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"Eric and the Dread Gazebo" also known as just “The Gazebo story" is a
role-playing game-inspired
anecdote
An anecdote is "a story with a point", such as to communicate an abstract idea about a person, place, or thing through the concrete details of a short narrative or to characterize by delineating a specific quirk or trait. Occasionally humorous ...
, made famous by
Richard Aronson (designer of ''
The Ruins of Cawdor'', a
graphical MUD, and the voice of Cedric in ''
King's Quest V''). Aronson's account first appeared in print in the
APA ''
Alarums and Excursions'' #139, (March, 1987). It was reprinted in the RPG APA ''The Spell Book'' in 1987, and
Mensa's ''The Mensa Bulletin'' in 1989. It subsequently spread to the
internet
The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...
where it has been frequently retold and adapted as short stories and comics. The story, as it was originally published, was titled "Eric and the Gazebo" but many retellings inserted the word 'Dread' in the title.
The tale features a player who misunderstands the
gamemaster
A gamemaster (GM; also known as game master, game manager, game moderator, referee, or storyteller) is a person who acts as an organizer, officiant for regarding rules, arbitrator, and moderator for a multiplayer role-playing game. They are m ...
's description of a
gazebo
A gazebo is a pavilion structure, sometimes octagonal or turret-shaped, often built in a park, garden or spacious public area. Some are used on occasions as bandstands.
Etymology
The etymology given by Oxford Dictionaries is "Mid 18th c ...
on a small hill, mistakenly assuming it to be some kind of
monster in the game. After asking the gamemaster its color, size and distance from the group, the player attempts to call out to the gazebo. When it fails to respond, he fires an arrow at it, to no effect. ("There is now a gazebo with an arrow sticking out of it.") By the end of the encounter the player, lacking the means to harm the gazebo, opts to flee in desperation. The frustrated game master retaliates by humouring the player's misconception and announcing that the gazebo has awakened to capture and consume the player.
According to Ed Whitchurch (the real gamemaster of the story), the original incident on which the anecdote is based was actually less than a minute long, ending rather unceremoniously with Whitchurch asking "Don't you know what a gazebo is?"
The story has been called "legendary".
See also
*
Don Quixote#Tilting at windmills
*
Mental model
A mental model is an explanation of someone's thought process about how something works in the real world. It is a representation of the surrounding world, the relationships between its various parts and a person's intuitive perception about thei ...
References
{{Reflist
History of role-playing games
Humour
Gazebos