Mom & dnd...

[MIME]

Hello everyone…This is my first post!
I am 18 and have two semesters worth of college credits done. I have a family of 4 brothers, 2 sisters, and my parents. My dad is training in the Casper WY Deacon Program. My brother and I Have a small group that get together on Friday’s…Except the first Friday of every month - Which we use that Friday to go to mass. First time we came home from a Summer School program called UB MSIP we had played War hammer! - When we got home we started talking about what we did in-game and our mom overheard. She crucified…well murdered…umm “verbally murdered” us for playing such a DEMONIC game…
Funny thing is when we I turned 18 she said she would be OK with us playing every once in a while. We are now playing on most Friday’s and we are good friends with the other PC’s out of game. My mom demands that we pray about it. We open every session with an Our Father. There is only one person who we are unsure about his religion. Everyone has been told that my brother and I are catholic and everyone tries to respect each others beliefs.

I suppose i am rambling now…

Anyway my mom will stop considering DND an evil act if : Four Priests will E-Mail me and Describe to my mom that DND is not an evil act.

I would also like to -]hear/-] see what other people have to say about DND

 

[MIME]

…Most “evil” acts committed by my Characters:

War Hammer- I was a Halfling Rogue and i was doing as a thief would do…I was stealing from “abandoned” (or so the DM said) houses. I got to my second house and find 2 copper pieces…I am told that this is the House Owners life savings…I take it I proceed to leave the house and I find a 26 some year old women right in front of me…We stare shocked at each other for 20 seconds and then she screams for the guard…(there’s only one in this town)…I try to push past her…She wins the Strength check:blush:…I then take out my dagger and run around her…cutting her skirt clean off…She now has a long mini skirt. She then runs into her house and shuts the door…I take the skirt piece and use it as a cape/cloak:thumbsup:…Then that pesky Guard shows up and i have to hide in the first house i stole from…I get in and lock the door…then i run upstairs and hid on the roof…The guard never caught me…

Next…would be in DND- I am a Psi-Forged Psion and an Orc Boy who I am family friends with has been training as a wizard…turns out he also has great Psionic potential and i try to help him manifest a power…Powers are like Spells…He starts having a Migraine and is in great pain…I take my staff and Knock him out. I take him to my allies and we fix the problem…Two days later the EVIL terrorists who have been trying to take over the town, attack our group. When we get back to the Orc Boy’s house we find that his Grandpa, Mom, and Dad are all dead. We find him in his room and the leader of the evil group talks through Grum…(The Orc Boy)…Turns out when he was under the control of that leader he killed his whole family. When the leaders control stops Grum starts remembering what he did…I take my Quarter Staff and knock him out…again. We end up getting his memory erased for the past 2 hours and now i have the idea that i am going to take Grum as my son…

 

[Yellow_Belle]

Hello everyone…This is my first post!
I am 18 and have two semesters worth of college credits done. I have a family of 4 brothers, 2 sisters, and my parents. My dad is training in the Casper WY Deacon Program. My brother and I Have a small group that get together on Friday’s…Except the first Friday of every month - Which we use that Friday to go to mass. First time we came home from a Summer School program called UB MSIP we had played War hammer! - When we got home we started talking about what we did in-game and our mom overheard. She crucified…well murdered…umm “verbally murdered” us for playing such a DEMONIC game…
Funny thing is when we I turned 18 she said she would be OK with us playing every once in a while. We are now playing on most Friday’s and we are good friends with the other PC’s out of game. My mom demands that we pray about it. We open every session with an Our Father. There is only one person who we are unsure about his religion. Everyone has been told that my brother and I are catholic and everyone tries to respect each others beliefs.

I suppose i am rambling now…

Anyway my mom will stop considering DND an evil act if : Four Priests will E-Mail me and Describe to my mom that DND is not an evil act.

I would also like to -]hear/-] see what other people have to say about DND

Does your dad have an opinion on this?

 

[Lost_Wanderer]

Four priests? Wow, that’s pretty demanding. >_>;; Sure your mother won’t interested in simple intellectual argumentation?

I mean, seriously, it’s just a game. Everything you do in it, just stays in it. The only danger in it is the fact that RPGs can be pretty addicting. (Still better than drugs though. )

P.S.

Most Evil Thing I did in a game (Ragnarok Online): I looted. ._.

(But in my defense… I saw that monster first! D8<)

 

[RSD]

I am not a priest. I am a former DND player, and I now have children who are older than I was when my husband and I used to play DND. So just a few thoughts for what they are worth: Communication is SO important. Please try to take the time to talk to your mother when neither of you is upset, and ask her to articulate what her objections are. Then, (this is the hard part) please listen to what she says. Go away and think about it, in the context of your whole life. Remember that she is (I know you don’t want to hear this) older and more experienced in life than you are, and she might have something helpful to say to you.

