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Title: Role-Playing
Games: The Stigmas and Benefits
Source: Research paper written
by William J. Walton, December 1995, for a Technical Writing
class.
NOTICE: The following
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Role-Playing Games: The Stigmas and
Benefits
William J. Walton
Table of Contents
Abstract
Introduction
How the
Problems Began
Evaluating
the Problem
The Positive
Effects of Gaming
In
Conclusion
Appendix 1: An
Interview with David Millians
Appendix 2: A
Glossary of Terms
Appendix 3: List
of RPGs Mentioned
Appendix 4:
Further Resources
Abstract
Since 1979, role-playing games such as Dungeons
& Dragons have drawn criticism from those who feel that they
promote witchcraft, Satanism, and the occult, and encourage youths
to perfom acts of suicide and murder; more recently, collectible
card games have been criticized in a less severe manner. The fact is
that RPGs and CCGs are simply games, and they can be used to educate
as well as entertain. In considering this topic, two sources of
primary data were consulted; a survey of long-time players of RPGs
and CCGs, and an interview with a grade school teacher who uses both
types of games in the classroom. Secondary sources that were
consulted included an observation of children playing D&D in an
after-school program, a psychological profile of gamers conducted in
1987, and many others. Despite the attacks they have received, it is
clear that RPGs and CCGs are a harmless, and occasionally beneficial
mode of entertainment that has been misrepresented in the
past.
Introduction
In 1973, a new type of game was released, a game
that would change the way many people would look at games as a
whole. That game was called Dungeons & Dragons, released by
Tactical Studies Rules, or TSR. Dungeons & Dragons, D&D for
short, was the first of a genre that would be later referred to as
the role-playing game.
In a role-playing game, the players do much more
than move a plastic piece around on a board; in fact, there often
isn't a piece to move, or a board to move on. Rather, the players
act out the roles of characters in a sort of improvisational acting
session. It is not unlike the simple games of make-believe that many
have played as children; the biggest difference is that a set of
rules have been added to settle disputes. Together, the players
create a story 'on the fly,' acting as they feel the characters they
play would act in the situations that occur during the course of the
game.
One of these players acts as the 'game master,'
also known as a 'dungeon master' when speaking of the aforementioned
D&D. This person is the 'referee' of the game, and is usually in
some degree in control of the course that the story is taken. The
game master, or GM, has a general outline of the events of a
particular story when it is played; this is often referred to as the
'scenario.' The scenario is never written in stone; the players of
the game will interact with it in an attempt to make things turn out
in their favor, which, for the most part, is the general goal of
playing an RPG. The GM knows the secrets of the story before the
players discover them, and reveals these secrets to them as they are
discovered. He also does his own share of acting, playing the roles
that the other player's characters encounter during the
scenario.
In order to simulate the actions that the
players wish their characters to perform, a series of rules are
followed. As an example, when a character performs an action that
would not automatically be a success, like walking a tightrope, then
the character's skill level and a die roll are consulted. If a
character's description states that he can walk a tighrope whenever
he rolls a 12 or higher, and the player rolls a 15, then his
character succeeds at the task. Many games use different techniques
in determining successes and failures, but most of them work on the
same general principle.
There are seldom 'winners' or 'losers' as we
commonly know them; instead, the players receive enjoyment from a
game well-played by both the players and game master. In many games,
there are rewards for good role-playing, and these usually come in
the form of ways in which the character can be improved, to ensure
more success in future games.
Since the early seventies, RPGs have expanded in
every possible direction, embracing new genres, levels of
complexity, and even other languages. Those not satisfied with the
Tolkien-style fantasy of Dungeons & Dragons can find hundreds of
options; science fiction, historical, horror, superheroes,
swashbucklers, and many more. Those looking for something more
realistic can find several rules-laden games to accomidate them. If
a less complex game is desired, there are many games that promote
storytelling and discourage dice-rolling; some, in fact, use
diceless systems that eliminate random number generation entirely.
Most RPGs are translated into many languages not
long after their release in the United States; oddly enough,
Portugese is usually the first of these languages. This is due
mainly to the popularity of these games in Brazil, where, at one
time, players learned English just so that they could play D&D
(Jackson 53). Other languages that are popular choices for
translation include French, German, Italian, Japanese, and Spanish.
Many games have been published in other languages and translated to
English, as well.
Not long ago, an offspring of the RPG was born;
the collectible card game. The concept of the CCG is simple; two or
more players face off in a card game in the same way that
traditional card players play poker or rummy. The difference,
however, is in the cards. Rather than playing with a 52-card deck,
CCG players can play with decks that can contain any of several
hundred different cards, making no two decks exactly alike. These
cards interact with the cards of the player and his opponent in a
number of different ways, making for numerous
possibilities.
This type of game was born in the fall of 1993,
with the release of Magic: The Gathering, by Wizards of the Coast.
To get involved in the game, players purchase a starter deck, which
contains 60 cards and a rulebook. 'Booster packs' are available that
add new cards to the game and increase the possibilities. These
packs come with a theme of their own; Arabian Nights was one of the
first Magic booster sets, and included cards depicting warriors,
monsters, and landscapes straight out of the stories of Scherazade.
Like RPGs, there are now several forms of CCGs
on the market. Players can fight vampires, build their own city, or
travel the far reaches of space with the turn of a card. There are
even card games that depict the Civil War and the stories of the
Bible.
