Has Gaming ever caused you legal trouble?

[Brainstomper]

Or serious social embaressment? I can give two concrete examples when discussing gaming in public has led to some awkward moments.

1) At Perkins around 3 AM a couple of my players were going over what they would like to do to the main villian in the next session. The game was a modern supernatural set in our home town.

Player X: " Joe needs to die, he is causing to many problems and the cops are getting suspicous."

Me: "What do you want to do?"

Player A: "Lets get him in to Ricks (well know local biker bar), knock him out and then kill and dump him in a local park (15,000 acres wild life refuge).

Player X: I got the gun, you bring the taser and duct tape

Now in you defense we looked like thugs. At the time I was 6 ft. 275 and required to carry a gun due to my law enforcement duties. So I guess I can't really blame the 20ish waitress for calling the local cops after she thought she was hearing what amounted to a mob hit. So 20 minutes later and a brief but intense conversation with the cops ( who I work with) everyone agreed that it was time for pie..

2) My best friend got out of my car in the middle of discussing the battle drugs avaiable in a game. As he got out of the car, it must have surprised the little old ladies to see a respectable looking PHd. shout "Drugs are good, the help you kill people!" No cops. but a rather awkward scene nonthe less.

Anyone else got a good one?

[Sanguine]

I don't have one but yours certainly made me laugh.

[golentan]

Yes. Traveller game. Talking about smuggling in automatic weapons and blowing up the local control tower to cover it up. Fortunately, the other people nearby heard us talking about it in terms of space ships and die rolls and assumed the worstbest: That we (a bunch of youngish, geeky males) were more likely DnD freaks than terrorist arms dealers.

[Totally Guy]

There was that time KuReshtin dropped all the body parts on the pub floor!

[KuReshtin]

There was that time KuReshtin dropped all the body parts on the pub floor!

Twice. :smallbiggrin:

[Starscream]

No, but it came a little close once.

When I was in high school we moved to a major redneck town. Nobody in my school played D&D, which sucked. In fact, the only "clique" to do any sort of roleplaying at all was the local Goths, who were into Vampire: The Masquerade. So I learned the system and played with them.

When a certain famous school-based incident occurred in 1999, there were a lot of debates about school violence, and a few of the higher ups got concerned. A few of us were called in to explain just what our little games consisted of. I think I was picked because I was a bit "odd-man-out" in the group: not a goth, high GPA, liked by my teachers, etc.

We briefly described the game, pointed out the "None of this is real" disclaimer in the books, made a few comparisons to Buffy, and got off without any difficulties. To be honest, I think they thought the idea was too silly to be worth banning.

Not legal trouble exactly, but in this sort of small, closed-off community any sort of rumors that we were troublemakers could have gotten bad for us rather quickly.

[Zocelot]

The police were once called after I stayed out all night playing with my phone off. It wasn't gaming in particular that caused the trouble though.

[arguskos]

So... where's Lerky when we need him? I wish I had a link to that, or I'd just link it here.

[Scoot]

In response to title: Nothing more than having to break curfew for food/soda.

As for freaking people out, I don't think anyone has ever actually called the cops on us, but some of the looks I've seen are priceless.

We're currently hijacking a boat, and IRL we live right next to a harbor.

[Dr.Epic]

Or serious social embaressment? I can give two concrete examples when discussing gaming in public has led to some awkward moments.

1) At Perkins around 3 AM a couple of my players were going over what they would like to do to the main villian in the next session. The game was a modern supernatural set in our home town.

Player X: " Joe needs to die, he is causing to many problems and the cops are getting suspicous."

Me: "What do you want to do?"

Player A: "Lets get him in to Ricks (well know local biker bar), knock him out and then kill and dump him in a local park (15,000 acres wild life refuge).

Player X: I got the gun, you bring the taser and duct tape

Now in you defense we looked like thugs. At the time I was 6 ft. 275 and required to carry a gun due to my law enforcement duties. So I guess I can't really blame the 20ish waitress for calling the local cops after she thought she was hearing what amounted to a mob hit. So 20 minutes later and a brief but intense conversation with the cops ( who I work with) everyone agreed that it was time for pie..

2) My best friend got out of my car in the middle of discussing the battle drugs avaiable in a game. As he got out of the car, it must have surprised the little old ladies to see a respectable looking PHd. shout "Drugs are good, the help you kill people!" No cops. but a rather awkward scene nonthe less.

Anyone else got a good one?

Can I use this story for an asignment in one of my classes? I have to write about the most embarassing thing that's ever happened to me and I'm drawing a blank. I want it to be epic and your story is.

[RandomNPC]

all we got was a look and a little old lady shuffled away from us rather quickly.

When 3.0 came out I was hanging out with two friends of mine by the entrance/exit doors of a local grocery store. Being in an odd state of mind realizing the game didn't railroad you into hero-dom and you could in fact play evil we were discussing what to do with an evil story line. As the conversation progressed we got to the point of the two of them yelling at eachother "We can kill the mayor!" at the same time. After seeing the little old lady shuffle away in fear I suggested we walk and talk till we got somewhere that was not where we currently were.

[Jimorian]

Can I use this story for an asignment in one of my classes? I have to write about the most embarassing thing that's ever happened to me and I'm drawing a blank. I want it to be epic and your story is.

Unfortunately, the embarrassment of getting caught lying about the source of "your" story will come AFTER the assignment has been turned in. :smalltongue:

[Dr.Epic]

Unfortunately, the embarrassment of getting caught lying about the source of "your" story will come AFTER the assignment has been turned in. :smalltongue:

It's anonymous so she wouldn't know.

[Brainstomper]

Dr. Epic.. use it.. or this one..

This is a friends story.

Roy was running a NERO LARP in a local state park. He had requested a primitive campsite area.. It was over 5 miles from parking area.. I know that is funny enough.. Gamers walking 5 miles with LARP and camping gear, he said it took 8 hours for everyone to stage. Anyway the next daqy was colder than expected so most everone was waering mundane jackets. The two ogres(30ish "bigboys" wearing leather jackets and viking helmets) that had captured the local healer (petite 19 y/o female) were dragging her away from camp while she screamed for help. Enter the hikers that heard the scream and came running to the rescue attacking the ogres with walking sticks and rocks.. It was all sorted out in a few minutes but Roy never did get another permit for that park.

[Hazyshade]

Such travails are not the exclusive province of RPG-ers. A chap I knew got banned from a pub for exclaiming emphatically, in earshot of a French exchange student: "I hate the French!". He was referring to a chess opening.

[Brainstomper]

Local cops in a university town one evening (1995) were called in by campus cops because a student under the influnce of drugs unknown was wandering around campus with a katana yelling I kid you not " I am Conner Mcleod of the Clan Mcleold" , "Where is the Kurgan.. Don't lie to me I say you together" and of course " There can be only one." After a breif negation were nothing was achieve.. ie " Go ahead shot me.. I won;t care.." One of the officer arrived with a stun gun (they were not common issue like today) The cop then uttered his famous line " Ok Conner Here comes the Quickening" as he pulled the trigger. He didn't have to pay for a beer or sandwich for a month once the story got out.

[Aedilred]

I've never been in trouble with the law, nor do I know anyone who's got in trouble over a tabletop RPG. However, I used to play a game with some resemblance to an RPG at uni which revolved around the "killing" of targets using fake- but sometimes convincing- weapons. The game was played in real time, usually over a period of about five-six weeks. It was awesome.

However, we had multiple incidents where the authorities got involved, some of them more serious than others. A security guard called the police when a group of players had a standoff in a shopping centre. At least once, a cleaner mistook a bottle of lemonade with "FAKE BOMB" written on it for a terrorist attack and had the college evacuated. A group of players was arrested (with a firearms squad on standby!) on the way to a planned battle after one of them was seen on CCTV waving a plastic gun around. A few years before I arrived, apparently, a notoriously suspicious-looking player had the police called on him after a neighbour thought he was casing a house.

We had to change the weapons rules quite a few times to avoid this happening more than necessary, but the society is still going strong.

After a while, you get a bit desensitised to it, and happily refer to people you've killed, or are intending to kill, and so on, in public. I recall one lazy afternoon in a restaurant when I took a phone call and casually ordered a kill, completely oblivious- my companions (also players) thought it was hilarious, especially given the Mediterranean decor.

[Lycan 01]

Um... Lemme think...

Me and my friend almost got arrested for loitering at his trailer park. The sad thing is, it was in the part of the trailer park where the post offices boxes were, and a pair of park benches were set up for people to hang out at. :smallsigh: You see, my friend found a wi-fi signal near those benches from a local store or something, so we figured we'd go check the mail for his mom and surf the internet on his PSP since he didn't have internet at home.

Now, it was cold, so we had on a lot of thick clothing and hats and whatnot. So apparently, people thought the 6'6" 300+ lb guy (my friend) and the scrawny 5'6" 120 lb guy (me), both standing around the post office boxes and benches while decked out in winter clothing as evening approached were OBVIOUSLY up to no good. So, after we'd been there for about 15 minutes, a cop car pulls into the neighborhood and comes to a speedy stop right in front of us.

I honestly don't remember the words exchanged. My friend did all the talking, because I was petrified. Especially since my parents had recently been arrested, and I didn't know how that would go over with the cops, nor did I know how to get in contact with my aunt and uncle (my guardians at the time) should the crap hit the fan. Thankfully, the cop (rudely) decided we weren't breaking the law, though (IIRC) he did warn us to hurry up with what we were doing and just go home.

So yeah. We almost got arrested for loitering (in a spot where it wasn't against the law) because we wanted to get online with a PSP.



I've got a few more unrelated (but funnier) stories involving the cops in my friend's neighborhood, but they don't really involve gaming. Well, actually they kinda do, but not directly. There WERE Chuck Norris jokes, though. :smalltongue:

[Raiki]

Well, it isn't quite legal trouble, but my group of friends did manage to get ourselves kicked out of a Denny's (I didn't even know that was possible before that) by loudly discussing the gender of a video game character. Before kicking us out, the waitress came over and screamed at us for swearing (and never tipping her) and being too loud (and never tipping her) and staying at the table for 6+ hours (and never tipping her) and playing cards (and never tipping her) and about how she had 3 kids at home (and we should tip her). In our defence, she was a terrible waitress, and we tip well for good service.

Needless to say, we go to the other Denny's now.

~R~

[CollinPhillips]

Well, it isn't quite legal trouble, but my group of friends did manage to get ourselves kicked out of a Denny's (I didn't even know that was possible before that) by loudly discussing the gender of a video game character. Before kicking us out, the waitress came over and screamed at us for swearing (and never tipping her) and being too loud (and never tipping her) and staying at the table for 6+ hours (and never tipping her) and playing cards (and never tipping her) and about how she had 3 kids at home (and we should tip her). In our defence, she was a terrible waitress, and we tip well for good service.

Needless to say, we go to the other Denny's now.

~R~

:smallfurious: You are aware that employers are only required to pay $2.13 an hour in direct wages if the amount including tips that a an employee receives is equals or greater than the federal minimum wage right? That said. If there is a worse type of diner than you and your cohorts, they must truly be a dreadful lot. Gaming is a mere footnote to your discourteous dining behavior. By occupying her table not only did you actively deny her payment, you more or less besieged her, preventing other dinners with less frivolous enterprises from being served. :smallfurious:

[RandomNPC]

:smallfurious: You are aware that employers are only required to pay $2.13 an hour in direct wages if the amount including tips that a an employee receives is equals or greater than the federal minimum wage right? That said. If there is a worse type of diner than you and your cohorts, they must truly be a dreadful lot. Gaming is a mere footnote to your discourteous dining behavior. By occupying her table not only did you actively deny her payment, you more or less besieged her, preventing other dinners with less frivolous enterprises from being served. :smallfurious:

I think we have a server here, am i right?

also, i was only called bad names for poor tipping once, that was after I had to cover my friends bill too (freeloader) and the waitress watched me empty my pockets and leave everything on the table.

[skywalker]

:smallfurious: You are aware that employers are only required to pay $2.13 an hour in direct wages if the amount including tips that a an employee receives is equals or greater than the federal minimum wage right? That said. If there is a worse type of diner than you and your cohorts, they must truly be a dreadful lot. Gaming is a mere footnote to your discourteous dining behavior. By occupying her table not only did you actively deny her payment, you more or less besieged her, preventing other dinners with less frivolous enterprises from being served. :smallfurious:

Yeah, because Denny's is always packed at the typical hour gamers go there. :smallsigh:

Allow me to retort: If there is a worse type of server than those who believe they are actively entitled to tips regardless of service, I have not heard of them. The employer is required to pay $2.13 an hour to tipped employees, and must make up the difference if that doesn't combine with tips to equal minimum wage. Did this waitress deserve more than minimum wage? How can we ever know? Regardless, as a server, you are only entitled to the tip your customer thinks you're entitled to. Never more.

As to the topic as a whole, I don't think I've ever gotten in legal trouble... Nope, never have.

