Is Dungeons And Dragons Evil? | Nerd's Guild

The Best Guide: Is Dungeons And Dragons Evil?

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Before we start diving into the is Dungeons and Dragons evil topic we want to say that the goal of this post is not to devalue any person or group of people’s thoughts, feelings, or opinions on this topic. Our goal is to familiarize people with the game mechanics so they can have a better understanding of the game before they decide for themselves.

Dungeons and Dragons, while a popular game through the test of time, has had a bit of a resurgence in popularity in the past few years. Add in the references brought on by popular shows like Stranger Things and it was bound to inflate the popularity some more. Back in the 80s though there was a lot of controversy around the game that it never seems to be able to shed. Parents in the 80s were firm believers in the game being evil and all things surrounding it as evil. We want to take a peek into the brief history and review the answers to this question.

You might be thinking that you would love to join a D&D group or even just play it once to see what it’s like. Then you found yourself floating back to someone saying something about it. Is Dungeons and Dragons evil? The game Dungeons and Dragons, while having characters and creatures that are considered evil, is not in itself evil. Dungeons and Dragons is a game that allows you to use your imagination as the DM walks you through a story. This would mean that the game is as evil as you make it. 

There are reasons that some people may still consider D&D evil. Let’s explore why some people may consider it evil and try to walk through the different elements. 

Why Do People Think Dungeons And Dragons Is Evil?

There are a lot of individual reasons some people may think D&D is evil and we completely understand that everyone’s opinion is their personal feeling surrounding Dungeons and Dragons. We hope that maybe you would take some of this information we are going to go over to heart and try to have a little better understanding of the game, its mechanics, and how it may help some people that struggle with socializing in more public places. 

To begin unraveling why the game is not evil, a person needs to experience the game by playing or at least have a better working knowledge of the game itself. Let’s start by talking about what D&D is. 

What Is Dungeons And Dragons?

Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) is a tabletop role-playing game (RPG) that was created in 1974 by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. It is a collaborative game where players create their own characters and tell their own stories. D&D can be played with anywhere from 2 to 7 players, and it typically takes around 4 hours to complete a game session. Each campaign that players play could take multiple sessions to complete. 

This makes the game exceptionally great for people that struggle with socializing in large or public groups. Usually, the people who play the game together, whether it’s 2 or 7 players all end up becoming great friends as they feel that they are saving the world hand in hand as a team in their game. Usually, teamwork and social skills get a great workout while running through a campaign.

Is Dungeons And Dragons Evil? | Dungeons And Dragons Evil | Nerd's Guild

Dungeons And Dragons Evil

Dungeons and Dragons was seen as a game that promotes evil. This was because players can take on the role of villains, such as dark wizards, and can do things like cast spells to hurt other players. Some people still believe that playing these kinds of games can lead to players becoming more aggressive in real life, or even desensitized to violence. This is no different from many other games, such as video games, or books. People that think this way usually feel the same about other games. We saw this with Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, and Pokemon.

A lot of people believe the game is evil based on just hearsay or from articles written long ago about the game that have come and gone. The problem is this is allowing someone else the control to form your opinion without you being able to look into it.

Why Do People Think D&D Is Evil?

Most of the time we as humans tend to fear things we do not understand. We have to understand that when Dungeons and Dragons came out there was truly nothing like it. At least nothing as popular that was similar to it. There was a lot of attention from parents of kids who played D&D or wanted to play D&D and since they did not understand what it was they were rightfully concerned. 

The news and media did not help the craze or scare of Dungeons and Dragons. The coverage overall was very negative, saying that it made kids perform satanic rituals, seclude themselves, and even kill themselves. Most of the time the kids were already secluded and used D&D as a chance to socialize, not the other way around. As a matter of fact Dungeons and Dragons in itself is a very social game where you simply roll dice to determine if your character succeeds in a task they are trying to accomplish. 

Here is a 60 minutes video as an example of the news coverage in 1985 surrounding the game.

Also, Jack Chick wrote articles about the game and created the “Dark Dungeons” Chick Tract for fundamental believers to pass around. Some of the information and observations are vastly exaggerated, we found this especially true in the “Dark Dungeons” Tract, which made several Christians and other believers fear it further. Most would not even investigate it for themselves.

