Scientology is joke material to voice actors

[Rmack]

I was watching episodes of 'Critical Role' which is a YouTube show where this group of voice actors are playing Dungeons and Dragons.

BTW, I remember this game being banned when I was in the Sea Org around 1980, 81. The policy letter or whatever it was that got put in our in baskets said something like 'we are trying to fix the world, not create a new one.' Wow. I'd never played the game, I'd only read a very entertaining article in Playboy magazine about it when I was younger , and this got me interested.

I wound up running a D&D campaign for over 18 years after I broke free from the cult. Our group broke up because computer games where getting incredible, and we all started playing 'World War II Online' for a few years. However, the computer games never really replaced some of the creativity that 'roll-playing' paper and dice games provided.

Before you dismiss this as kid's stuff or something, consider this; you are creating sort of a movie or television script, but it's not fixed. The equivalent of the director, the 'Dungeon Master' doesn't tell the players what to do, he provides the context for them to react to the situation any way they want, as long as it's in their character's power to do so.

The DM has to be a consummate thespian, as he plays every other being in the universe besides the players. But, unlike a movie director, he doesn't tell the actors what to do or say. He reacts to them and they react to him. It's a whole lot of fun because nobody really knows what's going to happen, not even the DM.

The Critical Role guys are very talented. Matt Mercer is incredible. Ever hear of Rich Little? He was called the man of a thousand voices, and this guy is at least as good. they are all professional voice actors, but there is a reason Matt is the DM.

One of the players, Ashley Johnson, has a role in a network crime drama called 'blind spot', but they all are professionals, and they make money doing critical role!

Anyway, during one of the recent games, someone quipped 'maybe he's trying to recruit you into Scientology' when they were considering some non-player characters motives. Everyone cracked up.

It's obvious that our former cult is rapidly becoming a laughingstock amongst entertainment professionals, which makes me laugh.

 

[Freeminds]

I’ve written before (and I wasn’t the first) that Scientology is a science fiction roleplaying game. It has all the same features, including arbitrary levels and ‘secret knowledge’ that is only respected by other players. (Nothing says ‘nerd’ like the OT levels...)

I’m not at all surprised that LRH would be anti-D&D. He was a petty and jealous man, acutely aware of his own failings. He wouldn’t have liked the idea that his underlings were devoting time and thought to a different fantasy world – especially one that was more successful than his own. It’s a shame that the Scientology game was played out in real time, causing some people to waste half a lifetime on it.

As for Scientology being joke material, obviously it is. The only mainstream cultural references to Scientology are jokes. I worry that this has gone too far, now: that most people think of Scientology only as being ridiculous. That fails to point out just how much harm Scientology did, back in the day.

But whatever. Now my friends and I need to level up our 57 perceptics and reg some acolytes, or my 24th level Scammer won't make it to Target Three...