how to convince people that D&D is not evil

[DragonLancer]

It is my firm belief that some people should not play D&D. If, say, my kids decided to turn their hobby into an escapist fantasy, I'd probably put a stop to it.

Um... isn't roleplaying an escapist fantasy anyway? I'm a little confused here.

As a matter of fact, I sometimes have to put some constraints on myself. If, for instance, I spend more time at work daydreaming about my character than working, I probably need to take a break from it.

Heh. Thats pretty much what I do at work... well, gaming rather than character. Good thing I work in a games store.

Of course, D&D is no more dangerous or "evil" in this regard than, say, books or movies. I have a lot of friends who probably need to scale back on their anime intake.

OTF. Same here.

 

[Goldmoon]

About 12 years ago, I was part of a very close knit group in a sleepy little redneck town. We found a new player (he was 16 I think) who's mother made him quit because she said it was "evil". We ran an ad in the local newspaper and in the newspaper of the closest town to us that was titled "To the parents of children who Play Dungeons and Dragons". We basically invited anyone who wanted to attend to a typical gaming session so they could see what it was about. Imagine our surprise when 77 people showed up. Needless to say, we had quite a few people wanting to join the group after that. I'm not sure how this would work nowadays but I've often considered it.

On a side note, I once had one of my Commanders order my not to play D&D. Lucky for me I was only training there and left the base about a month later.

 

[Henry]

I understand Halivar's line of thought, there. The moment that anything, be it roleplaying or sports or needlepoint, TAKES AWAY from your real life instead of ENHANCES it, then chances are that something's out of whack (and it ain't the hobby in question). That's not a "good or evil" issue, it's a quality of life issue, and beyond the scope of what I could really help with (other than to say, "you need to seek help.")

 

[Barak]

On a side note, I once had one of my Commanders order my not to play D&D. Lucky for me I was only training there and left the base about a month later.

That's.. Really weird. I know/have known a lot of people in the military, and most of them played/have seen people playing RPGs of some sort.

Lotsa free time with nothing to do in the military..

 

[DragonLancer]

I understand Halivar's line of thought, there. The moment that anything, be it roleplaying or sports or needlepoint, TAKES AWAY from your real life instead of ENHANCES it, then chances are that something's out of whack (and it ain't the hobby in question). That's not a "good or evil" issue, it's a quality of life issue, and beyond the scope of what I could really help with (other than to say, "you need to seek help.")

I agree with the whole do you job and don't waste the day thinking about gaming. It was the escapist fantasy comment that threw me. Roleplaying as a hobby IS escapist fantasy otherwise I don't think as many people would play it. Might as well play a boardgame.

 

[freebfrost]

I've played D&D for 17 years and what I want to know is: How did I miss out on this evil stuff??? I have huge collection of D&D books and not a single so-called spell works, nor has any demon been summoned, nor has any god answered my charcter's prayers. You'd think that in all that time, I should have encountered SOMETHING.

A very good point. I've used a similar argument myself to good effect.

Admittedly, D&D draws upon real-world elements of "magic" as defined throughout the ages, and if D&D truly emulates real "magic," wouldn't you see an effect? As I stated before, I still have yet to summon my first quasit, darn it! At the rate I'm apparently mastering "magic" I'll be long dead before I can become a lich. :\

Back to the OPs original question, a bit of light-hearted humor like this can go a long way toward helping you convince others. Once people see that it is a game played amongst friends, that'll go a long way toward dispelling the Jack Chick ideals you may see. Ignorance of the game is the biggest enemy in this regard. Educate your family and friends, and maybe they'll see the light.

 

[mhacdebhandia]

Um... isn't roleplaying an escapist fantasy anyway?

My first instinct is to say "No", but I am trying to be more helpful and less confrontational these days.

I think it depends on what you mean by "escapist fantasy".

I think of myself as a fairly serious roleplayer. I'm really interested in the hobby, I think about it a lot, I've invested a lot of time and energy into it, and it's directly responsible for my having the friends that I have (through joining SUTEKH at the University of Sydney).

