Alternate Media of Literature: White Wolf's Mage

Our fine arts were developed, their types and uses were established, in times very different from the present, by men whose power of action upon things was insignificant in comparison with ours. But the amazing growth of our techniques, the adaptability and precision they have attained, the ideas and habits they are creating, make it a certainty that profound changes are impending in the ancient craft of the Beautiful. In all the arts there is a physical component which can no longer be considered or treated as it used to be, which cannot remain unaffected by our modern knowledge and power. For the last twenty years neither matter nor space nor time has been what it was from time immemorial. We must expect great innovations to transform the entire technique of the arts, thereby affecting artistic invention itself and perhaps even bringing about an amazing change in our very notion of art.

-Paul Valery, PIECES SUR L"ART,
"La Conquete de l'ubiqutite," Paris¹

 

PREFACE

The above citation was Walter Benjamin's preface to his historic essay, "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction." In an essay which defined the era of modernism with its words and insights, we find steps towards new media of literature, ones that have evolved in intent and capacity, intensity and virtue. Just as Benjamin examined the qualities and merits of the artistic value of fledging photography and film, I wish to climb to a new literary vantage point from which to examine a new and different media of art which has been misunderstood and underrated as an art form: the role-playing game book.

As it exists in current day, this medium has been plagued by misperception and bias. Role-playing game books, or RPGs, have often been mislabeled with the moniker of being children's games. In fact, I would argue that the term 'game' is also somewhat of a misnomer; not only a game, the RPG is a work which intrinsically has a complex, dual nature. One side is the skill with which the original work was scripted with: the concepts and virtues that drive it. Second, is the unique capability of the 'players' to become involved in the unfolding of the story around them; it establishes for the people involved the ability to create a unique work, infinitely different from those that might arise in any other capacity.

Role-playing game books arose with Dungeons & Dragons, a simplistic kill-the-monsters mentality, and an unoriginal concept. Many if not most of the concepts were derived (without credit) from J.R.R. Tolkien's the Hobbit, and his subsequent works. The Tolkien Estate and TSR (the company that made Dungeons & Dragons), have in fact been embroiled in several lawsuits over the years. Even other popular games -- such as GURPS (Generic, Universal, Role-Playing System), have established a smooth, original, multi-tiered game, which can adapt to nearly any ambiance desired -- do little more than offer a distraction, a little fun. Yet with the White Wolf Game Studio's rise into role-playing books -- in particular with their 2nd edition books -- we saw the arrival of the self-dubbed 'Storyteller' Games. These books are dedicated to solid writing, intense conflict, both internal and external, creating an environment where the characters and the story become more important than the ability to kill things. I would argue that these books maintain an artistic value where no others in their medium have thus far, forging a path to a new art.

I

Sixty years ago, the central point to the issues raised by Benjamin rotated around the issue of reproducibility. Art and modernity revolved around the newborn capability to mass produce works of art such as film and photography, and to reproduce works of art for the masses. In the modern era these questions are not so much central to the issue. The selection of new media of art is thus not as much based on reproduction as it is the ability to break new ground, and to enable the individual access to new forms to challenge and inspire him or her. In Benjamin's time, it was reproducibility that did this.

In photography, process reproduction can bring out those aspects of the original that are unattainable to the naked eye yet accessible to the lens, which is adjustable and chooses its angle at will. And photographic reproduction, with the aid of certain processes, such as enlargement or slow motion, can capture images which escape natural vision.²

By extrapolating the meaning of Benjamin's words out of the context of photography we can see that what he is getting at is the attainment of a new level, a new perception of the world around us through the chosen medium or art. Role-playing games offer this capability to transcend the mundane, and explode into a deeper world of meaning and emotion, reaching and challenging both intelligence and creativity. Benjamin also said that "Above all, it enables the original to meet the beholder halfway, be it in the form of a photograph or a phonograph.³" While this was broaching the effect of moving the work of art towards the masses, it also expresses the adaptability of modern mediums in compromising the original boundaries of art. Role-playing books also epitomize this closeness, by actually bestowing creative power on the reader and all participants in the process; this brings the individual closer to the work of art than ever before. As Benjamin says, "Namely, the desire of contemporary masses to bring things 'closer 'spatially and humanly.⁴"

