Once upon a time, Frienemy for Life Proselus — the Angry Discord’s resident vampiric space jellyfish — asked how he should — in his pretend elf games — go about corrupting warlock characters. Because that seems like the sort of the s$&% that warlock characters are just asking for. And I said I had a really good answer. Because I love that s$&%. Devils are my favorite things and I’m really good at them. So, I promised to write an article about it.

That was, like,… uh… what month is it?

Anyway, he’s waited long enough for the answer. And so have all of you. So…

How to Corrupt a Warlock (Or Anyone Else)

Today, I’m going to teach you how to corrupt a warlock. How to make the whole Faustian bargain for power at the cost of your soul thing part of your game. And we’re going to have a Hell of a time. This is going to be fun. I promise.

So… how do you corrupt a warlock? The same way you corrupt any player-character.

And how do you corrupt any player-character? You don’t corrupt a player-character; your corrupt a player.

What Means Corrupt?

First, let’s make sure we’re all on the same page of the Satanic Bible here. Let’s make sure we agree on what it means to corrupt someone.

Corruption is about getting people to take actions they know — or should know — are wrong. Morally wrong. That’s it. That’s all it means to turn someone to the dark side. Get them to take actions they know are wrong. Or that reasonable people know are wrong. It’s as simple as that. And that’s the best part. It’s really, really simple to corrupt people if you’re remotely charismatic. This is why it’s a damned good thing I use my powers for good instead of evil. Because I’m hella charismatic.

Here’s the thing: this corruption s$&% is about morality. Specifically, it’s about objective morality. The idea is that there’s a set of moral rules that are true for everyone everywhere. They’re a property of the universe. Moral relativism? Morality from a certain perspective — say that of a given society — that s$&% doesn’t fly if you want to play the corruption game. The minute you let people play fast and loose with what is and isn’t moral, corruption ceases to mean anything.

Now, I ain’t writing a whole thing on morality here. Especially not from a real-world perspective. You believe whatever the f$&% you want about the real world. That’s between you and whatever judge you may or may not have to answer to for it someday. All I’m saying is that if you want to make corruption a thing in your game — if you want morality to matter at all — you have to start with the idea that there’s an objective morality in your pretend elf universe. And that it doesn’t vary by culture or perspective. That it’s a metaphysical property of the Pretend Elf Cosmos. And, to be fair, that’s pretty easy. Because in D&D, that’s how morality works. Otherwise, how the hell can you have good-aligned and evil-aligned planes and angels and devils who are, by their nature, one or the other?

And no, they are not just the names of the “sides.” F$&% that s$%&.

So, you’ve got to be comfortable with the idea that there is a set of moral laws that govern the cosmos. Moreover, you’ve got to be comfortable with playing the final arbiter of that morality. You, as the GM, are the cosmos. Therefore, it’s down to you to say what’s good and what’s evil. I know that upsets lots of you GMs. And lots of your players. And that’s your problem, not mine. I’m totally comfortable being the moral judge, jury, and executioner of the Angryverse. And someday, maybe I’ll tell you all about alignment and morality in the Angryverse and how I literally carry the burden of the gods.

So, corruption is about objective morality. But it’s also about decisions. Choices. Getting people — PCs, NPCs, whatever — to make morally bad choices. And, ideally, to make a habit of it. Consciously. That is, they’ve got to make choices they know — or at least have good reason to believe — are bad. If people ain’t doing things they know — or should know — are bad, they ain’t corrupt. They’re just dangerously stupid.

That means corruption is not about game mechanics. Decisions and choices? Those are things that happen inside the players’ heads. Or the GM’s head. I’m not saying there’s no place for corruption mechanics. I’ll talk about that s$&% later. Maybe. In some other article or something. But not today. Today, all I’m saying is corruption ain’t a game mechanical thing.

The point is: if you want to make corruption a thing — and you should, because it’s hella fun — if you want to make corruption a thing, you’ve got to establish a moral framework for your pretend elf universe and then literally try to trick your players into violating that framework.

Uncomfy yet? Well, I can make you uncomfier. Remember how I said I’m totally comfortable doing this s$&% in the Angryverse? Well, it’s worse for my players than you think. Because, in the Angryverse, corruption’s a lose state. Evil PCs aren’t allowed. When a PC crosses enough moral lines that I — the moral judge — decide they’ve gone full evil, I take their PC away and they’ve got to make a new one. Turning evil in the Angryverse is the same as turning dead. It means you lose.

