The Great Dungeons and Dragons Panic of 1980

[Damien]

"...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".

We talking about the Bible or D&D? Lol

I remember those times well, I was the DM and had to justify the game plenty of times to the parents of my gaming group. Anyone remember the made for TV movie that Tom Hanks was in "Mazes and Monsters"? That movie is what got me playing D&D (and if I remember correctly it was supposed to be a deterrent)!

Great memories,
 Damien

[commissarmoody]

You beat me to it Damien. I was going to say the same thing about the Bible.

[Damien]

Great minds... 

[gary42]

Beat you all!  Re-read my previous post;)

[Damien]

Dammit! It was too ambiguous for me

Damien

[Elbows]

I remember a short conversation with my mom when I started playing Robotech role-playing games around the age of 9-10.  She was asking me how it worked and she mentioned (not overly critical) the issues with some kids who'd gone to jail for stabbing friends whilst "in character" etc.  I told her "Mom...I can't become a 45 foot tall robot."

 

[Garanhir]

I remember steve jackson defending rpgs on a bbc debate in the 80s agaist some priest i think?? anybody else remeber that??

I think that was an infamous edition of the televised slanging-match called "Central Weekend Live"; I think I remember Paul Cockburn being in it, too.

That ridiculous programme was pretty much the high water mark for the whole farce in the UK, and as a whole we were luckier than some of our friends overseas; for the most part it was the crusaders themselves who were mocked, while RPGs and the like were mostly seen as being nerdy, at worst. Outbreaks of phobia were generally more localised. For my own part, it was my own mum who introduced me to RPGs, and my school positively encouraged my efforts, seeing its potential to encourage improved numeracy and literacy amongst us.

[The Gray Ghost]

I Anyone remember the made for TV movie that Tom Hanks was in "Mazes and Monsters"? That movie is what got me playing D&D (and if I remember correctly it was supposed to be a deterrent)!

What a horrible movie, and I only watched half of it

[Penchour]

I remember how the inquisition was served in France, with the triumvira of hypocrits : a so-called 'journalist' trying to create her own brand of spycho-show, a 'psychiatrist' that now fights the evil of Pokemon (really, that's what he's up to now ...) and a senior lecturer in law that couldn't deal with the suicide of her 15yo son. She claimed RpGs were responsible as she perfectly knew her son, a son she only saw a couple of days every 2 weeks ... Whatever the pain such a lost may induce, it just take a little academic knowledge to consider loneliness and the lack of attention  from his parents most clearly killed the poor boy, not a bunch of dices ...

[Too Bo Coo]

What a horrible movie, and I only watched half of it

Right wing propaganda...  It was worth watching only for how stupid it was.  They made it very clear from the beginning of the film that TH had a mental illness because of the death of his brother.  The fact that they chose to focus on gaming, and not say that fact that this mentally unstable boy was away from home and without the normal support he grew accustomed to, he had a breakdown.  BTW, notice no one actually cared to point out that everything was in fact just fine at the table playing the game.  It was only when they began to LARP, did the poop hit the fan.  This proves two things.  First, that there is, even in the filmmaker's opinion, nothing wrong with RPG's.  And two, LARPing the the thing of the Devil. See what it did to this poor young man?!?!?!  We must educate the Public about this menace immediately!

[mweaver]

I started playing in 1979, so I played through the height of that period - and in Tennessee and North Carolina (heart of the "Bible Belt"), no less.  But I never had anybody say anything to me personally. 

I joined a long-standing D&D group here in Texas a few years after moving down, and I did hear a funny story from one of those players.  He played for a couple of years, and then heard a "D&D's Evil" speech from a local minister, so he gave away his figures and burned his books and notebooks.  And then a year or so later realized he was an idiot, bought the books all over again, and rejoined the group.  And then a couple of years after that he was again convinced it was all evil, gave away his figures and burned his books once more.  Eventually he returned to gaming.  Nice fellow, but his teenage years seemed to have been a bit rough on him!

-Michael

[krieghund]

Mazes & monsters has been enjoying regular afternoon showings on the Horror Channel recently.

[gary42]

True!  LARPing IS the tool of the devil!  Chairs too of course...

[Cubs]

And then a couple of years after that he was again convinced it was all evil, gave away his figures and burned his books once more. 

Burning books is rarely a good idea. I still regret using the pages of my miniature Gideon's bible (given to us at school) as cigarette papers, despite them being the perfect size and texture. I've now got this idea it might not go so well for me post-mortem. Probably not a risk worth taking in hindsight, just for the odd sneaky fag.

If he'd have given them away to a charity shop, he would have had the (outside) option of going to the shop, finding them still there and buying them back for a pittance. I donated a load of old books to my local Catholic charity shop (I'm not Catholic, but it's the closest one to where I live and books ain't light) before considering the fact that on top of the pile was a Tarot boxed set. They picked it up, declared its wickedness with a chuckle and then argued over which one was allowed to take it home. They won't be chuckling when Satan is roasting their arse and prodding it with little forks.

I did LARP a grand total of twice, before realising that despite being by some way the youngest participant there (16), I was still too old for that level of disbelief suspension and decided to concentrate on getting laid instead. I don't regret the reorganisation of my priorities. Everyone has their line in the sand.

[The Gray Ghost]

you have to draw the line somewhere and I drew it at LARPing