Dungeons and Dragons™
and other fantasy
role playing games
What are Dungeons &
Dragons™ and similar games?
D&D is a fantasy role-playing game created and originally
published by Dave Arneson and Gary Gygax who founded the Tactical Studies Rules Association (TSR) in 1973. It was an
evolutionary step from earlier war games or military simulations. The game was
first marketed 1974. It gained great popularity among teens and young adults.
Rights to the game were later obtained by Wizards
of the Coast. Random House began distributing the game in 1979 and now owns
the game's copyright. Dozens of other companies have since published hundreds
of similar games under a variety of titles, such as DragonQuest.™, RuneQuest™,
Tunnels and Trolls™, and Villains and Vigilantes™. The games fall into many
genres:
* fantasy games
(e.g. Dungeons and Dragons)
* horror games
(e.g. Call of Cthulhu)
* science fiction
games (e.g. Traveler)
* cyberpunk
(e.g. Cyberpunk 2020)
* comic book
(e.g. Champions)
* historical
games (e.g. Boot Hill)
* Generic games
(e.g. GURPS). These allow you to learn a single set of game rules and apply
them to any setting.
Note: all
game names are trademarked
These games are played by groups of two or more people; 4 to 7 are
typical. One player is commonly called the Game
Master (GM) who defines the imaginary environment in which the game is
played. Sometimes the GM is referred to as Dungeon Master, Storyteller,
Referee, etc. He/she creates a make-believe world through which the players
will move and have their adventures. The players each create a single imaginary
character, defining their shape, race, intellectual and physical powers,
armament, protective devices, supplies and materials. The GM decides what
traps, obstacles and encounters the imaginary characters will meet. Sometimes
the GM holds the post for a long time; in other groups, the job rotates among
the membership.
Part 2
Adventures may include play-acting the rescuing of people, the
quest for money, treasure, power, knowledge and sometimes even survival of the
pretend character. Each player makes ethical, philosophical and moral decisions
on behalf of her/his imaginary character as the game develops. The GM describes
the environment, the events and the actions of supporting characters (also
called non-player characters or NPC's). The players describe their pretend
character's actions and reactions. The GM then tells them the results of each
event. Many games use the rolling of dice in order to resolve conflicts and to
determine the results of various actions (e.g. trying to disarm a trap or leap
across a chasm, etc.). Future sessions begin where the previous session quit.
Games can continue for years.
A few gamers use a system called Live Action Role Play (LARP) in which the players actually act out
the roles of their characters. Sometimes, they dress up in costumes as if in a
live play. Some regular gamers do not view LARPs in a positive light.
The society in which Dungeons
and Dragons is played is typically pre-scientific. Weapons are at the spear
and crossbow level. Some characters may be imagined as having telepathic
powers, others as being capable of casting magic spells. Other fantasy role
playing games are set in the wild west, in the far future, etc.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Who Plays Fantasy Role Games?
Players are usually in their teens to early 30's, who may be above average in intelligence, creativity and imagination. (Perhaps persons with these qualities are naturally drawn to the games; perhaps playing the game develops these factors). Many younger players will meet for a game once a week; others once or twice a month. The session might last about 6 hours.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Starting in the late 1970's, these games came under severe attack
by some Fundamentalist and other Evangelical Christians who alleged that they
contain "occult" content and inspire people to suicide or criminal activity.
After the death by suicide of Irving "Bink" Pulling in
1982-JUN, his mother, Patricia Pulling, organized BADD (Bothered about Dungeons
and Dragons). Bink had been depressed after he was unable to find a
campaign manager to handle his campaign for election to school council. He was
apparently an emotionally disturbed student who admired Adolf Hitler.
Unfortunately, his mother kept a loaded gun in the house that he was able to
access; he used it to commit suicide. Patricia became convinced that the death
had been triggered by her son's involvement with Dungeons and Dragons; she believed that his teacher had placed a
curse on Bink during a game. She brought a lawsuit against the teacher and
school. It was thrown out of court. She then organized BADD and started to
speak out against RPGs, claiming that they induced young people to commit
suicide and murder. BADD asked the Consumer
Product Safety Commission to place warning labels on RPGs. The agency
investigated but found that the games did not present a hazard to the public.
In 1997, Ms. Pulling died of cancer. BADD is currently. See the
postal list at the end of this page. Michael A. Stackpole has investigated Ms.
Pulling and BADD and written an extensive report. It is not a pretty story. 25
A second group actively opposing gaming is the Cult Crime Action Network (CCAN). As
described elsewhere at this site, the word "cult" is often
used as a general-purpose religious "snarl" word to refer to some
activity (religious or otherwise) that is not approved of.
The games have been falsely accused of:
* promoting
violence and murder of parents and others;
* causing suicide
among young people;
* luring young
people into the occult
By the early 1990's, the furor had largely died down. The games
are still attacked periodically on a small number of Fundamentalist or other Evangelical Christian TV programs and ministries. For
example, the Christian Life Ministries
has said that Dungeons and Dragons
contains many references to cannibalism and sadism. Such topics are rarely
discussed in fantasy role playing games. When they are mentioned, they are not
promoted but are shown in a bad light.