II

As Benjamin begins to recite the existence of the ritual function in art, we see a cyclical philosophical effect on RPGs. Benjamin says of this function, that, "In other words, the unique value of the 'authentic' work of art has its basis in ritual, the location of the original use value.⁵" What he wants to arrive at is the utilitarian concept of original art, that its creation was grounded in a function tied first to magic and then religion; that the value thus of the work of art was based on its use-value, and then in secularization on authenticity. He then wants to speak of a "cult of beauty," that developed during the Renaissance and prevailed for three centuries, leading towards its decline and eventually a crisis,⁶ which he details as:

With the advent of the first truly revolutionary means of reproduction, photography, simultaneously with the rise of socialism, art sensed the approaching crisis which has become evident a century later.⁷

To this, he wants to cite a "negative theology" and the idea of "pure art," which denies both social function and categorizing by subject matter.⁸ This crisis is revolved around the concept of authenticity and ritual, and the drive for a unique, beautiful work of art. Yet reproducibility changed everything in this world of art, and modernity thrust its imposing fist into the world of uniqueness and ritual.

For the first time in world history, mechanical reproduction emancipates the work of art from its parasitical dependence on ritual. To an ever greater degree the work of art reproduced becomes the work of art designed for reproducibility.⁹

This is an important statement for several reasons. The act of the role-playing -- which is the second function of the role-playing book -- where a 'storyteller' controls the inception of the plot and the programmed events, the background characters, and is the administrator of the game-playing rules, and where the 'players' function as individual characters with their own motives and powers of action, fulfill a sort of ritual function; one that the work of the role-playing book is necessary for. In this way, the RPG book brings about a return, a cyclical kind of existence as a work of art.

About this reproducibility, and the function it serves further, let us return to Benjamin:

But the instant the criterion of authenticity ceases to be applicable to artistic production, the total function of art is reversed. Instead of being based on ritual, it begins to be based on another practice -- politics.¹⁰

Without a doubt, the literary efforts of the role-playing book genre, can be said to delve into politics. There are certainly examples of this media that are created with the intention of having a social or cultural impact with the meaning of the words and ideas conveyed, as are most pieces of literature. Note that the actual work of role-playing, which returns to the ritual and distances itself from reproducibility, returns to the apolitical. Yet in that ritualistic function, and uniqueness, it returns to the classical interpretation of art, and in its stretching of participatory boundaries, it reaches into the future of art as well. We can see this new epoch of modernism grow out of the origins of the old, beginning in Benjamin's own words again. "In the same way today, by the absolute emphasis on its exhibition value the work of art becomes a creation with entirely new functions.¹¹"

III

The other thing that Benjamin wants to get at, which he attacks in subtle ways, (almost implicitly), is the capability of new media to provide a unique vantage point in which to view the world captured. He says that, "The shooting of a film . . . affords a spectacle unimaginable anywhere at any time before this.¹²" The RPG is one medium which provides this kind of a unique vantage point. Given the opportunity to break through the misconception of being a child's medium, it can provide a unique viability. In its own way, role-playing books also provide a 'spectacle unimaginable . . . before this.' They cast a book well-written, with its own issues and conflicts, a piece of art created with the concept of letting the reader be a participatory creative force within the boundaries of the work itself.

The role-playing book becomes an existential work of art, in its capability to reach that level (not that all elements of this media in their entirety qualify), and do so with the efficacy of any other previously accepted medium. "One may assume that what mattered was their existence, not their being on view.¹³" Even if the medium wasn't mass produced, it would still provide examples of art and literature, and it is in this existence that it strives to be accepted as what some know they are and can be.

IV

Eking the essential nature of early modernism, Benjamin relates the analogy of the magician and the surgeon to the painter and the photographer, to discuss the issue of distance and the level of penetration by a work of art. Of this, Benjamin says:

The magician heals a sick person by the laying on of hands; the surgeon cuts into the patient's body. The magician maintains the natural distance between the patient and himself; though he reduces it very slightly by the laying on of hands, he greatly increases it by virtue of his authority. The surgeon does exactly the reverse; he greatly diminishes the distance between himself and the patient by penetrating into the patient's body . . . Magician and surgeon compare to painter and cameraman.¹⁴

The role-playing game book could easily be substituted into this analogy. Up to this point you may have had your doubts about the validity of the role-playing book as a work of art, however, this section may serve to convince you yet.

