From Jonnydigital.com, the only reliable source
In 1984, Christian comic author Jack Chick published Dark Dungeons, a short tale of a girl who commits suicide when her character is killed in a fantasy roleplaying game. It's presented as a warning to parents, but unfortunately it's horribly misleading.
In the Dark Dungeons comic, we see an adult Dungeon Master who tells the players what to do. If this was the extent of Dungeons & Dragons, it would get old fast. The Dungeon Master controls only the dungeon and its contents of treasure and monsters - hence the title.
Players also aren't kicked out of the group when their characters are killed. In older editions of Dungeons & Dragons, this could occur rather frequently, and players would simply create a new character. I also had trouble finding any rule in the Dungeon Master's Guide that covered inducting players into a witches' coven.
If Jack Chick did his research correctly, he covered it up to make his point.
If there's a Christian moral to be drawn from this story, it's about the value of friendship. Marcie's friends reject her when her character is killed, and she experiences despair as a result. Debbie blames the game when her friend commits suicide, but it's Debbie who failed her friend when she was needed most.
Compassion is an important Christian value. Both Debbie and the Dungeon Master fail to show any sort of compassion for Marcie, even when she calls on the phone and "sounds really upset".
The most ridiculous event of the Dark Dungeons story is when the Dungeon Master teaches Debbie to use real magic. While modern-day neopagan organizations and practices certainly exist, the idea that these rituals hold real power is laughable.
Jack Chick appears to assert that it's commonplace for D&D players to become witches, but there's no evidence to suggest this. Fantasy roleplaying is called 'fantasy' for a reason, and there's a big difference between telling a story and believing that you possess real magic.
Even modern practitioners of witchcraft are aware of this distinction. While witchcraft is prohibited according to Deuteronomy 18, games of fantasy are not, unless the player is unable to distinguish game from reality, such that they interfere with the player's morality.
When played among Christians, Dungeons & Dragons can serve as a useful tool for learning positive morals. The idea of heroes working together to fight against evil creatures can serve as an allegory for everyday people who fight against spiritual evil.
The game allows free will, meaning that player characters can do good things or evil as they choose, and yet players tend strongly to pick good over evil. Even when the characters become strong enough to conquer the game's entire world by force, players usually do the right thing and play heroes instead of villains.
It's also on record that Dungeons & Dragons creator Gary Gygax became a Christian while playing his own game.
For more on this topic, read Disputed Dungeons: Fighting anti-D&D falsehoods.
Page created: 25th October 2008