Readerbreeder
Explorer
Corvidae,
There have been several good suggestions on this thread when it comes to reaching your parents through reason. The problem is, I don't think talking someone through a D&D session won't give them a real idea of what gaming really is, good or bad. Also, since (as has been mentioned before) the "D&D is evil" argument isn't rational, you may not get through that way.
What I have done succesfully (twice) is something I'm surprised hasn't been mentioned before (and if it has and I missed it, I apologize) -- invite your parents to watch and/or participate in an actual game.
I played my first D&D at about 8 or 9 (it's a little fuzzy) and really started playing regularly at about 12 or so. My parents had heard the whole suicide/demon-worshipping/criminal D&D spiel, and were understandably concerned for their son. Thankfully, my parents take most things they hear with a grain of salt until shown otherwise, and after talking to me, I invited them to watch me play with friends. When they saw that we were playing the good guys, no one had on goat skin pants or was drawing actual pentagrams on the floor and attempting to kill their buddy, they realized it was simply a game (it may sound like a cop-out, but that doesn't make it any less true) and didn't bother me about it again.
Fast forward a few years. I had been recently married to my wonderful wife, whose sister saw my RPG collection on the living room bookshelf. Later, said sister-in-law called my wife and insisted that she burn -- not just throw out, but burn; apparently burning is better somehow -- all of my "evil D&D stuff," preferably while I was at work, so I could not object or stop her somehow. Again, my wife was understandably concerned for me (she trusts her family) but she also had a little bit of faith in the man she married. She spoke to me about what her sister had said, and I invited her to sit in on one game night. After that, she said playing would bore her to death, but the most satanic thing she saw that night was the Jolt Cola we were drinking (if anyone remembers that). Since then, she has accepted my role-playing nuttiness as a hobby, no worse than scrapbooking (whether you consider scrapbooking satanic is up to you).
Anyway, long story short (I know -- too late), there is really not substitute for personal experience. If your parents were able to balance what they had been told about this "awful satanic D&D" against actually seeing you play an innocuous game, which to you think they would choose to believe? On the other hand, as has been mentioned before, there are people who are beyond convincing by any means -- so far as I know, my sister-in-law still thinks I am going to Hell. Do as you will.
There have been several good suggestions on this thread when it comes to reaching your parents through reason. The problem is, I don't think talking someone through a D&D session won't give them a real idea of what gaming really is, good or bad. Also, since (as has been mentioned before) the "D&D is evil" argument isn't rational, you may not get through that way.
What I have done succesfully (twice) is something I'm surprised hasn't been mentioned before (and if it has and I missed it, I apologize) -- invite your parents to watch and/or participate in an actual game.
I played my first D&D at about 8 or 9 (it's a little fuzzy) and really started playing regularly at about 12 or so. My parents had heard the whole suicide/demon-worshipping/criminal D&D spiel, and were understandably concerned for their son. Thankfully, my parents take most things they hear with a grain of salt until shown otherwise, and after talking to me, I invited them to watch me play with friends. When they saw that we were playing the good guys, no one had on goat skin pants or was drawing actual pentagrams on the floor and attempting to kill their buddy, they realized it was simply a game (it may sound like a cop-out, but that doesn't make it any less true) and didn't bother me about it again.
Fast forward a few years. I had been recently married to my wonderful wife, whose sister saw my RPG collection on the living room bookshelf. Later, said sister-in-law called my wife and insisted that she burn -- not just throw out, but burn; apparently burning is better somehow -- all of my "evil D&D stuff," preferably while I was at work, so I could not object or stop her somehow. Again, my wife was understandably concerned for me (she trusts her family) but she also had a little bit of faith in the man she married. She spoke to me about what her sister had said, and I invited her to sit in on one game night. After that, she said playing would bore her to death, but the most satanic thing she saw that night was the Jolt Cola we were drinking (if anyone remembers that). Since then, she has accepted my role-playing nuttiness as a hobby, no worse than scrapbooking (whether you consider scrapbooking satanic is up to you).
Anyway, long story short (I know -- too late), there is really not substitute for personal experience. If your parents were able to balance what they had been told about this "awful satanic D&D" against actually seeing you play an innocuous game, which to you think they would choose to believe? On the other hand, as has been mentioned before, there are people who are beyond convincing by any means -- so far as I know, my sister-in-law still thinks I am going to Hell. Do as you will.
