Dungeons and Dragons

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ol120

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I have been wondering if Dungeons and dragons is okay- most of the Christian websites I have been to just bleat that Dungeons and dragons is made by the devil if they don’t support it:shrug:
 
It’s a game. Some Christians have trouble separating reality from fiction 🤷
 
My fiance played for awhile in college. It’s just a game. It may not be the best use of your time, but it’s not inherently bad.

Someone gave another friend of mine a pamphlet that was supposed to help one examine one’s conscience for confession, and it listed DnD as a sin. He took it to his priest (a very orthodox one who still wears a cassock!) and asked, and he told him it was not a sin.
 
It is just a game, but think on this:
  • entire groups of characters are reliant on heathen “gods”
  • the basic method of advancement is to kill sentient beings and taking their belongings
  • It desensitises the player to the reality of the occult because “it’s just a game”
I am writing this as someone who played Dungeons and Dragons for more than 20 years. There are RPGs out there that are not dangerous. D&D is not one of those games.
 
Go ahead and play. I see absolutely no harm in playing this game, it’s a way to get together with friends and stretch your imagination a little bit. As with anything else don’t let it become an obsession or takeover your life – but then I’d say to just about anything else. Most of the hysteria over this game came during the so-called “Satanic Panic” of the later 1980s early 1990s where everything and anything that could be was associated with the Devil was by apoplectic mothers and senator’s wives.

ChadS
 
As a role-player myself, I can say that nothing in Dungeons and Dragons is real. Next, there have been stories associated with it that have been distorted by the press and those who retell these stories. There are a few disturbed people who become obsessed with these games and take them beyond what they are meant to be: an evening of make-believe with friends. D & D should not be regarded as a form of therapy either for those who may be experiencing real problems. However, that said, it sure beats sitting on a bar stool all night drinking beer and watching TV. I’ve seen people really enjoy playing an Elf or a Knight.

As a kid, playing a soldier running around with a plastic weapon was another example of the kind of make-believe we enjoyed. The whole “bang, bang, you’re dead” was around long before D&D which appeared in the 1970s.

I’ve also made some friends from among our original group who are still with me today.

My only word of caution is that sometimes people begin to look for books about contemporary magic or witchcraft or other supernatural subjects. One should always be careful because such curiosity could lead to problems.

Peace,
Ed
 
CWBetts said:
It is just a game, but think on this:
  • entire groups of characters are reliant on heathen “gods”
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Actually as a point of order, I’d heard somewhere once that among the reasons that Gary Gygax had used a pantheon system was that he felt uncomfortable, as a Christian, using Christian belief and God as mere game mechanics. There is an article somewhere (wish I could find it again) that depicted the original CLeric class religion from the playtests (long before the pantheons --Heironeous, Pelor, Iuz et. al were introduced into the game) as a kind of “lawyer-friendly Christianity”. IIRC (and players of the original white books may be able to confirm) there was no actual named religion in the game, monotheistic or polytheistic, instead allowing the DMs to use the belief system of their choice in the game.

He did later on, however, sneak in a sly reference into his Greyhawk Campaign materials, as Saint Cuthbert was made one of the deities a character could follow in his home campaign 😉

But to echo the previous poster, it is just a game. God, I’d like to believe, knows we can differentiate between reality and fantasy, and knows when we’re praying earnestly to Him for forgiveness and salvation and for our fellow man, and when our fictional 4th-level cleric is praying to Heironeous to enchant his battleaxe that he may smiteth many more foul orcs… 😃
 
CWBetts said:
It is just a game, but think on this:
  • entire groups of characters are reliant on heathen “gods”
  • the basic method of advancement is to kill sentient beings and taking their belongings
  • It desensitises the player to the reality of the occult because “it’s just a game”
I am writing this as someone who played Dungeons and Dragons for more than 20 years. There are RPGs out there that are not dangerous. D&D is not one of those games.
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It does not “desenseities the player to the reality fo the occult” because there is nothing of the occult within the game.

Your other two points are just as far off as this one especially given the current edition of the game.

It is a game and like anything it can be bad or good. It all depends on the individual.
 
ol120 said:
I have been wondering if Dungeons and dragons is okay- most of the Christian websites I have been to just bleat that Dungeons and dragons is made by the devil if they don’t support it:shrug:
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go ahead and play. ive played off and on for 27 years. there is nothing of the occult in it, it is only a game. as long as you keep that in mind its fine.

however, there really is evil occult stuff in the world. DnD shouldnt be taken as license to play with any of that very dangerous stuff like tarot cards or ouji boards. that stuff is not a game.

your imaginary charaters god may be flimbazzleboop in the game. just remember that your G-d is the Christain G-d. you are responsible to Him for what you do. that is not a game. you are not your character.
 
ol120 said:
I have been wondering if Dungeons and dragons is okay- most of the Christian websites I have been to just bleat that Dungeons and dragons is made by the devil if they don’t support it:shrug:
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My take, as I play a Dungeons & Dragons-based computer RPG called “Neverwinter Nights”:

