The steam tunnel incident refers not to a single event, but rather to a set of urban myths wherein players enacting live action role-playing games perish, often in the utility tunnels below their university campus. The stories are entirely apocryphal. Urban Legend is also the name of a 1998 movie. ... “Larp” redirects here. ... A utility tunnel is a subterreanean space for wires, conduits, pipes, and other conveyences used in the delivery of utilities with enough room for a human to enter. ... Representation of a university class, 1350s. ... Apocrypha (from the Greek word , meaning those having been hidden away[1]) are texts of uncertain authenticity or writings where the authorship is questioned. ...

Egbert incident

The "original" incident concerns a student named James Dallas Egbert III (1963 – August 16, 1980), incorrectly alleged to have disappeared into the Michigan State University steam tunnels for reasons related to the role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons (D&D). is the 228th day of the year (229th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar). ... Michigan State University (MSU) is a co-educational public research university in East Lansing, Michigan USA. Founded in 1855, it was the pioneer land-grant institution and served as a model for future land-grant colleges in the United States under the 1862 Morrill Act. ... A utility tunnel is a subterreanean space for wires, conduits, pipes, and other conveyences used in the delivery of utilities with enough room for a human to enter. ... This article is about games in which one plays the role of a character. ... This article is about the role-playing game. ...

Egbert was indeed a player of D&D, but it was later revealed that his entry of the steam tunnels was unrelated to the game. At the time, the 16-year old child prodigy was struggling with depression under intense academic pressure from his parents, as well as battling a drug addiction. In addition, his young age, advanced IQ, and the fact that he was an undeclared homosexual had made it difficult for Egbert to make friends on campus.^[1] Egbert entered the steam tunnels on August 15, 1979 with a bottle of Quaaludes intending to end his life. The suicide attempt was unsuccessful and when he awoke the next day he went into hiding at a friend's house. A child prodigy is someone who is a master of one or more skills or arts at an early age. ... In everyday language depression refers to any downturn in mood, which may be relatively transitory and perhaps due to something trivial. ... Drug addiction, or dependency is the compulsive use of drugs, to the point where the user has no effective choice but to continue use. ... For other uses, see Coming out (disambiguation). ... is the 227th day of the year (228th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Also: 1979 by Smashing Pumpkins. ... Methaqualone1 is an addictive, sedative drug. ... For other uses, see Suicide (disambiguation). ...

A well-publicized search for Egbert began, and his parents hired private investigator William Dear to seek out their son. Dear knew nothing about Dungeons & Dragons at that time. He questioned some of Egbert's friends who were nearly as ignorant, since Egbert had never played the game at Michigan State. Dear concocted a theory that Egbert had gotten lost in the steam tunnels during a live-action version of D&D and the press repeated Dear's hypothesis as fact. The search for Egbert continued unsuccessfully for several weeks. A private investigator, private detective, PI, or private eye, is a person who undertakes investigations, usually for a private citizen or some other entity not involved with a government or police organization. ... William C. Dear is a well-known Dallas-based private investigator. ... “Larp” redirects here. ...

Meanwhile, a series of Egbert's hosts had repeatedly asked him to leave their various homes, fearing repercussions with law enforcement. Egbert eventually traveled to New Orleans, where he again attempted suicide, this time with cyanide. After this attempt also failed, he moved to Morgan City, Louisiana and took a job as a laborer in an oil field. New Orleans is the largest city in the state of Louisiana, United States of America. ... The cyanide ion, CN−. From the top: 1. ... Morgan City is a city located in St. ... Drilling rig in a small oil field Near Sarnia, Ontario, 2001 An oil field is an area with an abundance of oil wells extracting petroleum (oil) from below ground. ...

Four days into this new job, Egbert called Dear and revealed that he was hiding in Morgan City. Dear traveled to Louisiana and recovered Egbert. When the two finally met, Egbert asked the investigator to conceal the truth of his story. Dear agreed and released the 16-year-old to the custody of his uncle, Dr. Marvin Gross, on September 13, 1979. is the 256th day of the year (257th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Also: 1979 by Smashing Pumpkins. ...

Because of his promise to the boy, Dear left the false news reports unchallenged for the rest of the boy's short life. Egbert's third suicide attempt on August 16, 1980, by gunshot wound, succeeded. Four years after Egbert's death, Dear finally revealed his story in his 1984 book The Dungeon Master. is the 228th day of the year (229th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar). ... The Dungeon Master (1985) is a nonfiction book written by William C. Dear, giving his explanation of the steam tunnel incident, which he feels was misrepresented by the news media. ...

Prior to Dear's revelations, Rona Jaffe had already published a thinly disguised fictionalization of the press exaggerations of the Egbert case, the 1981 novel Mazes and Monsters. In an era when very few people understood role-playing games it seemed plausible to the public that a player might experience a psychotic episode and lose touch with reality during role-playing. The book saw adaptation into a made-for-television movie in 1982 starring Tom Hanks. Publicity surrounding the novel and the movie helped to further the urban myths surrounding D&D and other role-playing games. Rona Jaffe (June 12, 1932 — December 30, 2005) was an American novelist. ... Mazes and Monsters is a 1981 novel by Rona Jaffe. ... (VHS Cover) (DVD Cover) Mazes and Monsters is a made-for-TV movie about a group of college students and their interest in the eponymous role-playing game (RPG). ... Thomas Jeffrey Hanks (born July 9, 1956) is an American two-time Academy Award-winning film actor, Emmy-winning director, voice-over artist and movie producer. ...

Pritchard incident

In 1988, during an investigation into his stepfather's murder, Christopher Wayne Pritchard told police he and his friends would occasionally enter the steam tunnels of North Carolina State University at Raleigh, N.C., to map them out for the purposes of incorporating them into their D&D game. In a later police interview, he claimed he and his friends once got high and played D&D in the steam tunnels with martial-arts style wooden weapons. Several ex-roommates and members of his gaming group, including James Upchurch, also confirmed Chris's account in police interviews, putting the number of sessions at perhaps a half dozen. The weapons involved were variously described as darts, knives, torches, fake samurai swords, rattan sticks and clubs. Drugs and alcohol were said to be involved. Police investigators found the letters "CWP" spray-painted in the tunnels.^[2] Chris Pritchard is an American man known for masterminding the murder of his stepfather Leith Von Stein in 1988. ... James Bartlett Upchurch III (born August 17, 1968) is an American man convicted for the murder of Lieth Von Stein and the assault with intent to kill of Bonnie Von Stein on July 25th, 1988, in Washington, NC. It was speculated at trial that the von Steins were attacked...

Other versions

• Later versions of the myth involve groups of students attempting to enact "dungeon adventures" in the steam tunnels, getting lost and dying of hyperthermia or other causes.^{[citation needed]}
• In the book The Rule of Four, several sections involve use of the campus steam tunnels, sometimes for games, but not for D&D.
• A similar incident is often referenced in The Knights of the Dinner Table comic. One of the characters, "Nitro," earned his nickname after a live-action game in the steam tunnels under Muncie, Indiana's Ball State University went disastrously awry.
• A similar idea was used in Neal Stephenson's 1984 university satire The Big U. In this novel several live action role playing gamers headed into their University's sewers to play a game called "Sewers and Serpents".
• David Foster Wallace's 1996 novel Infinite Jest features characters on the verge of schizophrenia clambering through steam tunnels and being hypnotically lost in media.
• In the novel Mazes and Monsters, by Rona Jaffe, a group of college friends play the role-playing game Mazes and Monsters, using an abandoned mine near their college campus for a live-action version of the game. One of the students (played by Tom Hanks in the movie) suffers a psychotic breakdown while playing the game.

This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The Rule of Four is a novel written by Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason, and published in 2004. ... Cover of issue 100 of Knights of the Dinner Table Knights of the Dinner Table (KoDT) is a comic book/strip created by Jolly R. Blackburn and is published by Kenzer & Company. ... Neal Town Stephenson (born October 31, 1959) is an American writer, known primarily for his science fiction works in the postcyberpunk genre with a penchant for explorations of society, mathematics, currency, and the history of science. ... The Big U (1984) is Neal Stephensons first published novel, a satire of campus life. ... Infinite Jest (1996) is a critically acclaimed novel written by David Foster Wallace. ... Mazes and Monsters is a 1981 novel by Rona Jaffe. ... Rona Jaffe (June 12, 1932 — December 30, 2005) was an American novelist. ... Thomas Jeffrey Hanks (born July 9, 1956) is an American two-time Academy Award-winning film actor, Emmy-winning director, voice-over artist and movie producer. ... (VHS Cover) (DVD Cover) Mazes and Monsters is a made-for-TV movie about a group of college students and their interest in the eponymous role-playing game (RPG). ...

Reference

1. ^ Dear, William C. (1984). Dungeon Master: The Disappearance of James Dallas Egbert III. Houghton Mifflin. 
2. ^ McGinniss, Joe (1991). Cruel Doubt. Simon& Schuster. ISBN 0671679473. 

William C. Dear is a well-known Dallas-based private investigator. ... The Dungeon Master (1985) is a nonfiction book written by William C. Dear, giving his explanation of the steam tunnel incident, which he feels was misrepresented by the news media. ... i suck for crack!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11Houghton Mifflin Company is a leading educational publisher in the United States. ... Joe McGinniss (born 1942) is an author of several books; most notably The Selling of the President, an account of the United States presidential election, 1968. ... Is a 1992 made for TV starring Blythe Danner and Matt McGrath. ...

External links

• "The Disappearance of James Dallas Egbert III" by Shaun Hately
• "The Attacks on Role-Playing Games" by Paul Cardwell, Jr.