I stopped playing not because I thought it was evil, but because we moved away from a really good group, and we never got another group started. Back in the day, DND, like all other games, meant being in the same room with real live people. Since it was at our house, it meant cleaning up beforehand, preparing snacks and drinks, cleaning up afterward. There were no online RPGs because online was only a bunch of scientists exchanging information. I assume that your game is online? Please be very aware that good people have become seriously addicted to online games to the detriment of their whole lives. Many of these people said “Of course I’m not addicted. I just like it.”

Examine your own heart. Can you find a way in which playing this game is, in any way, part of your love and service to God? If so, tell you mother about that. If not, reconsider playing the game.

To put these thought in perspective (where I am coming from) I have in other threads tried to explain how fantasy can be a nourishing part of a person’s spiritual life. I don’t think that fantasy, whether books or games, is necessarily unhealthy. However, I am much more concerned about online gaming. I have yet to meet anyone who can say convincingly that those games are healthy. To me, saying that they are “not evil” is not the same as saying that they are good.

HTH

 

[RSD]

P.S. If you are able to explain how these games help you to love and serve God better, tell us too. I am definitely interested.

 

[MIME]

Does your dad have an opinion on this?

Nope…hes more of the silent type when it comes to these things…but he has said that he agrees with my mom…

 

[MIME]

I am not a priest. I assume that your game is online?
HTH

…aww darnit…oh well…Oh and our games are in person…we meet at the local community college and there are six of us including my brother and I. We have talked about doing it online sometimes due to weather issues…we do live in WY and it is winter. I have been to alot of the other PC’s houses…One is living in a dump and the other two are living in trailers. They have been to my house…Really nice. Once and now my parents will never allow dnd at the house again…they liked our friends but didn’t like the game. They will let us have them over again…just not to play dnd.
The other PC’s have actually made a website called www.wyomingdnd.com
and we are currently working on the info. We would love ideas. We all believe in God but i am just don’t know their individual religions.

Oh and is it just me…YOUR A GIRL! wow…I have never met a girl that plays dnd. Wait…Ive never met a good catholic girl before…well there was one…but she was alittle old for me. XD

 

[MIME]

P.S. If you are able to explain how these games help you to love and serve God better, tell us too. I am definitely interested.

I probably have a better reason but i can’t think of one right now…I would have to say to help me see god in others…I haven’t been real social during my life…What was your reason when you were younger?..

 

[Melissa]

I am a mom who plays AD&D (yes, that would be 1st and 2nd ed … the TSR version, not the WotC version).

My current method of play is via internet–by posting on a website ( PlayByWeb.com) devoted to RP in a play-by-post format.

People who argue that D&D (and other game systems like Warhammer, GURPS, the various White Wolf products that I call the “colon games” but that’s just me because of their format '[something]: the [something else]", and all the rest) are demonic or evil usually are doing so out of ignorance as to what the game is all about.

Which one of you is the DM? The DM is really in charge of the tone of the game and could perhaps alleviate her concerns by discussing the tone of the game being run.

I’ve been playing since '83, and really the ‘time-sink’ aspect is the only questionable aspect of the hobby (well, ‘money-sink’ could become an issue as well, if you’re into the miniatures and other such odds and ends). The game does seem to help with math skills, as well as working in co-operation with others, and at least with D&D, maintaining one’s alignment against certain in-game moral quandaries (I once had a very intriguing conversation develop in-game between a paladin [who is required to be of lawful good alignment] and a fighter [who had chosen a neutral good alignment] about the correct thing to do in a given situation).

 

[RSD]

.

Oh and is it just me…YOUR A GIRL! wow…I have never met a girl that plays dnd. Wait…Ive never met a good catholic girl before…well there was one…but she was alittle old for me. XD

Was a girl, now an old lady. With grandchildren (who do not, yet, play DND)

 

[MIME]

Which one of you is the DM? The DM is really in charge of the tone of the game and could perhaps alleviate her concerns by discussing the tone of the game being run.

My brother is one of the DM’s …He is the “Main” DM…He is extremely smart and thinks…maybe even KNOWS that he is more intelligent than his parents…He already talked with my parents and told them it wasn’t evil and that them thinking it was evil is because they are ignorant of them…thats right HE CALLED THEM IGNORANT!!!

He might even be more knowledgeable about religious things than my dad…Who’s in Deacon Training…In high school he was the brains i was the bronze…I loved football and wrestling. I wish i knew as much as him…then sometimes what he knows scares me…XD

 

[RSD]

I probably have a better reason but i can’t think of one right now…I would have to say to help me see god in others…I haven’t been real social during my life…What was your reason when you were younger?..

Truthfully, at that time I did not think about offering everything I do to God. I wish I had. When I look back, I think I would still have played if I had been thinking that way, because I think that the games provided some terrific social interactions, really developing everyone’s imagination. Some of the DM/ player interactions were unbelievable. He (DM) would come up with new monster or trap just as were had figured out how to act together to defeat it. We tended to move our players as a group, so we were developing good interpersonal skills also. Mostly we made our players act more or less the way we would want ourselves to act in that situation (not stealing, or murdering, for instance). Many of us lost characters repeatedly by having them behave more honorably than practically. There is a good lesson in that, especially when you have lives to spare.

