Chapter 42

The next day after finishing the morning chores, I collected the girls and headed into town. I knew what I wanted, and went to Grand Central. When we pulled up, Linda asked where we were. Now last time I had them wait outside as I dashed in to grab the frame I wanted as we were short on time. But this time I wanted to bring her in also. When I told her it was a local discount chain like K-Mart, she thought it would be cool. The girls of course wanted to check out the clothing, and Linda said it was weird. “Like, this is so plain, and some of these things we have not worn for years!” Kim and I both laughed, and she looked almost indignant. “Well, they are!”

“Linda, this is what we normally wear out here. I love that outfit you gave me, but it is not like I can wear one like it very often. Sure, if I went out skating with my friends, but that is really about it. If I tried to wear that out on a date, dad would probably tell me to go upstairs and put on some real clothes. And if a guy took me to his house his parents would probably think I’m a slut. You just do not see outfits like that out here very often.”

I left them looking through the clothes, and grabbed a basket and headed over to the electronics area. One thing I had noticed is that Kim and her family did not own a VCR. So I picked up two of them, some cables, and a package of six blank tapes. I noticed the girls were still looking at clothes, so I just paid for them and put them in the back of the truck then went back inside.

Linda had a few things selected, at Kim’s urging. She was in the dressing room when I rejoined them, and when she came out, wow! A pair of tight jeans and a plaid Western shirt like I often wore, but this one fit her very nicely. I whistled, and her and Kim went to check it out in the mirror. Finally, she had two pairs of jeans and a few shirts when we headed back to the truck. We went back to Kim’s house, and I handed them the bag of clothing and they headed in to put them in the wash.

I was setting up one of the VCR’s on top of the TV under the direction of her mother, and the other was on the floor. The three gals watched as I hooked up cables between them all, and I asked Linda to get the game tape out as I unwrapped a blank and put it in the upper machine. She handed it to me, so I rewound it, then hit record on the top deck on the floor as I hit play on the bottom. There was the disclaimer I was used to seeing, created by the community college for internal use only, do not duplicate, and all the rest. “Pete, is it OK for you to copy this?” Kim’s mom asked.

“Sure, it’s of me after all. It simply can’t be sold, broadcast, or distributed widely without permission is all. I asked them, and I am free to give a copy to anybody I want.”

We all sat around with the girls on each side, watching the first presentation of one of my games, and even her mom was laughing. “OK, now I see what you find so fun about that game Kim. It really is not like any game I have ever seen before. And this is really you Pete?”

“Yes, Ma’am. This is an adventure I had made up, and we have been selling it for about a year now. Kent is doing kind of an introduction game for some new players, and I saw he was selling this game. When he realized I was the one that wrote it, he asked if I would run it for them, and I agreed. In fact, one of the people in the group is Pastor Frank.”

“Frank? He plays D&D?”

“Well, he said he had been asked to lead a group in picketing the place, saying it was Satanic. But he decided that other than just take their word for it, he asked Kent what it was really like. And he decided that he really needed to see how it was played before he made a decision. He actually likes it and thinks it is not bad at all. It is only the players that can make it bad, not the game in and of itself.”

She nodded at that. “Frank always was the level headed sort. And from what I am seeing on the TV, I guess I can see what he means.”

“Oh yeah. I have seen people play as evil characters, but I will never do that. All players have to be good, and the idea is to defeat monsters and save people, not go around killing and raping and trying to be villains. And with a few minor exceptions, every game I ever played is like that.”

“Exceptions?” Kim asked, her eyebrow raised.

“Sure. You of course know Kaos. She is working from the inside, but is being forced by magic against her will. Well, in another game, I have a character that is actually evil. As in she is working from inside to try and have the entire party killed. But she is a plant, and that is part of the idea of the story. And another one that is about to be published, it is a group of six. None are really good, one is kinda evil, and one of them is a traitor. But in that one the traitor could be any of them, the DM decides at the start which it is. But once again, the goal of all of them is to uncover the group trying to bring down their city, they just do not know which one of them is trying to defeat the group from inside.”

“Pete, you should take a few psychology classes. There actually is a section in them about how good and evil are subjective, and not really measurable.”

“Yeah, maybe someday when I finish my time in the Corps. And yes, I can agree with that for the most part. The NAZIs had some good ideas, but were almost entirely evil in how they tried to do it. But for the construct of a game, it is made clear. Well, mostly. They call them ‘alignments’, and are composed of Law and Chaos, Good and Evil. And all levels in between. Lawful Good, Chaotic Evil, Neutral Good, Lawful Neutral, kinda like that.” Kim’s mom nodded at that.

