What is Inappropriate Cosplay?
In October, I traveled to Seattle to speak about the Psychology of Cosplay at Geek Girl Con. It was an amazing panel organized by Dr. Andrea Letamendi, a clinical psychologist and cosplayer, and included Jessica Marizan, Chaka Cumberbatch, and myself as panelists. We discussed a ton of really great concepts, and the inevitable topic of "inappropriate" cosplay was brought up and discussed by the panelists.
I want to be completely clear about my feelings on this topic: THERE ARE INAPPROPRIATE OUTFITS TO WEAR TO PUBLIC EVENTS, AND AS COSPLAYERS, WE HAVE TO BE AWARE OF OUR AUDIENCE.
Now, the main focus of these debates is often skimpy/sexy cosplay. While I tend to be more modest than many other cosplayers, I have no problem with revealing cosplays. I have worked with children long enough to know that the human body, contrary to what many believe, is not damaging to the average child's psyche. I know I'll probably get emails about that statement, but it's true. The cosplays that really worry me are the bloody and violent ones. Those can really freak out kids in a way that cleavage never could.
My best example of this is from a convention that I attended in 2012. I was dressed up as Wonder Woman, and as always, was having a blast posing with kids. One of the most excited fans was a little Superman, proudly wearing his foam muscled outfit from the Halloween store. He flexed his muscles and flew circles around his parents to show me how fast he was. "Cute" doesn't quite cover it. Later that day, I was wandering the halls and I ran into a mutilated Superman cosplayer limping around and posing with people. From a makeup/costume viewpoint, he really looked incredible. He really resembled Superman and his massive injuries/blood looked real even from up close. I was admiring his work from a distance, when I saw my little Superman friend from before stopped dead in the middle of the aisle. The look of horror on his little face made my stomach drop. He started crying, and had to be carried off by his parents.
We are portraying characters that people love, and in some cases, look up to as personal heroes. This is especially true for children, who are a significant portion of the con-going population. We have to balance self-expression with our responsibility to respectfully portray these characters that have left such a deep mark on pop-culture. The last thing our community needs is policing and limiting of creativity, but we need to be empathetic. Be reasonable with the blood effects, or save it for select events and photo shoots. If we have the passion to step into the shoes of the most powerful characters in fiction, surely we have the power to step into the shoes of young fans and their families.
Middle School History RPG
It is a constant challenge to keep students engaged in middle school. You know the age, spring has sprung and suddenly girls no longer have cooties. In fact, they are darn attractive. Suddenly, school is the last thing on your mind when you are sitting in class. It's Mother Nature herself that I am fighting against each day when I try to keep my 7th graders interested. What weapon can a teacher use in this battle against hormones?
Dice of course! Don't tell me you are surprised...
I've designed a class RPG/Risk inspired simulation to bring Medieval Japan to life in my classroom. Each group of students is responsible for maintaining their feudal state, including the earning of food and money to upkeep their armies. They can declare war and battle against other feudal states, and face the twists and turns that fate can bring upon any civilization. Once my students figured out they could conquer and become the feudal Lords of Japan, their hormones didn't stand a chance. Score one for gaming!
It started with a map. I did research and created battle maps that showed the actual feudal boundaries in Medieval Japan. I then broke my class into 4 small groups and each group was given a feudal state. They created a "nobori" (Japanese for banner) and a symbol to represent their state. I was really impressed by their banners, and they are showing so much team spirit and loyalty to their own states.
Each state started with 3 armies, 2 food, and 1 money, which are marked on the battle map with notes and push-pins for the armies. Each day, they can earn more armies, food, and money by completing their assignments. They need to maintain a minimum level of money for their armies to continue fighting. They also must have 1 food for every 2 armies each day, or their armies start starving to death. The students can trade amongst themselves for food, money, or armies. They can also attack other feudal states, and if they win a war they get to take over the armies, food, and money of the other state. They also take all the students from the conquered group and become one larger group, so nobody gets left out if their group loses a war.
Wars are where the dice come in. For every push-pin army a group has, they get to roll 1d6. I thought this was a fair way to resolve battles. A group with 5 armies is still capable of defending themselves against a group with 7 armies, but the odds are not in their favor. They can have one battle a day, and a group must win 3 battles in order to win a war. If a group runs out of money during a war, their armies go on strike and they are left defenseless. If they run out of food, their armies will die and be pulled off the battle map. Groups that lose a war are absorbed into the victorious group and get to continue participating in this new larger group. Eventually, one feudal state may conquer all of Japan... but maybe not!
But as always, fate plays a hand in the success or failure of nations. This is represented by the Wheel of Fate in my classroom. The groups spin the wheel each day, and luck decides if something beneficial or detrimental happens. Examples:
- Extra rain falls in your feudal state. +2 food
- Bandits attack local farming villages. - 2 food
- Your Lords give you gifts for a holiday. +1 money
- You give an inspirational speech to your troops. +2 armies
- Your armies need new armor. -1 money for each army
This seems to be the biggest piece of excitement each day. The students all hold their breaths when their state spins the wheel. It is a game changing event each day. As with real life (and RPGs), a well placed famine or flood can cause real damage to an otherwise successful civilization.
So far, this has been a very successful experiment with my students. It has really increased their interest in history. It's also increased their interest in math as they figure out their chances of success for winning a war, and make long term plans to sustain their armies during their campaigns. We will see if it lures any students into the RPG hobby.
