'Embracing the muse'

Dark-clothed individuals make their way across IU's campus and into the Memorial Union. They keep to themselves and quickly head to the mezzanine area, where a group of similarly-dressed people are waiting. Some of the individuals have covered themselves with furs and a tail, others have applied white make-up to make themselves appear "undead" and still others are adorned with wings and prosthetic noses. Werewolves, vampires and changelings are what the IU Role-playing Club portrays, and campus is where all the magic happens.\nThe games came to IU about three years ago, after students at Ball State University started to play "Embracing the Muse," a role-playing game that's known worldwide. But this isn't your standard "Dungeons and Dragons" or "Magic" card game; it has characters including vampires, werewolves, changelings and mortals. With an increase in popularity and number of people willing to play, the game eventually migrated from Ball State to IU. Now, the IU Role-playing Club's players range from students to people from all around the state and country. \n"Embracing the Muse" is like viewing a live play crossed with the role-playing aspects of "Dungeons and Dragons." The players are given a plot by the storytellers, who oversee the game to make sure that everything is running smoothly. The game, whose players meet once a month in the IMU, is divided into three subset games: Werewolf, Vampire and Changeling (which is like an evil fairy). This is to make gameplay easier and less confusing to its players.\n"The game is published by One World By Night, which is a global network that has games played all over the world, from the U.S., to England and New Zealand," says sophomore Michael Williams, the head storyteller of "Embracing the Muse" at IU.\nEven though these games are sub-divided, through the wonders of plot manipulation and gameplay, all three of the games manage to intertwine with each other. That is what makes the game so interesting; it's driven primarily by the characters' spontaneity, not by any set agendas. The storytellers just regulate and keep the game going, but any major events that happen all are created during game play by the characters. At times, this can make for a very confusing game, so to keep the players up to date with the ongoing saga, the storytellers began publishing The Bloomington Neptune. This mock newspaper is a way for the players to stay up to date with the events that are happening in the world of "Embracing the Muse." It also prints stories that take place in the "Real World," so that players also know what is really going on around them. \n"My best friend's entire family plays this game, and tonight is the first time I've ever played," says Jacie Trammell, who plays Gweniver Ruanne when in character. "I was amazed at how interesting and well thought out the entire game is."\nThese games not only involve aspects of strategy and role-playing, but also of live theater. Players pick from certain types of characters, and then they must create their own costumes and history to give their characters a life of their own. Players are only given a small set of guidelines when developing their character and are allowed free will on exactly what they want to do with their roles.\n"One thing that we want people to know is that we only allow for a certain level of character development," Williams says. "We really make an effort to watch our players to make sure that they aren't getting too involved with the game. Over-involvement is a big stereotype."\nStoryteller Kate Walton says she enjoys the flexibility and opportunity for creative expression the game provides.\n"Players can pick the different social and mental attributes that will make up their characters," she says. "For instance, players who decided to be from the Brujah (pronounced BREW-HA) clan, which is a clan of very rebellious vampires, can either be straight-up street punks or more introverted Marxists just wanting anarchy." \nAt the end of the night, the players pack up their belongings and head back to their homes where they once again resume their regular lives, while awaiting the next club meeting where they can switch identities for a night and be a part of something that is unique. Through the game, players get the chance to combine the character development and costuming of a live play with the strategy and involvement of a role-playing game. It's one that lets the players do more than roll a couple dice or draw a few playing cards -- they get to be a part of the game by creating their own characters, dressing the part and playing by their own rules.