But, really, none of that s$&%’s any different from building tactical challenges that punish players’ dumba$& decisions by killing their PCs.

Anyway…

I just want you to know what you’re up against here. What to play the corruption game? Tempt people to the dark side? Trick them into selling their souls to bring their loved ones back from the dead? You’ve got to be comfortable literally playing God. And, more importantly, playing the Devil.

If you’re already squirming in your chair, feel free to check out here. It only gets worse.

Shoulder Angels and Shoulder Devils

If you look at this with completely dispassionate rationality, corrupting someone should be impossible. If there are rules about what’s right and wrong and there’s terrible consequences for doing wrong, why would anyone ever do wrong? The problem is people aren’t dispassionately rational and their brains don’t run on math. Consider, for example, the entire history of every human civilization that has ever lived on Earth.

Look, to really get corruption, you’ve got to understand some ugly truths. If it helps, you can tell yourself these are only ugly truths about pretend elves in fictional, fantasy universes. Because that’s all I’m talking about here. None of this is about real people in the real world. And it’s especially not about you, you shining example of virtue.

First ugly truth is this: people are naturally inclined to do bad things. Wrong things. Why? For lots of reasons. But usually, the reason is that the bad thing is usually the quickest, easiest way to get what they want or avoid what they don’t want. If people weren’t naturally inclined to do bad, wrong things, we wouldn’t need rules and laws and to tell children — and adults — to stop hitting each other and to share their toys.

Every human being pretend elf is a mess of bad impulses. Sorry.

Second ugly truth is this: people have free will. At least, they seem to. Whatever biological chemical computer determinism you personally believe, the day-to-day human experience is one of being conscious and making choices. So, whatever’s actually true, it’s way more useful to assume people pretend elves have free will than argue that they don’t. Because they behave like they do.

The point is that people are inclined to do bad things. They can choose not to, but that takes restraint, discipline, and self-control. Usually because not doing bad things means denying themselves things they want or dealing with things they want to avoid. We call that s$&% virtue. The self-control it takes to not do bad things even when it hurts.

Now, I don’t want to get too deep in the philosophical weeds here. And I hate discussing morality. Especially because I’ve seen Wandavision and The Crazyverse of Doctor Strange and I know what passes for morality in pop culture these days. And it makes me sad. The only ugly truths I’m asking you to accept are these:

That people have impulses to do bad things and that choosing not to do bad things is a matter of restraint, discipline, and self-control. And that’s virtue.

And I’m only asking you to accept those things are true of pretend elves in fictional, fantasy universes.

The point is, whenever a pretend elf is faced with a choice that has any kind of moral weight to it, there ensues an internal conflict between impulse and virtue. And the best damned depiction of that s$&% is the one that cartoons have been using for decades. You know the one I mean. The one where a little cartoon angel and a little cartoon devil are standing on a character’s opposite shoulders, whispering in his ear. Arguing impulse against virtue.

There’s a reason that image is so common and so enduring. A reason you can picture it in your head.

People want to listen to the Shoulder Devil. Because the Shoulder Devil speaks for the impulses to get what you want — or avoid what you don’t — as quickly and easily as possible. The Shoulder Angel is a pain in the a$&% because it’s always arguing that you should deny the stuff you want, accept the stuff you don’t want, and work extra hard to do it all.

If you get that, you know how to corrupt anyone. Any pretend elf anyway. All you have to do is wait until the person’s Shoulder Angel and Shoulder Devil are fighting it out and jump into the fight. Either chip away at the Angel no one wants to listen to anyway or bolster the Devil everyone wants to listen to. And for the average person, it usually doesn’t take more than a single, reasonable, whispered suggestion.

Yes, I know evil I sound right now. But having power isn’t evil. Using it to do evil is. I’m a GM. I have to be good at being a villain.

Anyway, that’s corruption. Conceptually. In a nutshell. Wait until the person’s got some aligned outsiders whispering in their ears and casually, reasonably throw the Devil a little help. Then, let human pretend elf nature takes its course.

This, by the way, is a key point. Your job isn’t to be a Shoulder Devil. Your job is to help the player’s Shoulder Devil win the argument. Just put your thumb on the scale.

