Shelly Mazzanoble in a more peaceful moment with a dragon.
Wired.com: Talk about your childhood. Were you a geek? What role did pop culture have in your upbringing?
Mazzanoble: Pop culture definitely influenced me when I was a kid. I had a very religious babysitter who overheard my brother and I playing with his Star Wars action figures. When he said, “May the Force be with you,” I said, “And also with you. Let us pray.” And we did pray. Or at least bowed our heads as we were instructed to do in Sunday school. Our babysitter was not amused — which was fine because we were not trying to be funny. She called our mother who was at work and told her of our blasphemy. My mom was amused, thankfully.
I’m no different than any one who grew up in the ’80s. Movies and TV played a huge part in my upbringing and, yes, did shape some of my ideals today. Growing up, the Bible stories I heard at Sunday school never really resonated with me so I didn’t look at church officials as spiritual advisers. But I did see Mrs. Garret from The Facts of Life that way. She was a fountain of wisdom, doling out advice and good sense about issues that did resonate with me to girls I could relate to.
Wired.com: You might say that the teachings and sayings from geek culture — sci-fi, fantasy, gaming, etc. — have become “life philosophy” for many geeks because traditional culture — church, parents, government, community — have failed to offer moral or spiritual guidance to a generation of folks. Examples include intricate rules for role-playing games, which try to quantify the great unknown, to themes in fantasy novels like fellowship and sacrifice, to wisdom received not from priests but Yoda and Gandalf. Your book obviously speaks to this.
Mazzanoble: Sure, movies like Lord of the Rings and Star Wars and Harry Potter feature strong fantasy role-model-type characters who help guide and mentor the story’s protagonist to perform heroic deeds. Who wouldn’t want to live next door to kindly old Gandalf? Wouldn’t you just love visiting Grandpa Obi-Wan at the senior center? Who doesn’t want to be a hero?
In D&D, the hero you play in-game often gets by with a little divine interaction, too. When creating a D&D character, you are offered the option to choose an alliance and a deity to worship. Both of these aspects inform a lot of what you do as your player character. I know people who spend more time thinking about the spiritual side of their D&D character than their own beliefs.
Wired.com: So D&D might provide some players with a sense or semblance of a religious life?
Mazzanoble: Outside of D&D, I’m not sure that there’s less emphasis on religion, but that more people are finding it harder to identify with just one religion. People seem to like piecing a religion together from many different ideals. It’s kind of like choosing items from an à la carte menu at a restaurant. Some of these principles, plus some of this belief, coupled with his or her god or goddess.
Again, D&D does this well. While there are several deities and while it’s not entirely common, you could choose to worship more than one. Even though it’s a role-playing game that is steeped in fantasy, when playing a character who worships a particular deity, I am often challenged to think about my actions (or rather the actions of my character) much more so than in my everyday life.
Wired.com: If I recall, you only began playing D&D since working for Wizards of the Coast. Tell me a little about the stereotypes and reactions you’ve encountered since “coming out” as a gamer, especially a female gamer.
Mazzanoble: I got called out on Facebook once from a guy I went to school with. He was like, “Hey, you used to make fun of Peter and me for playing D&D when we were in 7th grade! Now look at you!” Honestly I don’t remember making fun of them, but I probably did. If it wasn’t Sweet Valley High or The Outsiders, I didn’t get it. But, yeah, now look at me. I love telling people I play D&D! I’ll march my high-heeled-clad feet right up to any hater and wag my manicured finger in their face while touting the benefits of playing D&D. How is this different from poker night or fantasy sports? My brother who plays fantasy hockey makes fun of me and I have to say, “I’m as much an elf as you are the GM of a five-time Stanley Cup championship hockey team named the ‘Spazz Mazzes.'” But still no one is more surprised about my hobby than I am.
My girlfriends do not play D&D. They claim they wouldn’t touch it if their Sex & the City DVD collections depended on it. At first they assumed I was playing because my job forced me to. Let’s be clear: I was encouraged to play, but never forced! Sometimes the girls will treat my “secret sorceress side” like a giant pimple we can all see but no one points out because it’s embarrassing. Other times they out me at parties because they think it’s funny to make their girly girlfriend talk about her latest D&D campaign. One of them introduced me as a 100th-level “power ranger.” You got to love her. She at least tries.