“Take say Lieutenant Gerard from ‘The Fugitive’, based on Inspector Javert from ‘Les Misérables’. They are both probably Lawful Neutral, to them the Law is what matters most, not good or evil. And they might even ignore what is right or ‘good’, or be almost evil in how they pursue and brings down a criminal or enforce the law. Hitler, he was mostly Lawful Evil. He did really evil things, but used the laws in order to do them. Charles Manson, now that is pure Chaotic Evil. In my games, almost everybody is good, some are neutral, some chaotic. But none are ever evil, unless it is for a story purpose.” I then explained briefly about Adnil.

“OK, like film noir.”

“Exactly! Sam Spade is not really good, Harry Lime from ‘The Third Man’ is not really evil. Sam is more Lawful Neutral, Harry is more Chaotic Neutral. They are both somewhere in the middle really, but may do good or evil things if they think it is needed. But only select things, neither one is really evil. But Harry is more evil than good, Sam Spade is more good than evil.”

We chatted a bit more, and Kim and her mom both loved watching the tape. I ejected the copy I had just made, and asked Kim if she wanted a copy for herself. She said she did, so I started making another one. “Pete, what are you going to do with two VCR’s? Take them back when you are done?”

I grinned and shook my head. “Nope, this one on the floor is going home with me, I have been wanting one and a TV for my room anyway. The other one is now yours, I already told your mom it is an early Christmas gift for you all.”

Kim gave me a big hug and thank you, as her mom and Linda laughed. I told her the other four blank tapes were for them, so they could record things on them. Then her mom went to the kitchen to start dinner as we went and took showers and got changed for the rest of the night. After a quick meal of hamburgers I had Linda grab the tape and we headed back into town.

Kent smiled as I handed him the tape, and said he would enjoy watching it. I told him how a bunch of students from the local community college had taped it for the company, and so long as he did not give out copies he was welcome to use it. “Besides, it might help explain to other people how the game is played, without actually having to hold a game.”

“Yeah, there is that. But my way is a lot of fun also. I will keep that in mind, however.”

He got each of us a soda, and we were drinking as people started to arrive. And arrive, and arrive, and arrive! Soon there were twenty people in the dining area, filling up all of the tables. And Pastor Frank introduced me to Doug Sharp, a reporter for a local TV station.

“I called in a few people, and invited them to come on by and see what the game was all about. Doug here I have known for a few years, and he is one of the ones I talked to when I asked about the game. Mrs. Dodge here is the one that runs the local chapter of B.A.D.D., ‘Bothered About Dungeons & Dragons’. I invited her to come and see how the game is really played.”

I shook her hand, and she barely looked into my eyes. And she looked rather pissed off, not a good sign. There were others I recognized in the room, including Kim’s Bishop, and some of the elders from the local LDS community. But soon we were all in our seats, and I gave a basic background as to what had happened the night before.

The quest to clear out the orc lair went as expected, and although the magic user threw the dagger, it missed the target. Finally, they were back in town, and we took a break. Doug came up and asked me some questions about the adventure we were doing, and I admitted it was one I had made myself. He did not think much about that until Kent spoke up.

“Heck, he did not just make it, it’s actually a published adventure. It is very good, and it is the most popular one I sell. It was the one I was going to run everybody though, and then who walks into my place but the kid that wrote it.” He had pulled out a copy from the display case and handed it over, and pointed out my name as the author of it.

And at this point, a news van pulled up and a cameraman climbed out. Doug introduced us, and asked Kent then me if I had a problem if they filmed it. Of course we did not mind, so soon we were starting the next chapter, camera rolling.

This time the game went almost as it always had before. They went to the old hunting lodge, and after several hard-fought battles, they were facing the Ogre Magi that was leading this group. As almost always happens, the magic user finally stabbed an ogre, and he was healed. I handed over the card when the battle was finally completed, and they used the Identify scroll on the dagger, and Kim and the other experienced players were explaining how because of magic, anything was possible. Even a dagger that healed people when stabbed by it.

Even Mrs. Dodge seemed to smile at that. But finally they went through the papers, and discovered that the plot was actually being led by an evil Archmage that had a lair in an old castle several hours away. They already had a lot of loot, and needed some time to rest and recover as well as gain some new levels. So they headed back to town, and at the urging of Kaos turned all of the papers over to the kindly Captain of the Guard once again.

Finally, it was all done, and everybody liked how it had ended. Frank gave me a big hug, and thanked me for showing him how the game was played. Doug had the camera on us when Mrs. Dodge came up, and asked me if that was how the game was supposed to be played.

“Well Mrs. Dodge, that is how I play it, and how everybody I know plays it. We all play good characters and are almost always going out to defeat evil. Now tonight you saw the second of basically a three act play. The group started with the idea of finding a gold mine and getting rich, but that did not go as planned. And during that, they stumbled upon this evil plot and were then working to defeat it. Do some people play evil characters, sure. But I never do, nor do I allow it in any group I run. We go out to defeat evil and destroy it, not embrace it.”