The book in itself, is simply the role of the surgeon, it also penetrates and crosses the reader-writer boundary, connecting and confusing the line of distinction. Yet as I have said all along, the capacity of the role-playing game is dual. There is the book, and the game birthed of the book. The effect of the game is that like perhaps a psychologist in this analogy. It goes past the penetration of the body, and goes even deeper, reaching into the psyche. The RPG has the ability to probe the undercurrents and subtle aspects of the mind, calling upon more than the ability to observe, but the muster to participate. It does not take a distance from reality, or penetrate deeply into it, but becomes it. Exactly because of this, it stands precariously and precipitously, if not cautiously, atop this analogy. Benjamin's own words support this.

Thus, for contemporary man the representation of reality by the film is incomparably more significant than that of the painter, since if offers, precisely because of the thoroughgoing permeation of reality with mechanical equipment, an aspect of reality which is free of all equipment. And that is what one is entitled to ask from a work of art.¹⁵

Role-playing offers a permeation of reality not with mechanical equipment (the book itself, however, would be given to this statement), but with the creativity of participation and the power of a creation of a new reality. It could also be argued that the analogy role of the psychologist for the RPG 'precisely' offers an even more significant role than either the magician or surgeon, painter or film-maker, because it offers the opportunity to actually create the reality through which it permeates. This is what qualifies this aspect of the RPG as a work of art.

 

V

Perhaps the paramount paradigmatic argument concerning the differentiation between a work of art and a simple work to entertain the masses is that of concentration versus distraction. Benjamin cites this in the penultimate chapter of his essay, portraying the dichotomy at its basest and clearest. "Clearly, this is at bottom the same ancient lament that the masses seek distraction whereas art demands concentration from the spectator.¹⁶"

On this question, a role-playing book offers the same capability as does any other conventional work of art. There is no reason any precondition or inherent flaw would prevent this from being, as no such flaw or precondition exists. Only the cultural pre-opinion and bias engineered by social upbringing can subjugate this medium to that level. In particular, the role-playing act can in no way be construed as a distraction. It engenders a totality of concentration to absorb yourself into another character, which must subsume your actual personality, because you are not you, but he or she. This can hardly be undertaken without a modicum of concentration.

Benjamin also wants to further this point, clarifying what he means when he says:

A man who concentrates before a work of art is absorbed by it. He enters into this work of art the way legend tells of the Chinese painter when he viewed his finished painting. In contrast, the distracted mass absorbs the work of art.¹⁷

Role-playing books without a doubt lend themselves to this level of absorption. They can and do absorb the reader. Again, there is no doubt, not all RPGs lend themselves to this level, and are simply absorbed by the reader, yet the potential is there.
This seems to leave us in a tautological situation. We have qualified the possibility for this medium to be attributed as literature, its books each works of art, yet do these works of art exist? Have the makers of this genre truly transcended the boundaries of the norm, demolishing the criteria of the mundane? Perhaps the first step is to ask what literature is.

VI

Before you have literature you must have a story. By working the story, crafting it, molding it, art may be created. However, in doing so, you must draw the reader into the work. As Judith Barrington states on her book on writing, "One of your first tasks, then, is to ask yourself: why do I care about this . . . who cares?¹⁸" The author must be able to make his or her audience care about what they script.

Another task of those aspiring to greatness is that of originality. Many of those who dream for bestseller lists have talent, but those that make literary fame have more than just that. As Raymond Carver has said:

Some writers have a bunch of talent; I don't know any writers who are without it. But a unique and exact way of looking at things, and finding the right context for expressing that way of looking, that's something else.¹⁹

Besides making the audience care, the author must have the authority to present his or her work in an heretofore unknownst or original format or with a unique expressive quality.

Another key element of literature seems to be the current creative writing mantra of 'show don't tell,' the ability to get one's word across without explicitly saying it. Ingeborg Bachmann considered it saying what cannot be said. In her poem "You Words," she addresses this quality of poetics.