There are no “rituals” you perform. The only mention of rituals is under the spellcasting section in the rule books and it is approximately 1 paragraph that explains that some spells your character can perform are called rituals instead of spells. This does not mean people are performing rituals and spells. A typical spell looks like this:

Dungeon Master: You walk into a dark cave where the woman from town told you she last heard her son was seen. The further you walk inside you realize that your sight is shortened to around 5 feet because of how dark it is. In the distance, you hear movement but since sight is limited you can not make out what is making the step-like noise. What do you do?

Player: I cast light on the stick on the ground so that I can carry it for light.

This is a very normal interaction in the game. This is a simplification as there are obviously other spells and depending on the type of character you are playing will determine the type of spells you cast in a similar manner. There are attack spells for helping attack a creature you and your friends are trying to kill to succeed in whatever your mission is. As you can see here there is no hand-holding, candle burning, or chanting ritualistic spells you are performing.

Is D&D Evil?

Some people truly believe the game is evil and that’s ok. People are allowed to have their opinions and they are allowed to be different then other people. The whole goal of this post was to help better educate people on what Dungeons and Dragons the game is and how it works to remove some barriers surrounding general understanding. 

There are aspects inside the game that some people point to as being evil such as demons, devils, and imps. While these creatures are evil they do not have to be a part of the game. Most campaigns do not even include these characters. 

As a matter of fact, if you are on the fence but decide to play for yourself you can let your DM know that you are not interested in an encounter with those types of creatures. This is actually one of the greatest parts of this game. You can find groups and people who play the way you do and maybe not be interested in the more evil creatures and characters. Most campaigns are no different from a Lord of the Rings movie or a video game where you fight goblins or dragons to save a princess. 

If you want it to be as clean as possible just make sure you are the DM or your DM works with the group on that. A great way to ensure that is to play with your actual friends. This game is all about having fun, socializing, and slaying monsters together! 

Should I let my child play Dungeons and Dragons?

Should I let my child play Dungeons and Dragons? | Nerd's Guild

There is no simple answer to this question, as it depends on a variety of factors including the age of your child, their personal maturity, and their ability to distinguish between fantasy and reality. Some parents may feel that Dungeons and Dragons is too violent or dark for children, while others may see it as a harmless way to teach them about teamwork, strategy, and problem-solving. Ultimately, it is up to each individual parent to decide what is appropriate for their child. The game recommends that its for 12 and up.

We would suggest that if your child is showing interest in Dungeons and Dragons instead of discouraging it buy the Dungeons and Dragons Start kit, they are really inexpensive. Once you have that kit you have everything you need to just try it out. Get some people together and sit down as a family and friends group and all play the campaign that comes in the kit. This will benefit you by getting into the game at the lowest possible price point and also give you the parent a feel for what the game is like so you don’t have to worry as much. 

The starter kit is great because the DM does not have to do much but read the campaign book a little beforehand and then walk the players through the highlighted boxes of text on what the characters are doing. It also makes it easy to start playing fast because it skips the character creation portion of the game by supplying you with some pre-built characters. So instead of spending the 3-4 hours in the first session creating your own characters you just need to pick one to run.

Is D&D Evil? | Nerd's Guild

If you do not want to purchase and play the game we would suggest you watch this really great video done by Netflix in collaboration with Dungeons and Dragons of the cast from Stranger Things playing through a North Pole or Christmas-themed module. It is 2 hours long but you will definitely know what D&D is like from watching it.

After watching the video you may determine if you consider Dungeons and Dragons to be evil or not. The only warning we would give you is that this video was designed for older kids, not younger kids and the DM’s choice of artwork may be a little scary to some kids. Again the artwork is something your DM can decide to make scary or not.

Is Dungeons And Dragons Evil? Let’s Conclude.

This is a question that has many facets and many people view it in many different ways. This makes the answer not very straightforward and lends itself to part of the problem. Dungeons and Dragons itself is not an evil game. Dungeons and Dragons is a game that allows you to use your imagination as the DM walks you through a story. This would mean that the game is as evil as you make it. 

We hope that you found some value in this information even if you personally believe the game is evil still. Our goal was to at least educate you on the game, its mechanics, and how it’s sometimes actually a good thing for people who struggle to socialize. The game does teach kids how to use social skills, teamwork, problem-solving, and good from bad in a lot of scenarios.

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