She nodded, and actually said she was going to be looking into it a bit more. Doug then did an interview with me, then me and Frank, then with Kent. Kent mentioned that I had given him a professional quality video of me running a game the year before, and Doug asked if he could get a copy. I told him I could not give that permission, but told him I would call the owner of the company. And if he gave it that it should not be a problem.

Even the Bishop said the game was not what he had expected, having heard the scare stories about the game but never actually played it. But he would bring it up to some of his congregation, and let them know that as far as he was concerned, it was not evil at all and could actually be a good game.

“Basically, it is really little different than the games we played as kids,” I said. “Cops and robbers, Cowboys and Indians, things like that. Except this is Knights and Wizards, and we use dice to determine who is hit and how badly, not just going ‘I hit you!’ and the other kid going ‘Naw, you missed me!’. And nobody thinks it is evil if some kids like playing criminals in those games, so why is it evil here? Kids play King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, but nobody thinks a kid is evil for wanting to play Morganna le Fey or Mordred.”

All the adults nodded at that, and they all seemed to really understand it now. Doug even told me that he was going to make sure to include that last statement in the story, it was one of the best statements he had ever heard in support of the game.

“One other thing, if you notice quite a few of the players are girls. My friend Kim there, my girlfriend Linda, Jackie, Kent’s wife, a lot of girls get into it because it is really story-based. And since this is all in the mind, a girl can be just as strong in the game as a guy can. And you can even play with that. Kaos was written as a girl, and it is played best that way. But there is nothing saying a guy can not play her. I myself have played female characters, and Linda here has played male ones. It is just a fun escape, and I am no more a female than I am an elf when I play one of those. Or a dwarf. It is just an interactive story.”

Pastor Frank told him he was already considering getting a group together of his High School aged members, and seeing if they could do a campaign based on doing good deeds. Kent told him to come back, and they would discuss how it could be done. I mentioned a game magazine I had at home which discussed using the Christian faith as the religion, and how to make it blend in.

And that was a perfect time, as I had already noticed that one of the LDS Elders had been leafing through the “Deities and Demigods” book. “These are all the gods in the game? I see Odin, Zeus, Osiris, even Coyote and Shiva. Is there no Christianity, or Jesus Christ in the game?”

“Well, that was actually done on purpose, sir. As my girlfriend’s mother noticed when she looked through it, those almost all come as they are written in ‘Bullfinch’s Mythology’. They decided to use mostly what are considered ‘dead religions’, to avoid offending anybody. Imagine if they had say inserted Christianity. Which version? Catholics? Baptists? Presbyterians? LDS? Adventists? Because you can guarantee if they had done that, many other groups would have been offended and protested. But it is not like a Church of Thor or a Temple of Isis is going to protest because they based the game around those religions.” And I saw that all of them were actually nodding in agreement as I said that.

And because almost everybody begged to finish the adventure, I finally gave in. I got several hugs and hand shakes from almost everybody when I promised that we would conclude it the next night. I even got a kiss on the cheek from Jackie, where I know for a fact I felt her tongue on my cheek.

“Kent, maybe you should make this a regular feature. Once a month or so have an introduction game open to all new players and those that are curious. You can have Kim and Karen here help, and I bet by next year the number of players in the area will double. And all of them playing good characters doing good quests.” He said he would think about it, but since he was also the cook he would need to find somebody else to run the games. I grinned, and said we could talk about it tomorrow.

Finally, everybody headed on home, and we got in the truck and headed to Kim’s. All the way back we talked about how the night had gone, and how Linda said had been a lot of fun playing Kaos. And Kim was amazed that some of the most influential religious leaders in town had given the game their approval.

The girls went up to get changed, as I once again got the beers. And with my truck loaded we headed back to the pond. The lantern was set out, and with beers in hand I asked Kim if she had ever considered being a DM. “Me? Well, I have a time or two, but I can’t do the things you or Kent do. You guys seem to make these amazing adventures, and I also had no idea you make the Kaos ones until you told me. I could never do that.”

“Sure you can Kim. It just takes practice. I have an idea, and I want you to hear me through. I have a book along that I noticed Kent did not have, it is a series of beginner adventures, from level one through six. I will give you my copy, and a copy of Chaos in the Capitol. Inside of that is the city adventure chart, so you can easily add things inside of a city if you want. The adventures in the book are short, you should be able to do three or four in an evening. Ask Kent to help you string them together into a single narrative if you want some help.”

I smiled, and could see she was thinking about it. “That is a great way to gain experience in running a group, and since you will be doing mostly introductory games you can do that and gain experience as a DM. Even do like I did, ask Kent to help you when you are ready to make your own. I had Holly help me, she is maybe half of the author of Chaos in the Capitol, even though her name is not on the cover.”

“Oh Kim, don’t believe that!” Linda interjected. “Pete here wrote almost all of that, Holly only acted as an editor on the first part, with advice in how to set a few things up. And that was only on the first part, the other two parts are almost entirely his own work.”