AD&D Essay
By Troy Bowman @1997
Micheal Dempsey, age 15, shoots himself after an
argument with his father; Steven Loyacano, age 16, kills
himself with carbon monoxide from his family's car
(Adler 93). Irving Pulling shoots himself in the chest with
his father's gun (Dee 60-63). Normally, most people would
find these deaths unrelated and incidental. However, the
cause of the deaths is attributed to one thing: the game
Dungeons and Dragons. Each of the cases listed above is said
to have been ultimately caused by an addiction to role-
playing games. However, what the adversaries of role-playing
games do not say is that prior to these deaths the teens
showed signs of depression and emotional disturbance,
including drug use (Nathan 12-13). Moreover, these people,
who are blaming Dungeons and Dragons for the kids deaths, are
calling for a ban of the game (Nathan 12-13). However,
Dungeons and Dragons, also called D&D, has no adverse effects
on a person and should not be banned.
D&D is a role-playing game where players take on "roles"
of characters and play them as they would in real-life. The
game uses dice and several hundred pages of rules.
Sometimes, maps and figurines are used (Alder 93). However,
the game is unlike others in the fact that it does not end.
There are neither winners nor losers and the players can keep
spinning out more elaborate "fantasies" (Alder 93). In fact,
the game is more like storytelling than your normal
boardgame. Players take roles and the game plays very
much as a play or a book. Where as the players tell the
Dungeon Master, or the referee, what their character wants
to do and the Dungeon Master tells the player what really
happened, usually based on a dice roll. The reason people
are mad at the game is its subject, magic. The fact that it
deals with ancient religions and the "occult" has set many
religious people on fire. In fact, so much so, that it has
been banned from at least one Catholic school (Adler 93).
Even now, people are traveling across the nation in a pull to
ban the game from public schools. At the head of this
movement is Pat Pullings.
Pat Pullings claims her son shot himself after a D&D
curse was placed on him (Nathan 12-13). She started Bothered
About Dungeons and Dragons or B.A.D.D. (Nathan 12-13). She
claims that fantasy role-playing games, especially Dungeons
and Dragons lead bright teenagers into obsession with Satan
and suicide (Nathan 12-13). Yet, the main opposition comes
from the religious front. They claim D&D opens children to
satanic influence through "actual occult spell-casting"
(Black 32). Religious officials, along with B.A.D.D., claim
D&D is responsible for no less than 125 deaths (Black 32).
However, what these people do not say is that their
claims are false. They know little of the technical aspects
of the game (Black 33). "Fantasy 'magic' has very little in
common with meditation and 'real' magicians" says Christian
gamer Andrew Rilstone (Black 33). In fact, "actual occult
spell-casting" is neither mentioned nor endorsed in the rule
book. The rules involve telling which spell the player wants
to cast and rolling some dice. There is no ritual involved.
Moreover, as far as religion is concerned, when a Catholic
priest, and Islamic priest, and a Jewish rabbi were
questioned they said there was nothing in their respective
religions which forbade the game (Black 33). As for the
deaths attributed to the game, only one has withheld the
investigation of the Committee for the Advancement of Role-
playing Games, and that case is still pending (Black 32).
The real reason for this uprising against the game is
that parents are looking for a scapegoat (Adler 93). "Games
are just games if you have fun," says Dr. Joyce Brothers, who
finds no harm in D&D (Adler 93). "Rumors of American
satanism were very much in the air in the early 1980's ...
Historians have pointed out the Satanic rumors have cropped
up periodically ... and tend to resurface in times of
economic or social stress" (Ross, 86+). The early 80's and
even today in the 90's have been times of severe economic and
social stress. So, it is not unusual for a game that
involves something somewhat occultic to be hit very hard in
these times. The truth is that D&D can not be held
responsible for teenage suicide. Patricia Pullings and her
group have only claimed that D&D has caused 125 deaths.
However, if one compares the amount of D&D players, a little
over 1,250,000, and use the average teenage suicide rate,
then multiply them together there should be about 7,500
deaths over a fifteen year period (Black 32). The statistics
seem to say the those 125 deaths were unrelated to D&D.
However, contrary to Pat Pullings and allies beliefs,
D&D does have a good side. It can be used successfully in
psychotherapy for schizoid patients (Blackmon 624-632). Even
the Association for Gift-Creative Children endorses the game
as it encourages reading of Shakespeare, Tolkien, and Asimov
(Adler 93). Also, during a study of 35 players and 35 non-
players, it was found that fewer players have feelings of
meaninglessness (DeRenard 1219-1222). This contradicts Pat
Pullings claims that D&D caused children to want to kill
themselves.
Still, despite of all of this, TSR, the manufacturer of
the game, had issued the following changes for the game of
Dungeons and Dragons :
1.) Evil shall never be shown in an attractive light.
2.) There will be no more demons or devils.
3.) Human shall not be shown to be morally inferior to
other races or creatures.
4.) Players can not play evil characters in the "toy
store" copy of the game.
The changes took effect during the early 1980's (Black 34).
These changes have made the game even stronger as the
occultic element has been lessened dramatically.
Maybe in the future, when people realize that it is not
the game that is the cause of the suicide that their
attitudes will change. D&D has withstood over fifteen long
years because it is not a bad influence. It has never and
will never be the cause of deaths and it should not be
banned. People need to look deeper into lives of their
children and at the heart of the problems; depression and
drug use. "Just because people who have problems play games
does not mean the game cause psychosis" (Black 32). The
suicides and deaths would stop if people left D&D alone and
focused on the real problems.
Works Cited
Adler, Jerry. "Kids: the deadliest game?" Newsweek,
Sept. 9. 1985: 93.
Black, Eric "Does God Cry When You Play Dungeons and
Dragons." InQuest, Aug. 1995: 31-34.
Blackmon, Wayne D. "Dungeons and Dragons : The use of a
fantasy game in the psychotherapuetic treatment of a
young adult." American Journal of Psychotherapy, Fall
1994: 624-632.
Dee, Juliet. "Heavy Metal, Hitmen, Dial-A-Porn, and the First
Amendment." USA Today, Sept. 1991: 60-63.
DeRenard, Lisa A. "Alienation and the game Dungeons and
Dragons." Psychologic Reports, June 1990: 1219-1222.
Nathan, Debbie. "The Devil Makes Them Do It." In These Times,
July 24-Aug 6, 1991: 12-13.
Ross, A. S. "Blame It On the Devil." Redbook, June 1994: 86+.