The Three Shoulder Devil’s Gruff

Now, it turns out that all Shoulder Devils ain’t created equal. And if you want to be the Emperor Palpatine of turning PCs to the Dark Side, you’ve got to know your Shoulder Devils.

First, is the Devil of Desire. The Glutton Devil. The Lust Devil. The Greed Devil. It’s the Devil that speaks for basic impulses, urges, appetites, and hungers. The Devil of Desire promises pleasure. Which people like. The Devil of Desire is the weakest of the three Shoulder Devils. They’re the Shoulder Devils that Shoulder Angels train against. Anyone with a strong moral compass got there first by learning to control their own, personal impulses. But Devils of Desire are very tantalizing nonetheless.

The problem is, while Devils of Desire make great corruption fodder for NPCs as part of pretend elf fantasy stories — and the Angryverse has its fair share of NPCs who listen too often to Devils of Desire — they’re rarely useful teammates for corrupting PCs. Which I’ll explain below.

Next Shoulder Devil is the Devil of Despair. The Devil of Wrath. The Devil of Cowardice. It’s the devil that promises an end to pain, suffering, and other negative emotions. When people are suffering, they want that suffering to end. And out pops the Devil of Despair, promising to end that suffering. They’re the Shoulder Devils that tell you to lash out at people who wrong you and also the Shoulder Devils that tell you to lie to keep yourself out of trouble. Devils of Despair are hard to ignore because ignoring them means willful pain and suffering. Maybe even death.

Devils of Despair are especially powerful because when a pretend elf is suffering, their mental energy is greatly diminished. And Shoulder Angels require a lot of mental energy. This means Devils of Despair always manifest when Shoulder Angels are at their weakest.

The third Shoulder Devil is a sneaky little bastard that often disguises itself as a Shoulder Angel. The Devil of Righteousness. The Devil of Pride. The Devil of Righteousness is the one that goes on and on about the greater good and about how the ends justify the means and how good intentions are everything. It’s the Devil that tells pretend elves that they can put right what is wrong, not just for themselves, but for others, and maybe even the whole world.

Some villains — and corrupt PCs — don’t care that they’re villains. They’re the ones obeying Devils of Desire and Devils of Despair. They’re just selfish. And then there are the villains that think they’re heroes. And who are sometimes even presented as heroes in pop culture. Those are the ones listening to the Devil of Righteousness.

Devils of Righteousness are the most dangerous because they can fly right under the Shoulder Angel’s radar. Why do I call them Devils of Pride? Because it’s an extreme kind of pride — the sinful kind; hubris, lack of humility, ignorance of human fallibility, willful denial of the problem of unintended consequences — that leads people to think they can arbitrate between good and evil for all, to foresee all the consequences of their actions, and decide the course of others’ lives.

Anyway, there’s your Devil Spotter’s Guide. Devils of Desire, Devils of Despair, and Devils of Righteousness. Know them. Recognize them. They’re your three teammates in the battle for PC souls.

And there are a couple of other things you should know about them too.

Devil Levels

First, know that Shoulder Devils gain XP like PCs do. They can level up. Shoulder Devils get more powerful with every victory. That’s why corruption is a slippery slope. A very slick, very steep, slippery slope. Impulses and desires? The more you feed them, the more you want to feed them. Indulgence becomes habit becomes addiction. The more you act in response to negative emotions, the more you train yourself to respond. This is why studies on pretend elves have shown that things like rage rooms and pillow-punching therapy increase aggression and aggressive expressions of anger.

In pretend elf games.

Point is, every time a Shoulder Devil wins, it gets more powerful. So if you can help a Shoulder Devil grind some XP on easy wins, you’ve got a strong ally later when the stakes are high and the soul’s on the line.

What? Beelzebub is Evolving…?

Next, know that Shoulder Devils can evolve like Pokémon. Weaker Shoulder Devils can turn into stronger ones. This is what Yoda was getting at when he said that fear leads to anger and anger leads to ennui and ennui leads to schadenfreude and schadenfreude leads to… I don’t know… klexos or monachopsis or whatever.