[Brother Oni]

A group of my friends had bought some bb guns to do some target shooting and where joking around, trying to out-draw each other on the way home (Baz Luhrman's Romeo and Juliet was still playing and everybody was inspired by the scene where Meructio and the Montagues were messing about).

They come round the corner to see a police raid happening (they'd just knocked down the door with a ram), complete with firearms squad waiting in the wings. Needless to say, they hid their guns pretty quickly.

[Tarnag40k]

actually nope. Not even once.

that's what 2800-3000lbs. death traps are for.

[Solaris]

:smallfurious: You are aware that employers are only required to pay $2.13 an hour in direct wages if the amount including tips that a an employee receives is equals or greater than the federal minimum wage right? That said. If there is a worse type of diner than you and your cohorts, they must truly be a dreadful lot. Gaming is a mere footnote to your discourteous dining behavior. By occupying her table not only did you actively deny her payment, you more or less besieged her, preventing other dinners with less frivolous enterprises from being served. :smallfurious:

Like Skywalker said, just because someone gets paid lousy money doesn't mean they deserve more. Terrible service and screaming at customers? That deserves a tip? I'm betting the lady could've easily gotten them to spend more money on drinks/snacks if she would've done her job right.
Besides, she's only losing money from them if the other tables were filled up and she literally had to turn another customer away.

[comicshorse]

I was at Nottingham university which has its own park and a very active LARP society. A favourite venue was a kind of mock ampitheatre which was just visible from the road that passed by. One saturday night about midnight the party had reached the ampitheatre and a huge battle developed with the monsters. Swords and axes were waved, spells cast and both sides charged each other and laid in with abandon.

THe battle was just reaching its zenith when both sides were rather suprised by the intervention of Nottingham's riot squad !
A passer-by had seen two groups of young men threatening each other with what from a distance and at night must have looked like weapons, drawn the obvious conclusion and rung the police

Luckily one of the cops was a roleplayer and convinced his superiors we weren't DANGEROUS loonies and so they piled back in the vans and left us to continue the fray

[Solaris]

I was at Nottingham university which has its own park and a very active LARP society. A favourite venue was a kind of mock ampitheatre which was just visible from the road that passed by. One saturday night about midnight the party had reached the ampitheatre and a huge battle developed with the monsters. Swords and axes were waved, spells cast and both sides charged each other and laid in with abandon.

THe battle was just reaching its zenith when both sides were rather suprised by the intervention of Nottingham's riot squad !
A passer-by had seen two groups of young men threatening each other with what from a distance and at night must have looked like weapons, drawn the obvious conclusion and rung the police

Luckily one of the cops was a roleplayer and convinced his superiors we weren't DANGEROUS loonies and so they piled back in the vans and left us to continue the fray

... The only thing I got from that was, "Oh Lord, the LARPers have infiltrated the police. It's all over now."

[Dvandemon]

Bwahahaha! :smallbiggrin: I just started gaming and hope none of this ever happens when i'm LARPing

[Serpentine]

:smallfurious: You are aware that employers are only required to pay $2.13 an hour in direct wages if the amount including tips that a an employee receives is equals or greater than the federal minimum wage right? That said. If there is a worse type of diner than you and your cohorts, they must truly be a dreadful lot. Gaming is a mere footnote to your discourteous dining behavior. By occupying her table not only did you actively deny her payment, you more or less besieged her, preventing other dinners with less frivolous enterprises from being served. :smallfurious:And THIS is why I'm incredibly glad Australia isn't a tipping society. If the service, food or whatever is exceptionally good, you might get a bit of extra loose change. Extra.
Gawd I hope we never end up with a tipping system...

Alas, no cool in-trouble stories here.

[CollinPhillips]

Bwahahaha! :smallbiggrin: I just started gaming and hope none of this ever happens when i'm LARPing

A handful of LARPers were larping in a park and I called the police because I was envious that some people had found something to do on a Saturday afternoon and I was too busy being consumed by spite and boredom. thought they had real weapons. Hilarity followed. They had failed to obtain the appropriate permits from parks and rec and were fined.

[Thanatos 51-50]

And THIS is why I'm incredibly glad Australia isn't a tipping society. If the service, food or whatever is exceptionally good, you might get a bit of extra loose change. Extra.
Gawd I hope we never end up with a tipping system...

Alas, no cool in-trouble stories here.

Nor is Japan. In Japan, if you leave a tip on the table, the server /hunts you down/ to return the money you "forgot"
This got awkward when I returned to the states on leave and had to be reminded that, yes, indeed, people /tip/ in the States.

EDIT:
Slightly more on-topic: video games, have, a few times, caused me to be late for duty. Which is against Federal law due to working for the Navy, so, yeah.
In my early days of military service, when I was younger and stupider.

[golentan]

Nor is Japan. In Japan, if you leave a tip on the table, the server /hunts you down/ to return the money you "forgot"
This got awkward when I returned to the states on leave and had to be reminded that, yes, indeed, people /tip/ in the States.

EDIT:
Slightly more on-topic: video games, have, a few times, caused me to be late for duty. Which is against Federal law due to working for the Navy, so, yeah.
In my early days of military service, when I was younger and stupider.

Now I have an image of a well dressed japanese man with a targeting monocle and a change-gun (play on change and chain gun) busting down someone's door. "You abandoned your money. For that you die. KEEP THE CHANGE!!!" "No, Please, have merc..." BUDDA BUDDA BUDDA!!!

I get thrown off when there aren't tip jars present. Of course, I also put aside 4 bucks in quarters walking downtown in case someone asks me for change.

Awesome action comedy movie idea, or not?

[Dr.Epic]

Dr. Epic.. use it.. or this one..

I'm not sure what I'm going to go with. It's not due 'til like the last day of March and it's only one page so no rush. I'll either make something up, dramatilize one of my own, or use your. If I go with yours I'll let you know and post the end result.

[Thanatos 51-50]

Now I have an image of a well dressed japanese man with a targeting monocle and a change-gun (play on change and chain gun) busting down someone's door. "You abandoned your money. For that you die. KEEP THE CHANGE!!!" "No, Please, have merc..." BUDDA BUDDA BUDDA!!!

My day, this made it.

[Solaris]

Nor is Japan. In Japan, if you leave a tip on the table, the server /hunts you down/ to return the money you "forgot"
This got awkward when I returned to the states on leave and had to be reminded that, yes, indeed, people /tip/ in the States.

EDIT:
Slightly more on-topic: video games, have, a few times, caused me to be late for duty. Which is against Federal law due to working for the Navy, so, yeah.
In my early days of military service, when I was younger and stupider.

Oh, yeah. The whole Army ran about five minutes late when Halo 3 was released. I was the only guy to show up on time for about a week. This includes our chain of command.


Now I have an image of a well dressed japanese man with a targeting monocle and a change-gun (play on change and chain gun) busting down someone's door. "You abandoned your money. For that you die. KEEP THE CHANGE!!!" "No, Please, have merc..." BUDDA BUDDA BUDDA!!!

I get thrown off when there aren't tip jars present. Of course, I also put aside 4 bucks in quarters walking downtown in case someone asks me for change.

Awesome action comedy movie idea, or not?

... Couldn't be worse than Scary Movie.

[Kelb_Panthera]

Oh, yeah. The whole Army ran about five minutes late when Halo 3 was released. I was the only guy to show up on time for about a week. This includes our chain of command.


I find this mildly alarming. :smallconfused:

[Solaris]

I find this mildly alarming. :smallconfused:

You should.

[Katana_Geldar]

There used to be a viking club near here, they're no longer around but apparently at the 300 anniversary of this battle at Lindesfane they "raided" a place called Lindesfane here.

A shopping centre. :smallsigh:

The cops were called, and I don't think there is anything that needs to be said.

Think of the shoppers, and Vikings.

GRAWTH!

[Raiki]

Holy Crap Rant.

Well, I'm sorry if I offended with my story, that was not the intent. And yes, I am well aware of the federal laws about minimum wage regulation regarding positions that receive tips or commission; I should be, considering I used to be a salesman (It's a trap, don't ever be a salesman). I suppose that I also should have mentioned that my group of friends are generally extravagant tippers (as in, $40+ dollars for a $50ish dollar meal, depending on who's there). Also, the point Skywalker made about gamer-hours does stand. We were one of 2 tables in the restaurant that had guests. We were hardly besieging anyone.

Lastly, I will say that, while I disagree with your delivery, your intention was laudable.

~R~

[BisectedBrioche]

Now I have an image of a well dressed japanese man with a targeting monocle and a change-gun (play on change and chain gun) busting down someone's door. "You abandoned your money. For that you die. KEEP THE CHANGE!!!" "No, Please, have merc..." BUDDA BUDDA BUDDA!!!

I get thrown off when there aren't tip jars present. Of course, I also put aside 4 bucks in quarters walking downtown in case someone asks me for change.

Awesome action comedy movie idea, or not?

Sort of like that one episode of Ghost in the Shell that had the assassin with the change firing shotgun built into her arm (and wanted to assassinate someone for hording money) then?

[Shas aia Toriia]

(as in, $40+ dollars for a $50ish dollar meal, depending on who's there).

How?
How are you even alive if you tip that much? Don't you need to buy, like, food and stuff?

[Thajocoth]

Well, it isn't quite legal trouble, but my group of friends did manage to get ourselves kicked out of a Denny's (I didn't even know that was possible before that) by loudly discussing the gender of a video game character. Before kicking us out, the waitress came over and screamed at us for swearing (and never tipping her) and being too loud (and never tipping her) and staying at the table for 6+ hours (and never tipping her) and playing cards (and never tipping her) and about how she had 3 kids at home (and we should tip her). In our defence, she was a terrible waitress, and we tip well for good service.

Needless to say, we go to the other Denny's now.

~R~

If that was me, while she was yelling, I would've taken some change from my pocket, dropped it in a glass of water on the table, and quickly flipped the glass upside-down, for her tip. I've never done that before, but I've never had service that bad before. Worst I've gotten was being forgotten about thrice, for which I left 2 pennies.

[Umael]

Not my story, not legal trouble, but I got one (a friend of a friend basically).

Said guy was a big man, six foot tall or so, and rather bulky. He dressed up as a Viking - mostly just fur-lined boots and a fur-lined loincloth. As a joke, he walked into a fast-food joint of some kind.

Order-taker (rather small young lady): [nervously] C-Can I help you?
Big Viking-like: Want meat!
Order-taker: And h-how would you like it?

*Big-Viking-like takes out a coin and flips it, takes a look at it*

Big Viking-like: Cooked!

Manager came out very shortly thereafter with a simple cooked meat patty.

Manager: Here you go, sir. We would like you to enjoy this elsewhere!

[Flickerdart]

Umael, that made my day. Please tell me more of viking-man's exploits.

[Fiery Diamond]

This is a freaking awesome thread!

Sorry, no tales to relate. Sighs.

[Froogleyboy]

Only once, We were in the alley behing our flgs:
We were playing d20 modern and in the plot, there was an enemy agent undercover in the players secret organization and they had caught him:
Me (as undercover agent): "Please, Please, don't kill me"
Mark: "Too *censored* late!"
Jesse: "Shoot him in the friggin' face, I'm tired of his crap!"
after a while of this, the cops showed up

[The Vorpal Tribble]

I was running a game here on the forums and a player went a little nuts and quit the game. I continued to NPC her character until such a time as I would be able to kill her off in a useful and/or dramatic way. However, when she discovered I was still using the character she ordered me to stop and if I didn't she would sue me for breach of copyright or some such nonsense.

Idiot...


Ooh, and it wasn't a D&D game, but there was a MUD game I played for years. It was 'very' RP heavy. Often enforced. In the community their term for munchkin was 'twink'. Well, there was this woman who played an assassin of a pacifistic race and named herself 'Wrathwynd', used out of character knowledge to find out where certain players were hiding out, and in general did everything she could to mess with the game. I called her once the 'oldest twink in the game' as she was in her 30's we'd found out. She threatened with bringing me up on charges of libel.

Go shove it, lady...

[Raiki]

How?
How are you even alive if you tip that much? Don't you need to buy, like, food and stuff?

I think you got the wrong idea, that wasn't solely me tipping, that was for a group of about 5 people who's combined check came to 50 dollars +/- some change. Because the service we recieved was freaking amazing, all of us just threw down whatever extra cash we had on hand, and it totalled about 40 bucks.


If that was me, while she was yelling, I would've taken some change from my pocket, dropped it in a glass of water on the table, and quickly flipped the glass upside-down, for her tip. I've never done that before, but I've never had service that bad before. Worst I've gotten was being forgotten about thrice, for which I left 2 pennies.

Never done anything like that myself, but a friend once put a 1 dollar bill in his ketchup bowl for a bad server's tip. close enough I suppose.

And just so I don't completely derail the thread, I'll actually tell another story.

