When I saw the short article in the L. A. Times referring to a "vampire cult" in connection with a Florida murder case, my first thought was "Tell me they didn't blame Vampire: The Masquerade." My prayers were answered for a week -- but a following article mentioned that cult members were players of "a bestselling roleplaying game." Oh, swell.

The Orlando Sentinel has been carrying the story -- it's in their jurisdiction -- and from their coverage, it would appear that the local police are treating the roleplaying game as the motive. Set the Wayback Machine for the late Seventies, kids; we're back to that old time hysteria, this time with a tragically hip new taste!

Many of us have been through this before, of course; fifteen or so years ago, there was a spate of anti-D&D nonsense designed to convince parents that the ol' devil roleplaying was going to cause them kids to kill themselves and each other. Things died down after an eventful eighteen months or so, and it's been quiet for a while. Despite the occasional update from the field (SHADIS #7 had a cover article on the loons, and the CAR RPG does yeoman work supervising RPG activity), we've gotten pretty comfortable being ignored by the rest of the world. Well, saddle back up, folks, because it's time to face the anti-RPG brigade again.

The trick, of course, is to explain what role playing is to a third party, who may well be biased against such activities in the first place. Simple enough, but our opening "It's cops and robbers with funny dice" is occasionally met with "It's graven images and Euclidean Humanism! Burn, infidel!" (Remember, don't debate these particular folks; nod politely and flee.) Still, it seems that it would be useful to try another tactic with the more reasonable people, one not based on kids' games.

SHADIS is based in LA so let me try a regional analogy: RPGs are creative scriptwriting. The GM determines the plot and the twists in it, while the playing characters improvise dialogue and characterization in response to the GM's plot and characters. (It's no coincidence that West End has built a successful company based almost entirely on cinematic licenses Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Species.... ) This approach seems a bit more "grown-up" than some of the classics, and may well calm down a worried Inside Edition-watching relative.

Now, since the RPG industry's yearly net could be dropped onto the receipts of ID4 without a ripple, our profile is proportionally lower than Hollywood's. This means that when one of our differently sane compatriots goes postal (in Florida), most people thinsc, "Ah -- roleplayers! Tools of Satan! Figures."

Continuing my cinematic parallel, nobody called for Jodie Foster to stop making films when Hinckley shot President Reagan back in 1981 in order to get himself a date with her. It wasn't proposed that movies drove him over the edge, he was a kook who happened to fixate on Jodie. Same way with the vampire cultists: We're hip blood-drinkn' undead! Ooo, there's a role-playing game about that? Sign us up!"

I want to be clear that I'm not taking a stand in defense of murder. Whoever committed murder in that Fbrida suburb owes society a debt which cannot possibly cannot be paid. But I am defending role playing, and I'm foursquare against blaming role playing for societal ills. The only thing I think most RPGs can be accountable for is the size of gamer waistlines compared to those of people with less sedentary hobbies.

RPGs don't kill people, and they don't make people kill each other. They're a social hobby, they give people a chance to get together with friends a couple times a week, and occasionally they give people a chance to do something heroic--in character, in the context of the game. How better to spend a Wednesday night?