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This post is probably going to be a bit of a ramble. Over the last few months I’ve read, and re-read, Harlem Unbound a few times to give it a good review. I have met and respect Chris Spivey, the creator of Harlem Unbound, and I have wanted to do my part in helping him succeed. While I’ve been contemplating how exactly I would gush about that wonderful RPG supplement, I’ve been reading Ibram X. Kendi’s work, Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America. And honestly, it was my desire to finish that book that has held me off from reviewing Harlem Unbound. To be clear, I’m still working through it, but I came to the conclusion that I basically knew what I wanted to say on the topic.

The Deep Ones

Racism is a chthonic horror. The roots of racism (as Kendi tracks them) extend as far back as the Ancient Greeks. Now, the prejudices of the Greeks to their own cultural perfection is not peculiar to their culture. Most human cultures have had some view of their own greatness in the sea of other peoples that call this planet home. However, it was the confluence of the Greek idea of climate theory on intelligence (and humanness), the trans-Atlantic slave trade, the concepts of Limpieza de Sangre (purity of the blood) that the Spanish developed in the wake of the Reconquista, and the Puritan belief that they were granted the American continent by God that gave us the foundation for the racism that our country still faces on a daily basis. Kendi discusses the twisting, blending, and disagreements of three major concepts, assimilation, segregation, and anti-racism in the context of all of these foundational elements.

The focus on Greek and Latin texts as essential to the learned English (and European) mind helped reinforce climate theory in the mind of Europeans and colonial Euro-Americans. This theory boils down to the idea that some climates in the world produce a naturally superior people, and anyone outside of that climate band will be inferior in one form or another. This idea, as well as the theories of polygenesis or monogenesis (whether or not humans derive from a common ancestor or evolved/were created as separate beings) are at the core of Kendi’s discussion on racism in America. They, in many ways, are also at the core of the Lovecraftian Mythos.

Think about what this can represent in a Mythos influenced RPG setting. The idea that old, ancient even, ideas can re-surface and begin to infiltrate and corrupt people’s minds is essentially Lovecraftian. Of course, Lovecraft is a product of the centuries of reinforced racism that America had experienced up until his lifetime. He was terrified of other human beings that were unlike him. He was a believer in eugenics (a racist view of breeding to achieve human ‘perfection’) and viewed through the context of his overwhelming racism his weird fiction takes on a malaise that inhibits many from wanting to engage with his world. In our game worlds, oftentimes the Other has become the ever present enemy, and the enemy that it is always acceptable to kill.

Racism is a reflection of the dark gods that sleep but never die. Once it was crafted out of the ephemera of hate and harm, it has become a creature alive like any other gnawing at the heart of the human soul.

What Does Harlem Have to Say?

Harlem Unbound is set during the heart of the Harlem Renaissance. The Mythos percolates behind this time of great hope, and great despair for African-Americans. The hope for emancipation had been crushed under Jim Crow for nearly 40 years by this point, and Black America was still faced with racism both overt and covert throughout the United States. The Great War had passed, and with it a glimmer of equality and respect had begun to shine, but was quickly crushed by White politicians, leaders, and even African-American leaders who had absorbed the racist ideas around them. I will not say anything negative about W.E.B. DuBois myself here, but I recommend reading the chapter on Mr. DuBois in Professor Kendi’s book. It is enlightening.

This is the world in which characters are thrust. They are present in the most economically advantaged location in the United States for African-Americans at that point in history. They are also surrounded by the horror of a world that seeks at every turn to denigrate and dehumanize those same people. This is an exemplary location to reflect on the chthonic similarities between racism and creatures that make the Mythos their home. What does it mean to be Black in America in the 1920s?  What does it mean to be stalked by creatures that harbor hostility to all of mankind? Does this bring people together? Does it become a situation where White residents of New York blame their Black neighbors for the deaths caused by such creatures? How do we reflect on the realities of African-American deaths today in our modern world by looking through the lens of a historical horror role-playing game? Do we learn to value life more? Do we begin to see the ever creeping and still constantly present and pressing elements of segregation, assimilation, and do we strive to find ways to be anti-racist in facing the menace of ‘that which shall not be named?’

Can I run this?