A few friends and I were (go figure) sitting in Denny's one afternoon, discussing the previous day's D20 modern/future game. In said game, one of the characters was a midget with fetishes for both home made explosives and mecha. Part way through our conversation a rather large twenty-something guy sat down alone in the booth next to ours. At this point I was talking about making a crate of Bangalores, which anyone in the miliatary could tell you is basically a form of pipe bomb. After about 3 minutes, the gentleman got up, walked over, and began to scream at us about how dangerous playing with explosives was. Turns out, he was ex-army. And that's how we met our friend (J). He's a regular in our gaming group now. :smallbiggrin:

So, not really legal trouble I suppose, but still a miscommunication regarding game. Close enough?

~R~

[Flickerdart]

Well, at least he didn't offer advice. :smallwink:

[Syka]

I was running a game here on the forums and a player went a little nuts and quit the game. I continued to NPC her character until such a time as I would be able to kill her off in a useful and/or dramatic way. However, when she discovered I was still using the character she ordered me to stop and if I didn't she would sue me for breach of copyright or some such nonsense.


Dude, I remember this. Wasn't that the final deathblow to that game? *sigh* I still miss the game...

[Foeofthelance]

:smallfurious: You are aware that employers are only required to pay $2.13 an hour in direct wages if the amount including tips that a an employee receives is equals or greater than the federal minimum wage right? That said. If there is a worse type of diner than you and your cohorts, they must truly be a dreadful lot. Gaming is a mere footnote to your discourteous dining behavior. By occupying her table not only did you actively deny her payment, you more or less besieged her, preventing other dinners with less frivolous enterprises from being served. :smallfurious:

Little known fact: Federal law also dictates that employers make up the difference if the employee can demonstrate not making the minimum $7.50 an hour during a shift.

EDIT: Ok, probably not such a little known fact anymore...

I spent seven years waiting tables at a local pizzeria, so I know what I'm talking about. You do not confront the patrons about their tipping habits. That is bad service, and will get you more losses than it will sympathy tips. I've seen it all, from a priest who regularly tipped the entire staff (including the ones who didn't serve him) $20 every time he came in, even for just a slice, to the time my own mother walked out without even leaving me a dirty green penny. From personal experience, the ones who are bitching the most about their lousy tips did everything they could to earn those tips, while those of us who soldier on never quite seemed to run into the same number of problems, nor as often. That waitress had several alternatives, including asking her manager either for another table to make up for the one "under siege" or having the manager approach the table instead of her.

Emberassing/Legal issue gaming story? While it is legal to carry a sword in New York state so long as you don't do it with malicious intent, the cops generally are not aware of this. Thus, if you are required to carry several swords across town by foot, it is highly suggested that you let your seven year old niece carry them, as she is surely above suspicion.

[Thufir]

Emberassing/Legal issue gaming story? While it is legal to carry a sword in New York state so long as you don't do it with malicious intent, the cops generally are not aware of this. Thus, if you are required to carry several swords across town by foot, it is highly suggested that you let your seven year old niece carry them, as she is surely above suspicion.

Above suspicion? Really? (http://www.geneticanomaly.com/RPG-Motivational/slides/dontbefooled.html)

[Foeofthelance]

Above suspicion? Really? (http://www.geneticanomaly.com/RPG-Motivational/slides/dontbefooled.html)

Hey, don't look at me. We managed to cross a parking lot with the swords when we got pulled over by a cop. (One of the swords didn't have a box, so I was carrying it across my back. It was one of the mock-up ones from Lord of the Rings, a full sized hand-and-a-half, I think.) We explain that we're just taking them home, and its perfectly legal, this not being the first time that I've worn a sword out in public. We still ended up back tracking to the comic shop, where the owner explains that yes, I just bought the sword.

We get back out the comic book store, and decide to make this less of an issue. So, some creative knot tying later, my niece is now happily carrying a sword that, from tip of the sheath to the far end of the pommel, is about a foot or so taller than she is. We ended up making it back across the parking lot, then across the high way and the county line. Sure enough, about half way home, another cop comes rolling by, starts to slow down so the cop can take a good long look at what he's seeing. My niece, of course, is having the time of her life and is skipping along between us, the sword wobbling a bit above her head. The cop just shook his head and kept going.

So yea. If you ever need to transport medieval weapons across town, and can't afford the cab, just borrow small children!

[The Vorpal Tribble]

Dude, I remember this. Wasn't that the final deathblow to that game? *sigh* I still miss the game...
I've run it 5 times now, and it NEVER gets past us leaving the city. Everyone says they love it, but never can I keep it alive even long enough to get to the first adventure. The tower and the meteor strike, the asylum, the birth of the horrible baby... those are just to set the tone and let the team get to know one another before I start it all in earnest.

[Drakevarg]

Closest thing to legal trouble I've ever had in regards to gaming is that I once tried to buy an M-Rated game about two days before my 17th birthday. The cashier said that normally he would have let it slide, but another customer had chewed his ear off over a similar situation (the "underage kid buying M-Rated game" situation, not the "kid buying M-Rated game two days before he techinically should be allowed to" situation) earlier that day and he didn't want to take any chances.

So I just came back a few days later and bought it. Really, I'm suprised they even bothered to check my age. I apparently look fairly mature for my age (probably the beard) and most people just assume I'm a legal adult without confirming this. Hell, just the other day a bank employee threw a sales pitch at me and my brother, apparently assuming we were college students. When he finally paused for breath I explained that we were both still in high school, to his suprise.

[RandomNPC]

I've run it 5 times now, and it NEVER gets past us leaving the city. Everyone says they love it, but never can I keep it alive even long enough to get to the first adventure. The tower and the meteor strike, the asylum, the birth of the horrible baby... those are just to set the tone and let the team get to know one another before I start it all in earnest.

that game sounds epictastic..... and I think i just made that word up.

[Maximum Zersk]

I've run it 5 times now, and it NEVER gets past us leaving the city. Everyone says they love it, but never can I keep it alive even long enough to get to the first adventure. The tower and the meteor strike, the asylum, the birth of the horrible baby... those are just to set the tone and let the team get to know one another before I start it all in earnest.

:smalleek: I have so many questions.

[Foeofthelance]

Yeah. And having seem some of Vorpal's homebrew stuff, I kinda want to play.

[Froogleyboy]

Tribble as a DM! That would rock

[Shas aia Toriia]

Just a mite sidetracked there, guys.

[CrimsonAngel]

I keep thinking Gaming says Gambling.

[comicshorse]

To return to the topic
This wasn't me, I'm posting this on behalf of Desmond O'Byrne

When at university there was a rather peculiar murder locally. In which a Palaentoligist was bludgenoed to death with a bone from his collection and a couple of lines of Japanese poetry was left at the scene
The Police stretched their net wide and decided to come and speak to the university RPG society when next it meet. Des wasn't aware of this but a mutual friend, Jim, was. A friend with a evil sense of humour
Come the day Jim meets Des on his way to the meeting and gets him talking about his character, a dwarfen berserker who Des is very into. Des predicatably gets enthusiastic under Jim's gentle prodding.
This finishes with Des walking into the meeting declaring " The thing I like best about dwarves is that they can KILL, KILL, KILL ! "
Then suddenly noticing two police officers looking at him very suspiciously
( Luckily two police officers intelligent enough not to arrest Des on the spot)

[Raiki]

To return to the topic
This wasn't me, I'm posting this on behalf of Desmond O'Byrne

When at university there was a rather peculiar murder locally. In which a Palaentoligist was bludgenoed to death with a bone from his collection and a couple of lines of Japanese poetry was left at the scene
The Police stretched their net wide and decided to come and speak to the university RPG society when next it meet. Des wasn't aware of this but a mutual friend, Jim, was. A friend with a evil sense of humour
Come the day Jim meets Des on his way to the meeting and gets him talking about his character, a dwarfen berserker who Des is very into. Des predicatably gets enthusiastic under Jim's gentle prodding.
This finishes with Des walking into the meeting declaring " The thing I like best about dwarves is that they can KILL, KILL, KILL ! "
Then suddenly noticing two police officers looking at him very suspiciously
( Luckily two police officers intelligent enough not to arrest Des on the spot)

You sir, have a Grade A Jerk for a friend. I've pulled some fairly mean stunts in my time, but trying to make a friend a suspect in an ongoing murder case? That really takes the cake.

~R~

[comicshorse]

To be fair to Jim I think he had enough respect for the police he figured they weren't going to arrest Des just on that ( and Des performed better than he could have ever forseen)

[Raiki]

Well, fair enough I suppose, but still not something I would consider doing to any of my friends. I guess it's all just a matter of groups though.

~R~

[Umael]

Umael, that made my day. Please tell me more of viking-man's exploits.

I will ask my friend who actually knows viking-man, see if he has any.

I do remember another story he told, but I don't think it was viking-man.

Said friend had a girlfriend (call her Dee) who worked for a pizzeria and was getting a bunch of flack from one of her co-workers. Not the joking kind, the kind where she would come home upset and ready to cry. He was complaining about this to another friend of his, nicknamed Rat.

Rat's comment? "Leave it to me."

See, Rat is one of those older-crusty types who happens to be a biker (as well as a gamer). Rat's daughter (who was the same age as said friend) also happened to be a biker, as is said daughter's boyfriend.

So Rat, his daughter, and daughter's boyfriend (who is also about six feet or so) all dress up in biker outfits and go to the pizzeria where Dee works. They are eating there for about ten minutes when Rat gets up, walks over to the counter, and says, in a loud voice.

"Dee! We need a couple more napkins! Your sister spilled her drink!"

Dee's coworker was, shall we say, impressed with the idea that Dee had a biker father AND sister (even though it wasn't true; he didn't know). Made Dee's day.

[Katana_Geldar]

I want to play that game, Tribble, what do you use?

[TheCountAlucard]

"Dee! We need a couple more napkins! Your sister spilled her drink!"That is awesome.

Almost wish I got into more trouble, so that I could have stories like this. The closest I've gotten to any of you guys' stories is some odd looks when having a heated discussion about "Grimdark Power Rangers" over bacon and eggs at a truck stop at 4:00 in the morning.

[Umael]

Umael, that made my day. Please tell me more of viking-man's exploits.

I just talked to my friend. Two modifications to that story.

1) Viking-like pulled out the coin from within his loincloth.
2) Manager came out with a tray of meat patties, not just one.

Maybe more stories later.

[Brainstomper]

I had a friend get escorted by security from a gaming convention because he broke the "code" the undercover LARPer's were using. He kept leaving false clues abpout the artifacts whereabouts. Everyone was totaly confused. The organizers had to stop the game and reset it. They figured out who was reponsable when they overheard him telling the story in the bar.

[Solaris]

Well, at least he didn't offer advice. :smallwink:

I would've. Wouldn't be the first time, either.
...
Reasons I'm on FBI watch-lists...
To be fair, it's safety advice. I won't teach them anything they don't already know.

[Myatar_Panwar]

Well, it isn't quite legal trouble, but my group of friends did manage to get ourselves kicked out of a Denny's (I didn't even know that was possible before that) by loudly discussing the gender of a video game character. Before kicking us out, the waitress came over and screamed at us for swearing (and never tipping her) and being too loud (and never tipping her) and staying at the table for 6+ hours (and never tipping her) and playing cards (and never tipping her) and about how she had 3 kids at home (and we should tip her). In our defence, she was a terrible waitress, and we tip well for good service.

Needless to say, we go to the other Denny's now.

~R~

You were at a table for 6 hours and didn't even bother a tip? I'm siding with the waitress here.

[EndlessWrath]

We were playing at the park for a while (spring time, nice quiet sunny days + free tables) and a guy approached us. Now.. by approach I mean.. a 5'5'' guy... staring at my friend. for 2 minutes. in the middle of a path. with a large crowd of people trying to get around him. Suit jacket and a T-shirt..

He came over, asked us what we were studying. We were playing dnd. When I calmly explained to the man he replied "Oh thats not good". He then told me to get religion... a religion in which im already part of... now the awkward/legal situation was a "could be" situation. See my friend is paranoid. and he happens to carry knives. He looked calmest out of all of us as his arms were folded with a knife opened in his jacket. Had the guy gotten physical, my friend would have to in self defense. Thank goodness a lady had called him to move on (not before handing us a few pamphlets). That was right after the group had started the final boss fight in the campaign... defeating the evil demon and saving the world from destruction. ah well.

...fun times...
-Wrath

[Cobra_Ikari]

Man, this never happens to me. I've walked across town with 7 swords and a spear in a bundle slung over my shoulder, and the cops didn't give me more than a confused glance. v.v

[Vaynor]

Man, this never happens to me. I've walked across town with 7 swords and a spear in a bundle slung over my shoulder, and the cops didn't give me more than a confused glance. v.v

Same.

The most trouble I ever got into that had anything to do with gaming was when I was at our local renaissance fair and some old lady gave me a stern talking to about having my sword out of its sheath (I was a minor). :smallcool:

[The Extinguisher]

I think I subconsciously talk louder whenever I'm in a public place and police are around, but this has never happened to me.

Maybe I'm trying to hard.

