From lev at rpgreview.net  Mon Feb  2 10:43:01 2009
From: lev at rpgreview.net (Lev Lafayette)
Date: Mon, 02 Feb 2009 21:43:01 +1100
Subject: [Churchofgaming] Change to January timetable...
Message-ID: <1233571381.5974.10.camel@squirrel>

As Karl is hacking together some more modifications to his Gulliver's
Travels (this is a playtest and it's what's supposed to happen) he'll be
taking a week off that game..

Which means three weeks of RuneQuest Prax in a row.. (Sunday 1, 8, 15)
and Gullivers will return after that (Sunday 22)

All the best,


Lev




From catodon at whale-mail.com  Fri Feb  6 01:48:05 2009
From: catodon at whale-mail.com (Carl Brown)
Date: Thu, 5 Feb 2009 17:48:05 -0800
Subject: [Churchofgaming] old games for sale
Message-ID: <A6BDD20D6CFC41459E516DD766228DD4@mail2world.com>

I'm slowly reducing my bookcase, old games need good homes.
If you have a current Australian Health Care Card (low income) contact
me and I'll offer them to you at half the price below.
Either way I'll cover postage within Australia.
Both books are contacted with the good Nylex stuff and are in excellent
condition.
 
For Faeire Queen and Country (Amazing Engine, Victorian era fantasy).
Map missing  $10
 
Al Qadim ( AD&D, Arabian adventures setting). $15


<br><br><a href="http://toolbar.Care2.com">http://toolbar.Care2.com</a>  Make your computer carbon-neutral (free).<br></br><a href="http://www.Care2.com">http://www.Care2.com</a> Green Living, Human Rights and more - 8 million members!
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From barbarianxy at hotmail.com  Mon Feb  9 11:12:25 2009
From: barbarianxy at hotmail.com (Filmnet email)
Date: Mon, 9 Feb 2009 11:12:25 +0000
Subject: [Churchofgaming] old games for sale
In-Reply-To: <A6BDD20D6CFC41459E516DD766228DD4@mail2world.com>
References: <A6BDD20D6CFC41459E516DD766228DD4@mail2world.com>
Message-ID: <BLU133-W11F1F413D2C20518E2B2AEA8BC0@phx.gbl>


im interested in old 1st ed dnd stuff

From: catodon at whale-mail.com
To: aladin.gone at gmail.com; Churchofgaming at rpgreview.net; fruchlefilter at gmail.com; simon.moore at anu.edu.au; RingworldRPG at yahoogroups.co.uk; phantas at mars.org.au
Date: Thu, 5 Feb 2009 17:48:05 -0800
Subject: [Churchofgaming] old games for sale



I'm slowly reducing my bookcase, old games need good homes.
If you have a current Australian Health Care Card (low income) contact me and I'll offer them to you at half the price below.
Either way I'll cover postage within Australia.
Both books are contacted with the good Nylex stuff and are in excellent condition.
 
For Faeire Queen and Country (Amazing Engine, Victorian era fantasy). Map missing  $10
 
Al Qadim ( AD&D, Arabian adventures setting). $15





http://toolbar.Care2.com  Make your computer carbon-neutral (free).
http://www.Care2.com Green Living, Human Rights and more - 8 million members!
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From catodon at whale-mail.com  Mon Feb  9 19:19:52 2009
From: catodon at whale-mail.com (Carl Brown)
Date: Mon, 9 Feb 2009 11:19:52 -0800
Subject: [Churchofgaming] old games for sale
Message-ID: <E1AE0DB2C30F45ADBEB68E9606F83FD1@mail2world.com>

Yeh, I don't have much of that anymore.

<-----Original Message----->
From: Filmnet email
[contact at filmnet.org.au;churchofgaming at rpgreview.net] 
Sent: 2/9/2009 11:12:34 PM 
To: churchofgaming at rpgreview.net; aladin.gone at gmail.com;
fruchlefilter at gmail.com; simon.moore at anu.edu.au;
ringworldrpg at yahoogroups.co.uk; phantas at mars.org.au 
Subject: Re: [Churchofgaming] old games for sale 


im interested in old 1st ed dnd stuff


  _____  

From: catodon at whale-mail.com
To: aladin.gone at gmail.com; Churchofgaming at rpgreview.net;
fruchlefilter at gmail.com; simon.moore at anu.edu.au;
RingworldRPG at yahoogroups.co.uk; phantas at mars.org.au
Date: Thu, 5 Feb 2009 17:48:05 -0800
Subject: [Churchofgaming] old games for sale


I'm slowly reducing my bookcase, old games need good homes.
If you have a current Australian Health Care Card (low income) contact
me and I'll offer them to you at half the price below.
Either way I'll cover postage within Australia.
Both books are contacted with the good Nylex stuff and are in excellent
condition.
 