Anyone with the mechanical capacity to understand the way the rules work for this supplement can run this game. That doesn’t mean you should. Spivey doesn’t discount the ability of anyone to run and use his supplement. Quite the opposite. He provides the suggestions and tools for anyone to pick up this game and tell a compelling and terrifying tale. He cautions against doing things that reinforce racism as a storyteller, and instead provides a series of suggestions and advice that allow you the game runner to see how you can work to be anti-racist through the lens of this text. So you can. You have the tools, but it doesn’t answer the real question you should consider.

The color scheme of the book is red and black, and the art screams. From a visual standpoint you’re going to want to run this. There wasn’t another good place to put this statement in this article, but I wanted to be clear that the themes of the book are only heightened by the color scheme at play here.

Should I run this?

I’ve got to be honest, this is the real question here. Should you? Are you prepared to consider the implications of racism and its impact on the day to day horrors of a people? That question underpins this game. Harlem Unbound provides a framework for you to run horror stories. You can run them face value in Harlem without really delving into the background that Kendi provides in Stamped from the Beginning. But I have to ask you, why? Are you reinforcing tropes about Black people by doing so without trying to at least acknowledge the reality of our country’s history? Running this supplement offers you a moment to start chipping away at your own mind, to see where segregation and assimilation run counter to the goals of anti-racism. This is a chance to explore where your Great Old Ones live in your own mind, and then to destroy them. That choice is yours.

I wouldn’t want to run this game without any people of color at my table. Heck, I probably wouldn’t be the best person to run this full-stop, but I’d play. I’d challenge my brain. I’d chip away at the systemic racism I’ve been fed my entire life. I’d face the darkness. If that ends up with me screaming on the floor, having seen a horror that cannot be unseen, well… that’s a danger I’ll have to deal with when I get there. We have to be able to face those faceless horrors. If we cannot bring ourselves to do so, we will continue to perpetuate a system that harms us all.

Check Out Harlem Unbound

Written and Developed by Chris Spivey

10/10

“

 

 

I just read this article, and it is certainly something to consider. This weekend I ran a D&D game set on the frontier of a jungle. At the heart, my goal was to subvert tropes, and this article got me actively thinking how and if I was successful. Subversion of a trope can be hard to manage without forethought and focus. In the end, I think I cut into some tropes, but I could have done better. I can’t tell you too much about the adventure, because I’m using elements of it in a product in development. I can tell you that I’m seriously considering my presentation of ‘monster races.’

 

This is something I’ve written about before. In that article, I focused on Goblins, and I’m going to use them as an example again here. As a cultural group, Goblins are fascinating to me, and I think the way they are often used is very frustrating in general. Eberron does a good job of undercutting the traditional colonial/racist way of depicting Goblins. It’s not perfect, but it is a step in a positive direction and I think we should be trying to do better in our games. Other settings are less effective at showcasing Goblinoids as living, breathing, and dynamic sentient people. We’ll just leave it at that, I’m not going to throw any specific shade anywhere right now.

 

D&D has colonial roots, and racism is a symptom of colonialism. (Or vice-versa, depending on how you suss out the origins of the behavior the terms describe), but that doesn’t mean we cannot use it to examine those things critically. In fact, I think that is a core benefit RPGs can offer us. The entire concept behind Reach-Out Roleplaying Games is to help use games like D&D to explore and understand the impacts othering, racism, sexism, and other systemic prejudices have on people and our interactions with one another.

So, we have two options, as I see it. We can acknowledge the inherent colonialists flaws in D&D and then work to subvert them. Or, we can use them without alteration as a way to start discussion outside of the game setting. The second is harder if you don’t have a group that wants to deconstruct the game and their own feelings and thought processes after a session. I’d make a joke about my surprise at these things, but I’m not. Most people don’t play RPGs for constant self-reflection and internal examination of their own biases and mental constructs…

 

 

Before I digress too far down that rabbit hole, let’s talk about subversion of tropes. This is an excellent idea as it is often in the hands of the GM to create the world which these tropes are expressed through. You’ve got the power to subvert tropes as a player as well, but the GM controls the systematic side. That said, everyone at the table has a role in determining, subverting, or reconstructing tropes.

 

For example. Goblins are murderous creatures that stumble over themselves in a cannibalistic frenzy. This common fantasy RPG trope is based on some elements of Tolkein, and lots of D&D specific history. It references tropes of tribal behavior, particularly from colonial conception of African and Polynesian culture. This isn’t an accurate depiction of those cultures, but we shouldn’t be blind to that influence on the way certain monster races are presented. So, how do we subvert this trope?

