What is Pointless Mental Cruelty?

So, you've glossed over our home page, perhaps taken a litle look at our web site and are still wondering, "What is Pointless Mental Cruelty?!?" We're a group of Writers who write Role-Playing Games. Not sure what a RPG is? Click here to find out!

Why do we do what we do? That's another question! At some stage each of us has played a Game, at a convention or in someone's dingy basement at their home, where we thought, "You know what, this would have been more fun if..." Rather than spend countless hours talking about how Games could be better or more entertaining, we decided to put our money (and time!) where our mouths are and write the Games we'd like to play.

We still waste time talking about the things we liked or disliked in Games (usually over food). These discussions now leads us towards new ideas and writing/running Games at Australian conventions!

Writing's easier said than done (as most Game Masters, Storytellers and Writers know). By working with a group of Writers, we can divide tasks between us, gain feedback and playtest Games to ensure they are accessible, developed, enjoyable, and have more than enough content for most Players to get something out of.

Thus, Pointless Mental Cruelty was formed in 2001.

Contact Details

Need to know how to reach us or touch base to ask a question or discuss an idea? Our contact details appear below.

Who are Pointless Mental Cruelty?

Daniel (Daniel Rehorek) is a Secondary School Teacher who shapes the minds of the youth of tomorrow, speaks at least four languages and possesses a masters degree in Sociology. He's performed on-stage both as an actor and a puppeteer, and currently resides in a house filled wall-to-wall with books (and puppets!). A wrestling fanatic, Daniel collects interesting comics, Hong Kong cinema and collectable card games (CCG's). He's usually found pouring through science fiction epics or tomes on history, his latest historical period of interest being the French Revolution.

Mark (Mark Philp) is currently one of those annoying Customer Service Supervisors who frustrates callers endlessly. He's a troubleshooter who's established a call centre in Indonesia, travelling over 100,000 kms on the company payroll (all with a fear of flying!). He's organised conventions, was involved in several Adelaide Gaming organizations in the 90's, and ran a host of Games at cons across four states. Mark now resides in Melbourne, where he enjoys being a gourmand and typing up most of the Pointless Mental Cruelty content for you to read.

Kimito (Kim Wynn) is the man who makes your phones work! A classical scholar, debater and another gormaund, Kim speaks Japanese and from last reports is into regae music and Warhammer (what a combination!). We can't say much more until he approves his bio, so consider him the mysterious member of Pointless Mental Cruelty! He is at present the Vice-President of Vorpal Club, the organisation that runs VorpalCon in Adelaide.

Alex (Alexander White) has just commenced a masters degree in Public Policy after finished his honours in Medieval and Classical History at the University of Melbourne, but doesn't plan on leaving his studies anytime soon. He divides his time between study, politics, union and community activism, writing for Ars Magica (published by Atlas Games) and publishing Sub-Rosa (an Ars Magica fan magazine). When he's not writing, Alex can be found blogging, drawing political comics and reading obscure texts on Late Antiquity Rome.

Shell (Michelle Steel) is an I.T. Administrator with spends her time making computers work (a miracle in itself!). She's happily married, extremely active, a former scout leader and describes herself as, "Liking shiny things and blowing stuff up" (seriously, ask her scout troop!). An enthusiastic Gamer, Shell is currently the President of Vorpal Club, the organisation that runs Vorpalcon in Adelaide.

Scott (Scott Vandervalk) is a Lab Assistant with a Bachelor of Applied Science (Honours) in Microbiology/ Biotechnology, and perhaps one of the nicest gentlemen you‘re ever likely to meet! Nicknamed 'mousebane' for his talents relating to mice all in the pursuit of medical research, he's a renaissance man who's run a plethora of Role-Playing Games presented at Australian conventions, playtests and writes for independant RPG's such as Unhallowed Metropolis, idolises Neil Gaiman and tends to obsess over new, creative ideas.

Our Aim

Pointless Mental Cruelty aims to produce high quality Games to develop the skills of our Game Masters and Writers. We aim to entertain and involve all Players who participate in Games created and conducted by us.

Role-Playing is a hobby. Like most hobbies, the members of Pointless Mental Cruelty participate in it to have fun. We've developed our ethos over the past few years to help us remember that fact: fun is the most important thing about what we do!

Our Values

Include: We believe in including anyone who wishes to participate. We involve all Players, Game Masters and Writers in the Games we run to ensure everyone's enjoying themselves and participating in some fashion.

Entertain: We believe in entertaining everyone who participates in a PMC Game. We understand that Players Roleplay to enjoy themselves and have fun! Often this means going with the flow if Players are on a roll...

Develop & Learn: We believe in developing Players, Game Masters and Writers through encouragement, feedback and support. We value feedback from everyone involved to improve the Games we write in the future.

Quality: We believe in producing high quality Games as they reflect our first three values. High quality Games involve Players, entertain everyone, and allow us to develop ideas and improve future Games.

Our Objectives

• Our number 1 objective is for everyone involved in one of our Games, from Players to Game Masters, to have fun!!!

• To encourage and support Writers.

• To facilitate the creation of a Roleplaying community within Australia.

• To contribute to the broader Roleplaying community within Australia.

• To promote networking and co-operation between organisations.

• To promote Roleplaying in Australia to the general public.

• To provide resources for organisations and Writers to use.

• To remember that this is only a hobby and not to take ourselves too seriously!

Our Quality

When creating, developing, editing, hosting and performing Games, we try to meet benchmarks we have set for ourselves to produce high quality Games.

Translation: This is a checklist of things that our Game Masters and Writers keep in mind when writing and running a Game.

• We playtest every Game that we write.

• Each Game we write undergoes editing and revision.

• Each Game we write is completed well-ahead of when it is scheduled to be ran.

• We write Games that new Players are able to actively participate in.

• We write Games that are challenging, engaging and entertaining.

• We include more than enough material (such as events, goals and plotlines) to keep Players entertained and involved for the duration of the Game.

• We write characters that are balanced, interesting, playable and equally important to the plot.

• We provide enough Game Masters for Players to approach at any time during a Game.

• We appreciate feedback!