Over the course of the last fifteen years, these
types of games have attracted a large amount of bad press and
general paranoia. Role-playing games, D&D in particular, have
been blamed as a possible cause in several murders and suicides, the
first reported case of which occurred in 1979. They have also been
accused of leading children to witchcraft, Satanism, and the occult,
due to their use of magic and 'demonic' monsters.
For example, in "Painted Black," Carl Raschke's
book on Satanism in America, he has this to say: "D&D is really
an elementary-level home study kit for 'black magic'..." (Raschke
188). In "Dark Dungeons," a Christian pamphlet put out by Chick
Publications, a young girl who plays a D&D-style RPG is
described as having been through enough "intense occult training" to
be able to cast "real" spells (Chick 5). Geraldo Rivera and Pat
Robertson have contributed to this media assault, both speaking out
on the reported dangers of playing D&D.
More recently, collectible card games have
received similar, but not as severe, opposition. Schools that once
allowed collectible card games as an afterschool activity have
changed their outlook on the game. Many have removed it from their
grounds; others, like the Beaver Meadow School in Concord, New
Hampshire, allow it if the students' parents approve, and certain
'objectionable' cards are removed from the game (Cardwell
4).
It would be deceptive to claim that these games
do not have a down side. Primarily, they are addictive; once a
person gets his first taste of role-playing, he is usually hungry
for more. They are also very time-consuming, and many a player has
forgone his responsibilities to school or work in order to play some
more. They can be very expensive, especially in the case of card
games, which literally encourage the player to buy more and more
cards in an attempt to create the most perfect deck. A select few of
them deal with themes that may be too graphic or violent for many
people, and some actually use occultic themes or demonology as a
backdrop to the game.
It would be equally as deceptive, however, to
claim that these elements could be responsible for murder, suicide,
and the wholesale corruption of our youth, as the detractors claim.
Any hobby has the potential to absorb more time and money than it
really should, and there is no reason that RPGs should be any
different. The concept of 'violence' is a fuzzy one; most everyone
has a different idea of what is violent and what isn't. The issue
over whether partaking in violent entertainment can beget violent
behavior is one far outside of the scope of this text, but the facts
are that RPGs that are graphically violent are uncommon, and the
exceptions to this have either been carefully labeled as such, or
are currently off of the market due to decreasing
popularity.
In fact, when used in the proper manner,
role-playing and collectible card games can be beneficial to both
education and the building of character in an individual, as well as
a whole lot of fun, all at the same time. Role-playing games promote
teamwork among the players to accomplish goals and solve problems.
Collectible card games promote strategy, intuitive thinking, and
develop the reasoning process as players consider their options for
each turn of the game. Both of them have the potential to teach
social interaction, as well as providing an easy, low-cost
virtual-reality-style simulation of any experience or time period
that the game master chooses.
How the problems
began
The shadow over the role-playing game was first
cast in 1979, with a 16-year-old boy named James Dallas Egbert III.
Egbert was a talented and intelligent youth who had graduated from
high school at age 13, and at 14, began his college education at
Michigan State University (Stackpole 24). He was also very troubled;
not only was he under pressure from his mother to maintain a perfect
grade-point average, he was also heavily involved in drugs, and an
untreated eplileptic (Cardwell 158). Egbert also had a deeper
secret; he was a homosexual, and the severe homophobia of the time
period could have added to his pressures (Cardwell 158).
In mid-August of that year, right before exams,
Egbert decided to take his life. He hid in the steam tunnels beneath
his dormitory, and took a drug overdose (Stackpole 25). This plan
failed, and upon awaking some time later, he decided to run away to
Lansing, to stay with a friend. Once his disappearance was noticed,
Egbert's uncle hired a private detective named William Dear
(Cardwell 158).
Dear pieced together a story that was
considerably less than accurate; after finding a strange map in
Egbert's room, Dear came to the conclusion that he had ventured into
the steam tunnels to play his own version of Dungeons & Dragons
(Stackpole 25). The local press picked up the story, and before
long, it was nationwide.
Egbert turned up a month later, after having
turned himself in. When Dear questioned him about his disappearance,
Egbert stated that D&D had nothing to do with it (Stackpole 25).
Eleven months later, and nearly a year after his disappearance,
Egbert tried once more to take his life, shooting himself in the
head with a .25 caliber pistol. He survived the shot, but died six
days later in intensive care (Stackpole 25).
Egbert's story was to be the first in a series
of game-related incidents that would contribute to the bad name of
D&D and RPGs in general. In many versions of this story that are
told to this day, the span of time between Egbert's disappearance
and death are ignored, usually for the ease in connecting his death
with D&D (Stackpole 25).
In 1982, a second incident occurred. Irving
"Bink" Pulling II was another 16-year-old with an exceptionally high
intelligence and a troubled life. Bink was part of the gifted and
talented program at his school, where they often played D&D
(Cardwell 160). He was also a fan of Adolf Hitler, and had what his
mother described as 'lycathropic' tendencies; that is, he liked to
run, barking, around the backyard (Stackpole 27).
On June 9th, 1982, Bink shot himself to death
with his mother's handgun a few hours after he was involved in a
D&D game. In this game, according to Patricia Pulling, his
mother, Bink's character allegedly received a curse that forced him
to kill others, and his suicide was his way of preventing this from
taking place. When questioned, the other children present at the
game denyed that any such event took place (Cardwell 160).
