5 ms·

> "a fantasy role-playing game which uses demonology, witchcraft, voodoo, murder, rape, blasphemy, suicide, assassination, insanity, sex perversion, homosexuali

> "a fantasy role-playing game which uses demonology, witchcraft, voodoo, murder, rape, blasphemy, suicide, assassination, insanity, sex perversion, homosexuality, prostitution, satanic type rituals, gambling, barbarism, cannibalism, sadism, desecration, demon summoning, necromantics, divination and other teachings". The great 1980s Dungeons & Dragons panic: https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-26328105 https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-26328105

sfc32 3y ago
remove the "fantasy role-playing game" part and you have great description of youtube, tiktok, facebook etc
- justinclift 3y ago
  "a which uses demonology, witchcraft, ... " ?
- Lutzb 3y ago
  > But in the 1980s the game came under an extraordinary sustained assault from fundamentalist religious groups who feared its power over young minds. > ... > Pulling described D&D as "a fantasy role-playing game which uses demonology, witchcraft, voodoo, murder, rape, blasphemy, suicide, assassination, insanity, sex perversion, homosexuality, prostitution, satanic type rituals, gambling, barbarism, cannibalism, sadism, desecration, demon summoning, necromantics, divination and other teachings". It could be said that the source material for the religious groups contains far worse stories. I wonder if the irony was lost on the people back then.
  - austin-cheney 3y ago
    It can go both ways. One of the cofounders of the Dragon Lance stories and games used his religious expertise (LDS) and knowledge of an Indonesian language learned from his religious mission to help develop story plots and the pantheon of gods.
- lucozade 3y ago
  In fairness, if you remove fantasy role-playing game, it's not a terrible description of the Old Testament.
ourmandave 3y ago
To me the best change they made in all that time was getting rid of the 1 gp = 1 xp mechanic. It toned down the murder hoboing a lot.
- thfuran 3y ago
  Was there a different xp mechanic between AD&D's gp = xp and 3+'s only killing is xp? Because I don't see how the switch to that could possibly reduce the incentive to murder.
- amp108 3y ago
  xp for gold means you get less for killing a monster than you do for robbing it, and encourages a more careful exploratory approach. Modern D&D is much more of a tactical combat game than the original, where encounter design is "balanced" based on the assumption that players will be able to kill what they run into.
  - jghn 3y ago
    > Modern D&D is much more of a tactical combat game than the original Kind of ironic when one thinks about it! Also, depending on how one defines "the original" this statement can be impossible to be true. (not at all disagreeing, it's one of the things I don't like about the modern game)
CodeAndCuffs 3y ago
Ironically, I think every single one of these is in the bible. ...Maybe not cannibalism.
- damnitpeter 3y ago
  Isn't one of the sacraments a little bit cannibalistic?
- thedailymail 3y ago
  2 Kings 6 24And it came to pass after this, that Benhadad king of Syria gathered all his host, and went up, and besieged Samaria. 25And there was a great famine in Samaria: and, behold, they besieged it, until an ass's head was sold for fourscore pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a cab of dove's dung for five pieces of silver. 26And as the king of Israel was passing by upon the wall, there cried a woman unto him, saying, Help, my lord, O king. 27And he said, If the LORD do not help thee, whence shall I help thee? out of the barnfloor, or out of the winepress? 28And the king said unto her, What aileth thee? And she answered, This woman said unto me, Give thy son, that we may eat him to day, and we will eat my son to morrow. 29So we boiled my son, and did eat him: and I said unto her on the next day, Give thy son, that we may eat him: and she hath hid her son. 30And it came to pass, when the king heard the words of the woman, that he rent his clothes; and he passed by upon the wall, and the people looked, and, behold, he had sackcloth within upon his flesh. 31Then he said, God do so and more also to me, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat shall stand on him this day.
- toyg 3y ago
  Cannibalism is symbolically re-enacted by practicing Christians every Sunday, when they literally eat the body of Christ at the end of mass.
  - erehweb 3y ago
    Figuratively eat, unless you are a Catholic, who believe they literally eat the body of Christ (transubstantiation).
    - 3y ago
einpoklum 3y ago
> satanic type rituals... sadism... demon summoning Wow, they sure didn't like C++ template metaprogramming back in the day!
- thfuran 3y ago
  Still don't. But they used to too.