[The Vorpal Tribble]

I want to play that game, Tribble, what do you use?
3.5, and most of it is homebrewed. It's not the campaign setting in my signature though.

[CelesTial]

My friend is a big fan of using props as a way of keeping track of who has what, McGuffin wise. He also likes props for stunting, so people can describe things, and when we don't understand they can demonstrate (He has a big empty living room). I had borrowed some of his props last time because I was going to a costume party, but he had given me a lift home last time, when I had all the stuff.

Two of his prize props were a replica long sword with a leather scabbard which he had made, which wouldn't come out more than 2 inches because the blade wasn't that big and for safety and a large spiked club. Now I had to return these because they were our Mystic's Cudgel of the Wild, and our Paladins Dar Blade (We play a homebrew system where we play semi-legendary heroes), and the only way I could get there was a quick pop into town on the bus, then a short jog to another bus. I got some funny looks, and was actually not allowed to go on the bus until I proved they were harmless. That was embarrassing.

[Eldan]

Little known fact: Federal law also dictates that employers make up the difference if the employee can demonstrate not making the minimum $7.50 an hour during a shift.
.

7.50$? How can anyone live from that? I mean, I make 20 an hour as an untrained helper in various small side jobs, usually without an official contract, and people tell me that's not enough. Cleaners make about 25-30 an hour, I think, and that's seen as pitifully low...

[Foeofthelance]

You were at a table for 6 hours and didn't even bother a tip? I'm siding with the waitress here.

The thing is, they were still at the table when she yelled at them. For all she knew they were each going to leave a good tip on their own. She acted unprofessionally, and effectively earned a bad tip.


7.50$? How can anyone live from that? I mean, I make 20 an hour as an untrained helper in various small side jobs, usually without an official contract, and people tell me that's not enough. Cleaners make about 25-30 an hour, I think, and that's seen as pitifully low...

There are a lot of problems with the Federal Minimum wage, but I can't really get into them without running into politics. Least amount said, when I was working as a waiter for $2.50 an hour I was usually bringing home about $10-15 dollars in tips on a slow night, and we were a cheap pizzeria, not a fancy steakhouse. But otherwise, yeah, there's a reason a lot of people have to work two or three jobs to make ends meet.

[2xMachina]

I don't know about you, but 20 per hour is pretty good IMO...

20 per hour, 8 hours a day. That's 160 per day. 5 days a week, and that's 800 per week. 4 weeks per month for 3200 per month.

Which I must say is higher than what I'd expect to be paid as an entry level engineer when I graduate. (And that is ignoring currency differences.) (Granted, experienced ones can get a much higher pay)

[Strawberries]

I don't know about you, but 20 per hour is pretty good IMO...

20 per hour, 8 hours a day. That's 160 per day. 5 days a week, and that's 800 per week. 4 weeks per month for 3200 per month.


That depends of how many hours you actually work and how much life costs in your country.

Anyway, nothing so drastic as other people in the thread, but I got a lot of funny looks when discussing videogames on public transportation. There was a time when I was telling my boyfriend about a close call I had in a game (I think it was resident evil) and say, a little too loud "Luckily, I always have a gun on me...". Cue people staring.

[Thajocoth]

Not really gaming, and definitely not legal trouble, but I've gotten a few odd looks on the Subway in the morning, on Halloween a few years ago, on my way to work, while dressed as Link. That is the best I can think of, and, really, the only time I've ever gotten odd looks.

[Eldan]

I don't know about you, but 20 per hour is pretty good IMO...

20 per hour, 8 hours a day. That's 160 per day. 5 days a week, and that's 800 per week. 4 weeks per month for 3200 per month.

Which I must say is higher than what I'd expect to be paid as an entry level engineer when I graduate. (And that is ignoring currency differences.) (Granted, experienced ones can get a much higher pay)

Okay, staying out of politics...
Still. Minimum wage here is around 2500 a month, I think, for a full-time job. The numbers above might have been a little off, in that case.

[Inhuman Bot]

3.5, and most of it is homebrewed. It's not the campaign setting in my signature though.

Write it up, it sounds great. :smalltongue:

Once, I was walking back to the house we were playing D&D at with my D&D group after getting some dinner.

Now, it was a discussion about our game.

I have a tendancy to talk loudly without realizeing it.

So, apparently people nearby were a little confused (Though I can't imagine why) when I said "Yeah, well I'm pretty sure killing all those people is worth some kind of reward".

Got a visit from some officers later. :smallredface:

[Solaris]

You were at a table for 6 hours and didn't even bother a tip? I'm siding with the waitress here.

You tip after you leave. She voided that right by performing her job fairly lousily and then screaming at them. They may have been loud, but from what I gathered they were pretty much the only ones there. Losing out on tips doesn't hurt her, considering her employer is bound by federal law to make up the difference, it just doesn't help her. Maybe if she wanted more money, she ought to do her job better, neh?
This is from a guy who forks over a minimum of a 20% tip unless the waitress actively pisses me off. If she were to come over and start screaming at me, she'd be lucky if I didn't end the day by getting her fired.


7.50$? How can anyone live from that? I mean, I make 20 an hour as an untrained helper in various small side jobs, usually without an official contract, and people tell me that's not enough. Cleaners make about 25-30 an hour, I think, and that's seen as pitifully low...

It's very possible. It sucks, but it's possible. Rent tends to range from $500 to $1500 a month, depending on location, for low-end apartments. Utilities are often included. With a room-mate or two, all making $1620 (assuming working seven days a week, eight hours a day - which is harder than it would seem, especially given the economy) that covers rent and food - assuming they only spend ten dollars a day on chow, which isn't hard if you're not stupid about it. Fast food is not a good idea if you're working minimum wage, but spaghetti is a godsend. You don't have luxuries, nor do you have much to fall back on, it's living hand-to-mouth, but there you have it.
The situation becomes more complicated with three children, naturally. To be callous, there's something to be said for birth control.

[golentan]

It's very possible. It sucks, but it's possible. Rent tends to range from $500 to $1500 a month, depending on location, for low-end apartments. Utilities are often included. With a room-mate or two, all making $1620 (assuming working seven days a week, eight hours a day - which is harder than it would seem, especially given the economy) that covers rent and food - assuming they only spend ten dollars a day on chow, which isn't hard if you're not stupid about it. Fast food is not a good idea if you're working minimum wage, but spaghetti is a godsend. You don't have luxuries, nor do you have much to fall back on, it's living hand-to-mouth, but there you have it.
The situation becomes more complicated with three children, naturally. To be callous, there's something to be said for birth control.

It's not as bad as all that. For 15 bucks I can get a chicken, greens, and rice and be fed for a week. I spend maybe 50 bucks even with my coffee budget and eat better and more than anyone else I know (not good for my wasteline). You just have to avoid premade meals, ramen is a ripoff and don't even talk to me about fast food. Dessert I make myself (a little sugar, some fruit, some milk, and some ingenuity and you have ice cream. Add flour and you have french pastries... Mmm...). Room w/ utilities is ~6-800 a month where I am if you're not too picky. Bus passes are 30 bucks (dollar a day), and take you anywhere you need to go. Internet is free nowadays, or at most the price of a cup of coffee. With internet, you get TV shows (Yay legal streaming sites!). You just have to know what you're doing and be willing to put in the time if you don't want to pay for the convenience.

Sorry for derail.

[Foeofthelance]

Hmmm, got from school if not from the law. My campus had a blanket No GAMES! policy, aimed at blocking gambling during school hours. This, of course, was possibly the second most ignored rule, the first being the one about smoking within fifty feet of a building. Anyways, my friends and I had set up shop in the corner of the library's lounge. It wasn't in the library proper, meaning it was safe for us to be loud and have food and drink. A few of us started bringing Yugioh! decks, which led to a few of us bringing Magic the Gathering decks, which led to me starting a Yugioh-D&D crossover game, which somehow led to Nerf swords and Nerf guns...

Anyway, security comes over a couple of times, but decide to leave us alone since we're clearly not gambling and we're actually being less disruptive than the guys with the guitars and drums. Eventually, however, the Dean becomes involved. We've had issues with her before due to a number of "stunts", but nothing we've ever really gotten in trouble for. The conversation goes like this.

Dean: "You know you aren't allowed to play games on campus."

"John"*: "Why not? We're not gambling, and besides, its a silly rule. People play games on their computers, the school computers, and there's at least three other groups of Magic players running around right now. You can't arbitrarily enforce the rules."

Dean: "Fine, but you're going to need permission from the student council."

"John": "Sure! Hey, Foe! Is it all right if we play?"

Me: (In between turns of Yugioh) "Eh, sure. Just remember, no gambling!"

"John": "There, we've got permission. He's a senator!"

She gave up after that, and we actually managed to get this to work for the better part of a year, until I stopped going there. Since then they've realized my "permission" was voided after I left the Senate. So now we're trying to do an official end run around the rule and getting our game club. If it works not only do we get to keep gaming, but we can make the school pay for pizza at least once a week!


*Name changed to protect the silly.


Off topic:
3.5, and most of it is homebrewed. It's not the campaign setting in my signature though.

Well, if you ever want to try it again via play by post or AIM or somesuch, give a look-up.

[evil-frosty]

Quote:
Originally Posted by The Vorpal Tribble
3.5, and most of it is homebrewed. It's not the campaign setting in my signature though.
Well, if you ever want to try it again via play by post or AIM or somesuch, give a look-up.

Same here that campaign sounds awesome.

And no interesting stories here, sorry. Actually i am surprised there are so many stories.

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

The only time I ever had a cop call on me, I kinda deserved it. (long story):smalleek:

But gaming getting me in trouble? Nope.

[Zocelot]

Yeah, I'm also surprised at how long this thread has gone on for. I expected that maybe a small handful of people would post, but it seems that a gaming causes quite a bit of trouble.

[Solaris]

Yeah, I'm also surprised at how long this thread has gone on for. I expected that maybe a small handful of people would post, but it seems that a gaming causes quite a bit of trouble.

Naw, stupid people cause trouble. Gamers are just standing there going "Bwuh?"

[Foeofthelance]

Naw, stupid people cause trouble. Gamers are just standing there going "Bwuh?"

Probably a bit of both. After it becomes normal for you to plan two different bank heists in two different worlds on two different days in the same week, you kind of forget that most people don't.

[TheCountAlucard]

Come to think of it, there is a time gaming got me in a spot of trouble...

Had a game session late one Friday night, and it went on 'til three in the morning. Unfortunately, one of the guys in the group has a shaky concept of "inside voice," and thus his occasional swear over a bad roll was enough to rattle the windows. And I lived next to the housing guy at the time. And he had a child relative over for the weekend. I got a fairly stern talking-to after that. :smalleek:

[DraPrime]

And THIS is why I'm incredibly glad Australia isn't a tipping society. If the service, food or whatever is exceptionally good, you might get a bit of extra loose change. Extra.
Gawd I hope we never end up with a tipping system...

Alas, no cool in-trouble stories here.

As a minimum wage worker, I would like to remind you that generosity is cool. :smallcool:

[Brainstomper]

After an epic 14+ hour game the DM's landlady came down at 4:30 AM to tell us to shut up. She had gotten over 10 compliants about he noise. I've been gaming a long time and it seems that every one has a story that begins with.. "Well there was this one time we were talking about".. Back in 1992 some guys were playing TAG on campus. THe campus cops were not amused my the IED dummies they left laying around. It was the second biggest issue next to the 40 something guy that would crawl on libarary or dining tables to smell womens feet. When spring came they caught him sniffing feet on the quad when people were laying in the grass. Turns out he was a local city councilman.

[Shas aia Toriia]

Come to think of it, there is a time gaming got me in a spot of trouble...

Had a game session late one Friday night, and it went on 'til three in the morning. Unfortunately, one of the guys in the group has a shaky concept of "inside voice," and thus his occasional swear over a bad roll was enough to rattle the windows. And I lived next to the housing guy at the time. And he had a child relative over for the weekend. I got a fairly stern talking-to after that. :smalleek:

That sounds exactly like something I would do. . . :smallredface:

[Brainstomper]

And as a totally off topic post.. I gave up criminal justice 3 years ago to be a SAHD for my baby girl who has serious health issues. Anyway I work P/T at a big box reatiler. Today a woman whose main language was not English asked a cashier tottaly out the blue to help her pick out a box of condoms. She had filled her cart with EVERY SINGLE BOX on the shelf and wanted the cashier to help her check every condom so that she wouldn't get prrgnant. She then told the cashier who is a very nice and easy going teenage girl that she picked her to help becasue "She looked like the type of girl who would buy a lot of condoms". I thought the cashier was going to jump the counter and punch the customer out.. The manager gave her the rest of her day off with pay.

