Version 1.0, 1/1997 Written by Colin Jacobs, coljac@earthling.net,
Version 2.0, 2/1999 Maintained by Damien Moore,
eccles@fomalhaut.mmcc.monash.edu.au
Version 2.1, 5/1999 Maintained by Damien Moore,
eccles@fomalhaut.mmcc.monash.edu.au
Version 2.2, 4/2000 Maintained by Damien Moore,
eccles@fomalhaut.mmcc.monash.edu.au
Latest version is available from MURP committee or MURP WWW site, http://yoyo.cc.monash.edu.au/~murp/
Acknowledgments
Thanks to Rob Shankly for some questions, and Damien
Moore for an answer.
MURP is a snazzy acronym for the Monash University Role Players. MURP is one of the most friendly and active clubs on the Clayton campus. It's also a confraternity of people with a fervent interest in role playing (aka roleplaying, role-playing, rpging).
If you're unfamiliar with role-playing, you might want to read the rest of the FAQ before continuing with this answer. If you're already a role-player, then you already know MURP is for you.
MURP usually has between 80 and 120 members, depending on the time of the decade and the weather during O-week. Typically, roughly half of these are active in the club to some degree. It costs $5 to join MURP, a trivial fee when the benefits are considered. As a member of MURP you get a nifty membership card which entitles you to a 10% discount at games shops like Military Simulationss and Mind Games. You'll also receive an issue or two of the Son Of MURP, as well as being able to contribute to the Prestidigitator, MURP's online magazine. (Please contribute; thrust anything vaguely role-playing related at a committee member, preferably the publicicst.)
You can also attend any of the MURP social events, such as Internal Tournaments with free pizza or BBQ. MURP will subsidise your entry to most of the big conventions in town. A member of MURP can borrow items from our extensive library Finally, the smaller, thinner members are permitted to buy MURP T-Shirts at only $15 each.
If all that isn't enough, we also role-play a lot. What more could you ask for?
MURP meets officially every Thursday night in semester from 6 p.m. onwards in the conference room, on the 1st floor of the Union Building, just opposite the John Medley Library and Wholefoods restaurant, although you should check the noticeboard to confirm. There is also a MURP video night on Tuesdays in the same place. Check the latest 'Tator or Son Of MURP to confirm this stuff. Transport (i.e., lifts) is available after any meeting and you should contact the current Vice President to organise them.
One of the most commonly asked questions by new members, its a little hard to answer. In fact, it would be almost easier to list what we don't play.
However, the most popular games at the moment are Legend of the Five Rings, Call of Cthulhu (as always in Melbourne), Vampire, Werewolf, and GURPs, the old mainstays of AD&D, Elric, Traveller, Shadowrun and Middle Earth. On occasion, games of Deadlands, Warhammer Fantasy and Star wars have raised their heads. There's usually something to suit anybody's taste, and please, if you're a GM, come and run a game. (see http://yoyo.cc.monash.edu.au/~murp/games.html for more information.
Yes, and yes. MURP has an extensive library, containing all the most popular systems and most of the ones that are extremely unpopular as well. See the club librarian or another committee member, and demand access to the cornucopia that is the MURP locker (actually, there are two lockers - impressed?) Loans can be long term, but don't take anything without telling the librarian and signing for it - it's easy to get that confused with "theft."
If you're really nice and have lots of really glowing references, you
can get an application form from the president.
Wait! Don't stop reading! That was a joke. Chortle.
Um, actually we'd really like it if you'd volunteer for a committee
position. There's usually a shortage of reliable people, role-players
being what they are, so please consider shouldering some of the MURP
responsibilities. It's not really that bad and you get to be a member
of an elite little clique, and if you're crooked there are more tangible
rewards for the taking.
The Annual General Meeting is usually held in early March, at the second meeting for the year (give you a chance to meet the people who want to rule you). Check an Upcoming Events list for the time and place. Please come along and volunteer or at least vote for the other schmucks.
Monash seems to have this urge to rename half of the areas on the Clayton campus every three years. MURP, on the otherhand, has a long tradition of members remaining active for longer than that. Eventually, there are clashes between the two. There is also a tradition of naming share houses that contain MURP members and tend to get used for social activities.
Some obvious locations:
In a way it's a tricky question; role-playing (roleplaying, roleplaying or other variant spellings by preference) is more easily experienced than explained; if you're curious enough to read this FAQ, why not come along and give it a go first hand? Nevertheless, here's an introduction in prose.
Role-playing involves taking on the persona of a fictional character and behaving as you think they would in a fictional situation. The character, usually your own invention, is described briefly on a character sheet, which usually has details of their physical attributes as well as a brief description of their nature. It is then up to the player to decide how this character would respond to the events and conversations portrayed by the GM (Games Master) and other players.
In general, the setting of a role-playing session involves about 4-7 people sitting around a table or lounge room, often with bits of paper nearby. Playing the game involves mainly talking, however animatedly. Costumes, live action, plastic weapons, etc. are rare exceptions rather than the norm.
Who the characters are and what they are doing vary enormously from one game to another, as do the rules (if any) that are used. I won't give an example here; it's better if you ask some role-players or try a game yourself.
We get asked this a lot. Theatresports and Role Playing have a lot in common; quick thinking, imagination, ad libbing, humour. In some ways role-playing is more structured, because there are usually some rules and some form of plot. On the other hand, role-playing is much more a group experience - the spotlight is usually yours to grab but is never forced upon you. With role-playing you have a character who you can develop over time, whereas Theatresports usually involves a change of theme every couple of minutes. They are different but by no means mutually exclusive activities, because they attract people with similar qualities.