*Any *game can be bad if you see the fiction as reality. That said, D&D is actually a good game, from a standpoint of moral practice, if not theologically.
  1. D&D exists on an Earth-like world, not Earth. That’s a good separation.
  2. D&D is a universe that is very polytheistic, but characters can generally choose only one god to worship–one that usually benefits their character’s innate skills. For instance, I love clerics and monks. Their faith choice allows great gameplay–but also the game rules require you to be respectful to your diety (a good lesson in the real world, too).
  3. D&D characters in my game are sent to a form of hell if they are atheists or give lip service only to a diety.
  4. While magic is practiced, it is divided into arcane (“Harry Potter” style) magic, and divine (diety-granted miracle-like) magic. Nothing bizarre or occult occurs that’s unacceptable as part of the game. That is, you’re not taking a game element home and chanting or using chicken entrails or something in preparation for the next game play.
  5. There are definitive good and evil roles. People will play what is comfortable with them, but only those with really big personal problems take their character persona into the real world.
There are several games out there that I would never play because of their sacrilegious nature. But D&D doesn’t apply for it works in an entirely different universe. It’s fantasy. People can be swayed to the devil by eating too much. Games aren’t any different in the many temptations out there to judge and discern for appropriateness for you and your family.
 
GeorgeSword said:
Not to change the subject too much, but yay, another NWN player! 👍
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Bah. If it doesn’t have books and dice, it’s not D&D! 😃 😛

Seriously, though, I get what people are saying about the flexibility of the game morally. As a DM, I do not allow my players to play evil characters – if a character crosses the moral event horizon, more than likely they will become an NPC (it hasn’t happened yet… came close with at least one player, but I’ve stated it it quite clearly as a ground rule). They’re supposed to be the heroes.
 
Pat_Payne said:
Bah. If it doesn’t have books and dice, it’s not D&D! 😃 😛

Seriously, though, I get what people are saying about the flexibility of the game morally. As a DM, I do not allow my players to play evil characters – if a character crosses the moral event horizon, more than likely they will become an NPC (it hasn’t happened yet… came close with at least one player, but I’ve stated it it quite clearly as a ground rule). They’re supposed to be the heroes.
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Well, I have played PnP to an extent as well.
Anyway, yeah, your very right about the flexibility of the game - in all respects. I’ve seen games that aren’t even particularly violent, focusing more on character development than dungeon delving, and I’ve seen some that are very lighthearted and happy. I’ve also seen some that are very much dark and violent, but both can still be, in my opinion anyway, fun. I don’t understand why people place so much concern over a game, it’s all make believe. Part of the fun is being someone totally different than you.
 
CWBetts said:
It is just a game, but think on this:
  • entire groups of characters are reliant on heathen “gods”
  • the basic method of advancement is to kill sentient beings and taking their belongings
  • It desensitises the player to the reality of the occult because “it’s just a game”
I am writing this as someone who played Dungeons and Dragons for more than 20 years. There are RPGs out there that are not dangerous. D&D is not one of those games.
Click to expand...
but I like to kill sentient beings and take their belongingings
 
ol120 said:
what bout book of vile darkness and book of exultant deeds?
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I didn’t like either of them, because they were too “juvenile” in their treatment of the subject – BOVD being way too sensational and spattery (the infamous illo of “child armor” killed the book for me completely – and made me lose my lunch). It wasn’t about how to play evil villains or the seductions of evil to try and tempt good-aligned characters to make good role-playing scenarios, but about being shocking for shock’s sake, catering to players who wanted “Chaotic Evil” characters whose whole raison d’etre was to basically disrupt games and justify it by saying “rawr, I do it for the evulz.”. It is one of the few books I have flat-out banned completely from my games.

BOED was as bad in the other direction, basically reinforcing the idea of Lawful Good as “Lawful Stupid” – going out and hitting evil with a sharp piece of pointed metal wherever it was found regardless of the consequences.

Both also suffer from the “Bed, Bath and Boccob” problem – larding on even more magic items that it is heavily implied the characters are entitled to (and can buy in shops 🤷 ), as opposed to being goodies to sparingly find as a reward.

Then again, I play Castles and Crusades these days (which is basically 3rd ed if Gary Gygax had been allowed to write it), and so don’t use a lot of 3.5 anyway.
 
Pat_Payne said:
I didn;t like either of them, because they were too “juvenile” in their treatment of the subject – BOVD being way to sensational and spattery (the infamous illo of “child armor” killed the book for me completely – and made me lose my lunch). It wasn’t about how to play evil villains or the seductions of evil to try and tempt good-aligned characters to make good role-playing scenarios, but about being shocking for shock’s sake, catering to players who wanted “Chaotic Evil” characters whose whole raison d’etre was to basically disrupt games and justify it by saying “rawr, I do it for the evulz.”. It is one of the few books I have flat-out banned completely from my games.

BOED was as bad in the other direction, basically reinforcing the idea of Lawful Good as “Lawful Stupid” – going out and hitting evil with a sharp piece of pointed metal wherever it was found regardless of the consequences.

Both also suffer from the “Bed, Bath and Boccob” problem – larding on even more magic items that it is heavily implied the characters are entitled to (and can buy in shops 🤷 ), as opposed to being goodies to sparingly find as a reward.

Then again, I play Castles and Crusades these days (which is basically 3rd ed if Gary Gygax had been allowed to write it), and so don’t use a lot of 3.5 anyway.
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CWBetts said:
You do realize it is a violation of forum rules to post links to anti-Catholic sites?
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Oops. No–I didn’t realize that would apply in this context. I see a lot of links over the News forum rather like this, where the idea is to point out something bad. I’ll refrain in the future.
 
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