Ah, the art of role-playing, the rush of swelling drama, the triumphs and tribulations of the never ending  conflict between protagonist and antagonist.  The creation of an Eversong; role-playing  it's not just for geeks anymore.  Come, come sit with me here by this fire.  Rest your legs as I pour you a mug of ale and we will talk of role-playing, you and I. The rain pours down outside, but here, before the fire, we are warm and dry, what better night than this for a tale of monsters, giants, chases, escapes, true love, miracles (gosh, that sounds familiar) and that is only one game of many. For that matter, there are so many games out there in this great big world that we could not possibly cover them all here. So we let us talk about the basics, how we play, why we play (as if we truly need to explain that) and the games that we enjoy most. The rules of these games vary greatly from one another but some basics remain. There is always a Game Master who runs the game. He (or she) creates the settings, the plots and all non player characters. The Game Master is the one who makes all the rules (or at least follows most of them). Cross them and there's a good chance your character will not survive the night.  Now the characters themselves are up to the players to create. There are certain rules to be followed, and those can be found in any number of books. Sometimes they use dice, where you have to roll to determine how good (or bad) you will be and sometimes a point system, but in the end, it is up to the player to decided what they want in their creation. In my opinion, coming up with a history, a life, to your character is the best part of this creation. To decided on their strengths, their weaknesses, their abilities, their way of speaking, walking, behaving. To choose how they respond to the world around them, that is to breathe life into your creations. Ahhh, the power. Usually, the games involve rolling a variety of different sided dice to determine if your character will succeed at a certain action. This is very easy to do once you know the rules for each particular game.  There is never any real threat of physical violence, no matter what the game, whether fantasy or modern, it is conducted through words, not through actions.  Some games last but a single night, others stretch for months on end. there are basic adventures where you have a single goal and once it's complete you move on to another game, another character. Then there are the campaigns, where you follow the same character through a variety of adventures. These could last any length of time, we had one campaign that went on for well over a year in "real" time. Now for the question of why we play.  I am asked that often by people who think this is a waste of time and energy and just as they don't understand why we play, I don't understand why they don't.  Role-playing stretches the imagination, allows for original people and tales to be created and makes for a wonderful evening full of excitement and friends. You could never find this kind of excitement on television. Some of our most played games have been Earthdawn for fantasy and Werewolf, the Apocalypse along with Vampire, the Masquerade for modern times. We have also delved into Werewolf, the Wild West and a number of minor, easy games.  For the most part they are all worth playing. What matters most is the kind of Game Master who is in charge. I have had the pleasure of gaming with some of the best, both Master and player.  Now, the fire is dying down and your ale is long gone. I hope you have learned a little something here with me. Perhaps, tomorrow night you will join us, around our coffee table, mood music in the background, a fire burning  brightly before you. Good company, good food, good times. Yes, perhaps tomorrow we will see you in our world and you will join in all the excitement and adventure truly good role-playing can bring.  farewell until another night.