For Faeire Queen and Country (Amazing Engine, Victorian era fantasy)..
Map missing  $10
 
Al Qadim ( AD&D, Arabian adventures setting). $15


http://toolbar.Care2.com <http://toolbar.care2.com/>  Make your computer
carbon-neutral (free).
http://www.Care2.com <http://www.care2.com/>  Green Living, Human Rights
and more - 8 million members!

  _____  

Let ninemsn property help! Need a new place to rent, share or buy?
<http://a.ninemsn.com.au/b.aspx?URL=http%3A%2F%2Fninemsn%2Edomain%2Ecom%
2Eau%2F%3Fs%5Fcid%3DFDMedia%3ANineMSN%5FHotmail%5FTagline&_t=774152450&_
r=Domain_tagline&_m=EXT>  


<br><br><a href="http://toolbar.Care2.com">http://toolbar.Care2.com</a>  Make your computer carbon-neutral (free).<br></br><a href="http://www.Care2.com">http://www.Care2.com</a> Green Living, Human Rights and more - 8 million members!
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From catodon at whale-mail.com  Thu Feb 19 01:39:12 2009
From: catodon at whale-mail.com (Carl Brown)
Date: Wed, 18 Feb 2009 17:39:12 -0800
Subject: [Churchofgaming] Church of Gaming February 2009 Newsletter
	Issue #4
Message-ID: <83EF86F29E5D41ADBED1FD1B5A447779@mail2world.com>

Hi
Do you want "Sexuality in 2199" a article of Background for the
blueplanet universe?

<-----Original Message----->
From: lev at rpgreview.net [churchofgaming at rpgreview.net]
Sent: 1/29/2009 4:19:24 PM
To: churchofgaming at rpgreview.net
Subject: [Churchofgaming] Church of Gaming February 2009 Newsletter
Issue #4

==================================================
Church of Gaming February 2009 Newsletter Issue #4
==================================================


Gaming Timetable
================

The most appropriately titled "Rhythm of the Heat" RuneQuest Prax game
will be held on Sunday the 1st, and 15th

The continuing playtest for FATE Gulliver's Trading Compay for Sunday
8th
and 22th.

All games start at 2pm and all games are at the Melbourne Unitarian
Church
conference room, 110 Grey St East Melbourne.

Lev is also looking for playtesters for an SPQR (Steve Perrin's Quest
Rules) play-by-email. SPQR is Perrin's (co-designer of the original
RuneQuest) game in development for many years, but is looking at
publication this coming year.

RPG Review Issue 3
==================

Articles are being sought for the third issue of RPG Review
(rpgreview.net), please contact Lev for further information. We will be
including last year's GURPS Bunnies & Burrows game in this third issue
along with a review and results of our Credo: The Game of Duelling
Dogmas
- congratulations are due to Michael's Church, 'The Shepherds of Nicea'
for achieving the most number of Church votes and followers in our
January
game.


St Kilda Library
================

For those who don't know, the St Kilda library has a significant (100
plus
items) collection of roleplaying games under their "game books"
collection, mostly new items.

Select 'advanced' in the search and either use 'game books' as the
collection search or 793.93 for the Dewey number. All of the material
seems to be recent in the year 2000+ category, so don't expect to find
any
old classics!

http://library.portphillip.vic.gov.au/


Membership
==========

We encourage Church of Gaming attendees to become Associate Members of
the
Melbourne Unitarian Church. Membership is $5.50 per annum and forms will
be available at CoG gatherings.



_______________________________________________
Churchofgaming mailing list
Churchofgaming at rpgreview.net
http://rpgreview.net/mailman/listinfo/churchofgaming_rpgreview.net
.



<br><br><a href="http://toolbar.Care2.com">http://toolbar.Care2.com</a>  Make your computer carbon-neutral (free).<br></br><a href="http://www.Care2.com">http://www.Care2.com</a> Green Living, Human Rights and more - 8 million members!
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From lev at rpgreview.net  Thu Feb 19 04:50:01 2009
From: lev at rpgreview.net (lev at rpgreview.net)
Date: Thu, 19 Feb 2009 15:50:01 +1100 (EST)
Subject: [Churchofgaming] Church of Gaming February 2009 Newsletter
 Issue #4
In-Reply-To: <83EF86F29E5D41ADBED1FD1B5A447779@mail2world.com>
References: <83EF86F29E5D41ADBED1FD1B5A447779@mail2world.com>
Message-ID: <42615.127.0.0.1.1235019001.squirrel@127.0.0.1>

> Hi
> Do you want "Sexuality in 2199" a article of Background for the
> blueplanet universe?
>

That could be quite interesting... and a usually ignored element in RPGs.