Laser Ponies Review - Gateway Game for Girls?
"Feel the Pony Power! On a faraway magical world, in the heart of Glitter Valley, there lives a tribe of beautiful creatures known as the Laser Ponies." - Hex Games Website
Hex games created this very simple RPG in 2009. Laser Ponies is aimed at very young players, but it is still a pen and paper RPG that requires basic math skills and reading ability. I'd suggest it for ages 7 and up. I happen to be running an X-rated convention game for adults, but that is just because I'm very broken. Using the NORMAL setting for Laser Ponies makes for a fun, family-friendly, imaginative gaming experience.
Cost – 10/5
Yes, Laser Ponies gets a 10 out of 5 for cost. How is that possible? The PDF costs $1.99... YES, ONE DOLLAR AND NINETY-NINE CENTS! You get a complete RPG game for less than a cup of coffee at the trendy, overpriced location of your choice. Your dice cost more than this whole RPG.
You can buy the PDF at DriveThru RPG and you get all the information you need to run a Laser Ponies game from the single book. The Quick Start rules are in the back of the book and give you an easy run-down of character creation and combat.
Setting – 4/5
As a female gamer, I am thrilled that this game exists. I think it's a great gateway RPG (drug) for kids, ESPECIALLY HORSE-CRAZY LITTLE GIRLS! I would have loved playing this RPG between my weekly riding lessons. I am (correctly) stereotyping girls, but I think games like this one are the way to increase the number of females gamers. Get 'em into the hobby while they're young! Boys are sure to enjoy this system too because there are monsters, bears, and friggin' laser beams!!
The premise is really simple and sweet. Very sweet. It will give any adult cavities. It's a great game for kids though and harkens back to the simpler times of Candy Land... but with lasers. The ponies live in a magical world called Panagonia. Their homes are in Glitter Valley, which is a peaceful but surrounded by scary forests and some mountains. The bears and monsters are the enemies of the ponies, while the beavers and badgers are their allies. The only human is the evil Chasm Queen who is basically the big boss the ponies need to take down.
Again, it's a game for kids. I've had a lot of fun twisting it to my dark purposes for my adult convention game, but it really is a cute setting for kids.
Note: The game even comes with tables of story ideas, so young GMs can have some helpful ideas of where to take their game. What a great idea!
Character Creation – (5/5 Customization) (4/5 Ease)
Character creation is very simple, and the Quick-start guide in the back of the Laser Ponies book can easily take you through the process. It only takes about 5 minutes to roll up a character, and even less if you are an adult. It's really simple. I do suggest that you help kids during character creation, simply to because the reading level of the directions might be a little high for the average 7-year-old... Sorry! Your kid is not average! I get it! They are the next Einstein... help them the first time through anyway.
There is a high level of customization available in this game through the use of "gimmicks". You can give your pony any perks you want, magical or mundane. The book gives amazing speed, invisibility, prophetic dreams, lucky, and many other examples of good gimmicks. The higher your gimmick level, the more likely that you will succeed in your roll. However, your gimmick level is equal to your weakness level. Weaknesses have to be something that majorly impacts the character, such as bad aim, unpopular, phobias, smelly, etc. Your pony might have incredible powers, but they are no good to him/her if nobody will get within 100 yards of them because they have a habit of sleeping in their own manure. The more powerful the gimmick, the more powerful the weakness.
These gimmicks and weaknesses are approved by the GM to insure they aren't going to ruin the adventure. It's really fun coming up with ideas for these and I can picture kids having a blast during the character creation phase. Plus, you get to name and design your pony!!! Mine may or may not have been named Sugar Cube and had little Pegasus wings...
Combat – (5/5 Speed) (4/5 Ease) (5/5 Fun)
Combat is very fast and simple and reminds me of Wild Talents in many ways. It's split into rounds, but there is no specific amount of in-game time in a round. The GM makes the call if something really complicated takes multiple rounds. The GM goes around the table and each player declares their action, then the GM has everyone roll in the order that makes the most sense depending on the actions. It's a d20 system, if the player rolls less than or equal to the characters number, the action succeeds. There are exceptions and specific circumstances where the rules get a little more complicated, but not much. It's very quick and can be very fun since players get to imagine their own attacks instead of using preset attacks from a book.
I gave Laser Ponies a 4 out of 5 for ease because kids will need some help reading and understanding the directions. It's very simple and kids will catch on very quickly. I highly suggest teaching them in-game instead of reading through the rules with them and trying to make them understand from the text alone.
From the pony's mouth...
You may think my scores are very forgiving, and you are right. No, I would not choose to play Laser Ponies over Wild Talents or other systems aimed at adults... unless I wanted to have a game night with my god-daughter Allegra. Laser Ponies is perfectly tailored to its chosen demographic. I highly encourage my fellow nerds to pick up a copy to share with their young kids. It's well worth the $1.99, even if you only play it once. It might turn your Bratz-doll-loving daughter into a tabletop gamer.
If you'd like to try the Laser Ponies system with a more adult setting, I suggest you pick up the Q.A.G.S. (Quick Ass Game System) book. It is the basic system that Laser Ponies is built around, but is much more in-depth. I bought and flipped through the QAGS book and was really amused by it's writing and illustrations, but I haven't studied it at length. It is available from DriveThru RPG for $7.99 and includes more detailed options for point-based characters and advanced player combat.