Having read all of the articles on Helium, thus far, I've come to the realization that quite a bit is missing in the overall descriptions of role-playing games. However, all of the articles have provided the basic definitions of what a role-playing game, how it is supposed to work, and the fact that it is a marvelous social interaction.

I have come up with several topics to write about concerning role-playing which have not already been discussed, or need to be expanded to include more accurate descriptions, and so there may be several articles to cover these topics. Small bites.

SOCIAL INTERACTION
Role-playing is a fantastic way to get together with friends, or even new folks you intend to make your friends, and share a fantasy world in which you are the dragon slayer, or a grand spell-casting wizard, or a scout in space exploring other worlds. The great thing about playing these characters is that you get to explore new classes -what most might call their 'job'- and interact with players who are also playing their own class. This makes for a great team experience and, as friends, you can help each other laugh through an evening in which you are collectively using your minds to solve puzzles, overcome obstacles, and beat the bad guys in order to finish the 'movie'.

One of the things my 'core group' of players used to love to do -we called ourselves the Rocky Mountain Knights for nearly a decade- would be to bring a lot of Mountain Dew (just 'Dew') -among other soft drinks- and order Pizza (just 'Za') from a local establishment, Za and Dew, while we played and laughed through the evening. The point was not necessarily to only play through the game, although I tended to get uptight when we didn't get at least something done during the night, but also to share time as friends. More often than not each gaming 'session' -we considered it group therapy- we would end up laughing and making fun of one another for much of the night.

ACTING IN CHARACTER
Much has already been said about the idea of playing the role of a character in the fictional setting of the game itself, but not much has been expressed about actually 'being' that character. The idea behind role-playing is to attempt to get into an alternate persona as much as possible, much as actors and actresses lose themselves in movie roles. However, also like actors and actresses, once the movie is over, the role-player returns to the real world and carries on with real life. Sometimes,

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