[Solaris]

And as a totally off topic post.. I gave up criminal justice 3 years ago to be a SAHD for my baby girl who has serious health issues. Anyway I work P/T at a big box reatiler. Today a woman whose main language was not English asked a cashier tottaly out the blue to help her pick out a box of condoms. She had filled her cart with EVERY SINGLE BOX on the shelf and wanted the cashier to help her check every condom so that she wouldn't get prrgnant. She then told the cashier who is a very nice and easy going teenage girl that she picked her to help becasue "She looked like the type of girl who would buy a lot of condoms". I thought the cashier was going to jump the counter and punch the customer out.. The manager gave her the rest of her day off with pay.

Y'know, sometimes you just gotta wonder about people...

[Serpentine]

As a minimum wage worker, I would like to remind you that generosity is cool. :smallcool:As someone who has a well-defined social concience, I will inform you that if some instances of stinginess will prevent hundreds of thousands of minimum-wage workers from having to depend on the generosity of others, I shall be stingy with a free concience :smallcool:
:smalltongue:

edit: I buy the food your business sells. The business pays you what should be a fair wage. Why should I pay again for something I'm already paying you to do? If you do something exceptional, you get extra. But you should not expect extra for a standard job, and you should especially not be getting paid less than you can live on under the assumption that you'll get extra elsewhere. It's the employer's job to pay you, not ours.

[Brainstomper]

I've worked with level 2 and 3 adult sex offenders for 5 years and juvenile sex offenders and severe beavioral/mental heath issues for 10 more plus 2 years work p/t in a pysch eval unit. I've stuff so nasty that I fall asleep during horror movies, know people on jerry springer and America's Most Wanted. I can eat red meat and pasta and watch autaopsy footage of real autopsies. Not much fazes me annymore. I've literally held a kid in my arms while he died. And working retail amazes me for the sheer stupidity, laziness and generally thoughtless behavior that "normal adults" show. I live in an affluent suburb and some of these people are bigger crooks than my former clients. Holding up a busy check out line for a 10 cent price difference to the point that not 1 but 3 managers have to deal with you. And you drive a Hummer? Oh look, your the 2nd biggest realtor in an area were houses average 425, 000. And you are going to go off on some high school kid just trying to earn some money. What a bunch of goblin droppings.

[Solaris]

I've worked with level 2 and 3 adult sex offenders for 5 years and juvenile sex offenders and severe behavioral/mental heath issues for 10 more plus 2 years work p/t in a pysch eval unit. I've stuff so nasty that I fall asleep during horror movies, know people on jerry springer and America's Most Wanted. I can eat red meat and pasta and watch autopsy footage of real autopsies. Not much fazes me anymore. I've literally held a kid in my arms while he died. And working retail amazes me for the sheer stupidity, laziness and generally thoughtless behavior that "normal adults" show. I live in an affluent suburb and some of these people are bigger crooks than my former clients. Holding up a busy check out line for a 10 cent price difference to the point that not 1 but 3 managers have to deal with you. And you drive a Hummer? Oh look, your the 2nd biggest realtor in an area were houses average 425, 000. And you are going to go off on some high school kid just trying to earn some money. What a bunch of goblin droppings.

Yeah. The best part is when you stop to realize that they actually consider a dime something worth stressing out about. There are many times where I look at someone whining about something like getting the wrong kind of milkshake and just say "May all your problems be so large."

[Thajocoth]

...There are many times where I look at someone whining about something like getting the wrong kind of milkshake and just say "May all your problems be so large."

The problem with this attitude when it comes to food options is that a lot of people are allergic to a lot of weird things. I know a girl who's allergic to Vanillin. Not Vanilla... Vanillin, the fake Vanilla. For her, getting the wrong milkshake could actually result in a real problem.

[CollinPhillips]

The problem with this attitude when it comes to food options is that a lot of people are allergic to a lot of weird things. I know a girl who's allergic to Vanillin. Not Vanilla... Vanillin, the fake Vanilla. For her, getting the wrong milkshake could actually result in a real problem.

Yeah but with this attitude, the problem will resolve itself after the first instance.
"Excuse me miss, I'm allergic to X and it is on my Y"
"So? Eat it anyway."
*omming and nomming*
*Anaphylactic shock*

TA DA!
/sarcasm

Edit: What does this have to do with gaming and legality?

[golentan]

Yeah but with this attitude, the problem will resolve itself after the first instance.
"Excuse me miss, I'm allergic to X and it is on my Y"
"So? Eat it anyway."
*omming and nomming*
*Anaphylactic shock*

TA DA!

Edit: What does this have to do with gaming and legality?

Fortitude saves?

The DnD defense against murder: "I didn't think he'd die from the arsenic. I figured he had a 16 CON and Fighter levels, he should have made that save 95% of the time."

I don't see it flying well. Would Vanillin Allergy count as a Flaw to get another feat?

[Thajocoth]

Edit: What does this have to do with gaming and legality?It had to do with another post in the thread. Just like your post did. I was merely using an example to demonstrate my point.

[Solaris]

The problem with this attitude when it comes to food options is that a lot of people are allergic to a lot of weird things. I know a girl who's allergic to Vanillin. Not Vanilla... Vanillin, the fake Vanilla. For her, getting the wrong milkshake could actually result in a real problem.

That wasn't what I meant and you know it. A food allergy is a genuine reason to get upset. Someone giving you chocolate when you ordered strawberry is not. At least, not something to flip out over - but you're certainly within your rights to seek correction.

[rakkoon]

And back on topic

A friend of mine was asked to leave the park (by the police) when practicing his archery.
With a LARP bow
Which has this kind of tip

http://www.king-cart.com/store/oknight/6_low_speed_arrows.jpg
Damn those old ladies

[Brainstomper]

At a warhammer Grand Tourney I've seen a guy get kicked out for throwing his dice at his oppenent. The Next year a 40K guy got kicked out for his Nazi themed IG army complete with his matching outfit.

[Escef]

And back on topic

A friend of mine was asked to leave the park (by the police) when practicing his archery.
With a LARP bow
Which has this kind of tip

http://www.king-cart.com/store/oknight/6_low_speed_arrows.jpg
Damn those old ladies

Honestly, from a distance those can easily be mistaken for real weapons. Especially while the arrow is in flight and cannot be clearly seen at all. I think it was more a matter of maintaining public order. No one wants everyone who sees the archer getting into a tizzy. And the police don't feel like getting called 10 times for something stupid, just on the off chance there is a genuine nut-job running around with real arrows and they think its someone crying wolf again.

[Syka]

I've worked with level 2 and 3 adult sex offenders for 5 years and juvenile sex offenders and severe beavioral/mental heath issues for 10 more plus 2 years work p/t in a pysch eval unit. I've stuff so nasty that I fall asleep during horror movies, know people on jerry springer and America's Most Wanted. I can eat red meat and pasta and watch autaopsy footage of real autopsies. Not much fazes me annymore. I've literally held a kid in my arms while he died. And working retail amazes me for the sheer stupidity, laziness and generally thoughtless behavior that "normal adults" show. I live in an affluent suburb and some of these people are bigger crooks than my former clients. Holding up a busy check out line for a 10 cent price difference to the point that not 1 but 3 managers have to deal with you. And you drive a Hummer? Oh look, your the 2nd biggest realtor in an area were houses average 425, 000. And you are going to go off on some high school kid just trying to earn some money. What a bunch of goblin droppings.

I am so glad to know I'm not the only one who thinks that the moment people step into a store they turn into morons. Not all, but some.

And I hate it. When someone is badmouthing you TO YOUR FACE, all you can do is stand there and take it. If someone is ranting about something that you do or don't agree with, you can't tell them to stop, you have to take it (even if you agree, it's awkward to be talking politics/religion with a line of customers). If someone is yelling at you for something YOU DIDN'T EVEN DO, you have to take it.

At least if my coworkers do that I can walk away and/or talk to my boss. No so with customers.

:smallfurious: I have been yelled at for no apparent reason, I have been told I, personally, do not respect veterans because of where I work (Walgreens, for God's sake) because of someone else's actions, I've been told I treated someone like a criminal for not taking her coupon right away because we were told no computer generated coupons, I've been told I'm rude because I asked someone if I could help them and let them know we were closing very soon (store policy).

And I can't do crap. I can't defend myself in any way, not speaking back or anything. The most I can do is call a manager up but I still have to listen to it.


*breathes* Sorry, retail is a soul-sucking job because, while many people are wonderful, otherwise nice people turn into monsters who don't realize- hey, you're a person too who has a life and isn't just standing around here to be your slave. In the cumulative 2.5 years I've worked retail-esque jobs, I've had one person call me back later to apologize, out of dozens or hundreds who have treated me totally inappropriately. That lady was incredible, in my books.




On topic, never gotten in legal trouble per se. But we were about to run a Zombies versus Humans game back in March/April 2007. It was still in the planning stages when the Virginia Tech shootings happened. We rethought the idea of having students run around with NERF guns and canceled it, since it was scheduled to start the next week. >>

Also, VT, it IS an awesome game. You really do need to PM me if it's starting again and I could join since I would carve out time to do it. Best. Game. Evar.

[Solaris]

At a warhammer Grand Tourney I've seen a guy get kicked out for throwing his dice at his oppenent. The Next year a 40K guy got kicked out for his Nazi themed IG army complete with his matching outfit.

... Okay, I wanna know who honestly thought that a Nazi-themed IG army complete with matching outfit was going to fly.


Honestly, from a distance those can easily be mistaken for real weapons. Especially while the arrow is in flight and cannot be clearly seen at all.

If you don't know what a real arrow looks like, anyhow. The head tends to taper in the other direction. If it was an old lady, I'd say bad eyesight and general misanthropy had something to do with it too.

[Thufir]

If you don't know what a real arrow looks like, anyhow. The head tends to taper in the other direction. If it was an old lady, I'd say bad eyesight and general misanthropy had something to do with it too.

And I'd say that if you see someone shooting arrows around, you're not likely to go up and carefully inspect one of the arrows to see if it's real, you're likely going to go "HOLY **** SOMEONE'S SHOOTING ARROWS!" :smalleek:
Sure, if you're close enough, you can see the difference, but if you're not, you won't exactly want to get closer in case they are real.
Also, while they may not be as dangerous as real arrows, I imagine one of those would still hurt if it hit you, and so you probably shouldn't be shooting them around in a public park.

(Not that this rules out bad eyesight and misanthropy, just saying it's actually a reasonable enough reaction anyway)

[Umael]

Oh carp, I just remembered one... and it's about me... :smallredface:

LARP game - to be exact, The Shining Host (Changeling: The Dreaming in Live-Action). I'm playing a sidhe knight modelled after Baron Mandorallen from the Belgariad. Very confident, charge into battle be-devil the consequences, etc.

I also have a magical sword that gives me an extra attack as long as I give a battle cry. I tend to use it often, charging into battle and actually... um... projecting my voice a little, shall we say?

I also get very into character at times.

I'm sure a number of you can see where this is going.

Sure enough, we get into a fight and I leap up onto a platform and yell a battle cry.

Now I guess I should explain that we were playing at night, which really isn't too bad, because the outdoor site was well-lit. It had to be well-lit, because it was the civic center. Nice, open-air, three-story structure, enclosed on three sides by various civic departments. Gives it very nice acoustics.

Did I mention that the police deparment is one of those civic departments?

And I suppose, in retrospect, I could have picked better words. It was a fantasy game, there are probably a plethora of great battle cries to use.

"Now you all die!" is not one of them.

Three minutes later, a pair of Salem's finest are outside, politely demanding to know what in blazes is going on. Keeping in mind that the 911 call-takers are busy maybe 50 feet away, it was not, shall we say, my most shining moment ever.

[Gitman00]

I was casting for a Cthulhu-based LARP set in the late 1920s to early 1930s. Normally we rented out a campground, but we had one game in the city wherein we performed an evil summoning ritual in the middle of the night in a player's backyard. This got the cops called, and by the time they arrived the players were in an epic battle with the cultists and zombies. It was smoothed over quickly when we explained what was going on and showed them our foam-and-duct-tape boffer weapons, but it was funny anyway. :smallbiggrin:

[Raiki]

I'm playing a sidhe knight modelled after Baron Mandorallen from the Belgariad.

You win +1 awesome in my book. My girlfriend introduced me to that series, and I've devoured just about everything I could find on it. It helps that Mandorallen is absolutely my favorite character. I mean, the guy wrestled a freaking BEAR and won. How cool is that?

On a side note, maybe you would have gotten in less trouble had you been theeing and thouing? Who's going to take you too seriously when your battle cry is: "My Lord, I find thy face apelike and thy form misshapen. Thy beard, moreover, is an offense against decency, resembling more closely that scabrous fir which doth decorate the hinder portion of a mongrel dog than a proper adornement for a human face. Is it possible that thy mother, seized by some wild lechery, did dally at some time past with a randy goat?"

~R~

[comicshorse]

Who's going to take you too seriously when your battle cry is: "My Lord, I find thy face apelike and thy form misshapen. Thy beard, moreover, is an offense against decency, resembling more closely that scabrous fir which doth decorate the hinder portion of a mongrel dog than a proper adornement for a human face. Is it possible that thy mother, seized by some wild lechery, did dally at some time past with a randy goat?"