In 1996-JUN, fantasy role playing game industry in Italy came
under attack. As in the earlier attacks in North America, games have been
accused of causing teen suicide, and distorting minds. They falsely claim that
RPG players usually impersonate killers or death-row inmates. The "Stop the Nonsense" campaign was
mounted to respond to this threat. 26
------------------------------------------------------------------------
All of the opposition to RPGs in books, magazines, TV or radio
that we have observed appear to be from conservative Christians. Many of their
books on Satanism and the Occult still attack the games:
* Joan Hake Robie
writes: "Dungeons and Dragons is not
a game. Some believe it to be a teaching [sic] the following:". She
then lists 22 activities, including blasphemy, assassination, insanity, sexual
perversion, homosexuality, prostitution, Satan worship, and necromancy. 1
* Neil Anderson
& Steve Russo claim that the game negatively "affects a person's self-image and personality and opens him to satanic
influence." 2
* Bob Larson
mentions that young people who call his radio talk show often mention fantasy
games as "their introduction to
Satanism". 3
* Johanna
Micaelsen criticizes games for their "promotion
of occultism and violence". 4
* Rus Wise
writes: "God is able to deliver
those who seek Him. Victory is ours. But first, we must receive God's
power...We have been discussing the problems of satanic involvement. Whether we
become deceived by use of the Ouija Board, music, divination or by Dungeons and
Dragons, the end result is the same occult bondage." 24
------------------------------------------------------------------------
There are many anecdotal stories about youth who have become
involved with RPGs, and have become totally obsessed with the game. They become
emotionally linked to their pretend RPG character. They lose the capacity to
separate fantasy from reality. Some stressor makes them snap. They either
commit suicide or go on a murder rampage. These stories make excellent material
for an "urban legend". Such stories are widely discussed throughout
North America. Fortunately, RPGs simply do not work this way. A gamer who
commits suicide after having lost his identity in a RPG is probably as rare as
a person who goes into a deep depression and kills themselves because they went
bankrupt playing a game of Monopoly. Pro-RPG groups have investigated each of
the murder-suicides which are allegedly caused by gaming. No causal link has
ever been found.
The claims by conservative Christian groups that gamers commit
suicide or engage in criminal acts do not appear to hold water:
* Michael
Stackpole calculated expected suicide rates by gamers during the early years of
Dungeons and Dragons. He used BADD's
estimate of 4 million gamers worldwide. Assuming that fantasy role game playing
had no effect on youth suicide rate, one would have expected about 500 gamers
would have committed suicide each year. As of 1987, BADD had documented an
average of 7 per year. It would appear that playing D&D could be promoted
as a public health measure, because it drastically lowers the suicide rate
among youth. 5,25
* Suzanne Abyeta
& James Forest studied the criminal tendencies of "gamers" and found that they
committed fewer than average numbers of crimes for individuals of the same age.
6
* The Association of Gifted-Creative Children of
California surveyed psychological autopsies of adolescent suicides and were
unable to find any that were linked to these games. Their National Association has endorsed Dungeons and Dragons for its educational content. 7,8
* The American Association of Suicidology, 9 the Center for Disease Control, 10
and Health & Welfare (Canada) 11 have conducted extensive studies
into teen suicide. They have found no link to fantasy role playing games.
* Dr. S. Kenneth
Schonbert studied over 700 adolescent suicides and found none which had fantasy
role playing games as a factor. 12
* The Committee for the Advancement of
Role-Playing Games has investigated every suicide or criminal case that
BADD advanced, and has been unable to find any caused by role playing games.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Are Fantasy Role Games part
of "The Occult"?
The answer is both yes and no, depending upon one's point of view.
There are many religious terms like demonic possession, Neopaganism, the Occult, Satan, and Satanism which have
multiple meanings. Often conservative Christians use one definition, whereas
others use another definition:
* Common beliefs among conservative
Christians: They often oppose fantasy games because of the alleged occult
content of the games. They frequently state that RPG rule books include poison
recipes or methods of summoning demons, etc. This appears to be a
misunderstanding. A very few games have printed spell incantations from folk
and ceremonial magick, but most do not. A gamer who wants his pretend character
to cast a spell in order to protect itself from attack might simply say to the
GM "I am casting a healing spell
now." Note that neither the
player nor their character actually casts a spell or practices magick. The
player simply describes what the imaginary character is doing. Gaming is
basically an adult version of make believe. It does not promote actual black
magic or manipulative magick.
Evangelical Christian authors often view Satanism as being at the
core of "the occult". Many believe that Satanism is a
secret, underground, highly organized evil group that is international in scope
and under the personal control of Satan. They feel
that Satanists are responsible for kidnapping, torturing, ritually
killing and even eating infants and children. They look upon many diverse
occultic activities as performing a recruitment function for Satanists; these
include fantasy role playing games, astrology, heavy metal rock music, the
"Care Bears" and "Smurfs" on children's TV, a second
religion Wicca - often called "white" Witchcraft. Some conservative
Christians view all religions other than Christianity (e.g.
Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam) as forms of Satanism.
