The Facts About D&D (and other RPGs)

Who is the author of this page?

My name is Shaun Hately. I am a 21 year old student living in Melbourne, Australia. I have been playing and refereeing role playing games (RPGs) for 14 years. I primarily play and referee (DungeonMaster or DM) Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (AD&D) 2nd Edition, but I also play Dungeons & Dragons (D&D), Vampire: The Masquerade, Top Secret: SI, Middle Earth Role Playing (MERP), Paranoia, and Shadowrun.

I am a devout Roman Catholic (Jesuit educated), and am attending university studying Computer Science. I have an IQ which places me, approximately, in the top 0.1% of the population. I suffered almost suicidal depression in my late teens (caused by school problems, and the death of my father). I mention these things only because they are relevant to my discussion of the case of Dallas Egbert which is contained on this page. In most respects I am a fairly typical gamer.

What is the purpose of this page?

The purpose is simple. I am hoping that this page will help to dispel some of the concerns, and the myths that people have about D&D and other RPGs. There are many stories around about how D&D is dangerous, addictive, or even evil. I hope that this page will help to dispel these myths. This page is intended to provide a balanced profile of D&D. By balanced I do not mean neutral. I do not believe any of the myths I have just mentioned are true and I will endeavour to show why I have that belief. What I mean by balanced is that I will attempt to provide as many of the facts as possible, before I give my opinions. If at any stage you believe I have failed in that effort, please e-mail me. I am only human and I may make mistakes.

The above having been said, I will now make a commitment. If you bring to my attention ANY webpage that concerns the topic of this page (whether or not D&D is dangerous etc), I will provide a link to that page. If you send me any documentation, I will (space permitting) include that on my page. The only exception is that I will not link to any page that is obscene, or concerns any discussion of the occult that is not strictly academic in nature. But I will never refuse to link to a page simply because I do not agree with its contents.

What is Dungeons & Dragons?

"Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) is a role-playing game: players choose on of their number to be the Dungeon Master or D.M., a sort of referee, and the rest each create a character, an imaginary person or creature, defined in terms of randomly generated physical and mental attributes (such as Strength, Intelligence and Charisma). The player also fills in such details as the name, sex, age, height and weight. When this is done the player will have a fairly complete description of his character, yet it is still lifeless. This is where the role-playing begins: he 'assumes' the personality of the character and directs its actions. A character, on its own, can do nothing, but with a player the character can live and adventure in a world which the D.M. has created and populated with fabulous and mythical creatures.

The game can be regarded as a conversation between the D.M. and the players, the former describing what is happening to the characters ('You are standing in a ten-foot-wide passageway; ahead is a solid oaken door with intricate stone carvings round the frame . . .'), the latter describing their actions ('All right I'll kick the door down'). The D.M. needs to have a good imagination, the ability to think fast (it seems you can get away with anything as long as you can justify it) and to sound plausible. The players, to quote the inventor, Gary Gygax, need imaginative, retentive memories, [to be] competitive, co-operative, thorough, bold, but not rash, and quick thinking (my emphasis). It is important to realise that there is no winning or losing in D&D and other role-playing games.
Taken from What is Dungeons & Dragons by John Butterfield, David Honigmann, and Philip Barker, published by Penguin Books Ltd, Middlesex, England, 1982.

The above is about D&D, but it holds equally true when talking about AD&D or virtually any other RPG. Obviously in Science Fiction games, there may not be 'mythical creatures', but the purpose of the game remains the same. To Have Fun. That should be the definition of any game.

Other Articles On This Page

Pro Role-Playing

The Case of James Dallas Egbert III (not yet available)

Anti Role-Playing

None Yet Available

Links To Other Sites

The Psychology of Dungeons & Dragons
As can be seen this page is still very much under construction. I am awaiting the permission of the owners to link to a few other sites. If you know of ANY sites that relate to the topic of this page, please e-mail me. I have been unable to find any sites, which are anti role-playing as of yet, so I am particularly interested in finding these.
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, Dungeons & Dragons, AD&D, D&D, and Top Secret :SI are all trademarks of TSR Inc. Middle Earth Role Playing and MERP are trademarks of Tolkien Enterprises. Vampire: The Masquerade is a trademark of White Wolf Game Studio. Paranoia is a trademark of West End Games. Shadowrun is a trademark of FASA. All these trademarks are used without permission for information purposes. No challenge is made to their trademark status, or to any status held on any other trademarks on this page.
If you have a link that you want included here or just want to comment. e-mail me. Back to my main page.

This page last updated 18th September 1996
This page is © Shaun Hately 1996 except where copyright is already owned by someone else. Permission is granted to distribute this page in any way, shape or form, provided that no profit is made. Permission is granted to link to this page.

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