6 ms·

I recently set up a short campaign for a few people at work who had never played D&D but wanted a taste. I was surprised that several people were immediately wo

I recently set up a short campaign for a few people at work who had never played D&D but wanted a taste. I was surprised that several people were immediately worried for us because of the "darkness" it would bring into our lives. I always thought that was a concern from decades ago, but apparently I was wrong.

the_only_law 5y ago
> I always thought that was a concern from decades ago, but apparently I was wrong. In the realm of moral panics I thought were settled in the 20th century see: https://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/ct-life-grand-theft-auto-game-blamed-for-city-carjackings-tt-0224-20210225-hpnilye5knh77g27bac4seskjm-story.html https://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/ct-life-grand-thef...
RobRivera 5y ago
and here all I wanted was to role play as a muscle wizard
- _carbyau_ 5y ago
  Shadowrun, Physical Adept might be what you want. :-P
eurasiantiger 5y ago
The world has been seeing an uptick in religiousness; Christians have been amassing political and publishing power in many countries. Maybe that has something to do with the ”darkness”.
- imwillofficial 5y ago
  ::looks at the death toll of nazism:: ::looks at the death toll of communism:: Really bro?
- dunnevens 5y ago
  The western nations have been seeing the opposite of an uptick. Churches are generally in decline, while the number of non-affiliated is rising. Even in the US. Some American denominations still have considerable political power because of various factors, but their membership numbers are shrinking.
  - eurasiantiger 5y ago
    Yes, this is precisely what I mean: people are leaving the major denominations because they feel the churches have become too mundane, and choose to affiliate with more radical fundamentalist groups. The narrative is often that the natural events of recent years and of course COVID are God’s punishment for maintaining support for the mainstream churches after their leaders voiced their acceptance of various oppressed groups of people.
    - soupfordummies 5y ago
      Eh, there’s a lot of “evangelicals” in my social sphere, some that you may even consider radical, and none of them think this. The whole “hurricanes are God’s wrath on the US for gay rights” kinda thing isn’t really a wide swath even for the more evangelical set. At least in my experience which is a bit considerable. In fact the only time I’ve encountered that sort of rhetoric has been from mainline denominations.
      - eurasiantiger 5y ago
        Note that you are talking about your social sphere, assumingly in the US, and generalising that to the world. I am taking nationwide trends outside the US and generalising them to the world. https://europeanacademyofreligionandsociety.com/news/the-rise-of-evangelical-churches/ https://europeanacademyofreligionandsociety.com/news/the-ris...
corpdronejuly 5y ago
I'm always amused by this, because I have had to opportunity to DM for clergy several times, and my current group is run by our Deacon. DnD started out as a kind of fantasy where we have the power to fight darkness directly. The way the genre has evolved has changed that, but to a large degree it's still a game where we act out stories and "practice being good guys."

the_only_law 5y ago

> I always thought that was a concern from decades ago, but apparently I was wrong. In the realm of moral panics I thought were settled in the 20th century see: https://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/ct-life-grand-theft-auto-game-blamed-for-city-carjackings-tt-0224-20210225-hpnilye5knh77g27bac4seskjm-story.html https://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/ct-life-grand-thef...

RobRivera 5y ago

and here all I wanted was to role play as a muscle wizard

_carbyau_ 5y ago
Shadowrun, Physical Adept might be what you want. :-P

eurasiantiger 5y ago

The world has been seeing an uptick in religiousness; Christians have been amassing political and publishing power in many countries. Maybe that has something to do with the ”darkness”.

imwillofficial 5y ago
::looks at the death toll of nazism:: ::looks at the death toll of communism:: Really bro?
dunnevens 5y ago
The western nations have been seeing the opposite of an uptick. Churches are generally in decline, while the number of non-affiliated is rising. Even in the US. Some American denominations still have considerable political power because of various factors, but their membership numbers are shrinking.
- eurasiantiger 5y ago
  Yes, this is precisely what I mean: people are leaving the major denominations because they feel the churches have become too mundane, and choose to affiliate with more radical fundamentalist groups. The narrative is often that the natural events of recent years and of course COVID are God’s punishment for maintaining support for the mainstream churches after their leaders voiced their acceptance of various oppressed groups of people.
  - soupfordummies 5y ago
    Eh, there’s a lot of “evangelicals” in my social sphere, some that you may even consider radical, and none of them think this. The whole “hurricanes are God’s wrath on the US for gay rights” kinda thing isn’t really a wide swath even for the more evangelical set. At least in my experience which is a bit considerable. In fact the only time I’ve encountered that sort of rhetoric has been from mainline denominations.
    - eurasiantiger 5y ago
      Note that you are talking about your social sphere, assumingly in the US, and generalising that to the world. I am taking nationwide trends outside the US and generalising them to the world. https://europeanacademyofreligionandsociety.com/news/the-rise-of-evangelical-churches/ https://europeanacademyofreligionandsociety.com/news/the-ris...

corpdronejuly 5y ago

I'm always amused by this, because I have had to opportunity to DM for clergy several times, and my current group is run by our Deacon. DnD started out as a kind of fantasy where we have the power to fight darkness directly. The way the genre has evolved has changed that, but to a large degree it's still a game where we act out stories and "practice being good guys."