Does D&D provide a decent moral compass?

[jdavis]

Math and Morality are not related? You just made my 7th grade math teacher cry, "Math is the most important thing ever".

Yea Math might not be a moral issue but I'm stretching here. These are some of the same arguements I used in the early Eighties on my mother when the church said D&D was devil worshiping (ah the early years), She bought into D&D made me smarter, but she didn't buy Heavy Metal is cool, I want a earring and a tatoo.

 

[mmadsen]

It would depend on the children's age. The rulebooks do try to curve it to playing black and white good and evil. Orc's are evil, kill the orcs.

Agreed. Go where the evil things are, and kill them. That's one lesson -- and while it presents a simplistic moral viewpoint, that's probably just fine for young folks.

It tries to approach the topic of hard work pays off, do stuff and you go up levels.

Do you feel it teaches that hard work pays off? I can see that it teaches action, and that fortune favors the bold, but I don't see too much nose-to-the-grindstone work amongst adventurers.

I know alot of children would think evil is fun, they just don't have the development to mack the correct decision 100% of the time.

Certainly most young people want to explore Evil. What's it like if I can get away with anything and everything?

 

[jdavis]

Do you feel it teaches that hard work pays off? I can see that it teaches action, and that fortune favors the bold, but I don't see too much nose-to-the-grindstone work amongst adventurers.

It depends on who is running, sometimes those levels are hard to come by and sometimes that magic sword is a real tough fight, of course sometimes you go up levels with no effort and you get 10 magic swords everythime you kill a orc. Once again I've had to go back to it depends on who is running.

 

[Storminator]

I don't know ... but when my son gets out of line I tell him we're a Lawful Good family and he better shape up...



PS

 

[jgbrowning]

I don't know ... but when my son gets out of line I tell him we're a Lawful Good family and he better shape up...



PS

hehehe, thats toooooooo funny...

joe b.

 

[mmadsen]

For anyone who hasn't commented yet, here's the original question, one more time: What moral lessons will a typical group of young kids learn from playing D&D -- as its typically played, following the examples set by the rulebooks and adventure modules?