You're Not That Deep, Kid; No Matter What Your Momma Told You.

Last night I was reading Twitter, as one does, when I ran across one of the role-players in my feed talking about the game he was running. Apparently he was under the impression that the game he was running was actually an expression of radical truth philosophy and that in imposing that philosophy onto his players and world he was teaching them something profound. Unsurprisingly the game imploded a short while later and he was mystified. I started to talk to him about it but his feed was filled with messages from the faithful who were being supportive of him. "You just have to push it harder." "The seeds are planted and you'll see them come to fruition soon." "Your players will get the message soon." It was like looking into an abyss filled with pseudo-philosophers each manipulating the others genitals while moaning, "You're brilliant!"

It's clear that this particular Dungeon Master knew just enough to be dangerous and then fooled himself into believing that he had mastery over not only the session, but the philosophy and his players. I'm not saying that if you're players want a game with a deeper philosophical underpinning that you shouldn't go out and give it to them but when you force it on them things are often going to go off the rails and you shouldn't pretend like you didn't expect them to - Hell, you can't even keep them on the adventure's path what makes you think that you can make them take up a philosophy? Especially one like radical truth! What bothered me so much about that thread was that it was clear that the Dungeon Master hadn't considered the ramifications for not only his campaign but for his friends playing the game. Radical truth isn't a joke. It will fuck up your relationships and if you're not prepared for that consequence than you shouldn't even attempt to bring it into your role-playing games. 

That's not saying that there aren't philosophies that you can go half-cocked with and come out the better for using. Communism and Utilitarianism are two political philosophies that you could easily bring along with just a loose understanding and be just fine implementing. Hell, they may even fall in love with Utilitarianism in your fantasy world since that's the only place that it can actually work. 

Hot Java Burned My Lips So I Had to Tweet

PCs race for an open field 4 miles away in pouring rain while a Green Dragon stalks them from above. Is that it's roar, or rolling thunder?
— Dungeon Master (@Dungeon_Crafter) April 13, 2015

Just the roar of rain, steam rising from their bodies from the heat of great excerption. The beast is near, they can feel it in the air.
— Dungeon Master (@Dungeon_Crafter) April 13, 2015

Legs burning and chests tight they fail to reach the edge,forming a ring of steel as they wait to meet the emerald terror beneath the canopy
— Dungeon Master (@Dungeon_Crafter) April 13, 2015

@Dungeon_Crafter then I'm done.
— CharlesAkins (@Thatakinsboy) April 13, 2015

@Dungeon_Crafter DONE WITH LIFE!
— CharlesAkins (@Thatakinsboy) April 13, 2015

Just the roar of rain, steam rising from their bodies from the heat of great excerption. The beast is near, they can feel it in the air.
— Dungeon Master (@Dungeon_Crafter) April 13, 2015

@Dungeon_Crafter As it sings, "How am I supposed to live without you!"
— CharlesAkins (@Thatakinsboy) April 13, 2015

@Dungeon_Crafter Now that I've been lovin' you so long How am I supposed to live without you How am I supposed to carry on
— CharlesAkins (@Thatakinsboy) April 13, 2015

@Dungeon_Crafter When all that I've been livin' for is gone I didn't come here for cryin' Didn't come here to break down
— CharlesAkins (@Thatakinsboy) April 13, 2015

@Dungeon_Crafter It's just a dream of mine is coming to an end And how can I blame you When I build my world around
— CharlesAkins (@Thatakinsboy) April 13, 2015

@Dungeon_Crafter The hope that one day we'd be so much more than friends
— CharlesAkins (@Thatakinsboy) April 13, 2015

@Thatakinsboy your amazing
— Dungeon Master (@Dungeon_Crafter) April 13, 2015

@ShannaGermain Hell that was three years ago. Terrible time getting all the salt off my arms though. Don't really remember anything else
— CharlesAkins (@Thatakinsboy) April 2, 2015

"How did you screw up Ramen?" It's not supposed to be crunchy? "No, no it is not." Oh.
— CharlesAkins (@Thatakinsboy) April 9, 2015

@BrainClouds I recommend firewater. 1 tablespoon Sriracha to 1 cup water. There are some side effects that include: diarrhea, eye bleeding
— CharlesAkins (@Thatakinsboy) April 10, 2015

@BrainClouds hallucinations, the belief that you are Napoleon, increased heart rate, pupal dilation, the inability to fall asleep,
— CharlesAkins (@Thatakinsboy) April 10, 2015

@BrainClouds Well, things happen when you're bored and in college.
— CharlesAkins (@Thatakinsboy) April 10, 2015

@ChuckWendig "It is said that you can tell a lot about a town or a city by what it places as its tallest building" Mine's a tree house.
— CharlesAkins (@Thatakinsboy) April 7, 2015

@ameron_dm In hindsight, when the cleric said he'd rather get drunk, screw the Troll, and get herpes it was the right move. #DNDLifeLessons
— CharlesAkins (@Thatakinsboy) April 6, 2015

@ameron_dm The bard banging a drum will creepily moaning, "Dinner! DIN-NER! DINNNER!" will not be invited back. #DNDLifeLessons
— CharlesAkins (@Thatakinsboy) April 6, 2015

@ameron_dm It turns out that having a paladin who took an oath to protect all dragons, not the best companion on this one. #DNDLifeLessons
— CharlesAkins (@Thatakinsboy) April 6, 2015

@ameron_dm Fighter taking off his armor to better show of his 'shit' turns out not to be best way to fight after all. #DNDLifeLessons
— CharlesAkins (@Thatakinsboy) April 6, 2015