It’s like this: once a pretend elf has fed the Devil of Desire enough, he finds it isn’t really making him happy anymore. But not feeding the Devil of Desire is making him sad. So the Devil of Desire is now a Devil of Despair. If a pretend elf spends enough time wallowing with the Devil of Despair, they might just wonder what the f$&% is up with the world that’s letting him suffer so. When you’re mad at the world, the next logical step is to fix it. By any means necessary. And that’s when the Devil of Righteousness shows up.

Again, this s$&%’s good to know because you can trigger Devil evolution. And you don’t even need to find a Brim Stone in Mount Moon. You just need to say just the right thing at just the right time to turn Desire into Despair or fan the flames of Despair and turn them outward into Righteousness.

… Can Summon 1d3 Lesser Devils

Finally, know that Shoulder Devils can summon other Shoulder Devils. Especially when they feel threatened. So, when an uppity Shoulder Angel grows a spine and stands up to a Devil of Righteousness, the Devil of Righteousness need only point out that the pretend elf has done so many terrible things that, if he gives up now, he’ll be destroyed. And it’ll all be for nothing. Throwing the pretend elf into Despair. Or the Devil of Righteousness can fill the pretend elf’s head with visions of the love or glory or accolades or wealth or acceptance or comfort or whatever awaits them once they see their mission through. And suddenly the Devil of Desire tags in.

This is another great trick to know. If a PC starts pulling back from a Shoulder Devil, a simple invocation is all takes to phone the Devil a friend. Just appeal to Desire, Despair, or Righteousness and now you’ve got two allies helping you corrupt the PC. And two devils are better than one.

How to Actually Corrupt a Warlock

So far, so conceptual, right? Because these Shoulder Devils? They’re not game entities. They don’t have stats. They’re not even NPCs. They’re voices in the players’ heads. You don’t even play them. You just help them make their best cases. So, while it’s nice to know how they work, that doesn’t tell you how to work with them.

So, how do you actually corrupt a warlock? Or any PC? What’s the process? The thing is, it’s hard to give you a process. The best I can hand you is a set of tools. Because corruption’s a very personal thing. It’s got to be tailor-made for the pretend elf. And it’s mostly opportunistic. It’s not about planting ideas in pretend elves’ heads. It’s just about helping some ideas beat others. Thus this corruption schtick is an intuitive, opportunistic, long con game. Something you feel way your way through over a long period.

That’s, honestly, what makes it so wonderful. Corrupting a pretend elf is like tending a bonsai tree. It’s an act of gentle nurture and guidance. It takes a long time. And when it’s all done, you’ve got something uniquely beautiful. Something you can treasure forever.

Sorry. I got sentimental for a moment.

I’ve already given you a lot of the tools. But let’s see if I can put them together in some kind of process. At least to help you start your corruption game.

1. Pick Your Target

First, pick a PC to corrupt. Any PC. All your players’ characters are fair game. And you don’t need their permission. Or their buy-in. Your players gave you permission to f$&% with them the minute they sat down at your table. And they can withdraw that permission any time they want by walking away. Or by asking you to stop f$&%ing with them.

Warlocks actually do make the best targets, though. Why? Because corruption is part and parcel of the whole warlock gig. A player who picks the warlock class is daring you to corrupt them. They’re asking for it. Same with paladins. No one plays Luke Skywalker if they don’t want Darth Vader offering them access to the Blackguard class. Clerics work too. But really, pick whatever PC you want.

Me? I try to pick the PCs that I think will make the best villains when I take them away from their players.

By the way, when you get good at this s$&%, you can run several corruption cons at once. You can try to corrupt the whole party. Hell, you can make a whole campaign around it. Can you hold onto your humanity when the whole world goes to s$&% and everyone else is behaving like an animal? That kind of thing. It’s great stuff. But remember, you’re an imp right now. Don’t try to be a pit fiend.

2. Guess Which Devil’s Going to Show Up First

Corrupting a PC is about waiting for a Shoulder Devil to show up and rallying to its side. The problem is that Shoulder Devils are invisible. And you can’t read your players’ minds. So you have to guess when Shoulder Spirits are in a spat and guess which Shoulder Devil is in play.

But you want to be prepared for it when it happens. And, ideally, to have a Corrupting Agent in play before it does. As I’ll explain in a moment. And that means you’ve got to guess which Devil’s going to show up first. That is, which Shoulder Devil is the PC — and the player — most vulnerable to?

Consider everything you know about the player and the character and their motives. Consider how strongly the player identifies with the character so you know whether you have to work more on the player or on the character. Seriously.