That wasn't enough for Pulling, however, who
went on to form B.A.D.D., or Bothered About Dungeons & Dragons,
an anti-game campaign. In 1985, B.A.D.D. confronted the Consumer
Products Safety Commission, demanding that all RPGs contain a label,
warning that they can possibly cause suicide. This was dismissed by
the CPSC, who decided that the connection between the two was not
close enough to require such labeling (Cardwell 160).
In the years to come, many incidents would
follow, but not all of them would involve suicide. Several cases of
murder were being linked to D&D, the most recent being the Caleb
Fairley case in September of 1995, in which a young mother and her
child were strangled to death by Fairley in a children's clothing
store. When police searched his place of residence, they found a
foot locker filled with pornography and two shelves of books for
D&D and Vampire: The Masquerade, a popular RPG that lets players
portray modern-day vampires (Metz A6).
Pulling's work with B.A.D.D. includes a list of
interviewing techniques for adolescents, intended to aid police
officers in questioning suspects who are suspected to be involved in
Satanism. In this document, she lists movies, videos, rock music,
and RPGs as among the major influences that can lead a youth to the
worship of Satan (Stackpole 5). The irony of this is that the police
themselves use role-playing sessions in training. In fact,
role-playing is used widely in many different occupations as an
educational tool. In retail management, for example, managers are
trained in how to handle rude or problematic customers through
role-play; in sales training, salespeople learn in the same manner
how to handle the various questions a potential client may ask. Why,
then, is role-playing considered so dangerous in the hands of our
children?
Evaluating the
problem
It is easy to become concerned over something
that has received as much media attention as D&D has. It is just
as easy to believe the stories as they are read, or viewed on
television. Our own personal problem is that we often don't take the
time to think for ourselves, and seldom wonder if there is another
side to the story.
For every game-related incident that has
occurred to date, with the exception of one, there is another side.
In most cases, that other side is easy to see; Egbert and Bink
Pulling were obviously both very troubled youths who had much deeper
problems than the games they were playing. But in other cases, that
second side is not as easy to discover.
A group called the Committee for the Advancement
of Role-Playing Games, or CAR-PGa, has devoted itself to refuting
the anti-game stories since it's inception in 1987. Systematically,
they have researched the stories in B.A.D.D.s 'trophy list,' or
listing of anti-game cases, and found the hidden details behind
each.
In the case of Sean Hughes, for example,
B.A.D.D. was quick to attribute the cause of Sean's death as a
suicide, and linked it to D&D by editing and reprinting a
newspaper article concerning the case to make it appear this way.
When investigated carefully, it was discovered that the police had a
murder suspect in mind, and that Sean hadn't even played D&D in
years (Stackpole 33).
This is only one of many examples. The only case
that has not been refuted is one that lists so few details that
research is impossible. In fact, the only details that B.A.D.D.
reveals are, "name withheld, age 14, suicide, 1979" (Stackpole 33).
With details as vague as these, it is doubtful that there is any
substance to the story whatsoever.
Vagueness seems to be a popular medium for those
who attack RPGs. In "Entertaining Demons Unawares," a radio program
that was also transcribed and distributed in pamphlet form, Emil
Gaverluk, spokesperson for the Southwest Radio Church, states that
"[D&D] leads to necromancy, divination, and other things
(Glaverluk 26)." Just what precisely those "other things" are is
left to our imagination, and most people will gladly cook up the
worst possible thing that their imagination will allow. This style
of vagueness also creeps into any alleged research that has been
performed; in the same pamphlet, Robert Lindsted claims that "Right
in the Master's Manual, it shows you a sample way for making a
bargain with the Devil," (Glaverluk 25) with no page cited, or even
a clarification as to what book was consulted, to allow one to check
the reference.
Not all of the general opinion of RPGs can be
attributed to second-hand information, however; many people,
especially today, have had first-hand experience with RPGs and CCGs
via friends or relatives who play, and have been able to form an
opinion based on that experience. These opinions would probably
display a little more variety.
For starters, gamers themselves are unique, to
say the least, and have developed their own stereotypes as a result.
Some compare them to "Trekkies" or "Computer Geeks," while others
are happy with the simple moniker of "Gamers." They speak a language
of their own, filled with words like "THACO" and "Hit Points." They
sit around a table, rolling strange-shaped dice or shuffling decks
of cards with unusual pictures on them. These elements can generate
unease in those who don't fully understand what the hobby is about,
and many may come to the conclusion that a high intellect or a level
of just plain weirdness is required in order to
participate.
Many others are daunted by the degree of
violence in RPGs and CCGs. As mentioned earlier, violence is a
'fuzzy' subject, and one that can be debated for centuries. When
Michael Jackson released his video for the song "Thriller," the
members of his own faith criticized him for producing such a violent
film, yet not a drop of blood was shed throughout the video, nor did
a single character meet with their own demise. Obviously, their
concept of violence is different than that of most
people.
It is a fact that violence, as we commonly
perceive it, exists in many degrees in games, as it does in movies,
television, and in real life. Hardly a game of D&D transpires
without a blade or bowstring being drawn. The whole concept of
Magic: The Gathering consists of two or more wizards trying to do
each other in by summoning elephants, lightning bolts, minotaurs,
and several expansion sets of other hazards to do the job for them.
Combat is the most basic form of competition.