It could make an interesting follow up on this article from Terry K many
years ago in White Wolf magazine (issue 48, October, 1994). Or, even more
appropriately, some ideas from Bertrand Russell who predicted with a great
deal of accuracy, the effects of technology on relationships (cf.,
Marriage and Morals, 1929)


Nicked from: http://www.alterworlds.com/articles/amthor.html


Queer as a Three-Sided Die
by Terry Amthor

This is a little editorial game-designer Terry Amthor (ICE's CyberSpace
and ShadowWorld) wrote for White Wolf magazine some years ago. White Wolf
made it available online, so I'm sure Terry wouldn't mind us sharing it.
-- Steve Kenson

Almost a year ago Travis Williams wrote an article about African-Americans
in gaming, and now I have been asked to write on a somewhat related topic:
gays and gaming. Like any discussion on gaming identities, mine naturally
falls into two categories: players and characters. Blacks and gays are
both minorities -- acute ones in the world of RPGs -- and that's about
where the similarites between blacks and gays in gaming end.

A couple of notes before I wade in:

First, I 'll try not to lecture, but I welcome the opportunity to educate
well-intentioned but uninformed straight people about homosexuals. There's
a lot of misinformation about homosexuals. Many of you probably have gay
friends and don't even know it.

Second, lesbian sisters, I'm going to use gay examples through most of
this; no slight is intended -- it's just what I know best.

Gay Characters in RPGs

This reminds me of some electronic bulletin board exchange about
minorities in Star Trek: TNG. There was talk about a regular gay character
on TNG, but s/he never materialized. "At least," someone whined, "have
some gay walk-ons!" Then someone said, "Maybe there is a gay character
there?" Being gay isn 't at all like being black -- it's all inside. This
is perhaps a blessing and a curse; at least you don 't have to explain to
your mother that you 're black. And while there are a few lingering crazed
white supremacists out there who think that African-Americans are
second-class humans, they're pretty much dismissed by thinking people.
However, the feeling of the general population about gays is more divided.
Most people take the attitude of live and let live... as long as they don
't have to watch us live. More on that later.

Of course there is black culture as much as there is gay culture, but
while African-Americans have a unique history here on earth, being gay
transcends the world environment; being black does not. If you 're "black"
on the TSR world of Athas (to use Travis ' example), your culture is
nothing like that of African-Americans in Southeast Washington, D.C.,
which is in turn nothing like the culture surrounding a Nubian princess in
ancient Egypt. But if you 're a guy attracted to guys, you 're attracted
to guys whether you 're checking out that cute half-Romulan stud on the
Enterprise, eyeing Mega-man's sexy superhero uniform or tromping around in
Middle-earth (I always had the hots for Legolas).

Sex (oh, I said it) wasn 't much of an issue in the early days of gaming,
when it was prepubescent boys playing D&D. But times have changed. Even
before White Wolf, many groups had moved beyond "roll playing" to
roleplaying as they got older and more mature. Campaigns got more
sophisticated, and social issues became a part of the game.

Playing a Gay or Bisexual Character

One of the pitfalls of gaming is that complex situations and issues tend
to get oversimplified, or worse, stereotyped. If you 're straight and want
to play a gay character, that's great, but don 't use it as an excuse to
be a "fairy" elf or some kind of foppish flaming bard. The stereotype many
people have of gays is that we're all limp-wristed squealing little
creatures. Wrong. A small percentage of queers act that way (some of us
occasionally do it as a joke), but the vast majority of gay men act and
look at least as "straight" as any straight guy.

So, straight friends, if the mood strikes you to play a gay character, the
key word is understatement. Chances are, he should act no different than
he would if he were straight, with one big exception: he likes boys
instead of girls. For instance, you and your buds are hanging around the
tavern having an ale. Instead of making a pass at the barmaid, you 're
thinking that the hunky swordmaker at the bar had a nice set of pecs, and
he gave you a really big smile that afternoon in the armory... maybe you
should buy him a drink. You get the idea.