When I create characters, I give thought to how they think, what they believe, what they do, why they do it, what they want to do in the future. I enjoy the mechanical side of things a lot, but I don't really enjoy roleplaying games as pure exercises in tactical problem-solving and combat.

That said, I honestly don't believe that there's a shred of escapism in the collection of motivations for why I enjoy playing D&D, or any other roleplaying game.

I don't identify with my characters. They're not "part of me". I don't wish I could be them, or that I could have their lives and adventures. I don't think about what it would be like for me to live in Eberron or the World of Darkness or Reich-5, I think about who my characters are and what life is like for them. I don't play D&D to "get away" from my mundane life.

(Sometimes my characters are like me in one way or another, but that's only because sometimes I'm interested in examining those traits from the outside, not to make it easier to get inside the character.)

I play D&D (and other roleplaying games) because I enjoy the game elements. Because I enjoy the challenge of creating an interesting character and conveying the picture of that character I have in my head to my fellow players. Because I enjoy taking events, problems, and challenges as the GM presents them to me and trying to reason out what my character would do about them. Because I enjoy the consequences of acting truthfully on my character's thoughts, beliefs, and feelings regardless of whether I, the player, can see that another course of action would be more successful or constructive (though, of course, there's a "filter" of sorts in place to ensure that I don't piss off the other players by making truthful choices for my character that are annoying or damaging to the game we're playing together). Because I enjoy exploring worlds which are unlike our own, inasmuch as they might be interesting achievements in consistent worldbuilding or have something to say about our own world or something else entirely which captures my imagination.

I guess I can boil all of this down: I don't play games to pretend that I'm someone else, living another life in a different place. I play games because I like to participate in the creation of stories about other people living their lives in other places. I don't need to be my character to know how they think and what they believe, but I do enjoy creating other people and "navigating" them through their lives.

I think I'm probably atypical in all this, and I'm happy to accept that, but I do think it's unfortunate that so many people assume that roleplaying is always about escapism, or identifying with your character, or pretending to be someone else. Better that we understand as a community of gamers that people have different motivations for playing.

 

[DragonLancer]

I guess I can boil all of this down: I don't play games to pretend that I'm someone else, living another life in a different place. I play games because I like to participate in the creation of stories about other people living their lives in other places. I don't need to be my character to know how they think and what they believe, but I do enjoy creating other people and "navigating" them through their lives.

I think I'm probably atypical in all this, and I'm happy to accept that, but I do think it's unfortunate that so many people assume that roleplaying is always about escapism, or identifying with your character, or pretending to be someone else. Better that we understand as a community of gamers that people have different motivations for playing.

I agree with what you say. I play to tell a story, have fun with my friends and have a shared evening/afternoon of roleplaying. However, and obviously YMMV, thats escapism. It lets me forget worries, stress, family and whatnot, and thats escapism. I have never personally met a roleplayer who didn't see their gaming as a form of escapism.
I can see where you are coming from, but in regards to the post that I initially replied to, I don't see escapism in gaming to be a bad thing.

 

[Halivar]

I should define what I meant by "escapist fantasy."

What I mean is, if roleplaying/TV/books is something you do to get away from real life, you need to fix "real life" instead of running away from it.

If, on the other hand, roleplaying is for communing, telling stories, and indulging your creative side, then roleplaying is like air. Can't live without it.

Of course, there are situations where others may feel the first one fits better, and "fixing" real life isn't an option. It's not my intention to provide blanket statements, just guidelines. That's all.

 

[Fishbone]

Palladium Games is the bomb. Other than that I agree with this thread.
On the false gods things:
If the person is really so worried about false gods why don't they try to convert the billions of people who don't worship the same gods as they do? Unless they think that Pelor and Gruumsh are giving them more competition than say, Buddha or Mohammed, they're just grasping at straws. Its usually the last argument haterade drinkers whip out because it sucks. This argument is the surefire sign they've blown their wad and have basically conceded defeat.
/Got 3 brand spanking new Palladium books for 7.50 and I love them(After the Bomb, Systems Failure, Ninjas and Superspies). Really, the system isn't nearly as bad as the haters would have you believe. Maybe its just the bigotry of soft expectations though.