 

The first possible way is to make Goblins part of mainstream society within a setting. What role could they fill that halflings and gnomes do not? Any. Halflings may focus on culinary arts (Tolkein level trope, but let’s roll with it) and Goblins work as crafters and artisans. Their smaller frames make them really good at working in small spaces, so plumbers, construction, or mining are roles that are positive to a society. You can of course also make them farmers, or animal herders and subvert several tropes all at once. Consider the motivations your Goblins have. What do they see as the good life? Is there a Goblin Socrates? Why are they part of the society they are a part of? What do most members of society do? What do the outliers do? What is normalized behavior and what is taboo?

 

You can also give the trope style Goblins motivation that makes their behavior understandable. Murderous mob of goblins? They are a splinter group of raiders that were ostracized from several goblin towns. Having the players make an alliance with these towns to mutually take the raiders into custody would be an interesting plotline They may not need to be killed and if they are, doing so may anger more goblin’s who are their relatives. Perhaps a second group of ‘murderous’ goblins are simply avenging the deaths of their kin. Looking at Icelandic Saga Feuds, or the Hatfield and McCoy feud it is easy to see how this cycle of revenge can quickly get out of control. In both cases, greater law is often imposed to limit feuding, and it could be an interesting campaign to show the imposition of higher law between groups that have agreed to stop blood feuding.

This may not be going far enough, depending on the group and the scenario you are creating. When developing a setting or a full game, I think we also have to be really cognizant of what we are saying about a culture through our writing. Eberron presents Khorvaire as once being home to a massive Goblin empire. That empire collapsed, and the majority of goblinoids are now living in poverty, or living in nomadic, or rural village life.

 

Keep in mind too, that rural village life in most D&D worlds is fraught with danger we don’t have in human history. In a lot of cases, Giants, Dragons, and such would have driven most humans to build great cities sooner if they had actually existed. Binding together is sensible in the face of this sort of outside challenge. So, it is understandable that the life of the average goblin in Eberron is one of high mortality, and a fight for survival.

This is edging into trope territory as well, though. This makes Goblins perpetually marginalized in a society where they are generally unwelcome. Again, that can be useful for exploring racism and class issues through an RPG. If that isn’t the purpose for using this trope, we have to again consider what we are hoping to say in setting development? What if Goblins were simply an accepted part of society? In Eberron, we could have them be heirs to Dragonmarks, which would include them in the House system, which could mainstream them.

You could also bring Darguun up to a fairly level playing field with the rest of the Nations of Eberron, pushing back the story of its unification, or even having it have sustained unity from the imperial era. This will either make Goblins more, or less antagonistic, depending on how much inherent nationalism you build into your world.

 

If you are building a completely new world, you could also do away with the standard Goblin tropes completely. Make them as accepted a part of society as Gnomes or Halflings. If you want to keep an antagonist group in the world, consider flipping the script and having Humans, or Elves be aggressors. You can either have it be a full swap, or try and subvert other tropes while you are flipping the script. The biggest danger here is shifting things and creating or falling into the same tropes with different faces.

 

What do I want you to take away from this? Try and subvert tropes that emphasize colonial or racist elements in RPGs. When you do so, try and take a holistic view on what your subversion would change in a setting. Be realistic, avoid stereotypes, and recognize you might not get it right. Take criticism, listen, and be prepared to adjust fire at the table too.

 

I’m interested in hearing how you’ve subverted tropes at your table or in your game. Let’s swap war stories.

Project Opportunity

Conflict Resolution – Content Developer

Reach-Out Roleplaying Games is looking for a team of people to help develop our products. We are specifically looking for individuals interested in role-playing games with diverse backgrounds willing to invest their time and talent in a project that will help integrate creative problem solving techniques and conflict resolution principles. You will be working with the Editor-In-Chief to develop a handbook that provides guidance on how to integrate creative problem solving and non-violent conflict resolution techniques into role-playing games. The handbook will also detail a method of dialogue using role-playing games.