Nobody, they will however stab you five times while you are saying it :smallsmile:

[Raiki]

Nobody, they will however stab you five times while you are saying it :smallsmile:

Hmmm...a possibility I hadn't considered. Maybe shortening it down to something like: "Forasmuch as thou poseth but little challenge, I shall nevertheless bring to bear the full force of mine blade upon thee!"

That should cut the stabbings down to only 1 or 2, right? :smallbiggrin:

[golentan]

Hmmm...a possibility I hadn't considered. Maybe shortening it down to something like: "Forasmuch as thou poseth but little challenge, I shall nevertheless bring to bear the full force of mine blade upon thee!"

That should cut the stabbings down to only 1 or 2, right? :smallbiggrin:

I count 3.

Personally, my preferred battlecry is "*Sigh* I just bought this shirt, and bloodstains are a pain."

[Pyrian]

"How appropriate. You fight like a cow!"

...Had to say it. :smallcool:

[Foeofthelance]

Nobody, they will however stab you five times while you are saying it :smallsmile:

What, speaking isn't a free action for you guys?

[KuReshtin]

I mean, the guy wrestled a freaking BEAR and won. How cool is that?


A bear? Mandorallen never wrestled a bear, did he? He did wrestle a lion and won, but not a bear.

I think it might be time for me to re-read the Belgariad again.

I also have to echo Thufir's comment about archery practice in a public park not being a really smart thing to do, even if the arrows are blunt and padded.

[Solaris]

And I'd say that if you see someone shooting arrows around, you're not likely to go up and carefully inspect one of the arrows to see if it's real, you're likely going to go "HOLY **** SOMEONE'S SHOOTING ARROWS!" :smalleek:
Sure, if you're close enough, you can see the difference, but if you're not, you won't exactly want to get closer in case they are real.
Also, while they may not be as dangerous as real arrows, I imagine one of those would still hurt if it hit you, and so you probably shouldn't be shooting them around in a public park.

(Not that this rules out bad eyesight and misanthropy, just saying it's actually a reasonable enough reaction anyway)

I must be unusual in that if I see a cat loosing arrows, I find out what's going on before I leap to conclusions. Especially if he's loosing them at a target... and they're bouncing off. Then again, I'm more the type to walk up to a guy doing something stupid and tell him to stop than I am the type to call the cops and have them do it.


Oh carp, I just remembered one... and it's about me... :smallredface:

LARP game - to be exact, The Shining Host (Changeling: The Dreaming in Live-Action). I'm playing a sidhe knight modelled after Baron Mandorallen from the Belgariad. Very confident, charge into battle be-devil the consequences, etc.

I also have a magical sword that gives me an extra attack as long as I give a battle cry. I tend to use it often, charging into battle and actually... um... projecting my voice a little, shall we say?

I also get very into character at times.

I'm sure a number of you can see where this is going.

Sure enough, we get into a fight and I leap up onto a platform and yell a battle cry.

Now I guess I should explain that we were playing at night, which really isn't too bad, because the outdoor site was well-lit. It had to be well-lit, because it was the civic center. Nice, open-air, three-story structure, enclosed on three sides by various civic departments. Gives it very nice acoustics.

Did I mention that the police deparment is one of those civic departments?

And I suppose, in retrospect, I could have picked better words. It was a fantasy game, there are probably a plethora of great battle cries to use.

"Now you all die!" is not one of them.

Three minutes later, a pair of Salem's finest are outside, politely demanding to know what in blazes is going on. Keeping in mind that the 911 call-takers are busy maybe 50 feet away, it was not, shall we say, my most shining moment ever.

... I'm betting nobody even had to call 911. They just heard it themselves.

[Raiki]

A bear? Mandorallen never wrestled a bear, did he? He did wrestle a lion and won, but not a bear.

I think it might be time for me Raiki to re-read the Belgariad again.


*Facepalm* Okay. Yeah. You're right. It was a lion. I think I just had a bit of a Barak/Mandorallen mental crossover there for a minute. But the point stands, wrestling a lion and winning still puts him leagues of cool above anyone else I've met.

~R~

[Umael]

... I'm betting nobody even had to call 911. They just heard it themselves.

No bets.

Like I said, um... good acoustics.

Yeah, that's what it was. The acoustics.


(Seriously though, the acoustics of that place was phe-nom-e-nal. One game the main storyteller's girlfriend (who had a lovely voice) decided to sing "The Phantom of the Opera" (the core melody piece) while on the third floor. Imagine 100 people playing a LARP and just... stopping to listen. Absolutely amazing.)

[Shas aia Toriia]

(Seriously though, the acoustics of that place was phe-nom-e-nal. One game the main storyteller's girlfriend (who had a lovely voice) decided to sing "The Phantom of the Opera" (the core melody piece) while on the third floor. Imagine 100 people playing a LARP and just... stopping to listen. Absolutely amazing.)

'Tis a good song.

[snoopy13a]

And I can't do crap. I can't defend myself in any way, not speaking back or anything. The most I can do is call a manager up but I still have to listen to it.




Well... you can tell the customer off :smalltongue:

Now, you'd probably get fired for doing that. But you can do it :smallsmile:

[Douglas]

Well... you can tell the customer off :smalltongue:

Now, you'd probably get fired for doing that. But you can do it :smallsmile:
Just like you could randomly punch someone in the face while talking to him (http://xkcd.com/706/). Very cathartic, I'm sure, but probably not a good idea.

[Raiki]

Yeah, anyone thinking that retail is a kind of slow-burning hell should try working in the hospitality business. I'm the front desk supervisor at the largest hotel in my (admitedly small) town. We have 200+ rooms, and when every single one is full with a group from NYC, sometimes I just want to rip out my hair and throw it at them.

Seriously, I don't know why people think that it's okay to do the things they do. Alot of times I get people screaming at me for no other reason than "acting mad might get me a discount".

/rant

Edit: Okay, that came out a bit more ranty than I meant. Didn't mean it to sound like retail wasn't difficult, I know it is. Please don't take offense.

~R~

[golentan]

I always try to stay polite, smiling, and sir or ma'am people. As a customer. Not all people are humongous jerks.

[Irbis]

And back on topic

A friend of mine was asked to leave the park (by the police) when practicing his archery.
With a LARP bow
Which has this kind of tip

http://www.king-cart.com/store/oknight/6_low_speed_arrows.jpg
Damn those old ladies

I wonder what was shopped out of this picture :smalltongue:


At a warhammer Grand Tourney I've seen a guy get kicked out for throwing his dice at his oppenent. The Next year a 40K guy got kicked out for his Nazi themed IG army complete with his matching outfit.

Um... Aren't some WH40K armies supposed to be based on them, though? :smallconfused:

[KuReshtin]

It seems the thread's derailed into Customer Interaction, more than gaming getting you into trouble.

So I started the Customer Interaction Thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=8037733) for those tales.

[TheCountAlucard]

Man, I just re-read the Viking one, and I'm still laughing. :smallbiggrin:

[Solaris]

Man, I just re-read the Viking one, and I'm still laughing. :smallbiggrin:

I think he won. The coin-flip does it.

[Groundhog]

On topic: Playing Zombies on a college campus can get interesting. Like when one of the RA's got the idea that nerf darts set off fire alarms and went berzerk at everyone who was playing.

That aside, playing Zombies on a college campus is awesome, especially if certain parts of said campus have been designed by a bunch of avant-garde architects.

[golentan]

On topic: Playing Zombies on a college campus can get interesting. Like when one of the RA's got the idea that nerf darts set off fire alarms and went berzerk at everyone who was playing.

That aside, playing Zombies on a college campus is awesome, especially if certain parts of said campus have been designed by a bunch of avant-garde architects.

You should have done what we did: decide that the Raging RA is a new type of zombie that can't be killed and even eats other zombies. Though ours was worried about squirrels eating the darts, I can't imagine where the "sets off fire alarms" came from.

And yes, Zombies is awesome.

[Groundhog]

I would have loved to do that, but I didn't want to get my friends kicked out of the dorm that that RA was in charge of, since some of them actually lived there, which would have caused problems if and when we finally decided to go to sleep.

[rakkoon]

My favorite was in a LARP : "I want blood, BLOOD" when fighting a Blood God.
He was killed by his own friends one second later.

[Maelstrom]

Okay, staying out of politics...
Still. Minimum wage here is around 2500 a month, I think, for a full-time job. The numbers above might have been a little off, in that case.

Sorry, no minimum wage in Switzerland...

And (for the rest of the readers) currently 2500 CHF (Swiss Francs) comes out to about $12.75/hour (for a 42 hour week)

[Solaris]

Sorry, no minimum wage in Switzerland...

And (for the rest of the readers) currently 2500 CHF (Swiss Francs) comes out to about $12.75/hour (for a 42 hour week)

But what's the buying power of 2500 CHF in Switzerland? How does that handle utilities, rent, that kind of thing?

[Ashtar]

My Monthly budget (in CHF):
Flat 670.-
Health insurance 175.- (+25 other insurances) = 200.-
Internet / Phone / Mobile 95.-
Shopping / Groceries / Consumables 240.-
Midday lunch (5x11x4 @ Company cafeteria) 220.-
All access (all trains/bus/boats) public transport card for Switzerland 285.-
Utilites / Provision for Taxes and other expenditures 300.-

= 2010.- Monthly expenditures

This is sufficient to live most comfortably for one. On a 2500.- budget, you have space to go out, party and generally do fun things from time to time.

When I was a student (i.e. lower insurance due to it being provided by school) and no tax (no income / paid by parents), I lived with and provided for my girlfriend (and several occasional other friends) on 1600.- a month (+a student job at university 25.-/h).

I currently earn much more than that, but my basic expenditures have changed little since that time.


Edit: And to add to the current thread, Gaming has never caused me legal trouble, only gotten the cops called to my flat because we were making too much noise during an all night RPG session. (5 people talking was too lound).

[PairO'Dice Lost]

One instance where gaming got us in trouble when it shouldn't have, and one of the reverse:


In 2nd grade, a friend of mine brought the 1e PHB and DMG into school to teach us how to play D&D. We would read through it and draw graph paper dungeons and such during recess, while the actual games would happen over the weekend at his house. Well, a teacher who happened to oversee the lunch room was one of those "D&D is Satanic!!!" folks, so she had his books confiscated and us sent to the office.

Given that my dad wasn't exactly in favor of me playing RPGs and she threatened to call our parents and our churches, I was worried for a minute...until the principal calmly told her that he played D&D as well, didn't see a problem, and that we should have our books returned and not take any more flak for it. The expression on her face was priceless. :smallbiggrin:


Second incident: Until it was renovated last semester, my college campus had a few raised brick circles where several footpaths intersected, which my group of friends referred to as "sacrificial altars" because they had the school seal in the middle and some inscriptions around the edges. Well, one night, we finished up our Call of Cthulhu game early and two of the players decided that they'd take another friend and perform a fake human sacrifice--candles, cloaks, fake knives, and everything--just for kicks and giggles.

So at about 3 in the morning, there they are in the middle of all the academic buildings, with one guy lying in a chalked pentagram and candles and the others chanting Latin-sounding nonsense, when the school security officers drive by on a routine patrol. Their car pulls up to the "altar" and stops for a second; thinking they'd get in trouble, the friend being sacrificed sits up and waves with a huge grin on his face calling out "Hellooooo, officers!" to reassure them, and they start the car back up and go on about their business. The next morning, we passed the Public Safety building on the way to class and heard one of the officers finish talking about the incident over their cigarette break.

As we passed right next to them, our group of five went up behind the storyteller and all whispered "Hellooooo, officers!"; he jumped and turned around, and we all gave him huge smiles and kept walking. He didn't stop laughing for a while.

[Dust]

These are GREAT. Other than a bit of trouble stemming from an insane GM (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=147121&highlight=tantrum), I don't have much to add.

[J.Gellert]

I've thought about it, actually. People getting freaked out over us talking about battle/assassination plans in crowded places (long-time evil group).

Never had any trouble, though. I guess it's because we use so many english terms and expressions when talking about games, that anyone stupid enough to be scared/offended doesn't understand half of what we say. I mean, if I have to shout "Blood for the blood god!" in Greek, it just doesn't shout the same to me.

That and we've never done any LARPing, certainly not with candles and robes :smallbiggrin:

[PairO'Dice Lost]

That and we've never done any LARPing, certainly not with candles and robes :smallbiggrin:

The funny part is that those players refuse to play any LARP games, thinking that they'd look stupid doing it.

"So Ryan, what you're telling me is that you're perfectly willing to 'look stupid' as long as there's no one else doing it with you?"
"Right. With what we did, the only people to see us were the cops!"

:smallsigh:

[Brewdude]

For the customer service folk. Ya'll need to get your angst out at http://notalwaysright.com

However, the most important skill you can learn is how to be a polite ********. Once you've decided you've had enough, rather than "go off" on them, all you have to do is continue to be polite, but utterly unhelpful to them. Give them the answers that are technically correct but lack the utilization of your background knowledge. It can be cathartic.

