Perhaps that attitude is what impels her spontaneously to venture into a store selling role-playing games. There she meets Sanford (Surprise), a burly ex-soldier with Tourette's (he got kicked out of the service for yelling at his drill sergeant in Elvish). Sanford tentatively invites the beautiful woman to participate in his gaming circle, and she accepts.

In the apartment of Game Master Jasper (Coatney) and his silent wife Gwen (Diaz Sas), Elizabeth encounters the remaining two members of the neurotic band: Larry (Collins), an aspiring actor, and Kevin (Dabach), the least socialized and most childish member of the group.

Almost before you can roll a die, Elizabeth is sucked into the RPG lifestyle. She becomes a warrior named Magellan and is soon slicing up iceworms, resurrecting dead comrades and hoisting a tankard at the local inn. But in real life, the dynamics among the players do not run smoothly. Jasper accuses Kevin of stealing DVDs. Kevin wants the repayment of a contested loan of 20 dollars from Jasper. Sanford's affliction has him acting out inappropriately. And Larry, ever the diplomat, tries soothing everyone by crooning pseudo-showtunes with medieval lyrics.

Will Elizabeth finally grok the geek lifestyle before her parole officer comes down on her case? Or will the whole not-so-merry band of gamers disintegrate under the forces of their antipathies?

Nerds rule and hipsters drool

Plainly modeled on the mockumentaries of Christopher Guest (the tagline on the DVD's packaging boasts "Spinal Tap meets Dungeons and Dragons!"), this charming foray into the subculture of role-playing games does everything right. With a witty script, fine acting, nice camerawork, propulsive cutting and a naturalistic plot, the film offers a fly-on-the-wall perspective on its characters that draws the viewer into willing intimacy and complicity with the whole subculture.

The dialogue afforded the characters works wonderfully to assemble their personalities for us from the ground up. With telling bits of backstory, the personalities are nailed down without stiffening into cardboard. And the beauty of the script lies in the workings of the ensemble. Nominally the "star," Aimee Graham willingly steps back and lets the other characters have just as much, if not more, screen time. They spout their gamers' jargon with unforced realism and belief. And writer Tom Hietter comes up with laugh-out-loud bits, such as the D&D persona names ("Cruspula," "Ross'Kosk'Kiosk") and the magic items (enchanted goatskin armor, a "plus 4 orc truss" and a "plus 8 welcome mat in Elvish").

Inhabiting all this weirdness from the inside out, the cast never leers or snarks or camps it up. They are fully respectful of their characters, ultimately giving them dignity and empathy. (Interspersed interviews with a host of conventioneers are very well done and productive, too.)

Co-directors Matthew Mishory and Matthew Ross manage to endow a basically static set (the apartment living room where gameplay happens) with lots of energy. The chosen apartment is perfectly emblematic of a certain fannish lifestyle. The plot unfolds in an unforced manner that eschews massive drama for smaller revelations. The music is an understated accompaniment as well.

By the time Elizabeth receives a surprise token of her emotional acceptance into the gamers' realm, the viewer will feel that all magical quests do not take place merely in the land of dice.