Promises of in-world pleasures of the flesh won’t sway a player much because they can’t enjoy them. But very strong roleplayers are nonetheless swayed by such. I s$&% you not. Weaker roleplayers, though, don’t care as much as in-world stuff that doesn’t have gamey consequences. So corrupting them’s a matter of appealing to their gameplay motives, not their characters.

Devils of Desire can offer in-world payoffs like pleasure, wealth, glory, acceptance, or whatever. And they can also offer gamey pleasures like magical items, advancement, treasure, special abilities, unique character traits, and unique roleplaying experiences. Devils of Despair can offer the chance to avoid in-world losses like loss of social status, loss of friends and allies, pain, sadness, and so on. And they can promise the chance to avoid gamey losses like lost abilities, lost equipment, afflictions and injuries with penalties, character death, and so on.

See how this s$&% works?

All else being equal, warlocks tend to be vulnerable to Devils of Desire. Paladins, clerics, and other doers-of-good are vulnerable to Devils of Righteousness. And everyone is vulnerable to Devils of Despair. Lacking any good, sound evidence, that’s your best first guess.

3. Enlist a Corrupting Agent

Now you’ve got to create a Corrupting Agent. That’s just a fancy term for an NPC, creature, organization, mystical force, or supernatural entity that’ll whisper corrupting poison in the PC’s ear. And it has to be an in-world, in-game entity. You can’t do this s$&% ex cathedra.

When you speak as the GM — as the omniscient narrator — players have to be able to trust everything you say. If the narrator and referee leads the players astray, that’s no different from saying, “rocks fail, you die, no save.” Any GM can corrupt a PC by lying to the player about the moral rules of the universe and saying “gotcha.”

NPCs though are in-world entities. Even if they’re gods. They can say or do anything to accomplish their goals. If the players believe an NPC and that lands the party in trouble, that’s on the players. The GM didn’t lie. The NPC lied. And the players fell for it.

Warlocks obviously come with in-built Corrupting Agents. Does that even need to be said? But note that corrupting agents don’t have to be deliberately corrupting agents. Devils and Palpatines — beings purposely trying to turn good souls bad — are fine. But NPCs with skewed moralities whose viewpoints poison the minds and souls of PCs? Those are also perfectly fine Corrupting Agents. The best friend who’s been pushed too far and drags the party into a righteous crusade is as much of a Corrupting Agent as any succubus posing as a hooker.

Obviously, you want to make a Corrupting Agent that allies nicely with the Shoulder Devil you’re expecting.

4. Cultivate an Innocent Relationship

Now, settle in. This next step takes some time. You’ve got to establish a relationship between your Corrupting Agent and your PC target. You want to establish the Agent as a trusted friend. Or, at the very least, a beneficial and harmless ally. No one’s going to believe the imp is a trusted friend after all. But if he always has the right information and never expects anything in return, eventually the PC will start to trust their words and stop looking for hidden costs and meanings.

And that’s the trick. Just give the NPC some camera time, make them helpful, and don’t have them ask much in return. Just enough to seem reasonable. Little favors such as one friend might do for another.

The goal is to make the Corrupting Agent a fixture in the character’s life. If not a party member, at least an ally who shows up whenever the party’s back in town. And one whose help your PC target seeks out and trusts.

5. Wait for an Opportunity (or Create One)

Now comes the hard part. The waiting. Wait for an in-game moment when it seems like the character might be swayed by the Devil you’re expecting. A game situation in which there’s a chance to acquire something desirable in a not nice way. Or one in which the PC can avoid some trouble if they take a questionable shortcut. You can manufacture a situation if you want, but it’s best to let it happen on its own. If you want to make it happen, just put pieces in play that are likely to create an appropriate situation. Don’t force it.

Also, if you set a moral trap, start small. Make sure the not-nice choice isn’t that bad. Make it harmless. Mostly harmless. Victimless if possible. Immoral on a technicality. An easy XP gain for a Shoulder Devil.

One sure sign Shoulder Angels and Shoulder Devils are floating around is players arguing about a course of action that has obvious moral implications. Arguing about what to do with prisoners, for example, or arguing about how far to go getting information from someone. Or even something as simple as arguing about whether to just sneak in and take a needed thing to make life easier.