[Cleverdan22]

My story's pretty lame. Basically, my adventuring group was at a pizza place, and we got kicked out for being too loud. Weeeee...

[poisonoustea]

Me, my ex gf and a friend attracted a couple policemen's attention, years ago.
They just asked a few questions, nothing major.

After all, we were just playing Vampire: the Masquerade.
Live.
At night.
Dressed in black.
In front of a church. :smallbiggrin:

[Renegade Paladin]

7.50$? How can anyone live from that?
It's $7.25, actually, and very carefully.

As someone who has a well-defined social concience, I will inform you that if some instances of stinginess will prevent hundreds of thousands of minimum-wage workers from having to depend on the generosity of others, I shall be stingy with a free concience :smallcool:
:smalltongue:
Except it won't, because the employer doesn't care, which is the major hole in your observation.

And yes, the employer is legally required to make up the difference if the total of tips + wages does not equal minimum wage. In practice, if the employer actually has to do this, you're fired.

[THAC0]

I know this is off topic, but it's been bugging me.

How did the tipping culture evolve, anyway? It seems like such a blatant perversion of a traditional "thank you" gift.

[Renegade Paladin]

I know this is off topic, but it's been bugging me.

How did the tipping culture evolve, anyway? It seems like such a blatant perversion of a traditional "thank you" gift.
It originated in Britain. "Tips" is actually an acronym, "To Insure Prompt Service." The wait staff would basically ignore you until you bribed them. :smalltongue:

[Froogleyboy]

The wait staff would basically ignore you until you bribed them. :smalltongue:

*remembers to do this tommorow at work*

[golentan]

*remembers to do this tommorow at work*

Doesn't work so well nowadays. Comes off as rude, customers leave without paying (because you wait to serve them till tips, rather than getting the tip at the end) after an hour, boss gets mad at you because of loss of both customers and table space, you get no tips and probably get fired, you wind up homeless and fighting off wererabbits over who gets to raid the organic produce store's dumpster, and eventually you get gunned down in a hail of silver bullet tommy gun fire by the vengeful spirit of undead Al Capone and his zombie wiseguys because you ate the flowers growing around his tomb during a full moon. I've seen it a million times.

[Froogleyboy]

Doesn't work so well nowadays. Comes off as rude, customers leave without paying (because you wait to serve them till tips, rather than getting the tip at the end) after an hour, boss gets mad at you because of loss of both customers and table space, you get no tips and probably get fired, you wind up homeless and fighting off wererabbits over who gets to raid the organic produce store's dumpster, and eventually you get gunned down in a hail of silver bullet tommy gun fire by the vengeful spirit of undead Al Capone and his zombie wiseguys because you ate the flowers growing around his tomb during a full moon. I've seen it a million times.

Whoa, I don't wana have such a tragic ending. I'll make sure to be a good server

[Serpentine]

Except it won't, because the employer doesn't care, which is the major hole in your observation.

And yes, the employer is legally required to make up the difference if the total of tips + wages does not equal minimum wage. In practice, if the employer actually has to do this, you're fired.In Australia, tipping is not taken into account in wages. You get the minimum wage (or better), and if you get a tip it's a little bonus. As well it should be - everyone should be getting the pay appropriate for their work and at least basic living, without having a random element thrown in as a gamble. I'm talking about preventing the tipping culture from developing here, because I find it despicable.

[Reinboom]

It originated in Britain. "Tips" is actually an acronym, "To Insure Prompt Service." The wait staff would basically ignore you until you bribed them. :smalltongue:

You probably shouldn't state that as so matter-of-fact.

The coffee house urns from late middle ages were actually inscribed with "To Insure Promptitude". Also, this may not have been the origin of the word. There are many cases of the term 'tip' being used in reference to monetary exchange before then, such a rogue's cant of "tip me" (give me) (see oxford's dictionary for the word's etymology) or even the dutch language's "tippen" (the sound of coins).


In Australia, tipping is not taken into account in wages. You get the minimum wage (or better), and if you get a tip it's a little bonus. As well it should be - everyone should be getting the pay appropriate for their work and at least basic living, without having a random element thrown in as a gamble. I'm talking about preventing the tipping culture from developing here, because I find it despicable.

Great thing to prevent. It causes unduly economic complications and only proves to trick costumers who don't think to include tipping into the cost of their order when making it.




Closer to the actual topic:
The closest I've personally come to gaming causing any sort of legal fuss is when leaving my university's Roleplaying club's meeting location to head home at a late/early hour. A curious officer only questioned why I was out at 3 AM (I believe he thought I was much younger than I actually was).

I've also seen one of my friends get chased down by an officer for firing an air-soft gun (at another friend, in an air-soft battle).
Interestingly... that friend managed to get away. Though he's still an idiot for running in the first place.

[Raiki]

Doesn't work so well nowadays. Comes off as rude, customers leave without paying (because you wait to serve them till tips, rather than getting the tip at the end) after an hour, boss gets mad at you because of loss of both customers and table space, you get no tips and probably get fired, you wind up homeless and fighting off wererabbits over who gets to raid the organic produce store's dumpster, and eventually you get gunned down in a hail of silver bullet tommy gun fire by the vengeful spirit of undead Al Capone and his zombie wiseguys because you ate the flowers growing around his tomb during a full moon. I've seen it a million times.

You sir, are my hero. Everyone should be some eldritch abomination from beyond the stars, then life would be much more interesting.


Also: Holy crapping crap batman! I really didn't think my story would lead to an in-depth discussion of the pros and cons (well...cons anyway) of a tipping society. For what it's worth, I agree with Serp. We should really find some way to abolish or ammend the "service wage" and "minimum wage adjustment" laws here too, since it's a bit late to not adopt them in the first place; They're pretty crummy. [/understatement]

~R~

PS: Am I the only one who spends longer nitpicking the flow, grammar and syntax of my post than I do writing it?

[golentan]

You sir, are my hero. Everyone should be some eldritch abomination from beyond the stars, then life would be much more interesting.


Also: Holy crapping crap batman! I really didn't think my story would lead to an in-depth discussion of the pros and cons (well...cons anyway) of a tipping society. For what it's worth, I agree with Serp. We should really find some way to abolish or ammend the "service wage" and "minimum wage adjustment" laws here too, since it's a bit late to not adopt them in the first place; They're pretty crummy. [/understatement]

~R~

PS: Am I the only one who spends longer nitpicking the flow, grammar and syntax of my post than I do writing it?

Umm... thanks? And that wouldn't be cool, the last time there was more than one of me I had to kill all the others. It wasn't a very fun time in my life. Though if you feel like expanding it to other eldritch creatures, I'd be down with that!

As for tipping, it... seems to be a touchy topic for a lot of people. Probably because a fair number of people's livelihoods are dependent on the receival of tips.

And no, I usually obsess about the flow in my comments as well, so... Gah. English lacks the proper structure to convey thoughts in any timely and accurate way.

[GallóglachMaxim]

A couple of days after VTech a guy went off at me and two other members of my regular gaming group for reading the equipment/weapons section of a D20 Modern manual in public, but noone called the police.

I've had uni campus security called on my reenactment group but fortunately the student union's head of security is one of our members and his office is right next to where we train, so there's never been any real trouble with them.

[mucat]

I was once on the "clueless bystander" side of this equation.

I was an undergrad, leaving a campus building after a late night in the lab, along with one friend. We cross the parking lot, and spot two people crouching next to my car. They see us and take off running, so I assumed they had been messing with/breaking into the car, and ran after them. The two of them split up, so I chased one and my friend chased the other. The guy I was chasing was fast, and led me halfway across campus before he gave me the slip among some trees. So I flagged down a cop and gave her the guy's description, she agreed to prowl around and try to spot him, so I returned to my car just in time to meet my friend coming back the other way.

He had been chasing the second "thief", he rold me, when three guys started running toward him. Thinking he was about to get thrashed by the thief's partners, he turned and ran, but they cornered him by a locked building entrance, moved in menacingly...and one of them tagged him and said "You're a zombie!" Then they all ran off.

We never did figure out what game we had stumbled into, but I called the cops and told them my earlier report about car thieves was a mistake. I hope I didn't cost the guy I was chasing valuable zombie points by flushing him out of his hiding place and making him run all that distance away from the game...

[Umael]

Got another story, although this is more a "has gaming ever gotten you out of illegal trouble".

This was a very popular story told in An Tir (the SCA name for the area that encloses Oregon, Washington, and some of the surrounding area, I believe).

A lady (I believe in garb) was on her way to an event in her car, loaded for the event. Now for those of you who aren't following, this means that a woman wearing period dress for the Middle Ages had her car full of camping gear and everything she might need for a weekend of re-enacting the time period.

She stopped at a gas station to fill up. A young punk, thinking he found an easy mark, walked up to her and pulled out his knife.

Punk: "Six inches says I get your purse."

The lady looked at him, looked at the knife, calmly reached into her car, and pulled out a broadsword (her husband was a knight).

Lady: "I'll see your six and raise you thirty."

The punk exited the scene. The lady kept her purse.

[Linkavitch]

Me and two friends of mine were discussing Pikachu in the Walmart waiting line.

Friend 1: you know, there's pretty much nothing pikachu can do that raich can't

Me: Except learn Thunder. Pikachu learns Thunder at level fifty, and Raichu doesn't at all.

Friend 2: So, you evolve Pikachu after level 50?

Elderly Cashier Lady: What happens at fifty?

Friend 1: you evolve Pikachu.

ECL: *clueless look*

@Umael: that's so awesome, it's beyond words.

[druid91]

Umm... thanks? And that wouldn't be cool, the last time there was more than one of me I had to kill all the others. It wasn't a very fun time in my life. Though if you feel like expanding it to other eldritch creatures, I'd be down with that!


So what kinds of eldritch creature positions are available?

As for the topic, No not really We did get yelled at by a teacher During senior year of high school for talking too much during lunch, But she had a study group so...

[Serpentine]

Umael: Soooooooo cool :biggrin:

[Marillion]

Got another story, although this is more a "has gaming ever gotten you out of illegal trouble".

This was a very popular story told in An Tir (the SCA name for the area that encloses Oregon, Washington, and some of the surrounding area, I believe).

A lady (I believe in garb) was on her way to an event in her car, loaded for the event. Now for those of you who aren't following, this means that a woman wearing period dress for the Middle Ages had her car full of camping gear and everything she might need for a weekend of re-enacting the time period.

She stopped at a gas station to fill up. A young punk, thinking he found an easy mark, walked up to her and pulled out his knife.

Punk: "Six inches says I get your purse."

The lady looked at him, looked at the knife, calmly reached into her car, and pulled out a broadsword (her husband was a knight).

Lady: "I'll see your six and raise you thirty."

The punk exited the scene. The lady kept her purse.

Ha. I have a story like that too. One of my friends was headed out to a LARP dressed as a punkish native american guy, with the beaded braids and the feathers and the moccasins and everything. John pulled into a gas station and prepaid about 40 dollars on his pump. He was filling his car up when he noticed a bunch of rednecks staring at him from their car. Being the shy, unassuming guy he is, he stared right back at them.

"Wat r YOO lookin at?"

"I dunno, but when I figure it out I'll let you know."

For some reason, this made them angry, and they started making noises about getting out and kicking his butt. Being a full believer in the policy of de-escalation, John dared them to. So they got out of the car, and one guy's got a bat, and one's got a two by four, and one's got a wrench, and things are starting to look bad. So John reaches into his backseat and pulls out an honest to goodness CLAYMORE. And I don't mean the anti-personnel directional landmine. I mean a sharpened piece of steel with a handle that was almost as long as John was tall. He pulls out a CLAYMORE and starts RUNNING at them, yelling "Come on! COME KICK MY ASS!"

Now, when confronted with a 6 foot tall, 200 pound ex-Army man dressed as a native american, swinging a sword that is only half a foot shorter than he is and yelling bloody murder at you, what would you do? You would jump in your car and get the heck out of there, that's what you'd do. Well, these guys...

Did exactly that. They piled back in their pickup truck and they drove away as fast as they could. And John chased them until they turned the corner and he lost sight of them. So, he returns to his car, which has conveniently just finished pumping, and he goes into the gas station to get cash back, because it turns out he had more gas left in his tank than he thought he did.

The poor attendant is white as a ghost and shaking. He could barely hand John his change, he was shaking so bad. John, ever polite and civil, thanked the man, reassured him that everything was fine, and drove off.

The next day, he gets a visit from his police buddy.

"So, John...You wouldn't happen to know anything about a guy dressed as a native american who chased some people with a claymore, would you?"

John looks down and mumbles "Yes, ma'am".

*THWACK* right upside the head. "Don't you EVER do that again!"

"Yes, ma'am."

"You could have been shot!"

"I know, ma'am."

"I had to take that call!!"

