The magic box

An entertaining way of messing with someone who’s stoned. Here’s how it works:

Have a sober person (and preferably one who has a very good control of their speech in general) pull a stoned person aside and start talking to them. Then, they’ll say something like, “oh, did you see my magic box?” The stoned person will say no, of course, and the first person will mime as though they were holding a box, with their hands about a foot apart and as if they were pressed against the two vertical sides of the box. That is to say, the fingers are pointed straight at the stoned person.

The sober person goes on to talk normally but then will move his or her hands over the stoned person’s head as he or she is talking, and now here’s where some experience with theatrical performance will come in handy. The idea is that the first person is placing the box over the stoned person’s head, and as soon as this happens the sober person’s voice cuts out, but they keep on mouthing words to the stoned person. If the person is skilled enough, the sober person will then open a “magic door” to the box, in which case of course, their voice becomes audible again. The combination of opening and closing the magic door and taking the box on and off can be quite effective, but the first person really has to be on the money for this to work. Rest assured, though, that it can be quite entertaining to see your friend absolutely terrified of the box, or at the very least, pretty tripped out.

Generally, the words that the first person says should be about the magic door and the magic box, so if you were listening to them they would sound like this: “Now, I’ve got this magic box and I’ll—(pause) now the magic door is opened if I close the mag—(pause) take off the magic box everything goes back to normal but if it goes back on—(pause)—magic do—(pause)—open it—“ And so on. Have fun with this, but if someone is really tripping out, you know, be cool.

the magic box is the omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent box. it is omnipotent but uninterested, omniscient but silent and omnipresent but unseen. you put in it what you have and take out what it has. that's no magic, you wonder? well, you are right (and consequently, wrong). magic is when you become the box, not when you sit in it. the magic box absorbs everything and retains nothing. whatever is put in, goes in and whatever is in, can surely be taken out.

now, there is one golden rule of the magic box you must never forget - "there are no rules of the magic box". no one maintains it, no one owns it, no one opens it, no one locks it. and since there are no rules - you can be that no one. the magic box is like water - simple and careless. however, people have different tastes and needs. some like with sugar, some with caffeine, some have to use pesticides, just to keep it clean. suit yourself.

in the magic box we have here, we start with small items such as books, VCDs and DVDs - things that can be easily used, reused, lost and found. however, feel free to drop in your jewellery, watches, cash or even yourself. not because they can also be "used, reused, lost and found" or because no one is stopping you but because "there are no rules of the magic box". no rules. it accepts all (even visa!). having said that, we request you to put only your belongings into it.

finally, the box follows the "garbage-in, garbage-out" principle. the box can be pretty omni-crappy as well (if you want it to be), for is but an innocent, little, cute, stupid box after all, a container, isn't it? handle with care (and love and respect) because - "garbage-in, garbage-out". and if at all you have any questions, complains or concerns, tell them to the box - it listens.

so, finally (finally, finally), this is just a beginning. consider both the idea and the box open-source and open-destination. spread the word, spread the stuff: within your workplace and out of it. remember, there is only one magic box in the world, all others are mere reflections of it. however, like every boxer has a name, every box also has a name, and the name of the magic box is... well, the magic box.

The Magic Box is the last book released for the Buffy the Vampire Slayer roleplaying game, and it is also the most difficult book to find (more on that later). The Magic Box (so named for the magic shop on the television show) is a sourcebook that details the use of magic in the Buffy universe.

The Magic Box is not actually a box so much as it is a 128 page color softcover book. Honestly this a real let down compared to the other books for the Buffy rpg, as all the other books are hardcover and glossy, and a heck of a lot easier to actually purchase. You see it appears that The Magic Box came out right before Eden Studios lost their Buffy license. To say that it is difficult to find would be an understatement. Forget the store, it won't be there. 95 percent of the time there won't even be a copy of it on eBay, which is significant because at any given time almost any RPG supplement ever published for any game is available for purchase on eBay. However Amazon.com usually has two or three sellers who have a copy for around $100, which is frankly a whole lot more money than this book is possibly worth. I found my copy in the opening minutes of a game convention, and actually got it at 20 percent off cover price.

The book presents a solid spellcasting and technology system for use in the game, which is a good thing because spellcasting is very loosely defined in the Core Rulebook. The biggest drawbacks to the magic system is that it is a lot more complicated that the rest of the rules are. I also had the minor quibble that the spellcasting rules actually added a rare situation in which the gamemaster would actually have to roll dice! The gamemaster doesn't normally use dice in the Buffy game (long story short, it is an opposed roll system in which non-player characters have fixed rolls, and it uses action points), and I always quite enjoyed being able to run games without bringing any dice.

If you have spellcasting characters in the game then you will find this book to be a great addition to the game, if you can find it that is. However if you are like me and run games without a lot of spellcasters then you will find that it is mostly just taking up shelf space. Fortunately it is loaded with pictures of Alyson Hannigan so it isn't a total loss.