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She Kills
Monsters
By Qui Nguyen
Directed By Adam Noble
Dramaturgy By Brien Bianchi, Faith Tenney, and Will Inman
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Table of Contents:
1974, as a means to provide tools to young and emerging game-makers with which to create a game
and world all their own. That’s all that this game is, really - a bunch of rules and tools that depend
entirely upon the imaginations and creativity of the players and Dungeon. As such, there is a
definite aspect of wish fulfillment involved in the playing of this game and its descendants. Imagine
the archetypical geek character, often small and weak, often clumsy, or unable to engage in athletic
and “cool” activities. Within a game of D&D they might become eight-foot-tall barbarians, alien
lizard people, or wizards whose lack of physical might is made up for by their ability to channel the
power of their mind into physical forces of ice and fire. In the 42 years since its release the game
has grown to suit the needs of a wide range of tastes. Expansions have been provided to take
gamers outside of the realm of fantasy and into Outer Space, The Wild West, Post-Apocalyptic
In the world of our play, Agnes gets to be reunited with her sister, Tilly enjoys a position in
the majority instead of being marginalized as a geek, and Kelly is able to execute amazing acrobatic
prowess. Characters fly through the air, fire off magical spells, and find love in a world where they
make the rules (but must still follow them). This gives rise the idea of escapism; the fleeing, if only
briefly, from the struggles that each of us face in our daily lives in the “real” world. Many who have
been identified as “geeks” are scorned for this behavior and apparent lack of ability to function
within the world into which they were born. J.R.R. Tolkien, in response to such attitudes, wrote in
his essay On Faerie Stories that, “Why should a man be scorned, if, finding himself in prison, he
tries to get out and go home? Or if, when he cannot do so, he thinks and talks about other topics
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than jailers and prison-walls?” He further talks of the restorative aspects of escapist behavior.
How, through such activities of reading fantasy literature, playing games (both video and table-top),
and imagining, one can restore themselves enough to return to the fight of daily real life. With the
issues that the human race faces today such as racism, homophobia, illness, and hate, is it any
wonder that there are those who would choose to seek out or create worlds in which they are
powerful enough to make a difference and/or where opposition can always be overcome by
That same year, Bill Clinton instituted “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”. Although by current
standards this measure is draconic and discriminatory, by the standards of 1993 it was
progressive and divisive. Before the policy was enacted, homosexuals were sniffed out and
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dishonorably discharged from service. Bill
Clinton announced that sex was none of the
government’s business, which was a ballsy
move and important to the LGBT
movement.
1994 also had the American Medical
Association opposing the “treatment” of
homosexuality. Conversion therapy, as it
was called, was a method of exposing
same-sex oriented people (often teenagers)
to members of the opposite sex until their
homosexuality was “cured”. A flat denial
from the AMA of homosexuality as a
disease was a huge win for the gay
community.
As we edge closer to Tillie’s
experience, we move into the world of
popular culture. The first lesbian kiss on
television was between Amanda Donohoe and Michele Greene on L.A. Law in 1991. It was
undoubtedly a publicity stunt, but that fact hardly registered with the lesbian teens across the
country who were exposed to it.
Grammy-winner Melissa Etheridge came out in 1993 at the Triangle Ball, which was also
the first inaugural ball held in honor of gays and lesbians.
Perhaps most importantly was Pedro Zamora of The Real World
San Francisco. The first positively-portrayed AIDs-positive man
on television, he continued to do educational works for gay teens
until his death in 1995.
This leads us to the individual experience of the gay
teenager. Today, when we think of gay issues, we think of
marriage equality. In the early 90’s, homosexuality was
immediately associated with violence and AIDs. In 2016, gay
youth worry about bullying while their families worry about
them not fitting in. In the 90’s, gay youth worried about beatings
while their families worried about a terminal illness.
Perhaps the hardest idea for modern teenagers to
understand is the fear gay youth experienced in that time period.
Sure, there is a little anxiety about coming out nowadays, but
with all of the programs and online assistance available, it is
hardly a life-threatening concern. While all of the things listed
above make the 90’s seem like a gay paradise, it’s important to
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keep in mind that those things were only happening at the top, while the normal towns in the
flyover states were still being faced with a rock-solid wall of opposition. A 1992 Newsweek poll
found that 45% of those asked considered gay rights "a threat to the American family and its
values". The average American still needed quite a bit of convincing.
While Bill Clinton, Ellen DeGeneres, and Will & Grace might have been a source of
courage, coming out in high school was still nigh-unthinkable. Escaping to a fantasy world of
acceptance might have been the only thing that made sense.
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Bestiary
She Kills Monsters involves the character of Agnes Evans engaging in an elaborate D&D
campaign designed by her late sister Tilly. As every good scout knows, it’s best to be prepared,
a lesson that Agnes will need to learn the hard way before the play is through. A given party of
adventurers can encounter any of a number of creatures throughout their quest, from Assassin
Vines to Zombies. Game creators Gary Gygax and his company, TSR, have published several
volumes called Monster Manuals filled with creatures for Dungeon Masters to fill the halls of their
dungeons with in order to challenge the bold and punish the unwary adventurer. Knowing the
strengths and weaknesses of your foes can often be the key to success in battle. Here are included
just a few of the creatures that Agnes and Tilly might need to battle during the course of the play.
Beholder:
Dark-Elf:
Demon Queen:
Numerous accounts in
Folklore speak of Lilith as
the first Demon Queen.