The real question here is, just how bad is this
type of violence for our youths? An interesting point concerning
this issue was made by Jeff Freeman, when he considered Chuck
Norris' Karate-based self-esteem program. Many parents allow their
children to participate in this program, and ones that are similar,
in which their children learn the art of self defense and discipline
through the study of the martial arts. Jeff makes an interesting
point, when comparing this kind of activity to playing D&D; are
we to believe that hitting someone in real life is not nearly as bad
as rolling dice to peform an attack in an RPG? (Freeman
2)
An option to the violence issue would be to
remove it from the game. Nothing could be more simple; it would be
difficult to do so with any other form of entertainment, in fact.
Rather than participate in a combat-heavy game, it would be just as
easy to run a game in which the players are political figures
struggling for control over a country, or the entire world. In Toon,
an RPG produced by Steve Jackson, the players act out the roles of
cartoon characters, and the deadliest weapon in this genre is a
cream pie. In Sim City, one of the more popular collectible card
games, players build their own city, rather than attack each other.
The alternatives are out there, and can be discovered with a small
amount of research.
Another element that concerns onlookers is the
occult. This can be considered another 'fuzzy' topic, as many people
have varied conceptions of what is and what isn't occultic. These
concerns stem mainly from the fact that many RPGs and CCGs (D&D
and Magic, in particular) have magic spells in them, and many of the
characters, including those controlled by the players, wield these
spells.
These spells, however, have no basis in reality.
There are no delineations as to how they are cast to the extent that
someone could attempt to cast them in the real world. This
misconception is often supplied by the anti-game lobby, who are
famous for confusing player with character, and fantasy with
reality. When a spell is listed in a D&D book, or described on a
Magic card, it is represented in game terms; a series of numbers
and/or symbols that determine how long it will take to use it, what
it will affect, how it will affect it, and what is required to cast
it. There is hardly anything of any use to someone who wishes to
summon a real fireball from his fingertips.
It has long been the argument that such
spellcasting activity, as is found in D&D, can instill an
interest in the occult, witchcraft, or Satanism in the player. A
survey of 100 gamers conducted in November of 1995 has shown this to
be untrue. In the survey, the participants were asked which games
they play, how long they have played them, their religious practice
(if any), and if they have ever engaged in occultic activity or
witchcraft.
Of the 100 gamers surveyed, eighty-five of the
entries were male and 14 were female. The age ranges were as
follows:
Age total entries and percentage
13-18
17, 16 male, 1 female
19-24 13, 12 male, 1 female
25-30 34, 28
male, 6 female
31-36 22, 20 male, 2 female
37-42 7, 5 male, 2
female
43-50 6, 5 male, 1 female
The religious practices of those surveyed is
illustrated below:
Agnostic: 4
Atheist 4
Christian (various
denominations): 58
Islamic: 1
Jewish: 8
Neopagan:
2
Wiccan: 2
Other: 3
No religious practice or preference:
16
The gaming-experience breakdown follows:
1-5 yrs 5-10 yrs 11-20+ yrs Agnostic 0 1 (25%) 3
(75%) Atheist 0 1 (25%) 3 (75%) Christian 7 (12%) 6 (10%) 45 (78%)
Islamic 0 1 (100%) 0 Jewish 3 (38%) 3 (38%) 2 (24%) Neopagan 0 1
(50%) 1 (50%) Wiccan 0 0 2 (100%) Other 0 0 4 (100%) None 0 4 (25%)
12 (75%) TOTAL: 10 17 72 Using Christians as an example, of the 58
who listed a Christian denomination as their practice, 54 (93%) said
that they actively play Dungeons & Dragons. The four who do not
play D&D are in the 11-20 year range of gaming experience.
Removing them from the example, this works out to 86% of the
Christian entries that have been playing D&D for ten years or
more. One would think that if the rumors were true, these good
people would have chosen another faith by now.
It should also be noted that of the four entries
received from people who practice witchcraft or paganism, all of
them replied that they saw no connection between their practice and
the games they play. Eight replies (8% of the total) claimed to have
practiced witchcraft in one form or another, and eleven (11% of the
total) claimed to have practiced some form of the occult (six of
these replies answered yes to both). Of these thirteen, three stated
that they began playing RPGs first, but even those three did not
feel that there was a connection.
One response was so unique that it bears being
singled out. A reply from a practicing Catholic revealed that he had
been a member of the First Church of Satan in the 1970's. He dropped
this faith in favor of Catholicism, and somewhere around this time
began playing RPGs. His comments went on to say that gaming had
nothing to do with his decision, but it is certainly an interesting
counterpoint to what many of the rumors about RPGs and Satanism
dictate.
As with the violence issue, magic and
spellcasting are elements of RPGs that can be avoided. There are
many RPGs and CCGs on the market that do not deal with spellcasting
at all; the largest category of these would have to be science
fiction games, in which higher science replaces magic. Again, a
little research is all that is required.
The positive effects of
gaming
David Millians is a teacher at the Paideia
School in Atlanta, Georgia. Every weekday, he meets his class of
thirty 10- and 11-year-olds for a full day's worth of education.
Currently, he is teaching them about the Civil War; they read, do
art projects, watch videos, and conduct research. On Tuesday and
Thursday mornings, they become the citizens of a northern Georgia
village during the Civil War.
David runs a live-action role-playing game, or
LARP, entitled "Crossroads," in which his students play their own
individual parts. In a LARP, the players interact with each other in
a much more freestyle manner, and traditional RPG elements such as
dice and rulebooks are rarely consulted. As a result, the game
becomes more of an impromptu performance, and, in this case, an
educational experience.