The answer to that one is yes - it's like D&D, but read on. D&D is a role-playing game marketed at a certain audience, mostly but not always played by younger players. In D&D the apparent aim as the game is written in the manuals is to accrue wealth and power by hacking monsters to bits and buggering off with their treasure. While this can be fun for reasons that some computer games such as Quake are fun (and the genre certainly has its adherents), it isn't really playing the character, so most role-players prefer something a little more varied; vampires, private detectives on a case, Star Wars-style space opera, talking animals - you name it. Some games are humourous, some darkly serious. They're by no means all fantasy-based. So don't be put of by the thought of teenage nerds sitting around consulting Elf tables - a lot of us may have been there but none of us want to go back.
Don't worry, MURP is all above board. A "con" in this context refers to a role-playing convention. Role-playing conventions aren't days of serious gamers delivering papers and soliciting the opinions of their peers. They're fun weekends sporting dozens of different games for players to try, usually in teams, with prizes awarded to the most outrageous players at the end. Cons are always lots of fun for beginners and experienced role-players both, and if you're a member of MURP we'll subsidise the cost of entry to most conventions. Get in early and be part of a skilled and renowned MURP team.
No, that's not what the club does.
Occasionally, role-playing games (like Dungeons and Dragons) are given bad press by ignorant reactionaries, who blame RPGs for all sorts of evils, from bad grades to ritual suicide. The magic spells that characters cast in a role-playing game amount to a dice roll or two by their players - no voodoo, chickens or orgies to be seen. Role-playing is a fun and social hobby, but it's not a cult, and if you have a firm grip on reality I'm sure you'd agree it would take more than an amusing game to alter that.
No. Scripted performances are not the domain of role-playing. Don't get MURP confused with the Monash Players, the uni's resident troupe of actors, or the SCA, who dress up and hit each other with sticks, or FOME, who dress up.
The simplest answer is because role-players are weird and naturally dress that way. At conventions many role-players are want to don a costume appropriate to the game they are running or playing. However, costumes (or any other sort of clothing) are largely irrelevant to role-playing.
No! Unfortunately, role-playing games (RPGs) need rules to one degree or another in order to resolve any sort of conflict between characters in the story, but the hallmark of a good game is the simplicity of its rules and the ease of learning them on the fly.
You may have the impression that role-playing has a lot of dice rolling, but the emphasis is generally on characterization and having a good time; any dice rolls that are necessary are usually quick and simple, and the GM will explain them on the spot. All you need to play is an imagination - clichéd as that sounds.
Some games are run 'systemless' which can mean that the dicerolling is done by the GM, or it could mean that all resolution is sorted out by scissors-paper-rocks or some other quick contest.
Roleplayers, like everyone else, have a habit of acronyminising any phrase that they tend to use a lot (try reading a knitting pattern). Most roleplaying games have introduced their own acronyms, so the number that get flashed around MURP are fairly impressive.
Most of them, however, are fairly straightforward.
These are all shortnames of companies: TSR was Tactical Studies Rules, WW and WWGS are White Wolf and White Wolf Game Studios respectively, SJG is Steve Jackson Games and WotC (wotcee) is Wizards of the Coast and PEG is Pinnacle Entertainment Group.
The etymology of this all-pervasive acronym is the fault of Dungeons & Dragons, who described the person who presented a game for their players as a Dungeon Master. That was a bit of a mouthful, so it was shortened to DM fairly quickly (Dee-em).
TSR, who published D&D, went a bit strange and trademarked everything, including the phrase Dungeon Master and the acronym DM. This, combined with the fact that not every game was a fantasy dungeon crawl, led to it being changed in many roleplaying circles to GM (Gee-em or Jeeem) or Game Master. This is now the most common usage over the whole roleplaying convention.
White Wolf, in their enthusiasm to reinvent roleplaying, decided that they needed a new phrase to describe the same thing, and came up with Story Teller, shorted to ST.
These are the shortnames of games, or in some cases, the actual names. Some of them are only used in written contexts and not usually spoken. D&D is Dungeons and Dragons (TSR), GURPS is Generic Universal Role Playing System (SJG), V:tM and W:tA are Vampire: the Masquerade and Werewolf: the Apocalypse (and so on, by WW).
Role Playing Games and Fantasy Role Playing Games respectively.
Have you any idea how big a mouthful "ten sided dice" becomes after a while? TSR, as one of the earliest publishing companies, coined the shortform of d10 for ten sided dice, d4 for four sided dice, etc etc.
I don't know who you've been talking to, but that incident was grossly exaggerated. The person responsible has been given the ritual thrashing with a cat o' nine tails.
Seriously, role-players and MURP especially are friendly people, so don't be afraid you'll feel out of place. MURP's members are its lifeblood, and we treat new members accordingly. Of course, if you're an extrovert and not afraid of anybody, which is probably the case if you're reading this, then you'll be right at home. See you there.
Come to the meetings, where most of the actual role-playing happens. Don't put this off, or you'll find it's suddenly the end of the year and you've missed out on a lot of fun. In the first week of semester and usually at other intervals throughout the year, we have tournaments, one-off role-playing sessions with free food and drink laid on. They're an excellent chance to get involved - don't miss it. MURP has two camps throughout the year, which a great chance to meet the club and get some gaming done. The Son of MURP also has a list of upcoming MURP events. Choose one and come along!
Page last updated: 14 February 2001
Maintained Badly by: Monash University Roleplayers
What lies below here is all evil lies and half truths.