sfc32 3y ago

remove the "fantasy role-playing game" part and you have great description of youtube, tiktok, facebook etc

justinclift 3y ago
"a which uses demonology, witchcraft, ... " ?
Lutzb 3y ago
> But in the 1980s the game came under an extraordinary sustained assault from fundamentalist religious groups who feared its power over young minds. > ... > Pulling described D&D as "a fantasy role-playing game which uses demonology, witchcraft, voodoo, murder, rape, blasphemy, suicide, assassination, insanity, sex perversion, homosexuality, prostitution, satanic type rituals, gambling, barbarism, cannibalism, sadism, desecration, demon summoning, necromantics, divination and other teachings". It could be said that the source material for the religious groups contains far worse stories. I wonder if the irony was lost on the people back then.
- austin-cheney 3y ago
  It can go both ways. One of the cofounders of the Dragon Lance stories and games used his religious expertise (LDS) and knowledge of an Indonesian language learned from his religious mission to help develop story plots and the pantheon of gods.
lucozade 3y ago
In fairness, if you remove fantasy role-playing game, it's not a terrible description of the Old Testament.

ourmandave 3y ago

To me the best change they made in all that time was getting rid of the 1 gp = 1 xp mechanic. It toned down the murder hoboing a lot.

thfuran 3y ago
Was there a different xp mechanic between AD&D's gp = xp and 3+'s only killing is xp? Because I don't see how the switch to that could possibly reduce the incentive to murder.
amp108 3y ago
xp for gold means you get less for killing a monster than you do for robbing it, and encourages a more careful exploratory approach. Modern D&D is much more of a tactical combat game than the original, where encounter design is "balanced" based on the assumption that players will be able to kill what they run into.
- jghn 3y ago
  > Modern D&D is much more of a tactical combat game than the original Kind of ironic when one thinks about it! Also, depending on how one defines "the original" this statement can be impossible to be true. (not at all disagreeing, it's one of the things I don't like about the modern game)

CodeAndCuffs 3y ago

Ironically, I think every single one of these is in the bible. ...Maybe not cannibalism.

damnitpeter 3y ago
Isn't one of the sacraments a little bit cannibalistic?
thedailymail 3y ago
2 Kings 6 24And it came to pass after this, that Benhadad king of Syria gathered all his host, and went up, and besieged Samaria. 25And there was a great famine in Samaria: and, behold, they besieged it, until an ass's head was sold for fourscore pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a cab of dove's dung for five pieces of silver. 26And as the king of Israel was passing by upon the wall, there cried a woman unto him, saying, Help, my lord, O king. 27And he said, If the LORD do not help thee, whence shall I help thee? out of the barnfloor, or out of the winepress? 28And the king said unto her, What aileth thee? And she answered, This woman said unto me, Give thy son, that we may eat him to day, and we will eat my son to morrow. 29So we boiled my son, and did eat him: and I said unto her on the next day, Give thy son, that we may eat him: and she hath hid her son. 30And it came to pass, when the king heard the words of the woman, that he rent his clothes; and he passed by upon the wall, and the people looked, and, behold, he had sackcloth within upon his flesh. 31Then he said, God do so and more also to me, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat shall stand on him this day.
toyg 3y ago
Cannibalism is symbolically re-enacted by practicing Christians every Sunday, when they literally eat the body of Christ at the end of mass.
- erehweb 3y ago
  Figuratively eat, unless you are a Catholic, who believe they literally eat the body of Christ (transubstantiation).
  - 3y ago

einpoklum 3y ago

> satanic type rituals... sadism... demon summoning Wow, they sure didn't like C++ template metaprogramming back in the day!

thfuran 3y ago
Still don't. But they used to too.