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October 03, 2005
Lupine Hallucinations
Mr. Pad recently wrote an article remembering the long lost days when a few our closest dorks gathered for a role playing game called Werewolf. Jarrad's description of the game is much better, but there were some interesting phenomena that he neglected to mention.
For this particular game, we assumed the role of Werewolves that were based on idealized versoins of ourselves, placed in this alter-world. Since we intended to play "ourselves" from the beginning, we chose our characters' traits to be as similar as possible to our real selves. This process consisted of choosing a numerical rating on various things like strength, intelligence, ability to pick locks, whatever. We also had to choose a "Tribe" and an "Auspice" that defined our role in the werewolf culture. Tribe was given, since most werewolf tribes are ethnically based--we sort of picked the appropriate ethnicity. We then had to choose an "Auspice," literally the sign of the moon under which we were born. Since Internet was not quite the place it is now, we really had no way to look up what sign we were actually born under, so we picked whichever one suited our idealized selves. I was an "Ahroun"--born under the full moon. Jarrad was a "Philidox"--born under the half-moon. Susannah was a "Galliard"--born under the gibbous moon.
Years later, long after quitting this game, I found a website and looked up the actual signs under which we were born.
Me-July 2nd, 1977-Full Moon
Jarrad-May 11, 1977--Half Moon
Susannah--December 31, 1976--Gibbous moon.
This is a little creepy.
Long later I realized that, at least for Jarrad and I, we used this as a venue to explore our own personalities. Though Jarrad often forgets it, he was primarily drawn to the "caretaker" and "healer" type personae, while I was entirely too macho and usually went for the lug-headed warrior, but was often more inclined to watch and plan than to fight head-on (hence the nickname,"Stakeout").
Soon after the game ended, Jarrad joined the military to be a medic, while I joined to be a Scout/Paratrooper. Jarrad is now in Medical School and I'm a Mathematician with No Such Agency.
While this wackyness certainly didn't happen across the board with our old friends, I find it quite amazing how it worked out for the two of us.
Posted by james at October 3, 2005 06:17 PM