Qualifications

Current Student focused on Conflict Resolution or Conflict Resolution specialist
Writing/Content Development Experience must include the summary of complex concepts and making them easier to understand for a wider audience
Experience with formal Dialogue procedures

Background Desired
Experience with table-top role-playing games like Dungeons and Dragons, FATE, Savage Worlds etc.
Women and people of color are particularly encouraged to submit their resume and letter of interest

Pay
We are looking for investors interested in supporting this project with their time and writing skill. I’m looking for a team willing to embrace this concept and help develop it by taking a risk. Once the handbook is developed we will be looking at crowd-funding options to print and distribute. Funds raised will go toward the printing of the books and paying the writers and artists that provide content.
Interested?
Please send resume and a short letter of interest to admin@keepontheheathlands.com If you would like to know more about the project and other related projects you can visit our website at www.keepontheheathlands.com

No one likes to be told they are stupid, or mean, and no one wants to feel like someone hates them. It usually results in feeling somewhat like this:

 

The way we speak in relation to our games is important. Being mindful of tone when speaking out of character can drastically improve your experience in both areas. Being sure to use the right terms and tone of language out of character can help make stressful situations go smoothly and leave everyone involved happy. On the opposite side of that, using the wrong tone or words can turn a neutral situation into a stressful one for everyone involved. Taking the time to pay attention to how things are said will be beneficial to you. These articles aim to help you conquer one of the topics that is the most harmful to out of character interactions: the language you use. Today we will discuss the language should use to clearly separate your character’s thoughts and feelings from your own when discussing them with other players.

 

Subjective, Possessive and Objective Language

Here is a quick English lesson to start this section out. Subjective language is when you use I/we to define the subject of the sentence. “We should eat ice cream” uses subjective language to convey the subject is the self, or a group including the self. Possessive language uses my/your to define the subject, such as “My shoes match your jacket.” Objective language defines the subject with his/hers/theirs, and refers to a subject that isn’t the speaker or the listener, or a possession of either of them. “His dog is cute” would be an example of objective language use. Using the correct language is important to managing out of character relationships, and we’ll be going over some examples below. In the examples below, your character will be named “Taylor” and the other example player will be named “Janet”, with her character being named “Kara”.

 

 

SUBJECTIVE:

Let’s say that your character Taylor absolutely despises Janet’s character Kara, and you wanted to talk about the situation with other players. If you use subjective language, you’d be saying “I hate Kara” which could make Janet think that her character wasn’t any good and she may stop playing the character or the game as a whole. Even worse is saying “I hate you” when talking to Janet directly. If Janet didn’t know you were talking about your character, she could take this as you meaning that YOU the player hates Janet the player and that could leave her feeling upset and make her dislike you as a person.  Even in situations where Janet is clear that you are speaking about your characters, the fact you are not taking the time to make the distinction in your wording may make her feel like you don’t care much about the distinction.

 

POSSESSIVE:

If you were to use possessive language, such as “Taylor hates Kara” then Janet the player would be much more receptive to the conversation, and that would lead to a much healthier dialogue between the two of you. By speaking with possessive language to refer to your character, their thoughts, and their feelings you create a barrier between yourself and your character. Having this barrier lets people know that you as a person do not dislike them and allows players who play even the most bitter hateful rivals in game be civil and cordial out of game. Referring to your character’s opinions this way also helps you as a player keep those opinions separate from your own.  That separation is both necessary and healthy, especially if you play for bleed.

 

OBJECTIVE:

Objective language can be tricky because it needs to be used in addition to possessive language. “I think his character is not very smart” is a combination of objective and subjective language. Phrases like this could still lead that other player into thinking you as a person think that his character is dumb, and possibly lead to hurt feelings and misunderstandings. Using objective language with possessive language clearly defines the meaning of the sentence, for example “Taylor thinks that his character is not very smart.” In that sentence you are saying that your character Taylor thinks that another player’s character isn’t very smart, and that is all.

 

Clear and concise language reduces the chance for hurt feelings.  Remember to use possessive language when referring to your own characters thoughts and feelings, and you will be seen as a much more mature and respectable player. Look for part two tomorrow where we’ll be discussing the differences between the phrases “Player versus Player” and “Character versus Character.”

—

Anna is an avid LARPer, and on weekend when she isn’t being a vampire she treks out to the woods to beat up her friends with assorted plumbing supplies and birdseed. Outside of LARP Anna is a feminist and part of the LGBTQ* community, and is the proud owner of two loving cats, and another that’s kind of mean but loves her anyway (probably). She can be found on Twitter at https://twitter.com/squeenoodles

Part 1: Admitting the Problem

Every time I am asked to speak about women and gaming (especially women and LARPing), I get nervous.  This isn’t the usual “butterflies in the stomach” type of nervousness that one experiences when being asked to speak in public. As the seconds tick towards the start of a panel or podcast recording, I can feel my hands become clammy, my chest and throat tighten, and my breath quicken from anxiety.

