The Ravens Nest

Where The Magic Happens…

As I’ve stated before, it’s a subject that chafes with me and, in the last article, I detailed how important it is to separate fact from fiction.

To recap, parents need to do their jobs more. This has gone beyond raising a little douchebag who thinks it’s cute to be a douchebag. This is about getting your little goofy fuck in line so I don’t have to. Some know that I used to work in a prison and, let me tell you something if it hasn’t already sunken completely in, you can raise your child now and ensure he or she is well-adjusted or someone like me can do it later. Those are your options. Choose wisely. Really instill certain things like a good set of morals, ethics and values, the ability to think critically, deductive reasoning and logic and the ability to soundly separate fantasy escapism from reality.

That being said, the 80s and 90s fervor over Dungeons & Dragons missed the target altogether.

There were games that made the attempt to market themselves as being the types of games that would allow you to use actual magic and based much of their lore on very real Hermetic practices like Nephilim from Chaosium, the people behind the aforementioned Call of Cthulhu.

Donald Frew, whose accomplishments in the realm of Wicca are known and rightfully-celebrated, said of Nephilim and I quote:

“In over twenty years of studying The Western Mystery Tradition and playing role-playing games, I have never before encountered a game system that so skillfully blends real-world occult knowledge with an exciting and compelling role-playing game.”

End Quote. Taking a look at the synopsis of the game itself, it runs the same as just about any game from Chaosium and their Basic Roleplayin Engine. Every character still has a character sheet. The game master still sets the scene. Each player describes the actions they’re going to perform and the game master lets them know which skills they need to roll for success or failure of those actions. This was even closer to something that the parental groups, misguided private investigators, misinformed law enforcement and sensationalist “journalists” were actually looking for. Instead, they targeted a series of spells ripped from Jack Vance’s Dying Earth Series. To the uninitiated, this is where the term “Vancian Magic System” comes from.

As stated in my previous article, the esoteric practices are performed by the character, described by the player and then dice are rolled based on the rules and/or whatever the game master dictates at the time. No actual rituals are performed. No ceremonies in dark rooms lit only by candlelight, no dark robes are worn and no one is murdered. Note, I didn’t say sacrificed because to sacrifice something means to give something up that means something to the person making the sacrifice. Catholics do it every year and we’re coming upon that time of year. It’s called Lent and the practicing Catholic literally gives something up as part of their religion. Again, important point, words mean things. Let’s start insisting on using them properly.

So where is all the “real” magic happening?

Let me take you on that journey here. You all are fully-aware that there is a lot of paperwork, math, reading, problem-solving, dice-rolling and weighing of consequences to actions, for good or ill here. Here’s a typical beginning for those of you who have never played an RPG a day in your life. This will read like a story but it’s the setup between two characters. We’re going to say that your character is meeting with a friend and I’ll introduce your character into the game very intimately.

It’s a rainy night in the neon-bedecked streets of what was once called Tokyo, Japan. You received a cryptic message from someone that you’ve only ever talked to through the net. You’re pretty sure the person is male but you don’t know much else. The message was that of “We need to meet…in person…emergency…need to know. 427 Nakahama Drive. The Noodle Shop. Order up. I’ll be there as soon as I see you. Delete Upon Receiving!!!!”

You do. You catch the first and fastest taxi you can hail heading to the address listed that you committed to memory. You get there, order your bowl of Chicken-Flavored Noodles. Youu know enough Japanese to greet someone, perform some small-talk and thank them politely. This entire section of the city sees people walking in very orderly fashion, careful to stay out of each other’s way. The noodle shop is one that is outdoors with a bar and an awning. You’re eating your noodles when a tall, Japanese man sits next to you and orders the same noodles for himself. From the corner of your eye you can see that he’s wearing a leather jacket, long hair that’s feathered as though he just stepped out of an 1980s heavy metal music video, leather pants that are red with a neon green stripe down the outside of each leg and biker boots.

“I’m Nikki” he says in fluent English to you. You finally turn and get a better look at him. This is your contact. This is the man you’re finally meeting in person after many online conversations.

“I hope you deleted the message I sent,” he said, “I’m gonna sit here and eat this bowl of noodles. Then I’m going to leave. You keep eating. If you deleted the message, you’ll follow me. If not, we go our separate ways.” The two of you continue to silently eat these bowls of noodles in front of each of you. When he finishes, he bows to the cook and, true to his word, begins walking away in the rain.

From that example, did you picture all of that in your mind? Were you able to fill in blanks that I purposefully didn’t spend time describing? Would you follow Nikki?

If you answered yes to any of that then you have your answer from the question before which was “Where does the real magic happen?”

Certainly, some of you have opened and read books for entertainment a time or two in your life. Some were garbage and you never finished them for whatever reason but others, you remember with distinct clarity so much that you recommend that book to all of your friends because you really want someone with whom to discuss that book. The stories of J.R.R. Tolkien, Robert E. Howard. Howard Phillips Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith, William Gibson, Neal Stephenson, etc. are written in such a way that, no matter where you are, if you have some time and you can pull out your book and read, your mind is somewhere else. For some, even stories from the various religions across the world are written so that your mind goes there and witnesses the events that unfold. That’s where the real magic is. It’s also why it’s called escapism. This isn’t the realm of the dark, mysterious and esoteric, it’s actually right in front of you and always has been. There is the chance that perhaps you had never taken notice before.

From the game master’s description of events, you then carve out your niche in the world or setting that’s been presented. Sometimes, a pre-published adventure is what’s being run and players are given the illusion of choice and the game master has to adjust according to what the book states to do next. There are even RPGs where it’s one player with pencils, paper, dice and the book and these are called Solo games where the player is presented with text and then given a choice of which entry to go to in order to continue with Fabled Lands being one such example. I recommend checking it out in order to truly understand what this type of gaming, how imaginitive it can be and also how much fun you can have just not being you for maybe an hour or two a day can be. It also uses six-sided dice (d6) so that there’s no having to frantically search for specialty dice if you don’t already have them.

One of the biggest concerns that I find some parents bringing up when it comes to their children playing RPGs at a table is “How do I know the game master won’t tell my child to harm someone else?” Well, that’s very simple. Ask the GM if they wouldn’t mind if you checked out the game. You could tell them that you might be interested in joining but you really want to see what’s going on, this is all very new to you. You’ll find that most are always willing and are also willing to explain some of what’s happened after the game is over. Any GM that would tell a player that, in order to increase his or her power, they need to physically cause harm to themselves or someone else should be reported to the proper authorities immediately.

I’m sure many of us remember Rod Ferrell from the late 1990s and it’s a testament to what happens when parents don’t do their job, constantly affirm delusions and do nothing to correct behavior, bringing me full circle to what I was talking about earlier. If you think your child may have a problem separating fantasy from reality, then it’s time to have a talk, not just with your child but the GM as well, there may be a chance that the GM can help if they’re also not among the maladjusted.

The magic is what happens in the mind but it’s temporary, like a mental TV show that is only supposed to happen for a set period of time…and then you’re returned to life as you know it but the story takes place there, in the minds of the GM and players. When what we call “The Buy-In” happens in unison, then that’s where the real magic happens. No one is being asked to change their worldview but, if done right, it could change the approaches of all at the table to effective, logical, reasoned problem-solving and I think the world around us could use a little more of that.