@ameron_dm The wizard should probably not keep grabbing his nuts and screaming, "I've got your spell right here!" #DNDLifeLessons
— CharlesAkins (@Thatakinsboy) April 6, 2015

@ameron_dm Party thief should not drink a 6-pack before 'sneaking' into the dungeon singing Party Rock Anthem. #LifeLessons
— CharlesAkins (@Thatakinsboy) April 6, 2015

This shall not stand @Morrus! Let's burn their Distribution facilities to the ground Holmes! #OverreactionMonday
— CharlesAkins (@Thatakinsboy) April 6, 2015

@Morrus Fine. I'll just burn the employees cars so they have to work longer.
— CharlesAkins (@Thatakinsboy) April 6, 2015

@ShannaGermain You've got my attention. Tell me more.
— CharlesAkins (@Thatakinsboy) April 4, 2015

@ShannaGermain I'm too busy bitching about people having #BadWrongFun online to ~actually~ play a game. God, what's wrong with you?
— CharlesAkins (@Thatakinsboy) April 1, 2015

@Thatakinsboy I know. I'm a disgrace.
— Shanna Germain (@ShannaGermain) April 1, 2015

@ShannaGermain See you keep talking like that and I'm totally going to get a crush on you. #TooFarYeahTooFar
— CharlesAkins (@Thatakinsboy) April 1, 2015

@Thatakinsboy If you don't already have a crush on me, I'm afraid I can no longer interact with you. Good bye.
— Shanna Germain (@ShannaGermain) April 1, 2015

@ShannaGermain Well that's just fine. I guess, if you're going to be like that, that I'm secretly in love with you forevars and stuff.
— CharlesAkins (@Thatakinsboy) April 1, 2015

@Morrus Oh, and I've come up with a book idea for EN World. I call it, "Shut the Fuck Up: A Guide to Disruptive Players." #yourewelcome
— CharlesAkins (@Thatakinsboy) January 13, 2015

@scalzi Are you buying us all ponies? I bet it's ponies.
— CharlesAkins (@Thatakinsboy) January 21, 2015

@ChrisPerkinsDnD @looneysquash Really thought that answer was going to involve a lot more drinking and chasing sexy pants people.
— CharlesAkins (@Thatakinsboy) March 13, 2015

@ChrisPerkinsDnD I'm totally telling people that we're friends now because I know you like Milli knew Vanilli. #dndLife
— CharlesAkins (@Thatakinsboy) March 13, 2015

@SlyFlourish No, we killed everyone. Didn't catch his name, but he ran into a bar so we killed everyone in there too. #safetyfirst
— CharlesAkins (@Thatakinsboy) January 12, 2015

Let Us Not Speak of That Anymore

One of the things that I've been steadily discovering on Twitter is that there are really two types of nerds in my feed - and all of them: Wrestlers, Rock Stars, RPG Authors, Artists, Porn Stars, Novelists, Movie Stars, and Role-players are nerds. On the one hand I have awesome people that are creating a lot of great content on their blogs, websites, and feeds who are fun to talk to and that get me excited to go on twitter every time I see their names pop up. Then you have these sanctimonious jerks who want to complain about every thing that they come across without ever actually explaining why they don't like it. Video games are problematic; magazines are problematic; companies making a profit are problematic; women not being the right kind of feminist are problematic; standards of beauty/masculinity/femininity are problematic; racial expectations/struggles/standards are problematic; white/male/straight privilege is problematic. 

Every. 

thing.

is. 

problematic. 

It's exhausting trying to keep up with what's the latest problematic thing they're trying to expose today because every day is some new problematic issue. There are buzz words that they use (and if you haven't figured it out problematic is one of them) to describe each new controversy. These are brought out as though using them identifies you as a member of their inner circle where you think the right things and are concerned over the right issues. There's an exclusivity there that goes beyond any form of gate keeping (there's another one) that I've ever experienced outside of a post-modern philosophy course. 

It's a defined clique that I don't see expressed so clearly on Google+ or in my Blogger feed. Don't get me wrong! There are nasty, bloody disagreements that I see on a regular basis in my Google+ stream. People argue about everything from editions of their favorite games, to television shows, and video games. It gets heated sometimes but you know what almost always happens? They actually discuss the issue. 

On Twitter that doesn't often happen and there are natural reasons for why this occurs that center around the 140 character limit. Within this clique, however, there is another thread that expresses itself whenever they are asked to explain their reasoning. I've generally seen it phrased in one of two ways: (1) "I'm not going to rehash with you a conversation that I've had a million times before or justify my feelings/beliefs/thoughts for your satisfaction;" and (2) "If you can't understand/recognize/realize that this is a problem then there's no use/point/reason in discussing it with you."

I am utterly mystified when I run across those responses. 

Look, when you start banging on a keyboard like a monkey on speed and putting yourself out there for public consumption you both want to be heard and to have an influence with the people who are reading you. To be heard isn't hard. You either have to be louder, more prolific than everyone else, or just keep smashing keys until you outlast everyone else around you and become a member of the 'Old Guard' where you're treated with a reverence you may not actually deserve. But to have actual influence with other people, to help them come to different conclusions and to impact their lives, you have to be willing to talk with them about the things that concern each of you. In doing so you are going to have disagreements and you're going to run into assholes who tell you to kill yourself and try to bully you into hiding away from them; but you're also going to make connections with people who care about what you say and what you think. Hiding behind a wall of like minded thinkers and a refusal to engage with anyone who doesn't think like you isn't going to make you influential. It's going to make you irrelevant.