You may have heard the urban legend about that student who died playing a "live" version of Dungeons and Dragons in the Steam Tunnels at Michigan State University. How about the one where the RPG player killed himself because his gaming character died? These stories have been adapted into a pretty funny Chick Tract, a bad novel, and a made for TV movie.
James Dallas Egbert III is the source of both urban legends. Of course, neither actually happened, but his real-life story makes for a compelling blend of dark comedy and tragedy.
In fact, the oddly-named Egbert, a teenage prodigy, faced unusual home pressures to be perfect, abused drugs, and felt confused about his sexual orientation. He only occasionally played D&D with older acquaintances at MSU; they were among the few people who really accepted him during his short, sad life. We will never entirely know why he finally opted to attempt suicide in 1979, but it's clear from the statements of those who knew him he had been experiencing depression for some time.
On August 14, 1979, J. Dallas left a map of pins that indicated a location in the university's steam tunnels and left his room at Case Hall. He took a blanket, some food, and many sleeping pills and entered the Steam Tunnels, evidently intending to die of a drug overdose.
He awoke the next evening, disoriented but very much alive.
As personal belongings were later found in the university's steam tunnels and because most people were unfamiliar with role-playing games then, the police and the media seized on a bizarre explanation for his disappearance: Egbert had disappeared or died during a role-playing game! Many news agencies picked it up as the man bites dog story of the day. To complicate matters, the local Society for Creative Anachronism had recently taken group photographs in the tunnels, and had painted medieval designs on the walls. Many took these as further evidence that games had been played in this dungeon-like setting. One must remember the general unfamiliarity at the time with games such as Dungeons and Dragons. Many people did not believe J. Dallas had been playing an odd, live variant on the game; they thought that the game actually involved running around in tunnels chasing imaginary monsters.
When J. Dallas turned up a month later with a very different explanation for his disappearance, few bothered to report the facts. The family (it was later revealed) also refused to speak to the media to clarify the situation, because they did not want Dallas' homosexual activities discussed.
In fact, he had left the tunnels and taken sanctuary with an older, gay male friend. When this acquaintance realized he was housing a minor who was one of the most-discussed missing persons in America, he gathered up some money and asked J. Dallas to leave. A private investigator, William Dear, later found the youth near New Orleans. Sadly, in August of 1980, Dallas successfully committed suicide, using a gun. At roughly that point, a new legend began: that he had killed himself because a character he played had died in a game.
The original, inaccurate story inspired a fictional novel Mazes and Monsters by Rona Jaffe that was made into a 1982 TV movie starring the young Tom Hanks. Many people, vaguely aware of J. Dallas Egert's story, have assumed this work of fiction represents a true account. Evangelist Jack Chick incorporated details of the story into his tract, Dark Dungeons; it's depiction of events has made it a collectible among the Gaming Community. BADD (Bothered About Dungeons and Dragons), a group of concerned parents, have cited J. Dallas Egbert's woeful tale as a reason why parents should not let their children play such games.
More places exist now where one can freely be other than heterosexual, and fantasy role-playing games have a greater following than they did in 1979. Given J. Dallas' extraordinary gifts in areas related to computer programming, he likely would be living a happy life now, had he only resisted his inclination towards suicide.