RPGs are no stranger to David's classroom; in
the past, he has run other games in simulations, and some of his
students are permitted to run their own games during breaks. Decks
of Magic and Once Upon A Time, a card game in which the players
create their own faerie tales, are readily available to his students
to play during break times (Millians).
At it's most basic level, an RPG can be used to
teach the process of cause-and-effect, as well as the benefits of
acting as a group. In a case study written by Luis Zayas and
Bradford Lewis, eight boys of ages 8 and 9 were introduced to
D&D in an after-school program that took place in a grade school
in New York City in the fall of 1985. Each of the boys were
identified by school staff members as having displayed hyperactivity
or problems with personal interaction. With the help of a worker,
the boys created characters for the game, and began to play. During
the course of these sessions, the children were exposed to the
importance of acting as a group to achieve their goals, and to take
advantage of each individual's strengths. In one example, two of the
boys who were playing fighters faced a long, dark corridor. When
asked what they would like to do, they decided to rush down the
corridor. When the boy playing a thief asked if they would like him
to check the corridor for traps first, they declined his help. After
getting to the end of the hallway, a pit trap opened in the floor,
and one of the fighters fell in. When asked about their decision,
the boys stated that they had learned their lesson, and that it was
important to keep the fighters safe in order to combat any monsters
that they would encounter in the future. As a result, they not only
learned the consequences of their actions, but were also considering
the possibilities if those consequences had been more severe (Zayas
60).
Other teachers have used Magic exclusively to
teach a variety of lessons. Jeff Brain, a teacher in the San
Francisco school district, uses Magic cards as visual aids, as well
as allowing his students to play with them. In a lesson in database
management he has prepared, he allows his students to create
computer databases of Magic cards that are based on their various
elements; the colors, numbers, and symbols found on the cards. Then,
he has them access their database to find all cards that contain a
certain element. To teach statistics, Jeff gives each student seven
mountain cards and one dragon card, then asks the question: What are
the odds, if the cards are shuffled and one drawn, that the dragon
will come up? He repeats this lesson, changing the selection of
cards each time. Jeff also uses the visual elements of the cards to
teach mythology: "When you break the colors of Magic down, you can
look at how primitive peoples start using color to describe certain
elements, such as red for fire and green for growing things and blue
for water or air (Mohn 56)."
Susan Mohn, head of the Education and Training
team at Wizards of the Coast, the company that brings us Magic: The
Gathering, has begun a plan to bring the card game to the classroom
to teach a number of skills. These include critical thinking,
reasoning, computational, reading comprehension, communication,
interactive, and resource management skills, as well as improving
attention span (Mohn 3).
The advantages of role-playing and card games
are not only tapped in the classroom; these games are, after all,
designed to be played at home. Without a teacher or supervisor, a
child can learn a variety of lessons just by opening an RPG book.
Many games use the metric system for measurements, such as how far a
character can run in a set amount of time, or how far they can throw
an object. In order to fully understand these concepts, the player
will have to be familiar with the metric system. In the same vein,
text found in a book or on a card may contain words that are
unfamiliar to the player; often, this will result in the player
having to do a little bit of research.
The act of playing an RPG involves many brief
lessons in mathematics and statistics; for example, if you need a 18
or better to hit that dragon with your sword, and you're rolling a
twenty-sided die, should you try running away instead? What if your
sword is magical, and adds 2 to the result of that die roll? Or your
armor and shield give that dragon the same number to hit you as
well? This same lesson is learned in a more concrete sense when a
player creates a deck of Magic cards, or cards for any other game;
if more cards are added to the deck, it increases the odds that
those cards will not be drawn.
These educational benefits are, by no means,
universal. As David Millians said in an interview, "Simulations and
storytellings are not every learner's best avenue to understanding."
(Millians) Many are accustomed to or simply respond better to more
traditional methods of teaching; handing them the responsibility of
portraying a character would probably do more harm than good. An
educator using these methods must be fully aware of their student's
needs.
In
conclusion
Role-playing games have received a reputation
that is highly inaccurate and unwarranted, and collectible card
games are well on their way to achieving the same. These reputations
are due to rash and unresearched conclusions, made by activists and
the media in general and delivered with concern for our welfare as a
whole.
As a result, many have been reluctant to let
these games into their homes, fearful of the kind of influence that
they may bring with them. Schools have removed games like D&D
and Magic from their after-school activities, and stores have
removed them from their shelves. A hobby that entertains millions
has become the subject of scorn; this is something that would be
considered unusual in most any other case, with most any other
hobby.
Education and research are the two biggest cures
for this problem. People have, for the last fifteen years, been led
to believe that RPGs and suicide, murder, and/or occultic or Satanic
activity go hand in hand; it is up to the devotees to dispel these
rumors, and shed more light on the truth. It is the gamer's
responsibility to defend the games they play.
Individual research is not difficult for the
uninitiated parent or guardian. First and foremost, parents should
become involved with their children when they display an interest in
these games. The same parents who would cheer for their child at a
baseball game wouldn't think twice about leaving them alone with a
deck of Magic cards or a D&D manual. Monitoring them will help
them steer their children away from any influences that they deem
unfit, and choose something that they feel would be a better
influence. The wide variety of games on the market accomidates
this.
