Since the release of Dungeons & Dragons in 1974, role-playing games have spawned a vibrant industry and subculture whose origins, characteristics, cultures and player experiences have been well explored. Yet there has been little attention devoted to the meaningful ways RPGs have shaped society at large over the last four decades. RPGs were influential on video game design and have been widely represented in film, television and other media. They have made their mark on other areas of society, as well, including education, social media, corporate training and the military. This collection of new essays illustrates the broad appeal and impact of role-playing games. Topics range from a critical reexamination of the Satanic Panic of the 1980s, to the growing significance of RPGs in education, to the potential for ""serious"" RPGs to provoke awareness and social change. The contributors discuss the myriad subtle (and not-so-subtle) ways in which the values, concepts and mechanics of RPGs have infiltrated popular culture.

The church can be uncertain of itself in our digital age. Some Christians denounce the twenty-first century's media culture while others embrace the latest gadgets and apps as soon as they appear. Many of us are stumbling along amidst the tweets, status updates, podcasts, and blog posts, wondering if we have ventured into a realm beyond the scope of biblical wisdom. Though there is such a thing as 'new media', Andrew Byers reminds us that the actual concept of media is ancient, theological, and even biblical. In fact, there is such a thing as the media of God. 'TheoMedia' are means by which God communicates and reveals himself - creation, divine speech, inspired writings, the visual symbol of the cross, and more. Christians are actually called to media saturation. But the media that are to most prominently saturate our lives are the media of God. If God creates and uses media, then Scripture provides a theological logic by which we can create and use media in the digital age. This book is not an unqualified endorsement of the latest media products or a tirade against media technology.Instead, Byers calls us to rethink our understanding of media in terms of the media of God in the biblical story of redemption.

About the Contributor(s): Andrew Byers is a PhD student in New Testament at Durham University, where he serves as the Chaplain of St. Mary's College and as a theological consultant for the CODEC Institute (Christian Communication in the Digital Age). He is the author of Faith Without Illusions: Following Jesus as a Cynic-Saint (2011) and his blog is www.hopefulrealism.com

"Once Upon a Time, in the Zantabulous Land of Zo. . ." Hunters face vindictive fairies, Living Confections and Talking Animals roam the land, witches cast curses to thwart True Love, and heroes of every stripe confront the Gray Wind, Death-on-Four-Legs -- Shaykosch, the Wolf-King. Will they find the Happily Ever Afters that they seek? Turn the page and see Uncanny Books is proud to present a collection of original fairy tales based on the setting and characters inititally developed in Chad Underkoffler's "Zorcerer of Zo" role-playing game, published by Atomic Sock Monkey Press. Despite being retold again and again, something about fairy tales always remains fresh and new, uniting the ordinary and the extraordinary in wonder. This volume includes fairy tales from authors such as: Andrew Byers Michaelbrent Collings Michael Hill Scott Kane Chad Underkoffler Jon Zeigler Come, enter the "Tales of Zo," and follow the zantabulous journeys within

In The Sexual Economy of War, Andrew Byers argues that in the early twentieth century, concerns about unregulated sexuality affected every aspect of how the US Army conducted military operations. Far from being an exercise marginal to the institution and its scope of operations, governing sexuality was, in fact, integral to the military experience during a time of two global conflicts and numerous other army deployments. In this revealing study, Byers shows that none of the issues related to current debates about gender, sex, and the military-the inclusion of LGBTQ soldiers, sexual harassment and violence, the integration of women-is new at all. Framing the American story within an international context, he looks at case studies from the continental United States, Hawaii, the Philippines, France, and Germany. Drawing on internal army policy documents, soldiers' personal papers, and disciplinary records used in criminal investigations, The Sexual Economy of War illuminates how the US Army used official policy, legal enforcement, indoctrination, and military culture to govern wayward sexual behaviors. Such regulation, and its active opposition, leads Byers to conclude that the tension between organizational control and individual agency has deep and tangled historical roots.