* Common beliefs among non-Evangelical
Christians, secularists, RPG players, etc: They view the Occult in very
different terms. It is seen as a list of many unrelated activities: two
religions, one type of game, one form of music, a variety of methods of
foretelling the future and some imaginative and charming children's cartoons.
In particular, Satanism is a religion which is totally unrelated to Wicca and the
other activities mentioned. Neither Satanists nor Wiccans recruit members.
"The Occult" is not an
organized entity.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Recent Misinformation in the
Christian Media
On 1997-APR-7 and 8, the Adventures
in program of Focus on the Family
broadcast two episodes which attacked what they call "Role Playing Fantasy Games" [sic]. 14 Odyssey is a radio
play about pre-teens and teens in an American town. In both episodes, Dr. James
Dobson presented a short talk directed to the children and youth listening to
the program and their parents. He attacked RPGs, because he feels that its
players actually become the pretend characters that they have selected. To play
the game properly, he said that the players need to practice magic and
mysticism. His choice of the terms "magic" and "mysticism"
is unfortunate, because both words have multiple, conflicting meanings. In the
APR-7 episode, he said that some gamers have reported involvement with demons
and Satan worship.
In the radio play, "Jimmy" is visited by a RPG playing
cousin, "Len". Len's character in the game is known as "Luther
the Magician." The latter introduces Jimmy to a game called Castles and Cauldrons"; he gives
Jimmy's character the name of "John Dell, the Apprentice." They play
the game together. A battle is fought with some evil enemies; both experience
auditory hallucinations in which their plastic swords sound like real weapons.
Some of the misconceptions mentioned in the play were:
* the gamers
actually become the pretend characters, and engage in battles and other
adventures. In reality, the gamers remain quite human and simply direct the
character that they have chosen to go through the adventure.
* the gamers are
described as kneeling and reciting an incantation. Actually, the gamers would
typically remain sitting and simply say that their characters are kneeling and
engaged in a ritual; no incantation would actually be spoken.
* if the gamer
proves themselves worthy then they are supposed to accumulate special powers.
This is incorrect. In reality, it is the character that the gamer has selected
who may accumulate or lose imaginary powers during the course of a game.
* Len described
how one of his gamer friends is able to have visions. He can see things far
away through the eyes of a flying bird. Again, in reality, it is the gamer's
imaginary character that might be said to have visions, not the gamer. And in
reality, the character sees no visions; the character is not alive; it is
merely a symbol fantasized by the gamers as if it were real and seeing visions.
* Len says that
he has the power to read Jimmy's heart and implies that he received this
special power during his gaming. This again is nonsense; players do not
accumulate special powers; it is the player's pretend character that may
accumulate or lose pretend powers.
* The game is
linked with manipulative black magick throughout the episode. Whit, a store
owner, became overcome with feelings of dread and dropped a glass. He felt
something oppressing his spirit. A cat became influenced (presumably by Len) to
tear the arms off of a doll. A roast in the oven started to smoke. The
implications are that the game playing is linked closely to black magic, and
that one result of the game is to harm other people elsewhere in the town.
* The games are
described as involving evil, spiritual forces. Playing these games is said to "open doors" that "lets loose" demonic forces
into people's lives. Again, gamers do not participate in evil sorcery, recite
incantations, curse other people, etc. The Christian Scriptures contain many
references to demons; they were very much a part of 1st Century CE belief, and were
considered to be the source of many mental illnesses. But most people stopped
believing in demons with the rise of modern mental health therapies. Demons are
today mostly limited to Hollywood horror movies and the mental health belief
systems of some conservative Christians.
* Len explains
that some adults become "Interferers" and attempt to stop young
people from playing the games. He explained how they drove-off one such woman
through the use of magic. Again, gamers do not engage in black magic or spells
to dominate, manipulate, or control others.
* At one point,
Len tried to draw blood from Jimmy. Gamers don't draw blood. Their pretend
characters might be imagined to draw pretend blood, but that is all.
"Whit" Whittaker, the owner of a local store comes
across Len and Jimmy playing their game. He immediately destroys one of the
tools of the game, called The Board of
Talisman. Later, Whit casually mentions that he has stolen and destroyed
all of Jimmies' gaming equipment. The implication is that a Christian is well
within his rights to destroy another person's possessions if he feels that they
are unchristian.
The overall effect of the program is:
* to give a very
distorted view of fantasy role playing games,
* to link them
with "The Occult", black
magick, evil sorcery and demonic activity.
* to imply that
it is quite acceptable for Christians to destroy other people's possessions if
they disapprove of them.
If the program had simply been presented as a play, then it would
have been an amusing piece of fiction - something like the "X-Files" or "Outer Limits" for kids. But the
introduction by Dr. Dobson seems to imply that the activities described in the
episode reflect the reality of role playing games. They do not. The producers
of the program are either completely misinformed, or intentionally deceptive
about the nature of these games. The radio program promoted an hopelessly
inaccurate version of fantasy role playing games in which the players become involved
with demons, Satanic worship, spells, curses, evil sorcery etc. The end result
of the program is to create fear and insecurity in the minds of listeners in
order to scare them away from playing this type of game.