But that's just the beginning. Queers are no more likely to want a tumble
in the hay than straights (not to say that we don 't like to have fun).
Gays have long-term relationships. We fall in love just like anybody else;
your character should be no different. This, however, can prove to be a
liability. I have an AD&D character with an NPC boyfriend with whom he's
madly in love. The NPCs opposing our group knew this, kidnapped my
character's lover and held him hostage. Straight or gay, it's all the
same: love can prove to be trouble.

Naturally, this sort of scenario requires maturity and sensitivity on the
part of the players and the GM. If you want to explore alternative
sexuality in a game, you might want to start out by playing a bisexual,
then you can use your character's straight relationships as a guide.

Of course, all this is just part of being a homosexual character: how you
relate to others of your kind and what the rest of the world thinks of
you. GMs running games with homosexual or bisexual characters need to deal
with what the world's societies think about these orientations. Most
people who don 't approve of homosexuality base their objections on
religious doctrine. I 'll extrapolate that objections to homosexuality in
a game environment stem from one of two sources: religion, which seems to
think homosexuality is an abomination because it corrupts the "real"
purpose of sex -- procreation ("Joe, you 're not likely to get your
boyfriend pregnant, so stop that!"), and the fact that it makes some
straight men (who seem to be in charge around here) squeamish or nervous,
so they outlaw it.

(Sorry, lecture time. Bear with me; it'll be short and does have a point.)

In case anyone is wondering, we don 't choose to be gay. Think about it:
who in their right mind would choose a way of life that leads to
persecution, denial of rights like marriage and the inability to do many
things that straight people take for granted (like holding hands or -- God
forbid -- kissing in public)? Who would choose to be beaten up or called
perverted? Sure, we choose this. Uh-huh. No, queers are born that way
(though some of us fight it or try to deny it, but ultimately without
success).

I 'm sure that when I mentioned two guys kissing, almost all of you
straight people (even the liberals, deep down) thought, "Yuck! Two men
kissing!" Well the first time I saw it I thought it was pretty bizarre
too. And dancing and... you get the picture. But you get used to it (as
long as it doesn 't get out of hand; I don 't approve of anyone getting
sloppy in public, gay or straight), and it becomes pretty ho-hum.

Now, let's talk about gay, bi and straight characters all thrown together
into the intimate atmosphere of a traveling band of adventurers. Sleeping
together, changing clothes, bathing... it starts to sound like the
military, doesn 't it? Oops. Well, I guess when women and men adventure
together everyone can control themselves (?), so this really isn't all
that different. We gays can control ourselves at least as well as our
straight buddies. We have to.

The GM should keep the above factors in mind when laying out the details
of a game that involves queer characters. In a fantasy milieu with a
pantheon of gods (like ICE's Shadow World), some deities (and their
religions) may openly embrace homosexuality, while others might consider
it a terrible abomination. Others might not care. It may also be racially
based. Elves might be innately bisexual (they live forever -- you 'd think
they would eventually try everything!), but certain mannish groups may
consider it a sin punishable by death. Maybe lesbianism is okay, but male
homosexuality is taboo. Part of the challenge of playing a gay character
might be if he realizes he's gay but lives in a society that's intolerant
of it. There are many possibilities. Playing a gay character can be an
eye-opening experience for the whole group. It can also be fun, and that's
what gaming is supposed to be, right?

Players -- Are There Any Gay Gamers?

I think that in the last couple years there's been a large, quiet influx
of gays into gaming, and I have to lay most of the credit squarely at the
feet of... yes, White Wolf. Why? Vampire. It's not that WW set out to do
it, mind you. Mark ReinoHagen claims that WW was out to bring in a new
breed of gamer, but when it pulled up the nets heavy with black-clad,
mascara-eyed, disenchanted Cure/Morrisey listeners, there were a fair
number of young fags* and dykes in there too.

And yet WW couldn 't have done it without Anne Rice. I've witnessed two
Anne Rice book signings, in Miami and here in D.C. Homosexuality was a
distinct theme among the fans. Let's face it, vampire books are highly
homoerotic -- certainly all of my gay friends have read every Lestat book.
There are two reasons behind Anne's popularity among gays: one is the
obvious homoerotic thread running throughout, the other is the appeal of
the vampire as an outsider. Gays can relate to these guys. We look just
like mortals, but inside we 're very different. We 're outsiders, just
like vampires. We have to pretend to be "normal" or risk persecution. (We
're also much cooler... just kidding.)

Then came the Vampire game, with very hip packaging and the appeal of a
"simple" system. It was an escape for thousands of disenchanted,
angst-ridden teenagers. And unlike AD&D (with its "strictly for dweebs,
dude" reputation), Vampire was cool.

