The Philosphy of Masquerading - Part 1 - Where it started for me

I started roleplaying because it sounded like something interesting to do on a Sunday to meet new people when I first started University. I didn't have a philosophy then. I played happily and enthusiatically for many years without a philosophy. I still play happily and enthusiastically, but now I know why I play and what I want to get out of it; I have a philosophy. These days I roleplay a certain way for certain reasons.

A goodly proportion of my philosphy of Masquerading is rooted in the early work of Mark Rein-Hagen, the original author of Vampire: The Masquerade (TM). *Anticipates hate mail*

I'll fess up now and say that I was one of those responsible for founding Camarilla UK, and for seven years I ran the society. *Anticipates even more hate mail*. As a roleplayer you will either love or hate V:TM and it's spin offs. I'm not talking about it here as a game system though, but as a philosophy of how to play and why.

Before you go off on one, have you actually read Mark Rein-Hagen's original treatise on character development for V:TM ? I suggest you do. It had an enormous influence on me and on how I view my characters and play them, not just WoD characters, but all my characters including my re-enactment personas.

It's nearly time for me to go now, though, so I'll leave further explanations until next time, except to say that the title of this blog is deeply meaningful and significant in relationship to my philosophy. As those of you who have seen my blog on bullying will already know, words mean a lot to me, and I endeavour to use them with precision...