with it, or
as Lisa remarked, “I’m more partial to the Silmarillion
21
See the AD&D (1st edition) Manual of the Planes, page 40. He’s
also mentioned on page 46 of 2nd Edition’s Planescape: The Inner
Planes.
myself.” Part of me agrees with this sentiment, not merely
because delving into the myths of our theology requires
work (i.e. research), but also because to a certain extent,
applying one’s own creativity to this story is to a certain
extent presumptuous. I mean, in #397, Brian Rogers
mentioned how he didn’t want to trample around in the
Harry Potter world for fear that he might get it wrong (see
also my comment to him in #398). Just imagine how much
more egregious it is to trample around in the myths of three
major religions that are still very much alive.
Having said all that, I still feel that this myth could stand
to be polished up a tad, preferentially by someone from a
culture that has gone through the Enlightenment. This
notion in the Rauzat-us-Safa that God had to come down
and continually punish those civilizations that got out of
line seems, at first glance, just a bit arbitrary. I mean, what
if God hadn’t decided to punish them? Could they have
wallowed in sin indefinitely? The writer seems to be seeing
history as it is (the continual rise and fall of civilization
after civilization), but, at least for the prospective
rationalist/atheist, he’s perhaps misinterpreting the cause.
Hence, God has to be taken out of the picture, but at the
same time, “He” or it has to unite us in spirit, which is why
I divided Him/it into parts right at the very beginning, to
say not only that “We are One” but also to say that there’s
nobody that’s going to come out of the clouds to save us
from ourselves, because what we do becomes a testament to
what we worship. Either we succeed or fail, rise to heaven
or go to hell, as a global civilization, our fate not individual
but collective, but, of course, perhaps that’s just my
personal perspective.
Regardless, these final remarks go beyond the Jinx
campaign and, for that matter, beyond the subject matter of
the APA. I do hope that wasn’t too much religious nonsense
for you to read. I just wanted to put down my thoughts on
the off-chance that you or anyone else might be interested.
That said, perhaps it is better if a writer refrains from
commenting on his own gibberish.
Lee Gold: RYCT me (RMCT Ty Beard) on world
habitability being a function of technology: When I
normally speak of habitability in science fiction RPGs, I am
typically speaking of whether or not an unmodified human
can survive unaided by technology for an appreciable
amount of time (say, for instance, an hour). Granted,
Traveller presupposes that there are a lot of worlds with
thin or tainted atmospheres, meaning that the characters can
breathe with only minimal equipment, such as respirators
and/or filter masks. I guess the dividing-line would be more
of a continuum, and there might be some controversy, as I
could imagine humans being genetically modified to allow
them to survive in such marginal environments. Regardless,
I think that both habitable and marginal worlds would be so
rare as to be points of interest, at least to humanity, and that
because of their conspicuous nature (how does one hide a
planet?), it would be difficult to keep them secret for very
long (when I spoke of such worlds being mapped, I did not
mean geographically but rather astronomically).
On a related note, just as there is much speculation
regarding the probability of habitability, I would also be
intrigued to learn the probability of marginality. My guess
is that there are probably a great many marginal worlds for
each habitable one, this because there are a great many
ways that an otherwise perfect world might be ruined for
one particular species or another (Wells seemed to be
making this speculation in War of the Worlds). Traveller
enumerates air pressure and atmospheric taint as two
primary causes, but I’d imagine that one could splice
atmospheric taint into a plethora of subcategories, some
biological, others chemical, and to be added to the main list
should be such factors as temperature, gravity, and
radiation. And, of course, it would be useful to know if a
world was naturally marginal or made so by its inhabitants.
These are all factors that I would like to see addressed in a
world generation system.
Louis La Mancusa: RTCT Robert Dushay, thanks for the
long quote from Pat Buchanan. I never really understood
the key ingredients of what was going on there behind the
decision to just let Hitler take Czechoslovakia.
John Redden: So your star cruisers run on solar.
re Zenred & the Cylon & the Burglar: Stop it! You’re
hurting my ribs!
Brian Rogers: re the “Sulu Question” that you posed in
#394, there’s an article in the November 2008 issue of The
Atlantic that you might find interesting.22 re Hogwarts and
the goblins and the Grey Lady: Nice plot, but it’s a bit of a
let down that the players didn’t investigate this.
Nonetheless, they seem to have found a satisfying
conclusion. Good write-up!
Marco Subias: RYCT Steven Warble regarding LAUSD:
RAE (in a manner of speaking). Your comments sync
nicely with those of Jinx’s player, who is also a teacher,
although he hasn’t seen corruption and violence on the level
that you have (at least not in the school system).
Nonetheless, he’s of the opinion that there are serious,
systemic problems with our educational system. To turn
this toward RPGs, perhaps it might be interesting to detail a
school, either fantasy or science fiction, in a decaying,
urban society, mirroring the problems of our own
educational system, including the issues revolving around
fear of lawsuits, fear of negative publicity, fear of angry
parents, grade-inflation, teaching to tests, lack of serious
punishments for disciplinary infractions, lack of effective
classroom management enforcement, lack of effective
instructor accountability, and, last but not least, socially-
ignorant parenting. Oh, wait…forget it…that sounds way
too much like real life and would probably be too
depressing, even for a World of Darkness campaign. It’d
probably make all the players run out and slit their wrists.
For those with sanity points to spare,
my past A&E submissions are at:
http://www.esnips.com/web/Alarums
22
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200811/transgender-children