So Karen* is warring with Matthew* over who will rule as 8th grade Alpha geek. After a short indoctrination course of Settlers of Catan and recent Euro games, the bright kids in middle school are primed to learn of RPGs. But with two experienced gamers vying for control, there's a subtle middle school war building.

The success of online games and MMORPGs in particular has reduced the stigma of being a tabletop gamer... well, a little. Geeks have always been used by the popular to do homework, but the rise of the 'social geek' has helped gaming rise as well. So given there is no loss in social status by gaming at school aftercare, game culture there has become refined. They have choices.

The stakes for introducing a new game are high. Whomever introduces the others to RPGing will naturally get to GM, and get to boss the others for the full run of the campaign. This is powerful. The first shots in the war are over mechanics and genre. Complicating things, this fight is girl versus boy.

There's a little marketing on genre-- which sitcom or IP to mimic. Karen suggests Vampire, because it sounds cool, or D&D, because she's a young old-schooler. Vampire gets the ix-nay from the ad-day, but (as a spectator) I instinctively veto D&D 3E for introducing newbies.

The reason for excluding D&D is partially a matter of taste. It's number-y and slow and combat-focused and I favor more streamlined systems. Also, as the GM for some of Karen's earlier D&D sessions, I greatly altered 3E for speed and, should she start with it, my hackwork would be found out.

As an outsider and-- worse-- an adult, I really have little say. I'm there to simply provide references. I'm Karen's secret resource (since her own father, by teen tradition, is automatically discounted). Fortunately, having a decent library makes me marginally useful.

We (the secret team of father plus I) decide to tackle the battle from a genre standpoint. Choices get tossed in for comments-- home-brewing a 'Charmed' campaign, plunging into medieval fantasy 'just like Dark Age of Camelot without a computer'. Karen is open to anything that will let her effectively pitch (and rule) her fledgling gaming group.

Never underestimating the value of a good license, we quickly suggest "Buffy", since there's a fine game from Eden Publishing for that. Buffy apparently still has cachet in young teen culture (*phew*) and it'll also work for just about any 'empowered teens righting the world while adults act oblivious'.

Looking through my books, I find a copy of Angel (close enough to Buffy to work). I give it up, part of the trench war to help our favorite GM establish her own cohort.

There's one bit of closure needed, finding out who won, the boy or the girl, who took the Alpha role in starting the game. Remembering how I'm an outsider and adult, do you really think the teen will keep me in the loop? Maybe someday I'll learn, but for now, I'm like a book-slinging Lone Ranger, riding in to help but leaving before the credits.

Until next month,
Sandy
sandy@rpg.net

* Not their real names. Based on an actual incident, with some details foggy due to memory. Does anyone actually read this far into my columns, anyway?