This is not a repeat from the mid-1980s: A young man committed a heinous crime, and detectives are investigating the connection between his acts and a popular game.

Tyler Savage raped and killed a 16-year-old mentally disabled girl, then went to a friend's house to play some Dungeons & Dragons Online to help "cope" with what he had done. Now detectives are considering the possibility that Savage may have been inspired by the game to commit the crime.

Detectives investigating the strangulation death of 16-year-old Kimmie Daily are trying to determine whether her accused killer might have been acting out a violent fantasy from Dungeons and Dragons.

The video game theory comes from something Tyler Savage himself said to investigators. He talked about playing a video game to cope with what he'd just done. Detectives now want to know if that game somehow became his point of reference on reality.

If Savage had mentioned playing basketball, golf, chess, or poker to "cope" with what he had done, there would be no similar investigation. This is total speculation on my part, but I think the name "Dungeons & Dragons" may have something to do with this.

Then we see a classic example of an article that doesn't agree with its headline:

Detectives are working with an expert in sexually violent fantasies to explore the video game motive, but the true cause for this crime is still unknown. They aren't blaming a game for this violence, but they are trying to understand what triggered this murder and why.

"(Detectives) aren't blaming a game for this violence" doesn't exactly match the title: "Detectives: Murder motive may have been video game fantasy." This happens a lot with stories like these, when the journalist writes the story, and the editor decides what the title will be.

The odds are that when this comes to trial, Savage's lawyer will attempt a game defense, which has never worked. When it doesn't, they'll switch to something else, like an insanity plea. History will likely repeat itself due to those who refuse to learn from it.

Read the full article here.

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How is this for a great Read an RPG Book in Public Week promotion? (from Twitter):

The café my brother works at now has #readrpgs Sunday: everyone who reads an RPG book in public gets the first drink for free!

After I replied, I found out more about how and where it's happening:

The name of the café is "Coq d'Or" (the golden cock). I want to rename it "The golden Cockatrice"! My brother who started the idea and got the "go" from his boss is called Michael. It's in Olten, Switzerland.

I love it! It promotes public RPG reading and coffee consumption all at once! I couldn't approve more!

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Gamers for Humanity has recently revamped their website, and revealed the 28k Project, to encourage gamers to log 28,000 hours of volunteer work over the course of the next year.

Here's the full story in their own words, taken from their monthly newsletter:

With the new website comes our newest program, a project that is all about celebrating you and your contributions to your community. The 28k Project is our latest attempt to encourage community involvement, and to encourage people to share their stories about the volunteer work they do.

There are two ways to get involved:
1. Logging your hours
2. Telling your story

The easiest way to participate is to volunteer in your community, and then log your hours at our website. We are trying to reach the challenging goal of 28,000 hours of volunteer work between now and next August... so we need to log as many of your hours as we can get.

If you want to go one step farther, you can volunteer, then come tell us your story. Posting a story about your volunteer work—who you worked with, what you did, who you met — will enable visitors to vote for your story. The best stories each month win prize packages donated to us by some great companies.

The rules and necessary forms are all on the new website, whether you want to tell your story or just log your hours. Everyone is welcome.

I know for certain that there are many of you out there who already volunteer your time and energy to helping your community, so this would only be a matter of logging the work that you already do, and maybe even sharing a story that can inspire others. For the rest of you - get involved! It's not difficult to find some way that you can help - I have a lot of suggestions on the BeQuest ideas page. Pick something, dive in, log your hours, and share your story!

You can find out more at 28k Project page, and be sure to let them know that The Escapist sent you!

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About a month ago, I made a post about Dark Dungeons, a retro-clone RPG that contains a few subtle references to the Chick Publications comic of the same name.

Right after I made that post, Steve from Hex Games sent me a copy of their adventure "Waxman's Warriors" for the QAGS rules. It is set in the world of Chick comics, where a motley group of sinners in Hell find a way to escape to Heaven with the hopes of "renegotiating" their eternal arrangements.