You words, arise, follow me!/and though already we have gone farther/
gone too far, once more it goes/farther, to no end it goes./It doesn't brighten./
The word/will only drag/other words behind it,/the sentence a sentence./
So the world wishes,/ultimately,/to press its own cause,/to already be spoken/
Do not speak it.²⁰

For her it is what cannot be said. Yet for many others it is more so what should not or need not be said. R.V. Cassill, an author and editor of fiction anthologies, says this about this kind of 'indirection' in writing.

The revelations of fiction are not usually made by direct statement. The 'bottom line' is not spelled out in a positive or unambiguous summation. Rather the tactic of the fictional art is to guide, direct, and entice the imagination of the reader to a point where intuition blends with a comprehension of detail to engender a sympathetic understanding still shaded by mysteries of a moral or psychological sort.²¹

This subtlety and underlying tone and shade are easy to speak about or teach, but not as easy to apply to one's own writing. Books like Frank McCourt's Angela's Ashes, do this in spectacular fashion. He won the Pulitzer prize for his memoir about growing up in Ireland. He does not use the narrative voice to wail or bemoan the difficulty of life in an impoverished nation or city, he does not complain about how hard his life was. Rather he recalls what happened, what his surroundings were, with a child's simplicity (which often leads to irony between the adult and child voice), and lets us judge it as we will. He paints us a picture, or perhaps appropriately to this discussion, a portfolio of photographs, about where and when and with who he grew up, and lets us come to the conclusion on our own, thus making the decision and affirmation and even more powerful one, because we do not feel as if we were goaded or forced into that decision.

There are a plethora of elements which are paramount to a critical experience that are worth noting, such as plot, point, character, tone, theme, imagery, flashback, imagery, pace, and point of view, all of which we cannot now review encyclopedically, but perhaps can view through some of example. If we take the short time to analyze an accepted piece of literature, we can extract the elements that make it such a powerful work, and see if we can find these same forces at work in the medium of the RPG.

VII

One of the most revered American authors in literature is Nathaniel Hawthorne. His works are among those of the literary canon most criticized and admired by those that study the genre from near inception to present day. His book, The House of The Seven Gables, provides a clear insight into the term 'literature.'

For starters, Hawthorne structures his plot in a multi-faceted way, so it reads on many tiers of existence. The story has its origins in the family v. family plot and the rich v. poor plot, as the Rich Pyncheons brand Matthew Maule a wizard so they can take his land to build a house. Hawthorne also adds an extra dimension in the super-natural, as Maule supposedly curses Pyncheon and all his progeny. This antipathy between families and classes, wizards and earthly power, continues throughout generations right to the present of the story Hawthorne unfolds. We see another layer in the current situation of brother v. brother, as Clifford and Jaffrey Pyncheon are placed against each other. There is also the love interest plot between Phoebe and Holgrave. A revenge plot is instituted as well. In the underlying current we also receive the issue of new v. old. Hawthorne creates all of these conflicts in a single cohesive structure, doing so in a smooth style, sifting from conflict to conflict without deviating or confabulating in complex, confusing scenarios and situations, and the result is a lucid, powerful work.

The term of the underlying current arose in revealing the plots. Beyond the generic of old v. new, we are given what the old is and why the new reviles it. The point, or the theme, of Hawthorne's work is to expose the Puritan ethos existent not as a corruption of the original values, but as the opposite. Rather, that the greed and corruption which comes from Puritanism, Hawthorne wants to see as a fulfillment of those original ideals: that this was the implicit and inevitable end result, and that the leadership of the community was simply a mask for this undeviating capacity.

Yet he does not come out and say this explicitly; as stated earlier, the merit of literature is the ability of indirection, the capacity to say it without saying it. Hawthorne uses representation and symbolism to represent certain characters and their personal feuds for the entire nation of men and women. The narrator says of Holgrave, who represents the Maules, the poor, the young:

In his culture and want of culture -- in his crude, wild, and misty philosophy, and the practical experience that counteracted some of its tendencies, in his magnanimous zeal for man's welfare, and his recklessness of whatever the ages had established in man's behalf; in his faith, and in his infidelity; in what he had, and in what he lacked --- the artist might fitly enough stand forth as the representative of many compeers in his native land.²²

Hawthorne slips the last sentence in subtly enough not to disrupt the narrative, but plainly enough so the reader can discern what he is trying to get at. He does not come out and say the young and poor want to tear down and decry the crimes of the old and rich, but rather uses certain characters and situations to emblemize the conflict.