I have identified as a gamer since the late 90’s (and as a LARPer since the early 2000’s).  My name is known – not only for the personalities that I have crafted on the game floor – but also for the ways that I’ve influenced at least one LARP organization.  I’ve worn the hat of Storyteller, Marketing Strategist, Web Developer, and Executive Officer (in One World by Night, it’s called “Head Coordinator”) – all in an effort to improve a community that I called home.  I’ve since shifted my energies and time towards The Hidden Parlor, a new LARP organization that seeks to enjoy the World of Darkness as further developed by By Night Studios while also tackling some of the tougher issues that face the larger LARP and fan community (more on that later).

Even when I reflect upon this resume and the reputation I’ve built for myself, being asked to speak about LARP from a woman’s perspective scares me. Part of me wants to simply scratch the superficial surface on what women gamers want.  Telling an audience to just ask their female players about the types of plots that they enjoy is considered a “safe” response.  Delving into the topic further – on issues involving the safety of and respect towards female (and minority) LARPers – paints a huge target on me.  Gamergate happened only two years ago, and it showcased how some within the larger gaming community are willing to react when faced with a progressive cultural shift.

I’m one of the lucky ones in that I never received a death threat for any decision I’ve made as a leader within the LARP community, and I would prefer for there to not be a “first”.   However, given that I know others – including men – who have been harassed online and received death threats over LARP-related issues, I think this visceral fear is justified.  Today I swallow back those fears. Someone needs to speak for those who LARPed and left, those who are LARPing now, and those who will join our community in the future. We as a community can do better on this topic. We owe it to the fellow fans of this hobby to do better.

We need to take issues of harassment and assault within the gaming/LARP community more seriously.  This is a collective problem, and the community as a whole needs to participate in the solution.

A few months ago, I had the privilege of being a guest on Tempus Tenebrarum – a bi-weekly World of Darkness podcast – for their Women in Gaming episode.  During the episode (about 27 minutes in), one of the hosts brought up a situation he dealt with:

• He had invited a woman to join his gaming group.
• She found out that a former stalker was also invited to the group, and declined the invitation.
• Now made aware of the other individual’s past behavior, he told the female gamer he was willing to un-invite the other individual.
• The woman declined the offer, indicating that she did not want to draw additional attention to the situation.

Due to the tangential nature of that episode – as well as my previously stated nervousness when asked to approach such topics – we were not able to share an in-depth response. Looking back, I would have liked the opportunity for us to deconstruct the cultural “norms” that led to that situation and its outcome.

Why S*** like this continues to happen

 

This webcomic by Jim Hines that was published on Facebook in August 2013 gives insight into why harassment at geek events (LARPs included) is an issue. Three years later, it is still very much an issue.

There are some who may take my drawing attention to this topic as a claim that LARP scene is extremely dangerous. That’s a straw-man fallacy. For the most part, LARPers are nice people who want to have fun in their fantasy world and want you to have fun with them. There’s a subset of that group who have not been taught how to check for consent, and there’s an even smaller group who feel they are beyond needing consent in order to get what they want (the real predators).  In those times where harassment or assault occur, we as stewards of our community must do a better job of providing support to the victim and taking proper corrective action against the assailant.

 

Why isn’t this reported to the police?

When a LARP club or event organizer hears about past instances of harassment or assault, they ask about law enforcement’s involvement, or lack thereof. Some have gone as far as to suggest that a club should not intervene in such issues – like banning the assailant, for example – unless a police report has been filed.

First, let’s take a step back and examine whether a filed police report should be a litmus test on whether a club responds to allegations of harassment or assault.

There are many reasons why a victim may not go to the police, which include:

• Fear of reprisal
• Reported to a different official (ex: security team at an event or a LARP club officer)
• Victim feels that incident was not important enough to warrant further action
• Belief that the police couldn’t/wouldn’t do anything to help
• Did not want to get offender in trouble with law
• Unsure about perpetrator’s intent (well-meaning vs predatory)
• Did not want others to know
• Did not feel they had enough proof (victim’s word vs the aggressor)
• Fear of the justice system
• Did not know how

Source: Reporting Sexual Assault: Why Survivors Often Don’t, Maryland Coalition Against Sexual Assault

 

Put yourself in the victim’s shoes – Imagine that you’ve been touched without your consent, catcalled, or noticed someone constantly following you around an event space. If you don’t know the person, spending hours to file a police report may seem futile because you are unable to identify your assailant. If you know the person, then the situation can become more complicated. Mutual friends may take sides. Some may defend the assailant by saying their intentions weren’t predatory, and that you overreacted by going to the police. Worse, others might spread rumors that you had ulterior motives to get the other person in trouble, or that you didn’t care if the club/event’s reputation got dragged in the mud. The risk of fallout to you seems far greater than the potential of justice against your assailant.

