Dark Masque Productions
Vultus est index animi
A Vision of the Vortagion
Put simply, DMP is a group of individuals brought together by a singular passion: role-playing. Its primary purpose is to provide a pool of people who are available to run or participate in gaming events. DMP is also concerned with the developmental aspect of role-playing; we wish to see all our members reach a minimum level of competence. Lastly, DMP provides contacts within the community for people new to the area. Dark Masque Productions was created as a sister organization to The Difference Guild: two of the founding members of the C.G. Lynk.
Why not? Much more can be accomplished once a group becomes organized. Less overlap occurs in working and knowledge areas, more people are oriented towards a common goal, and more resources are available to achieve that goal.
A role playing game, or RPG, is just what the name implies. It is a game where the players, instead of chasing a ball up and down a field trying to kick it between two posts, assume different parts in a storyline created by a game master or game masters. Think of it as a play where the ending is determined by the actors as they act out the scenes. The game master is only there to make sure that the laws of physics particular to that game are followed.
Let me give you a hypothetical situation. A group of guys (author's note: the use of the term guy
here is completely asexual. It could just as easily have been guys and gals, or all gals. I'm a
guy, so I use guys. I don't intend any offense to the ladies out there who enjoy RPGs.) are sitting
around one afternoon.
"Man, I hate the rush hours around here. Sometimes I wish I had a tank on the drive
home," says Guy Number One.
"Yeah, me too!" agree Guys Two and Three.
"I'll bet lot's of people wish that," speculates Guy Number Four.
"Yeah, but my tank would kick everyone else's tank's ass!" insists Guy Number One.
"What kind of tank would it be?" asks Guy Number Four.
"Uhh, a big one. With a real big gun." Guy Number One is emphatic.
"Like one of the ones on TV," pipes in Guy Number Two, "the one where the other guy
sits on top with a machinegun."
"Yeah, you can work the machinegun," says Guy Number One.
"So let's say you two are cruising down the beltline at five on a Thursday afternoon after
a hard day's work, heading towards the Sports Bar to catch happy hour. In your tank of course.
People are giving you a lane to yourself because, after all, you are driving a tank." Guy Number
Four says, playing Devil's Advocate. Guys One and Two beam excitedly, after all, it's their
tank.
"Up ahead, though, you see two state patrol cars pulled over to the side. The troopers are
in a fierce gun fight with four men. What do you do?"
"Uhhh...." says Guy Number One. His tank fantasy wasn't this elaborate.
"I shoot the bad guys with the machinegun!" says Guy Number Two.
"Do you know how to work the machinegun?" asks Guy Number Four.
"Sure, my uncle was in the National Guard, he showed me how," explains Guy Number
Two. Guy Number Four nods his head in acceptance, and in some fantasy an M1A1 Abrams
main battle tank chews the living daylights out of four drug smugglers with its 7.62mm coax
machinegun. Welcome to the world of role playing.
I'm going to try and prevent this little section from turning into a rant, but I'll probably fail. It's my opinion that much of the resentment and misunderstanding of role playing games springs from the fact that at least half of the action revolves around combat of some sort. Whether that be the completely fanciful hack-and-slash of your stereotypical dungeon crawl, or the high-tech, high-lead confrontations, it's inevitable. All of life revolves around conflict in one form or another. It's what makes for good drama. So in this case it is art that imitates life. Or attempts to, at the very least. Where we start getting into trouble is when the line between art and life begins to blur. This isn't the fault of the game or the game designers. The problem lies within the mind of the player. If he or she isn't mature enough to compartmentalize between reality and fantasy, then the game isn't going to break anything not already broken. What am I trying to say? Some RPGs can be violent. In every RPG there will be a scene of violence. Will every role-player someday wander down the the tunnels beneath the University of Michigan and kill someone? No. Is it a tragedy that things like this happen? Definitely. Will they happen again? It's the nature of the beast. How do we stop them from happening? EDUCATE YOURSELF.
For those just starting out, I would recommend Dungeons & Dragons. As cliche as it may be, the game system itself is easy to learn and simple to get around in. The game uses concepts familiar to just about everyone, and there is a wealth of supplemental material out there which makes it very easy for the beginner to get going. If you can find it, another game that's good to cut your teeth on is Top Secret/SI, a spy game published by TSR. Beyond that, for ambitious amateurs or those who are already familiar with RPGs I would suggest Heavy Gear, by Dream Pod 9. It's a sci-fi future game that takes place on another, albeit earthlike, world. The system is well thought out and the background is excellent. Other intermediate games include Ars Magica, Star Wars, and Cyberpunk. For the advanced gamer I have two systems I recommend. The first is Shadowrun, the feature game of Dark Masque Productions. I could go on about its qualities, but suffice to say its the most impressive game I've ever played. The other is Vampire: The Masquerade along with any of the other White Wolf games. I say these two are for advanced players only in that they require more skill to master the worlds they take place in, and they are far more demanding of the game master.
The easiest way is to approach someone you know who role plays and ask them. Alternatively, you can look in the yellow pages of your phone book under 'games'. Any stores in your area should be able to put you in touch with a local group. As a last resort you can check out these newsgroups: rec.games.frp.archives, rec.games.frp.misc, rec.games.rpg, alt.games.frp or search on the world wide web for pages like this one, only local to your area.
Hey, I live in the Sacramento, CA area, how do I get in touch with the C. G. Lynk?
Easy, send email to lclaytonburke@sbcglobal.net with the subject C. G. Lynk.
Hey, I live in the Seattle, WA area how do I get in touch with Dark Nexus Productions?
Easy, send email to dj.black@mac.com with the subject Dark Nexus Productions.
Hey, I live in the San Diego, CA area, how do I get in touch with Dark Masque Productions?
Easy, just email me at grendel@veldt.org with the subject Dark Masque Productions.
Well, everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion. But the great thing about this country is that no one has the right to force you to believe anything you don't want to. And yes, it's true that a large segment of the population doesn't understand and/or agree with my hobby. It's even true that a small portion actively opposes it. Those of us who choose to live outside of mainstream America will always suffer for our decision. But the only thing that really bothers me is when people don't stop to think before they disagree with what I do. Oh, you're going to indict me because someone told you that RPGs are bad for your health? And if someone told you that the earth was flat you'd sell your boat too? I've got a bridge for sale. Cheap.
On the following pages you'll find rants and readings on some popular games, as well as resources and places to go for further information. Most of our games run along the science fiction/ cyberpunk genre, so if you're interested in different game settings you would do well to try somewhere else. Otherwise, go ahead and pick from the links below. We are also looking for contributors, so if you have an idea, article, review, or essay you would like published, email me and we'll work something out. Likewise I hope to have a guest book/ message forum on here to enhance the exchange of comments and ideas. For now you'll just have to mail me.
Playing God: The Art of Gamemastering
Word warrior, world-rim-roamer
All material on this page and subsequent pages is copyrighted by Dark Masque Productions and may not be used without express written permission. Failure to abide by this will cause you grievous bodily harm.
Shadowrun is a trademark of Catalyst Game Labs, Dungeons & Dragons and Top Secret/S.I. are trademarks of TSR, Vampire: The Masquerade is a trademark of White Wolf, Heavy Gear is a trademark of Dream Pod 9, and Armageddon is a trademark of Myrmidon Press.
Any use of these or any other Trademark or Copyright of any other company should not be construed as a challenge in any way to said Trademark or Copyright.