If at all possible, parents should learn how to
play with their child, or at the very least, watch the games as they
are played. Having your child teach you how to play a game can be a
bonding experience for both of you, one that will only improve if
you become interested in the game as well. Another avenue of
research would be to talk with the owners of the stores that sell
games, to get a better idea of the influences the children are
receiving. Often, the owners and employees themselves are gamers,
and are very familiar with the products that they sell.
As a future project, I have considered
assembling a parent's and teacher's guide to games that would have
several functions; it would help educate about the nature of RPGs
and CCGs, refute the attacks and fallacies, and give a case-by-case
analysis of the kinds of games that are available. Rather than rate
them, a synopsis of the content would be listed, to give a good idea
of the choices that can, and should, be made.
With the proper attitude towards refuting the
attacks, dispelling the rumors, and teaching those who wish to
learn, RPGs and CCGs will become a more accepted and beneficial
element of our society.
Bibliography
- Armando, Simon, "Emotional Stability
Pertaining to the Game of Dungeons & Dragons." Psychology in
the Schools, October 1987.
- Cardwell, Paul, "New Material," CAR-PGa
Newsletter June 1995: 4.
- Cardwell, Paul, "The Attacks on Role-Playing
Games," The Skeptical Inquirer Winter 1994: 158.
- Chick, Jack, Dark Dungeons, 1984.
- Freeman, Jeff, "RPG Violence," CAR-PGa
Newsletter, July 1995: 2.
- Gaverluk, Dr. Emil and Dr. Robert Lindsted,
Entertaining Demons Unawares, 1984.
- Jackson, Steve, "Under the Southern Cross,"
Pyramid, November/December 1993: 52-55.
- Metz, Andrew, "Fairley won't face death
penalty," Philadelphia Inquirer, 13 September 1995: A6.
- Millians, David, personal interview, 1
November 1995.
- Mohn, Susan, "Magic: The Gathering in
Schools," Gaming & Education, Winter 1995: 3.
- Mohn, Susan, "Magic in the Classroom," The
Duelist, #4: 56.
- Phillips, Brian David, "Language Learning
Benefits Of Role Playing Games," Gaming & Education, Winter
1995: 4.
- Raschke, Carl, Painted Black, 1990.
- Stackpole, Michael A., Game Hysteria and the
Truth, 1989.
- Zayas, Luis H. & Bradford H. Lewis,
"Fantasy Role-Playing for Mutual Aid in Children's Groups: A Case
Illustration," Social Work with Groups, Spring 1986: 53-66.
Appendix I
Interview with David Millians, an Atlanta
teacher who uses RPGs and CCGs in the classroom. This interview was
conducted through e-mail.
William J.Walton: How are you currently
using RPGs and CCGs to educate? Please list the games used and the
age groups being taught.
David S. Millians: I teach 30 ten and
eleven year olds in a self-contained classroom, that is, I am
responsible for all of their subjects and keep them all throughout
the day.
This year our big simulation is a LARP called
"Crossroads." It simulates life in a north Georgia village during
the Civil War, our primary topic of study this year.
I have packs of Once Upon A Time and Magic among
the other games kids can pull down to play during free times and
breaks.
In the past I have also run shorter simulations
using Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Call of Cthulhu,
Cybergeneration, Harnmaster, Shadowrun, Ars Magica, and others that
I fail to recall at the moment.
Two of my students are currently running their
own RPGs during class breaks: one is cyberpunky, and another is more
magical.
Why are you grouping RPGs and CCGs? Wargames
seem as similar to RPGs as are CCGs.
WJW: Because the focus of my paper is
games that have a 'bad reputation,' and how they can be used in a
positive manner (specifically, education). To my knowledge, there
aren't any wargames that have received the amount of bad press that
RPGs have, but if you know of some, by all means, fill me
in!
DSM: Ah! I understand. I'm not aware of
any major criticisms of wargames, though It's foundation period was
probably before I was born. My sense is that in some families they
may have been viewed as a waste of time, but I don't have a sense of
their acquiring a "diabolical" reputation. Old time wargamers might
know otherwise.
WJW: What gaming system are you using for
your "Crossroads" LARP (if you are using one at all)?
DSM: I've swiped ideas and techniques
from the LARPs I've played or read. The clearest plagiarism is from
Chaosium's Nexus. As an ongoing field test I continue to tinker and
invent heavily. My teaching partner, who is not a gamer, has lots of
ideas.
WJW: How do you go about running a game
in a classroom, with 30 students?
DSM: This is probably the most difficult
aspect of running interactive games and simulations in classrooms.
If kids don't feel that they can participate regularly, they lose
interest. Who can blame them? The great thing about LARPs is that
they are designed to be self-refereed except in the most tangled
situations. That way, I'm able to step back and observe, at least
until I get itchy to play more.
I have a teaching partner, so she helps run and
observe the games. Some years, when I run more typical RPGs, she'll
have drama activities and games with half the class opposite another
group playing with me.
I've run RPGs with as many as 20-something. It's
important to design the characters into groups so that more people
are playing at once and playing a similar, focused direction.
Playing in family groups, bands of knights, fellow workers, and so
forth are all possible.
WJW: Do each of them play an individual
character?
DSM: Yes. In some simulations, they've
played the heads of households, which is more like playing a group.
They closest I've ever come to having a group share a single
character was in a simulation of international politics in which 3
kids were the UK, France, and Germany bound somewhat uncomfortably
into the European Union.