Speaking to the effect of Puritanism and how its legacy drags upon modern society, Holgrave speaks to Phoebe; further he uses the original Pyncheon, who has also been referred to in the novel as 'The Old Puritan,' as the symbol, the perpetrator of this mischief.

Furthermore, the original perpetrator and father of this mischief appears to have perpetuated himself, and still walks the street -- at least, his very image, in mind and body -- with the fairest prospect of transmitting to posterity as rich and as wretched an inheritance as he has received!²³

Holgrave speaks of the perpetrator, as the Puritan, the 'mischief' as Puritanism itself, which 'still walks the street,' or is still around. In his plot and in his symbolism, Hawthorne has crafted an external as well as an internal plot: one that exists on the literal level, one that probes thought and asks a question, leaving it for us to judge.

Hawthorne uses technique such as flashback and foreshadowing, by telling the story often in pieces, and showing the past later in the present, and by giving hints to the future now. His characters are fully-developed and more than just shades and flimsy ariases. He creates a care for them, a sympathy of sorts so that we have a stake in them. The dialogue is realistic and flowing. As the aforementioned literary critic, Cassill, notes:

You will note that dialogue is not usually a matter of question and answer or direct responses to purely rational propositions . . . the principle that what we call dialogue is often, in truth, two or more monologues rather loosely fitted together by the circumstances of the scene.²⁴

This is how Hawthorne's characters often speak. And thus there are many elements in this novel that are representative of the work of art, or literature. And now that we have hypothesized that these elements could exist in the medium of role-playing books, let us look at specific examples, and see if these elements appear.

 

VIII

The book entitled Mage: The Ascension, by Phil Brucato and Stewart Wieck, which applies to the same role-playing game, unearths a great wealth of depth and skill in the way it is written, constructed, and lifted up upon allegory and symbolism; it holds in it innumerable merits and valorous efforts. From the beginning, Mage strives to separate itself from the simplistic games of old, and offer one of depth and philosophy.

The world of Mage is a dark modern fantasy where reality is commanded with a thought and hopelessness poisons the very earth. Stories told in this mystick World of Darkness become heroes quests, journeys of self-discovery that step beyond our mundane lives. Mage is a game, true, but a game of tales told, not winners and losers.²⁵

It is that step beyond the norm, the conventional reality, that lies at the heart of the game. Yet we still wonder what exactly a mage is and what role he plays in modern society.

Mages are enlightened beings, mortal humans who embrace . . . the truth behind reality and their own place in it. Through innate sense, hard-earned knowledge and a shard of the divine self (the Avatar), a mage learns to rework reality at its core and becomes an active force for change.²⁶

At the inner essence, a mage works his magick by simple means of imposing his reality. They refer to reality as the "Tellurian," of which all are a part of, and the mystick weave which holds it together, the "Tapestry.²⁷" By manipulating the strings of this tapestry, they can enact the desired effects. This entire structure is based upon a metaphor for life itself, the 'mundane' lives we live and act in. We can see this metaphor leak through into the narrative.

At its core, Mage is about giving a damn, about caring and believing in something so deeply that your beliefs can change reality. The world is not shaped by passivity or acceptance. It is moved forward by the deeds of those who reject the old ways and carve new ones, without regard for obstacles or enemies.²⁸

They take a dramatic system, pumped to the prime of war, and use that as a symbolism for our lives. Through the same concepts and philosophies, we can all take control of things, change things, and make it better.

Another component of Mage metaphysics is a thing called the "Gauntlet." It is a barrier between the physical and spirit world. This barrier has been strengthened by science and technology, and points to a dying of creativity and soul, of magick and acceptance: openness and multiple realities.²⁹ This is another key pivot point for the Mage doctrine. The antagonistic faction of the game is an organization termed the Technocracy, and it is they who control the paradigm of reality. It is said of them that "The great sin of the Technocracy is not science, or even murder -- it is oppression under one vision.³⁰" It is exactly this kind of mental imperialism that the creators of Mage want the reader to escape from. While the enlightened of this world are mages, this term, 'enlightened' could certainly apply to those in the 'real world' who see past the propaganda and one-mindedness of certain factions of society.

