The Death Cookie

The spook is an agent of some shadowy (usually government) organization, or at least he claims to be. While some spooks freely identify their agency affiliation, many prefer to remain vague about the organization they work for and their position within that organization, possibly as a means of intimidation. Spooks present themselves as straight-faced, ultra-competent G-men with absolutely no sense of humor, rarely breaking character or admitting surprise at even the most ludicrous turn of events.

The mentor is a character, usually older or more experienced than other members of the group, who uses his experience to prepare the younger heroes for their ultimate mission or destiny. In addition to acting as an adviser and sometimes teacher, the mentor often acts as the conscience and voice of reason for the group. It is traditional for the mentor to die (or at least retire) once he has taught the younger heroes everything they need to know, but this is not strictly necessary in an RPG setting.

Just about every social group includes one person who catches hell from the other members. The dupe is the guy who gets ridiculed, the guy who gets forced to do the work nobody else wants to do, and the guy that occasionally gets beaten up or peed on. In some cases, the dupe is so desperate to fit in that he actually convinces himself that his mistreatment is a sign of endearment. He's usually wrong. In a fraternity, the dupe is often a legacy who can't be rejected or a nerd who's only in the frat to keep the GPA up to par.

I said back in January that with the holidays over and done with, I’d get back to writing this column every month. Obviously, that didn’t work out quite like I’d planned. Never fear, though: In order to avoid such broken promises in the future, I will heretofore refrain from suggesting that there is any regular schedule for this column. Not an ambitious solution to the problem, but a solution nonetheless.