WJW: I assume since you say you are
swiping ideas from LARPs that all actions are resolved in real time;
is this correct?
DSM: Yes, though in this year's game
about 3 months passes between each turn. Thus, some events are
resolved beyond the scope of a single game session, and game
sessions inevitably are somewhat more action packed than is
statistically realistic.
WJW: Does the entire lesson consist of
roleplay, or do you lecture as well?
DSM: We have out of character development
(better known as regular class) too. For the Civil War, they read,
do art, write stories, watch the Ken Burns video, do research
projects, interview family members, design family trees, and so
forth.
WJW: Do you roleplay every day, or only
on selected days?
DSM: Well, every day every one of us puts
on the mask for that days encounters....
Seriously, we have the Civil War game -
"Crossroads" - every Tuesday and Thursday morning first thing. They
really want to do more. The inevitable consequence of playing games
in classrooms is that the kids want more and more.
WJW: What obstacles and problems have you
had in your experiences with teaching in this manner?
DSM: Simulations and storytellings are
not every learner's best avenue to understanding. It's important
that in my enthusiasm to use them that I maintain a range of
approaches to a topic. These games can be very involved. Students'
enthusiasm leads the games to expand to fill all available time. As
well, they can be work to create, though as I continue to do them,
they get easier and easier.
WJW: Are other teachers in your school
using your methods, or methods similar to yours?
DSM: Sure. Teachers have been using
simulations and storytelling since the dawn of humanity. I've come
in with new materials, lots of enthusiasm, and some new
understandings and links.
WJW: How have the parents of your
students reacted to your method of teaching? Have any of them had
religious/ethical problems with the games you are using? If so, how
have you handled this?
DSM: They love it! Their kids learn so
much and have such fun doing it.
The only challenges I have ever received on
gaming was some years ago while working at the school day camp. For
a couple of summers I would get a parent a summer expressing some
worries. They had "heard things" about these games and wanted to
talk with me to find out more. After an hour or two, they rarely had
a better sense of the games, but they were comfortable with me and
whatever I was doing that their kid liked so much. None of these
concerns were ever overtly religious, though I expect the source or
medium from which they heard rumors may have been religious in some
cases.
It is my rule in general to be open to parents
visiting my classroom at any time, and I make this explicit if they
ever express any questions about the games.
WJW: What are your feelings towards the
use of magic in RPGs? How do your students react when given the
opportunity to use magic?
DSM: I'm comfortable with magic in games.
I also tell stories in my class, and magic appears in many of these,
traditional and otherwise. My students love it when they get a
chance to explore magic in a game. They feel powerful and a sense of
participating in something mysterious. They eat it up. None of them
have ever left a game session trying to really cast spells or
anything like that.
When I've told kids of these kinds of concerns
about games, they look at me as if to say, "You adults are even
dopier than we thought."
WJW: When you used Magic: The Gathering
in the classroom, did you exclude any cards from the game? If so,
which ones, and why?
DSM: I didn't exclude any. All the cards
were from the original basic series.
Some of the teachers of younger kids have had
some more concrete concerns about Magic cards. The trading can annoy
them. Some parents have had misgivings about some cards (The Dark?):
"Pay attention to what your kid is buying. Don't let an 8 year old
go to an R-rated movie either. Duh."
WJW: What is your personal history with
RPGs and CCGs? Did you play them before you became a teacher? How
did they exist for you first, as a hobby, or a teaching
tool?
DSM: I've been playing RPGs since I was
10. We used the original little white box of D&D, then kept
exploring new games as they came along. I've continued to enjoy them
purely recreationally and wouldn't use them in the classroom unless
I enjoyed them in doing so.
As a gamemaster, I recognized early on that
games provided insights into the players and provided each of us
with a chance to explore. I led games at summer camps, then at
schools just for fun, gradually realizing their educational
potential.
Appendix II: Glossary of Terms
AD&D: Advanced Dungeons &
Dragons. AD&D differs from D&D in that the rules are more
complex and encompassing.
CCG: Acronym for Collectible Card Game;
one of several games that are played with decks that can have a wide
variety of cards in them, unlike the traditional four-suit
deck.
Cyberpunk: A science-fiction setting in
the near future that has been popularized by the writings of William
Gibson, Bruce Sterling, and others. Some examples of this genre
include the films Blade Runner, Johnny Mnemonic, and Total Recall.
There is also an RPG on the market entitled Cyberpunk that
epitomizes this genre.
D&D: Dungeons & Dragons, the
first and most popular role-playing game created.
DM: Dungeon Master. A term used to
identify the referee of a game of Dungeons & Dragons, or
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. DMs of games other than D&D are
usually called GMs.
GM: Game Master. A term used to identify
the referee of a role-playing game.
LARP: Acronym for Live-Action Role
Playing; an RPG in which the players actually dress and act as their
characters in an improvisational performace. This is in contrast to
traditional RPGs, which are usually played around a table, in a more
causal manner.
NPC: Non-player character. This is a
character in an RPG that is controlled by the referee; these
characters usually are friends, patrons, or rivals of the characters
that are being played. The referee adopts the persona of these
characters when they are encountered by the players.
PC: Player Character. This is a character
in an RPG that is played by one of the players.
Referee: The member of a group of RPG
players who is in 'charge' of the game. This person plays the roles
of characters that the other players meet, determines the outcome of
their actions, and reveals the plotline of the story being created
as the game is played. Often, this person has written the scenario
that is being played, but books and magazines are available that
contain ready-made scenarios.