Most mortals are rightly called Sleepers by the Awakened. They exist (or perhaps, we exist) in a passive state of blindness, shying away from true insight, avoiding the symbolic death that leads to greater rebirth. We miss the wonders and possibilities around us. Our mundane lives have conditioned us to accept what is offered, from lying politicians to MTV, and we complain but do little to change it.³¹

And now we come full circle. The above, in the context of the game, applies to the protagonist mages. In context of the world we live in, we see the authors trying to foster ingenuity, creativity, and the struggle to escape simple conventional methods, moving towards originality.

Due to the nature of this malleable reality constructed by Brucato and Wieck (which may not be too distant to our own), there is an ideological war. The goal of most Awakened Mages, is to lead to what they call Ascension. This has many equivalents in many cultures, whether the religious ascension to heaven, the Greek catharsis, or in any sense, it is an epiphany of the soul. The four different factions have different opinions of exactly what this is, and how it should happen, but as a result of this, there comes what is known as The Ascension War. It is not always a raging firefight, or the movement of troops in how this war manifests, it is a subtle war, coincidental and veiled, as philosophical as physical. It is a war for reality.³² It is a war that has been raging throughout time.

Nation-states contested for the right to control local beliefs (and thus, reality), though few at the time realized what they were doing. The long-term winners established the "set" of reality in that particular area, deciding by unconscious consensus what could be "real" and what could not.³³

Thus the war continued, and in this fight for what is real and not, mythical monsters once flourished, vampires and werewolves walked freely, all because people believed in them. These lifeforms were abolished with the advent of science. "By promotion of science over mysticism, the Order of Reason sought to break the supernatural hold over mortal humanity.³⁴" It is even said that at first technological advances failed, because people did not believe they would work. It was only through the slow manipulation of the paradigm of reality that those that fought could gain control: deciding for everyone what could and could not exist. They carry this theme over to modern day, to break through the story into a lesson for the reader:

In classrooms throughout the modern world, little boys and girls are taught a passive, scientific view of reality. Through the clinical eyes of science, we learn to carefully observe the so-called laws of physics, nature, and the rest of reality to understand how the world functions. Although we are part of this reality, the teachers lecture their bored charges, we cannot affect the laws of nature. Children, like mages, often balk at this object-oriented view of reality. In their worlds reality fluctuates as rapidly as their ideas. They make dinosaurs come to life with a few bits of paper and crayons, Tinkertoy walls tumble upon their command, and each child has the mystic power to protect his mother's back by avoiding cracks in the sidewalk.

These children instinctively grasp something their elders lost long ago -- they're active agents who may work their own will upon reality, even if that reality's filled with stuffed animals and Nintendo games . . true willworkers believe that reality is subjective . . . We, as conscious beings, are the cause, and the universe, or the boundaries of it, is our effect.³⁵

Anyone misrepresenting this passage would think this game is to relive the magic of childhood. Yet that is not the intention -- rather it is to recapture that freedom from a stagnant paradigm of thought, to espouse the willingness to be critical of what you read and hear, searching for a deeper truth.

The reality that is spoken about is noted as a consensual reality, and even though mages and sleepers of this world each have a stake in their own individual reality, "Earth's reality is not based on billions of disparate, disconnected, singular realities. Rather, reality relies on the collective beliefs of all of humanity.³⁶" Yet there is a strength in numbers. Since most humans don't believe in magick, this disbelief weighs heavily on the mages. If the surrounding collective belief outweighs their own willpower, they are struck by a reciprocal force known as 'Paradox.' Thus, they must not do their magick in the presence of sleepers, or perform such feats in a coincidental manner.

