So apparently next week is the thrice-yearly Read an RPG Book in Public Week, in which roleplaying enthusiasts are encouraged to take their favorite rule books out to the coffee shop or bus stop and read them in public.
The point, according to the website, is to get roleplaying “out of the basement” and into the public eye – to give gamers an opportunity to answer questions about their hobby to those who stop to ask them what they’re reading. (As this is intended to be a positive thing, the website also suggests that readers steer clear of scarier titles like Kobolds Ate My Baby or, you know, reading Demon: The Fallen while in church.)
If any of you decide to try this experiment, let us know the results… I’d be interested to know if people really do get stopped just because they’re reading a monster manual in Starbucks. Of course, maybe there should just be a “roleplay in public” week. I once saw someone running a DnD campaign out of a Books-a-Million coffee shop, and they got more than a few odd looks.