Oh, there have been a few of us queer gamers here all along; there are
even a handful of us working in the gaming industry. But, as in society in
general, many of us have chosen not to be open about our orientation. This
is particularly so with gaming, because most players are in their teens
and 20s and aren't yet sure of their sexuality.

Finally

I hope I 've encouraged a few people to try an aspect of gaming that they
had never thought about or had only tried halfheartedly. Gaming gets such
a bad rap from people who don 't understand it, but here's another way
that I think it can serve a positive purpose. So next time you roll up a
character, consider one more thing -- Strength? Hit Points? Orientation?
So what if it makes a few people squirm. It's good for 'em. Now go rescue
that handsome prince.

*I can say this because I am one. It's all about taking from people terms
intended to be insults and making them your own. By embracing words like
queer and fag, we can 't be hurt by them. You hetero readers are learning
so much just by reading this!

This article is the property of the original author and has been reprinted
from another source without permission. All rights reserved.





From barbarianxy at hotmail.com  Fri Feb 20 01:41:43 2009
From: barbarianxy at hotmail.com (Filmnet email)
Date: Fri, 20 Feb 2009 01:41:43 +0000
Subject: [Churchofgaming] Church of Gaming February 2009
	Newsletter	Issue #4
In-Reply-To: <83EF86F29E5D41ADBED1FD1B5A447779@mail2world.com>
References: <83EF86F29E5D41ADBED1FD1B5A447779@mail2world.com>
Message-ID: <BLU133-W28673D32753A6B490CFB29A8B30@phx.gbl>


hi,
i cant make gullivers sunday as have full dnd game sat and big sat nite
im keen the the steve perin playtest
shud b there for rq sun week tho am getting sick of librarianlol

From: catodon at whale-mail.com
To: churchofgaming at rpgreview.net
Date: Wed, 18 Feb 2009 17:39:12 -0800
Subject: Re: [Churchofgaming] Church of Gaming February 2009 Newsletter	Issue #4



Hi
Do you want "Sexuality in 2199" a article of Background for the blueplanet universe?



<-----Original Message----->

From: lev at rpgreview.net [churchofgaming at rpgreview.net]

Sent: 1/29/2009 4:19:24 PM

To: churchofgaming at rpgreview.net

Subject: [Churchofgaming] Church of Gaming February 2009 Newsletter Issue #4




==================================================

Church of Gaming February 2009 Newsletter Issue #4

==================================================





Gaming Timetable

================



The most appropriately titled "Rhythm of the Heat" RuneQuest Prax game

will be held on Sunday the 1st, and 15th



The continuing playtest for FATE Gulliver's Trading Compay for Sunday 8th

and 22th.



All games start at 2pm and all games are at the Melbourne Unitarian Church

conference room, 110 Grey St East Melbourne.



Lev is also looking for playtesters for an SPQR (Steve Perrin's Quest

Rules) play-by-email. SPQR is Perrin's (co-designer of the original

RuneQuest) game in development for many years, but is looking at

publication this coming year.



RPG Review Issue 3

==================



Articles are being sought for the third issue of RPG Review

(rpgreview.net), please contact Lev for further information. We will be

including last year's GURPS Bunnies & Burrows game in this third issue

along with a review and results of our Credo: The Game of Duelling Dogmas

- congratulations are due to Michael's Church, 'The Shepherds of Nicea'

for achieving the most number of Church votes and followers in our January

game.





St Kilda Library

================



For those who don't know, the St Kilda library has a significant (100 plus

items) collection of roleplaying games under their "game books"

collection, mostly new items.



Select 'advanced' in the search and either use 'game books' as the

collection search or 793.93 for the Dewey number. All of the material

seems to be recent in the year 2000+ category, so don't expect to find any

old classics!



http://library.portphillip.vic.gov.au/





Membership

==========



We encourage Church of Gaming attendees to become Associate Members of the

Melbourne Unitarian Church. Membership is $5.50 per annum and forms will

be available at CoG gatherings.







_______________________________________________

Churchofgaming mailing list

Churchofgaming at rpgreview.net

http://rpgreview.net/mailman/listinfo/churchofgaming_rpgreview.net

.







http://toolbar.Care2.com  Make your computer carbon-neutral (free).
http://www.Care2.com Green Living, Human Rights and more - 8 million members!
_________________________________________________________________
Are you paid what you're worth? Find out: SEEK Salary Centre
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