Real Time/Game Time: Real time is just
that; time as it passes in the real world. This is in contrast to
game time, which can pass at any speed the GM wishes, to keep the
game moving along. This is usually only an issue when a character in
an RPG is performing an action that will take a while, like
programming a computer or manufacturing a suit of armor, or waiting
for something to happen. Rather than wait around for two 'real
hours,' a GM can advance the game time ahead two hours, when the
action is finished or the event has taken place.
RPG: Acronym for Role-Playing Game; a
game in which the players take on the persona of different
characters, and interact with each other.
Scenario: A situation or series of
situations that a group of RPG players encounter. The scenario is
essentially the plotline of the story created by the players and
referee.
Appendix III - List of Role-Playing Games
mentioned in this paper.
Many games have been mentioned in this work
whose titles would tell virtually nothing about their content. What
follows is a brief primer on these games. This list only includes
the games that have been mentioned here; there are literally
hundreds of other games on the market that fall into many other
categories.
Dungeons & Dragons/Advanced Dungeons
& Dragons: A game of heroic fantasy in the tradition of
Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy. Despite the name, there is
much more to this game than subterranean passageways and winged
lizards; adventures take place in many parts of any number of
fantasy worlds, and there are even adventures in space! Produced by
TSR.
Ars Magica: A game set in historical
Europe with elements of fantasy and magic added. This game has had
many owners, but it is currently being produced by Wizards of the
Coast.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: An RPG
based on the once-popular comic book of the same name. Players can
take the roles of various 'mutated' animals that can walk, talk, and
do just about anything else we humans can. Produced by
Palladium.
Call of Cthulhu: (kuh-THOOL-hoo) A game
based on the works of horror/science fiction author H.P. Lovecraft
(1890-1935). Players take the roles of unfortunate souls who meet
with horrible monsters from beyond time and space. What makes this
game unique is the setting; most games are played in the
1920's-1930's, and the books for this game are full of background
material for that era. Other books are available that move the
action to Victorian England and the modern day. Produced by
Chaosium.
Shadowrun: A very unusual cyberpunk
setting (see glossary), in which magical creatures and abilities are
mixed with high technology. Produced by FASA.
The Dark: A set of cards for Magic: The
Gathering that depicts 'darker' aspects of the fantasy world. Some
of the illustrations on these cards are more graphic that the usual
Magic cards.
Appendix IV - List of further
resources
The following are names and addresses of people
who work towards the common good of games. These people can be
contacted for further information.
CAR-PGa - The Committee for the
Advancement of Role-Playing Games was founded in 1987, and has been
compiling information, both pro- and anti-game, since. For the cost
of photocopying and postage, you can have documentation of anything
in their library. Membership does not come with dues, but with
contribution to the cause. The CAR-PGa newsletter is published
monthly, for $8.50/year, and contains stories of game victories and
losses, as well as anecdotes from players. Paul Cardwell, Jr. is the
current chairperson. Write to: CAR-PGa, 1127 Cedar, Bonham, TX
75418, and include two stamps for a sample newsletter and
information packet.
Ann Dupuis/Steffan O'Sullivan - Ann is
the president of Grey Ghost Press, publishers of Grey Ghost Games
and Adventures In Learning products. Game designer Steffan
O'Sullivan is currently working for Grey Ghost on "SHERPA," a
role-playing system designed for use by educators in the classroom.
Ann can be reached at: Grey Ghost Press, P.O. Box 838, Randolph, MA
02368-0838, (617)961-2050, or through e-mail at ghostgames@aol.com,
and you can contact Steffan at his e-mail address:
sos@oz.plymouth.edu.
David Millians - On top of teaching a
roomfull of ten and eleven year olds about the Civil War through
live roleplaying, David also puts together Gaming & Education, a
newsletter that outlines his activities, reviews gaming products,
and provides a storehouse of ideas for anyone interested in teaching
with games. Best of all, it is free. Issues are released in March,
June, September, and December. Write to: David Millians c/o Paideia
School, 1509 Ponce de Leon Avenue, Atlanta GA 30307, or e-mail him
at dragon@netcom.com.
Susan Mohn - Susan works for Wizards of
the Coast, the company that brings us Magic: The Gathering, where
she heads the Education and Training team. The team works with
educators to find educational uses for Magic, as well as other
games. Sue can be reached for questions or comments at
(206)226-6500, or by e-mail at twilight@wizards.com.
Dick Wulf - Dick distributes an RPG
called DragonRaid, which features adventures with a Christian theme.
Unfortunately, Dick has run into the kind of anti-game
discrimination that RPGs have experienced for years, and as a
result, sales of his game have suffered. To combat this, Dick has
made the game available on the internet, free of charge, so that
interested parties can try it before they buy it. To download the
game, FTP to earth.usa.net/users/dragonraid/game, and download the
dr.zip file. There is also an 'unofficial' home page on the World
Wide Web that supports DragonRaid:
www.alaska.net/~cass/draid/draid.html. You can order the game or ask
for more information by writing to Adventures For Christ, P.O. Box
8240, Colorado Springs, CO 80933.
For those with internet access, further
information can be obtained in the newsgroup rec.games.frp.advocacy.
This group mainly contains debates over gaming styles, but there are
several paths that have been created by gamers to inform people of
the way that they play their games, and to dispel some
rumors.
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