 

If you want to do your own research on why incidents of harassment or assault go unreported, look no further than Google:

 

There are articles/blog posts from other coutries (like this one – translated from Swedish) that show that this problem is not limited to the United States.

The problem isn’t entirely a lack of information – it’s a lack of people acknowledging it is a problem that we can act upon.

 

Why isn’t this reported to the clubs?

 

Remember earlier when I gave the list of reasons why sexual harassment and assault victims don’t report those incidents to the police? A lot of the same reasons carry over to why they don’t report those issues to their LARP’s incident response / disciplinary team.  There’s often a fear of ostracism, especially if the assailant is higher up the social ladder. Some clubs also have a cumbersome disciplinary process.

A couple of years ago, I developed a membership engagement survey for one of the LARP clubs in order to help identify community issues and potential solutions. One of the sections focused on the organization’s disciplinary policy. I wanted to show how members perceived their game’s disciplinary process and how that might influence their willingness to utilize it in the event of an incident that might require a higher level of discretion (like, for example, incidents of harassment or assault).

110 people completed that section of the survey (the % of total members is unknown, since that network doesn’t keep count of individual participants)

 

 

Let’s take a look at the final question. An average rating of 2.3 out of 5 (especially when 63% of respondents said they “Disagree” or “Strongly Disagree” with the statement) is not a vote of confidence for that disciplinary system.   The low ratings on several of the other questions (specifically on the perceived impact of the accused’s popularity) also are fairly disturbing.

I decided to examine the responses of those who responded with “Agree” (8 responses) or “Strongly Agree” to the (11 responses) to see how they compare with the group as a whole.

 

“I would feel comfortable bringing forth a disciplinary action involving a sensitive issue (requiring discretion) using our club’s current disciplinary system” – response of 4 Agree) or 5 (Strongly Agree)

While better, these results still aren’t comforting.

Unfortunately, when I tried to broach the topic of disciplinary policy reform with said club, I was met with a lot of resistance. Some dismissed the results outright because they thought the respondent pool was “too small”.  Others felt that PR work needed to be done to assure the public that the current disciplinary process was effective. While no one stepped forward to bell that cat, I am grateful that there were participants who realized that public perception needed to be changed.

If there’s little faith in a LARP/Club’s disciplinary process – even if the volunteers overseeing it are hard-working and impartial – members will be less inclined to report issues when they are small because they feel it isn’t worth the personal drama. This is especially true for matters that require discretion, like incidents of harassment or sexual violence.

I think back to the various instances where lines were crossed.  I’ve had guys (yes, multiple instances) think it’s okay to put their arm around me and caress my shoulder without permission.  I’m not a fan of being touched beyond a hug unless it’s someone who I am comfortable with.  I’ve had other guys get into my personal space and not understand my nudgings for them to leave me alone.  Each time, I felt that what happened to me – while inappropriate – was not severe enough to outweigh the potential drama reporting the incident and having it go through formal channels. Looking back, I wonder if I did the right thing by not coming forward during those instances.  I think of who else may have seen what happened, and took my lack of follow-through as a sign that such behaviors (or worse ones) are okay.

I am not one to bring out a problem without also proposing solutions. However, I want to give you all time to reflect upon the severity of what I’ve written so far.  In my next article, I will share what I see as actionable solutions to this issue.

 

Part II

Jessica is one of the founders and president of The Hidden Parlor, a World of Darkness LARP network dedicated to supporting the in-person LARP experience and creating a cohesive setting while empowering players and storytellers at a local level.  In addition to her executive duties for the club, she is also their Arch-Technomancer (web developer) and graphic designer.  Her support of the fandom community extends to CONvergence – an annual science fiction/fandom convention – where she helps oversee the care and feeding of hundreds of hungry volunteers.  When not trying to save the world (one geek at a time), she portrays her Child of Gaia at the local werewolf LARP (The Last Stand: part of The Garou Nation), plays 16-bit video games, and tends to her three cats (Pirate, Ninja, and Doc Holliday)