The concept of personal belief affecting reality is rooted in Freudian logic, and the theories of hysterical paralysis. If we think we can't perform an action, we will find ourselves less likely to be able to do so: confidence working in the converse manner. Brucato and Wieck want us to realize this power, and not fear the unknown or the ability to question. "Most people cling to their beliefs as security blankets against the great unknown. Even harmful beliefs may become cherished in their certainty."³⁷

Moving beyond this power, and to the symbolism woven behind it, in the structure of the work, it is apparent that all four factions of mages seem to rise out of allegory. The main two factions are the protagonist Traditions, and the monolithic Technocracy. Between these two is an obvious parallel to the Cold War powers. The Traditions are a disparate confederation of powers that work in concert, but yet fight amongst themselves and all have equal say. And while in the far past and in the present, they truly cared for the general populace, there was a time when their decadence gave way to greed and pride -- the people became their subjects, not their charges.

The Technocracy, who also represents a Big Brother figure in the present, is also the symbolic Communist power. They were originally formed to fight the depredations of the Traditions, and wanted to secure equality and rights for the general populace. Yet as their paradigm and power stretched, they too became corrupted, and the inner circle came to control and advance for their own ends: "original ideals were lost upon the wayside.³⁸" The authors even come out and mention this by saying that "What Technocrats ignore is that their warped form of communism . . . still requires elites to impose the supposed equality. To achieve its ends, the Technocracy attempts to indoctrinate the Masses to their vision of reality while eliminating anything which fails to conform.³⁹" These two contrasts clearly demarcate the opposing forces of the industrial and Bolshevik revolutions.

On the other hand, the Nephandi are representative of pure evil and corruption. The are called the Fallen Ones, and thus draw immediate comparison to the fallen angels. Note that certain fallen angels were exiled for their fornication with mortal women, and their children were known as the Nephilim; notice the similar root formations of the word 'Nephandi' with the word 'Nephilim.' The Nephandi symbolize the constant temptation of power and the extremes to which such lust or pride can take one, falling from grace and purity as Lucifer supposedly fell from Heaven.

The Marauders represent pure chaos and change, but in doing so also bring about insanity and occasionally pain. They are harder to categorize, but as they are listed as the diametric opposite of the Technocracy, it is conceivable that they represent the madness to which such stagnant repression can and will cause. In this, Mage details how straying to either extreme of a path can lead to one's inevitable downfall.

In creating all of these factions, the authors insist that these are all stereotypes, and represent a reality where there are no black and white scenarios, that sometimes the 'bad' faction, may include 'good' guys; some Marauders are insane murderers, some are eccentric, yet wise and courteous. They encourage breaking beyond the norm, beyond the stagnant version of reality, and enacting our own, even within the boundaries of the game which they themselves devised. The medium in which Brucato and Wieck write is one that enables the readers to develop their own realities and empower themselves to fight these forces of stasis, bringing dynamism, and ultimately entropy, for renewal. There is plenty in this book to suggest literary quality. Many of the books by the White Wolf Game Studios harbor the same depth and philosophy, diagramming the multitude of struggles, moods, and themes that tear through the reality beyond good and bad, fist versus fist. They encourage thought and creativity, and lead the reader to be absorbed in their work, rather than the reader absorbing it.

EPILOGUE

Many years ago, Walter Benjamin hewed a new age of art through the preconceptions his time held; the essay "The Work of Art in the Mechanical Age of Reproduction," defined a new era. I would not presume my work to be so mighty, but I would wish that efforts such as this would go lengths to legitimizing the medium of the the role-playing book. There are concrete examples of literary merit in this medium, and I can only hope that I have arguably demonstrated this here.

I would suggest that the majority of this industry is a shallow (if clever) mask of entertainment, a piece of fun, a money-maker. And perhaps much of this genre does fit in the stereotypically child-oriented categorical distinction. Yet I hope that the adult content and deeper philosophies and allegories of certain examples in this medium present a strong case to the opposite. I believe that Mage: The Ascension is one such example that meets this kind of praise; I believe I have demonstrated it to have literary qualities and values. Perhaps it is not a 'conventional' classic, yet how much of today's literary canon was a perfect fit for the 'conventional' model when it first appeared? Why are so many authors recognized only after death? Hopefully if more serious interest and respect can be garnered for this medium now, it will not disappear without notice, without care, before ever being truly appreciated, for being more than just a game. I would never want to turn around and have ignorance be the blame of this excellent genre being simply gone.