There are several places on the Internet where you can get more information about role-playing games, including:

The International Guild of Role-Playing Forum

The Wizard of Odds

'RipCon' to be held in the Convention Center,
January 14th to 17th

This handcrafted figurine is only one of the many characters available at next week's "First Annual Lloyd City RPG Tournament and Science Fiction Convention", or "RipCon".

Event Organizer and Dungeon Master, Steve Heppler, says that the name came from someone trying to pronounce the word "rpg", which stands for 'role-playing game'. "We were awfully tired that night," Heppler laughs. "And it'll get worse before it gets better. The doors open at noon on Friday, and close at noon on Monday. I don't doubt that there will be some of us who'll stay awake the whole time."

Heppler expects to have about 2,000 people attend the 3-day event. "We've had pre-registrations from all over the world, a lot more than we expected to get" he admits. "And I don't doubt that people from this area will pop in, just to see what the fuss is all about."

For $50 for the entire weekend (or $25 for one day), a science fiction or fantasy buff can take advantage of great deals in the Hucksters Room, watch anything from the latest Star Wars movie to "The Attack of the Killer Tomatoes" at any time of day or night. "We'll be having one room devoted to television productions and one strictly for movies. We've even managed to get a copy of "Overdrawn at the Memory Bank", an excellent Canadian-made SF movie," Heppler boasts.

There will be a contest for best costume, with several prizes donated by local businesses. The RPG Tournament will be held in the Morrison Conference Lounge, starting at 7:00 pm Friday.

When asked directly, 45-year-old Heppler admitted that he received several letters and phone calls from people who believed role-playing games to be unacceptable. He shrugs. "When I was a kid, we played make-believe games, Cowboys and Indians, Cops and Robbers. Later, there was Superman, and Batman and Robin. No one complained then and I fail to see the difference between a man from another planet who can fly, and a wizard who can cast a spell to do the same thing."

I watched a game in progress. Once you remember that you're only 'playing pretend', the game wasn't too hard to figure out. "Whose winning?" I asked the players during a break in the game.

"No one really wins in a role-playing game," one player laughed. "The sole purpose of the game is to have fun, and to get together with other people who like to pretend. Some people play cards, some people play strategy or mystery games. We play Pretend." "Sure," another player adds, "No one loses, either. That's the best part. Wanna play?"

The Dungeon Master, or referee, hands me a sheet of paper. "C'mon, you can play this NPC. That's a character in the game that the DM normally looks after. It's easy!"

I doubt I'll ever get the hang of the game, but, with the right group of people, it is fun!