Democrat and Chronicle, Monday March 30, 1998, Rochester, NY

200 GRAB CHANCE TO PLAY THEIR PART AT UR

Mike Zucca sas no the floor of a University of Rochester classroom,
holding his stomach as he coughed and groaned.

Zucca, 23, a student at Rochester Institute of Technology, was
portraying a character in a role-playing game at a simulated games
convention, SIMCON Twenty, at UR yesterday.

About 200 people attended the four-day event, which ended yesterday.
"My character wanted vengeance and I tried to assassinate the other
clan leader and got stabbed," Zucca said during a break.

An active imagination is needed for role-playing games. Zucca wore a
T-shirt, shorts, and a name tag identifying his character, Capt.
Nial, a member of a Scottish clan. No costumes, weapons, or even fake
blood were visable.

"They started at 9 a.m., will get an hour break, and continue until
5:30 p.m.," convention Chairwoman Dixie McCartney said. "They call
it recreation."