Initially created as the first
wife of Adam (of Judeo
Christian fame) out of the
same Earth as her
husband. When she
refused to submit to
Adam’s dominance on the
grounds that they had
been equally created from
the same materials, she
abandoned Adam and is
recorded to have instead
taken up with the demon
king Asmodeus. Thereby
becoming not only the first
demon queen, but also the
mother of the Nephilim,
earthly celestial beings that
are said to have interbred
with humans to create a race of giants and were part of the reasoning behind God’s flooding the
Earth.
Lilith is thereby viewed as a symbol of not only female independence, but of female sexuality
and the feminine power to procreate.
Lilith is also connected with the Succubi, likely in relation to her position as a being in
possession of her own sexual power and identity, but she is also noted to be a devourer of infants.
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Doppelganger: Doppelgangers are strange beings that are able to take on the
shapes of those they encounter. In its natural form, the creature looks more or less humanoid, but
slender and frail, with gangly limbs and half-formed features. The flesh is pale and hairless. Its
large, bulging eyes are yellow with slitted pupils. A doppelganger’s appearance is deceiving even
when it’s in its true form. A doppelganger is hardy, with a natural agility not in keeping with its frail
appearance.
Doppelgangers make excellent use of their
natural mimicry to stage ambushes, bait traps, and
infiltrate humanoid society. Although not usually
evil, they are interested only in themselves and
regard all others as playthings to be manipulated
and deceived.
In its natural form a doppelganger is about 5½
feet tall and weighs about 150 pounds.
Elves:
“Elf” serves an over-arching term for a large number of differing nearly immortal, slender,
pointy-eared, sylvan humanoids. From the ethereal High-Elves (Sub-sects of which are the Sun
and Moon elves), the wild and playful wood-elves, the noble and arrogant Grey-Elves, and the
hateful and reclusive Drow, each variant has its own cultural rules, stigmas, and qualities.
Official D&D materials have this to say regarding them,
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They are more often amused than excited, and more likely to be curious than greedy. They
tend to remain aloof and unfazed by petty happenstance. When pursuing a goal, however,
whether adventuring on a mission or learning a new skill or art, elves can be focused and
relentless. They are slow to make friends and enemies, and even slower to forget them.
They reply to petty insults with disdain and to serious insults with vengeance.
Elves take up adventuring out of wanderlust. Since they are so long-lived, they can
enjoy centuries of exploration and discovery. They dislike the pace of human society,
which is both regimented from day to day but constantly changes over decades, so they find
careers that let them travel freely and set their own pace. Elves also enjoy exercising their
martial prowess or gaining greater magical power, and adventuring allows them to do so.
Some might join with rebels fighting against oppression, and others might become
champions of just causes.
The High-elves, with their closeness to the Feywild have learned the ability to phase out of
the “Prime” world, as they call it, and pass through the Fey to reappear in another place in the
Prime. Thus creating a variant on a teleport ability.
Drow, having survived in the harsh underdark for so long, have acquired the ability to see
in near total darkness as well as spell-like abilities to either surround a target in a soft “Faerie Light”
to prevent concealment or to in a cloud of darkness to conceal a target as well as making them
harder to hit with attacks.
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Wood-Elves are more heavily built than their brethren, and approach magic and its users
with a certain level of distrust. They favor the ranger class and are most at home in their forest
realm homes.
Fairy:
“What care I for human hearts? Soft and spiritless as porridge. A faerie’s heart beats fierce and
free…You Mortal, you! I could Vex You!”
Do not make the mistake of confusing the
Fairy with classically beautiful, diminutive creatures
of modern children’s entertainment who go about
granting wishes and aiding fair maidens in finding
their prince. The pixie, which is the closest
approximation to the physical description given by
fairy tales, is a spiteful and mischievous creature who
is more likely to lead you off a cliff in a fog just for
the fun of it, than to grant you a wish. J.M Barrie
comments that most faeries are so small that they
can only hold one emotion at a time, therefore an
angry faerie will only know anger at that moment, or
jealously, or spite.
Shakespeare imagined these creatures ruled by the Demi-gods Titantia and Oberon, whose
influence over nature was so potent that without meaning to, they upset the natural forces simply
by not sharing a marriage bed. Also mentioned in Shakespeare, and throughout folklore, is the
ruling power of Queen Mab, who is at times regarded as a faerie herself, and at others as a dark
pagan goddess who rules over the realm of the Fey (also commonly referred to as Faerie).
These creatures are mostly chaotic neutral, choosing to do what interests them most at any
given moment. As such they can often appear child-like in both attitude and appearance. Helping
one person while hindering the other, and often times both behaviors are done just because they
believe it to be fun or entertaining.
Modern high fantasy fiction has also brought into the mind of the reader/player the
concept of the summer and winter courts of the Fae, but this has little bearing on our endeavors
and need only be delved into if desired. What is best to keep in mind is that the Faerie is wild,
fickle, and above all, free.
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Gelatinous
Cube: The gelatinous cube is
endowed with an insatiable hunger.
These creatures scour dungeon
passages, consuming living tissue while
leaving bones and other materials
undissolved.
Creatures that fall victim to a
gelatinous cube rarely see it coming. Its
protoplasmic form is all but
transparent. By the time a creature
makes contact with an unseen cube, it
is too late to run. A cube that is well fed
can be easier to spot, since its victims’
bones, coins, and other objects can be seen suspended inside the creature.