Her response? “Dungeons and Dragons is Satanic.”
Not just “Oh, I don’t like role-playing,” or even “Role-playing is immoral.” No, she literally used the word “Satanic”. This accusation literally hit me from out of the blue, because she’d always struck me as a nice, cheerful, fair-minded person who was not apt to judge people.
Her reasoning was that she heard, in the 1980s, a bunch of kids were killed in some freak situation involving Dungeons and Dragons. Apparently they were doing what she described as “Satanic rituals” (funny, I didn’t even know that D&D had the traditional Christian Satan), and killed each other in the process. According to her, the game encouraged people to abandon reality and live out the game.
Well. I tried to put a nice spin on the hobby, without outright calling her an idiot, and give her a bit of education on the actual history behind role-playing. I pointed out how role-playing games were actually established from war games (“You know, like Napoleon moving little figures around a battlefield?”), and were heavily based on Lord of the Rings. I told her that Dungeons and Dragons was actually the first fantasy game in existence, and that how all the role-playing books had great big disclaimers right fair smack in the introduction explaining how it was all make-believe and not to believe a word of it.
I also told her that I had never technically role-played (which is true...I’ve never LARPed or table-topped, though I have RPd online), and was basically at the convention to meet Alex and Hudson Leick (Callisto on Xena). She seemed relieved to hear that I was not corrupted by this sinful pasttime.
She agree with some of my points, and admitted that Lord of the Rings was not immoral, but firmly maintained that Dungeons and Dragons was still “Satanic”. She did, however, inform me that she appreciated my perspective, since I was obviously a nice “normal” (yes, that was the word she used--ha!), moral girl and not inclined to engage in depraved acts of sin. She also did not take offense at my arguement, and even thanked me for the stimulating conversation. I demured on that, and we went our merry ways. I was left feeling rather disgruntled with some pretty rant-y thoughts.
Role-playing is NOT evil. If the person involved in the game is sick, depraved, or downright stupid enough to confuse the game with reality, that’s their problem, and is not the fault of the company involved in producing the game. It just means that the person needs psychotherapy. If they become obsessed with the game, to the exclusion of everything else, then they have an addictive personality, and would probably substitute anything else for the game.
Role-playing does NOT discourage morality. I have known some people who consider themselves to be very moral, even Christian, who adore the game. DC, for example, is Episcopalian, and has played the White Wolf system for many, many years. I can personally vouch for her morality. And I am a very moral person as well. I don’t drink, smoke, or engage in acts of promiscuity. I love my family (even if they drive me a bit nuts sometimes). I work hard, take care of my pets, refrain from stealing or lying. I’m an agnostic, but I don’t begrudge others their faith, unless they use it for harm or try to convert me.
Role-playing is a game. Admittedly, it’s a rather adult game, with adult concepts and themes (war, death, betrayal, sex, politics, supernatural elements), but it’s still just a game. If you get right down to it, it’s basically a highly complex version of “Let’s Pretend” for grown-ups, only instead of pretending to be a ballerina fairy princess, you’re pretending to be a 12th generation Toreador with a grudge against her sire and a propensity for collecting rare 16th century artifacts. If role-playing is evil, than all six-year olds are doomed to hell for ever wanting to dress up and play house. The difference is, kids can’t tell reality from fantasy, and organized role-playing has rules and regulations to keep things from going too far.