In real life you only get to be a martyr once.

 

[RSD]

My brother is one of the DM’s …He is the “Main” DM…He is extremely smart and thinks…maybe even KNOWS that he is more intelligent than his parents…He already talked with my parents and told them it wasn’t evil and that them thinking it was evil is because they are ignorant of them…thats right HE CALLED THEM IGNORANT!!!

He might even be more knowledgeable about religious things than my dad…Who’s in Deacon Training…In high school he was the brains i was the bronze…I loved football and wrestling. I wish i knew as much as him…then sometimes what he knows scares me…XD

I will tell you one thing right now, so you can be smarter than your brother. Don’t trust spell check systems on the computer. If the computer says the word is spelled wrong, it probably is, but if the computer say that the word is spelled right, it still might not be the word you want. You need to learn how to spell yourself, without relying on the computer. Look up these two words : bronze and brawn.

Another thing: if your brother called your parents ignorant, that is actually not really smart. So if you did not say that to your parents, you made a smarter decision than your brother.

 

[MIME]

Look up these two words : bronze and brawn.

:crying::coffeeread::banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead::doh2:

Ok…you know what i meant though…I blame living in Lovell and Public Schooling…I have lived in Lovell WY…If you look that town up then you will find that it is a place for special incestuous druggies who have a lousy high school…

Really…EVERYONE ARE COUSINS WITH EACH OTHER…Except for our family…We moved from San Diego, San Marcos, Escondido Area…

 

[Melissa]

Agreed, it’s best not to trust spellcheckers–they can steer you oh-so-wrong as the following poem illustrates:

Eye halve a spelling checker
It came with my pea sea.
It plainly marks four my revue miss steaks eye kin knot sea.
Eye strike a quay and type a word and weight for it to say
Weather eye yam wrong oar write.
It shows me strait a weigh as soon as a mist ache is maid.
It nose bee fore two long and eye can put the error rite.
Its rare lea ever wrong.
Eye have run this poem threw it,
I am shore your pleased to no.
Its letter perfect awl the way.
My checker told me sew.

And on the other point–it is rarely good to use “you’re ignorant” in an argument (that’d be a mark of a low WIS Remember, INT and WIS are two different stats, after all.) It would be better as the DM to say “this is the way things work in the setting we are using …” and explain the more specific to his campaign elements of the game that would assuage concerns.

 

[MIME]

And on the other point–it is rarely good to use “you’re ignorant” in an argument (that’d be a mark of a low WIS Remember, INT and WIS are two different stats, after all.) It would be better as the DM to say “this is the way things work in the setting we are using …” and explain the more specific to his campaign elements of the game that would assuage concerns.

ok…he pretty much said they were dumb and didn’t know what they were talking about…i was very tired when i posted that…my mom forced me to go to a water park…:bigyikes:

 

[Chelsie]

From a personal experience view point I will never let any of my children play any imaginative games that cause harmful actions to take place in the game. I do not know about the game that you are talking about but I do know that if a persons mental state is week that they may not be able to diferentiate between reality and non reality. Any time you are involved in a imaginary land where you try to hurt people or things or are involed in sertain acts of evil even if they are imainatory they dull your mind to veiwing violence and that is not good in a world full of questionable things, better to stay sharp and not have a dull sence to evil even in a non realistic setting.

 

[Melissa]

From a personal experience view point I will never let any of my children play any imaginative games that cause harmful actions to take place in the game. I do not know about the game that you are talking about but I do know that if a persons mental state is week that they may not be able to diferentiate between reality and non reality. Any time you are involved in a imaginary land where you try to hurt people or things or are involed in sertain acts of evil even if they are imainatory they dull your mind to veiwing violence and that is not good in a world full of questionable things, better to stay sharp and not have a dull sence to evil even in a non realistic setting.

Yes, people whose grasp of the distinction between reality and fantasy should not participate in any activities which involve the use of imagination. However, something should be done to educate or otherwise assist such persons as such a disability extending beyond early childhood is a serious mental defect.

The PCs actions are, even when violent, no more evil than the policeman’s when he is forced to fire upon a criminal and kills the criminal. (Yes, in addition to the war games origin, there’s a healthy dose of “cops & robbers”, wherein the PCs are the “cops” to the DM’s provision of various “robbers” to chase.)

 

[Havard]

I think the most important thing is having a firm grasp of your faith and morality before you begin role-playing, because role-playing games are nothing more than an environment for creativity.

People who role-play assassins, thieves, or worshippers nature or pagan gods might want to consider why such horrific ideas are appealing to them. Your role-playing creation is a reflection of yourself, be mindful of what you create.