Saturday 8 March 2014

The Satanic Rules of the Con

As you may know, the Satanists have their Eleven Rules of the Earth. These were written in 1967 by Anton LaVey, excusing them from the charge that they just wanted to make the Commandments "go to 11"  (Spinal Tap, 1984).

Being that Satanism is mostly run by Nietzschean atheists, I can fully believe that the Rules were dreamed up just to give the ACLU something to post up in Boss Hogg's courtroom. Indeed, they present a loophole-riddled life morality that only a Cormac McCarthy villain trying to write a parole statement would mistake for the real thing.
But ... at the same time they're a nearly ideal set of rules for behavior at gaming conventions, substituting "game" for "home" and "munchkinism" for "magic". They come with an anti-harassment policy (#5), an anti-theft policy (#6), and a solution to the strolling bard problem (#11).

What, I ask you, does this say about gaming cons?

4 comments:

  1. What is the "mating signal", if not a sexual advance? Is it like the Batsignal?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I guess maybe LaVey is endorsing the Open Source Boob Project? Maybe not the best guide for con behaviour after all. http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/wiki/Open_Source_Boob_Project

      Delete
  2. Sounds more pragmatic than the Original Ten in some ways. I think Miss Manners said #4 was cool with her, too.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Those rules ruin all the fun! Guess I will have to go Islamic!

    http://backtothedungeon.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete