Capture the Flag - With Stuff!

As I continue to explore the highways and byways of the roads to fun, I am find myself more and more often seeking out the less-travelled byways for that soul-restoring experience of fun being seriously had. Case in point, the game of Capture the Flag, with Stuff, as purportedly played by students (as depicted) at Carnegie-Mellon University.

After some assiduous attempts to decode the official rules of Capture the Flag, With Stuff, I learned that it's basically the traditional game of capture the flag, as so well-described by this page from U.S. Scouting Service Project, only with stuff. The stuff with which it is includes things like belts, potions, wands and glyphs which either give players special powers, or protect them against said same.

Wands, for example. "Wands are floppy two-foot lengths of foam rubber. Whapping the subject (anywhere) and shouting the keyword invokes the magic." As so well-illustrated by the Wand of Vengeance: "If the bearer whaps an enemy with this, in the whappee's home territory, the whappee is captured. The wielder gets safe passage with his prisoner back to his jail and must go there as directly as possible. When this item is used, the whapper must immediately drop it in the whappee's home territory. You may not move or pick up this item if it is in enemy territory; you may only do so in your own or neutral space."

The "stuff" added to Capture the Flag by this particular student body is clearly the very stuff of nonsense. It is a remarkable achievement of the maturing sense of play, and a lesson for all of us who fear for the future of fun.