[Umael]

Marillion: Now we're getting back to the topic at hand! Gaming... legal trouble! Six foot LARPers with real Claymores... upset police friends! It's like nitro and glycerin - it's just meant to go together.

[golentan]

Well, there was the time that a LARP we were playing involved a terrorist plot, and I built a vest with wires and bricks to look like an explosive, and evidently someone called the police. Fortunately, they didn't believe (and so we were able to explain) that it wasn't a suicide plot against nowhereville's might redwoods, and that they didn't need to call in the swat team. Suicide bombers generally have higher priority targets than foliage, and they had checked in on our regular playing area a few times before, so...

[Heliomance]

It originated in Britain. "Tips" is actually an acronym, "To Insure Prompt Service." The wait staff would basically ignore you until you bribed them. :smalltongue:

And yet, tips are no loger expected in England. Appreciated, yes. Expected, no.

[Mauther]

And yet, tips are no loger expected in England. Appreciated, yes. Expected, no.

They are if your an American. Went out to grab a burger with some friends, hit the Gourmet Burger Kitchen in Windsor, kept my mouth shut the first time. No tip, no complaint (lousy service but I still felt guilty). Next day I was hungry so I dropped by the same place (insert obligatory joke about British food) alone this time, and when I paid my bill they asked if I need change back.

Amusing gaming/real world mixups… yes I have one or two.

Went to a Vampire LARP down at the University of Houston. U of H sits on the edge of the 5th ward, one of the worst neighborhoods in the nation, gang-ridden hellhole. So we’re walking from the off campus parking lot down the street, dressed in black trench coats. Walking down the street, headed straight towards us about 10 guys also dressed in black trenchcoats, who looked much more authentic. In a rare flash of wisdom, we let one of our ladies do the talking. Turned out they were from the local neighborhood latino gang, and were a little curious just who we thought we were and what did we think we were up to. Could of gotten way out of hand but Gina did a great job explaining LARP, sweetened them up and even invited them to a game to try it out. Probably for the best since I scoped out that at least one of them was packing a semi auto. I was too of course, but mine was a piece of paper with “Pistol, 2 traits; neg trait: loud” written on it. I’m not sure how the fight would have gone down, but I think he might have won on points.

Me and two guys come back from a paintball game, wearing black bdu’s and combat boots, with duffle bags full of equipment including ammo, harness, and the guns (with the trigger guard and handles visibly sticking out of the bag…oops). Got out of the car, start to unload the trunk, glaring at the downstairs neighbors who I hated and stumble up the stairs. One of my buddies is still hopped up with adrenaline from the game, and can’t quit talking about it. I remember the phrase “so that little f*&ker thinks he’s getting away from me? Hell no, I put three rounds into his back, and then one to the head just so he’d stay down. Teach those little … to … with us” The problem neighbors suddenly became much more polite, stereos got turned down, there were no more clustering on our stairway to smoke out. Didn’t understand why till about a week later when the office manager paid me a visit. She seemed real nervous until I finally got her to tell me why she was snooping around. Once I showed her the gear, she thought it was pretty funny, and promised to neither confirm nor deny exactly what we were doing for the neighbors.

Probably my best one though was a winter game paint ball game, an urban scenario we were going to. One of our team mates Mike worked over night, so we picked him up straight from work at like 4:30, everybody dressed for the game (5 guys, combat boots, black bdu’s, and ski masks). Mike’s been at work for 10 hours so he decides to grab some sleep while we drive to the site, he’s cold so he pulls the mask down to cover his face. He also tells us he forgot to pick up cash, so we need to find an ATM. We drive around downtown Ft Worth, but we can’t find a stand alone ATM. Finally, right around dawn (on a Saturday morning) we find a bank building with an ATM in the lobby. We pull up in front of the doors, hit Mike and tell him we found an ATM. He jumps awake, hops out of the car, and runs into the lobby. Wearing black commando gear, a combat harness and holster, and ski mask… right at the bank security guard who is in the process of having a panic attack. Right at the point where the story would devolve into gunplay and tragedy, Mike realizes what’s going on (partially from the guards reaction, partly from the frenzied car honking and laughter from us) and rips the ski mask off and explaining himself. I don’t if its true, but Mike swears that when he first saw the guard he yelled something about “making a withdrawal” which would only make the story better. To this day, “I need to hit an ATM” is always met with tear inducing laughter.

[KilltheToy]

Went to a Vampire LARP down at the University of Houston. U of H sits on the edge of the 5th ward, one of the worst neighborhoods in the nation, gang-ridden hellhole. So we’re walking from the off campus parking lot down the street, dressed in black trench coats. Walking down the street, headed straight towards us about 10 guys also dressed in black trenchcoats, who looked much more authentic. In a rare flash of wisdom, we let one of our ladies do the talking. Turned out they were from the local neighborhood latino gang, and were a little curious just who we thought we were and what did we think we were up to. Could of gotten way out of hand but Gina did a great job explaining LARP, sweetened them up and even invited them to a game to try it out. Probably for the best since I scoped out that at least one of them was packing a semi auto. I was too of course, but mine was a piece of paper with “Pistol, 2 traits; neg trait: loud” written on it. I’m not sure how the fight would have gone down, but I think he might have won on points.

Calling 5th Ward "one of the worst neighborhoods in the nation" might be exaggerating just a wee bit. It's certainly bad and not a place I'd want to be any time after dark, but I'm pretty sure there are worse neighborhoods in the country.

Also, they have LARPs at UH? I need to look into this.

[mucat]

Let's see…I told the story of the time I was the cluelessly alarmed bystander, so now the time I was the clueless gamer.

This takes place during the same era as the "You're a zombie" story, in the late 1980s. Some friends of mine had invented (inspired by a movie, actually, as it turned out) something we just called "The Game". It was a 36-to-48-hour long combination road race, scavenger hunt, and series of really tough logic puzzles, that led the players back and forth across a series of locations that could be anywhere within 100 miles or so of the starting point. You would find a clue at each location, and have to decipher it to know where to go next.

In theory, you could complete or even win the Game without breaking any laws. The clues were tough enough that even if you drove legally, you could make up the lost time by being better at solving clues. Of course, no one did drive legally. And while the organizers (a different set of people each time we played) didn't usually write clues that required players to do anything too illegal, once play actually started, thing would never go as planned. Players who misunderstood clues ended up wandering onto restricted areas of military bases, speaking strange code phrases to people they thought were part of the game, or taking their clothes off in public for no good reason. More than one team accidentally stole a boat or other vehicle, thinking it had been left for them to use. And the things one team once did in an airport would, if they happened today, have ended up shutting down a whole terminal and delaying countless innocent travelers. (Fortunately, this was the past, which is another country. But I digress.)

And yet, through all this, no one ever ended up dead, permanently disabled (though there were one or two broken bones), or in prison. I can only conclude that the gods are fans of the Game. Or else we were intensely lucky idiots.

The worst brush one of my teams ever had with the law was during a Game that was spy-themed; the clues had a loose espionage theme, and once in a while we would encounter "agents", either friendly or unfriendly, who would guide or hinder us. So one of our team members took the team's car to meet with a contact while the rest of us were chasing down a clue in a nearby town, and the contact turns out to be a traitor who mocked her, stole the car at (fake) gunpoint and left her stranded. Great plot twist; we've lost our transportation, and also have to figure out how to retrieve our stranded teammate while following up on the clues we found in town. (Of course, if we solve the clues correctly, we'll get our car back before we need to travel any great distance.)

Except that a passing driver saw the guy carjack a young woman at gunpoint. (Bad timing, since the road was largely deserted.) The cops responded immediately, found our comrade stranded at the side of the road, and wanted to help catch the bastard who held her up. Damn, did she have trouble explaining things.

"No, I'm fine, really. He wasn't stealing my car."

"Well, yes, he took the car. But it's a game. And the gun wasn't real/"

"Did I want him to take the car? No, but I'm okay with it. No, I don't have a ride back to town, but I need to stay here until my team finds me. It's part of the game."

"Yes, I'm completely sober!"

"No, this is not an abusive relationship!"

Eventually, the cops left, accepting that they can't force a crazy person to let them get her stolen car back. And our team figured out what had happened, took a taxi out to fetch our lost teammate, and a few hours later solved more clues and got our car back. We came in second place, overall.

The cop probably still tells the story, and shakes his head sadly.

[Askaris]

This didn't actually get me into trouble, but it was quite amusing afterwards.

I was on a college/6th form trip to Rome, which, naturally, did involve a lot of sightseeing. On the first day, I'd brought my hand luggage with me, on account of needing some stuff from it, and not having had enough time to unpack. Either way, we get in the coach, listen to the tour guide drone on for a bit, then arrive at the Vatican. For the record, it's definitely worth visiting; the architecture of St. Peter's basilica is awe-inspiring. However, I digress.

Upon leaving and returning to the hotel room, I look through my bag. As I'd intended on doing some campaign creation during the course of the trip, I'd brought a few sourcebooks with me. And then my eyes alighted on this, near the bottom;

http://wargames.com.hk/oscommerce/images/res/DH01_100_130.jpg

Without realising it, I'd brought heresy into the Vatican City. Oh the delicious irony.

[PairO'Dice Lost]

Ah, Askaris's story reminds me of another little incident. I was in 6th grade, attending a Catholic school. It was a Friday, and after school I'd be gaming at a friend's house, so I'd brought some D&D books. This wasn't exactly the most progressive parochial school, so some of the teachers--including my religion teacher--were of the "D&D is Satanic" variety. I usually brushed it off, but today we were learning about the pagan religions and the teacher had mentioned that "those evil games" would convert good little Catholic boys and girls to the eeeevils of paganism. :smallsigh:

I rolled my eyes at that, and she caught me. I was about to be read the riot act when the principal came over the loudspeaker and said that some drugs had been found on school ground; all students were to go open their lockers to have them searched by the teacher of their current class. A narrow escape, I thought, but no sooner do I open my locker than I remember I'd brought Deities and Demigods and Faiths and Pantheons with me. Oops. I got a stern talking-to, which I ignored, and they threatened to call my parents to expose my eeeevil activities, which I didn't ignore because as mentioned before my parents were kinda anti-D&D at this point.

They never called, fortunately for me, and I was able to keep the books, but from that point on the teacher did everything she could to screw me up in religion class. I was moving out of state the next year anyway, so I didn't really care, but it was very annoying while it lasted.

[Vorpalbob]

This didn't actually get me into trouble, but it was quite amusing afterwards.

I was on a college/6th form trip to Rome, which, naturally, did involve a lot of sightseeing. On the first day, I'd brought my hand luggage with me, on account of needing some stuff from it, and not having had enough time to unpack. Either way, we get in the coach, listen to the tour guide drone on for a bit, then arrive at the Vatican. For the record, it's definitely worth visiting; the architecture of St. Peter's basilica is awe-inspiring. However, I digress.

Upon leaving and returning to the hotel room, I look through my bag. As I'd intended on doing some campaign creation during the course of the trip, I'd brought a few sourcebooks with me. And then my eyes alighted on this, near the bottom;

http://wargames.com.hk/oscommerce/images/res/DH01_100_130.jpg

Without realising it, I'd brought heresy into the Vatican City. Oh the delicious irony.

I can't get the image to show up on my machine. What book was it?

[Eldan]

Dark Heresy, the Warhammer40k Inquisition RPG.

Of course, In Nomine Satanis would have been much worse :smalltongue:

[PairO'Dice Lost]

Of course, In Nomine Satanis would have been much worse :smalltongue:

Or much better, depending on your perspective.

[Mauther]

Calling 5th Ward "one of the worst neighborhoods in the nation" might be exaggerating just a wee bit. It's certainly bad and not a place I'd want to be any time after dark, but I'm pretty sure there are worse neighborhoods in the country.

Also, they have LARPs at UH? I need to look into this.

Well this was mid 90's, at the time 5th ward was still ranked up next to the worst LA had to offer. You knew when you hit campus because that was where the squad cars staged from. From what I understand between community improvements, demographic shifts, and improved policing its moved up from "Escape from New York" level crime to merely "The Warriors" level.

No idea if UH stuill have LARPs. There was a pretty nasty falling out among the original crew in the late 90's early 00's. But campuses are usually good grazing grounds so I'm sure there's something going.

[RandomNPC]

I recently heard of one of my faom fighting friends tell this story.

We fight with padded weapons, usually PVC or fiberglass with camping pads cut up and taped on to make them vaugely sword shaped. one day, at 2AM while fighting in the parking lot of an adult "toy" store a police car comes up, puts on the lights and siren, and the officer hops out. He immediately unfastens the strap holding his gun in its holster, and everyone drops sheilds, swords, and whatnot.

After handcuffing everyone and asking a few questions, he tests all the weapons and shields, even doing strike tests on his own arm. convinced they all pass safety checks, he uncuffs everyone. As they start to clean up and go to the cars to go home the officer stops before he gets in the squad car and says "You guys don't have to leave, Lay On!"

Lay On being foam fighter terms for start fighting eachother.