Take note of the debate. And take note of what your target PC advocates for. And how strongly they advocate for it. And decide which courses of action are — in your universal moral opinion — the gooder ones and which are the badder ones.

If your Corrupting Agent’s handy and on camera, they can speak up right there. Move on to the next step. If they’re not, take note of everything — the choice made, the outcome, and the consequences — and shove it in your mental back pocket. The next time the Corrupting Agent’s on camera, get the PC talking about the situation and then have the Corrupting Agent offer their perspective.

6. Whisper Sweet Poison

Once a Shoulder Spirit spat starts — or after it’s been and done — it’s time for you to work your evil magic. So, speaking through your Corrupting Agent, offer an opinion or viewpoint or a bit of advice that helps the Shoulder Devil out. Or that saps the Shoulder Angel. Nothing big. Nothing grand. No moral speech. No grand philosophy. Just a small, reasonable-sounding point that starts with something like, “well, here’s how I see it…”

Here’s how I see it… we’ve done a lot of good for this kingdom. People are better off for it. I think we deserve to enjoy the fruits of our work as much as anyone.

I understand why you did what you did and I know it was a hard decision, but I don’t know if it’s really fair that other people are paying the price for that choice. How can that really be right?

That’s it. Just offer one little poisonous viewpoint, innocent as you please. Just a take. If the PC engages, play out a short discussion but don’t press too hard. Back off if the PC disagrees, but don’t concede.

I see what you’re saying. It just… it doesn’t seem right to me is all. Well, I should get home.

And how do you know what to say? Well, that’s the art of it. But here’s Angry’s Top Ten Corrupting Arguments. Each is great for giving Shoulder Devils a little boost or kneecapping a Shoulder Angel. Learn the list. Use it. Love it. It’ll do you a hell of a lot of good.

1. Rationalize desires.

You deserve to be happy too, don’t you?

2. Downplay or invalidate consequences.

That’s a small price to pay.

3. Feed negative emotions.

I’d be mad too. Don’t you just want to punch that guy?

4. Turn responsibility outward.

How can you accomplish anything if no one gives you a chance?

5. Appeal to pride.

If people like us were in charge, we’d never let that happen.

6. Amplify losses.

Are you really willing to lose everything you worked for over this?

7. Amplify intentions.

You didn’t mean for any of that to happen. You were trying to do something good.

8. Appeal to Moral Relativism.

From another perspective, that would be totally fine.

9. Appeal to Harm-Based Morality.

If not one’s getting hurt, how can that really be wrong?

10. Appeal to the Greater Good.

Yes, there’s a cost, but think how much better off everything will be?

7. Wait for the Next Chance to Do it Again… Worse

Once you’ve jumped into a Spiritual Shoulder Spat with some Sympathy for the Devil, it’s time to wait again. Wait for the next opportunity to do it again. And again. And again. And just keep going round and round. Because that’s how this con works.

The thing is, if you did it right, each next opportunity comes a little faster than the last. Because of that whole steep, slick, slippery slope thing. So, bide your time and wait it out. And see what happens.

Keep an eye on your PC target. Are they starting to make badder choices? Or at least advocating for them more? Or at least hesitating more before making gooder choices? If so, you’re doing it right. And if you’ve noticed that kind of change, then it’s time to start building encounters and adventures to speed this s$&% along. Engineer situations — with higher stakes and worse consequences — that play into the Shoulder Devil’s wheelhouse. See if you can get it to evolve. But take it slow. Don’t rush.

Keep playing the corruption game until it’s clear that you’ve won and the player’s lost. Then… I don’t know. What happens in your pretend elf cosmos when a pretend elf goes full-on corrupt? You should probably figure that out. Maybe their soul’s devoured. Maybe they turn into a devil. Maybe you take their PC away because they broke the no evil rule too many times.

On the other hand, if you notice you’re not moving the moral needle, that means one of two things. Either the player’s winning the game or you picked the wrong Devil as your ally. Don’t concede the win just yet. Start a new game with a new devil. If your Corrupting Agent still works, keep using them. Otherwise, introduce a new one and give the whole game one more try. If the player’s moral compass keeps mostly pointing to the Seven Mounting Heavens of Celestia, then concede the win. Grant them wings and a halo and let them join the Heavenly Host. Or whatever.

You can’t win them all, after all. But it’s sure fun as hell to play the game.