Two of the characters are semi-direct references to the Dark Dungeons comic, and there are tons of nods to other comics from the Chick canon. It is very irreverent, and will likely offend a few people - but the target here really seems to be the violent, paranoid fantasy world of Chick comics, and not the Christian faith.

Find out more (and get your copy, if you are so inclined) here: Waxman's Warriors (But I must include a word of warning - this product is most definitely not for young people.)

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We're halfway through the month of August, which means that in many places, school is starting again, or will be in the next couple of weeks.

At his blog Gaming Brouhaha, MJ Harnish talks about how he is preparing for another year of his school gaming club, what he hopes to accomplish this year, and a few of his previous successes.

If, like MJ, you are planning a gaming club at your local school or library, be sure to let me know - and if you're considering it, be sure to visit the Reading Writing and Roleplaying and Terra Libris projects!

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The Los Angeles Times' Noelene Clark conducted an interview with Jason Vickery, Greg Goldmeier and Ben Howe, the winners of Wizards of the Coast's “Never Split the Party” contest, which looks to reunite old RPG groups at the Gen Con Game Fair.

It's a very RPG-positive piece that touches on the benefits of the game...

"I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing today if it wasn’t for D&D sparking the imagination to draw," he said. "I personally think (D&D has endured due to) the ability of the kids' imaginations. I know the three of us have really vivid imaginations. We drew our characters and came up with all kinds of stuff."

...and the infamous reputation it acquired...

"We were children of the '80s, when Dungeons & Dragons was under a lot of misconceptions," Vickery said. "I heard about a lot of anti-D&D movements as a kid. I’d tell people I played, and I get these weird looks, like, 'Oh, isn’t that dangerous?' There were all these weird notions of ties to Satan and devil-worship. Parents didn’t understand it, so they didn’t let their kids explore all that it has to offer."

As I say so often these days, it's good to see more and more media coverage of the roleplaying hobby that addresses the real benefits, and puts the myths and misconceptions into the proper context, rather than giving them any sort of credibility.

Read the full story here: [article | archive]

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Here's another article from my friend Lee Williams: "The Monster Manual," published in Fortean Times magazine, compares the naming and classification of new and unknown species to folklore, legend, and the classic Dungeons & Dragons creature atlas.

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Conquest 2010, a LARP event in Brokeloh, Germany, drew over 7000 gamers from Europe, Japan, and the United States during its five-day run from August 4th through the 8th.

The event was so big, that it gained quite a bit of media attention, with a lot of fantastic photos:

- Thousands of computer game enthusiasts gather for live action role play (Metro)

- Brokeloh: Where fantasy turns into reality! (MSN India)

- 7000 people participate in "Conquest 2010 LARP" in Germany (Xinhuanet - photos)

- Photos: Massive role-playing battle brings orcs to Germany (Vancouver Sun)


Thinking about joining in the fun next year? Here is the official site of Conquest: www.live-adventure.de

(UPDATE: Rolf Elak passed along two pages of "official" pictures from Conquest - you can see them here and here. He also adds that Brokeloh means: "Wooded hill in the swamps.")


(Thanks to Lee Williams for the link!)

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I've set up a YouTube channel for The Escapist, and posted a couple videos to it - one for Read an RPG Book in Public Week, and this one, introducing the site for those who may not know about it:



Here is the link to the channel - http://www.youtube.com/user/TheRPGadvocate Feel free to subscribe, friend me, post comments, send video responses, and all that other fun YouTubey stuff.

I'm taking suggestions for what sort of videos I should add in the future. You can post them in the comments on YouTube, here on the blog, or email me at .

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The Spoony Experiment put up a pretty funny video review of Mazes and Monsters. But please be aware - there's a bit of profanity among the ranting and raving. Here's the link - please click responsibly.

(Thanks to Matt for the link!)

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