Church's view on role playing games?

[SaintGeorge]

I play Dungens And Dragons alot, in fact, sometimes I'm even the Dungen Master. However, I've heard a ton of bad things from other Evangelical Protestant Christians about this activity. They claim that it is occult in nature and thus a very serious sin.

I however, do not find Dungens And Dragons sinful. What's wrong with pretending that you're a knight killing a dragon or a mage blasting away a band of knolls? How's DnD different from cops and robbers? It's just a glorified version of it anyway in my opinion.

People argue that gamers eventually lose touch with reality and consider the game real. My view is that if you think touching a glowing rock will transport you to Mechanus, the plane of law, then you're mental.

But since I've been misled in a lot of other things, I'm going to ask you all a question. What is the Church's opinion on role playing games?

 

[Matrona]

But since I've been misled in a lot of other things, I'm going to ask you all a question. What is the Church's opinion on role playing games?

As long as it doesn't consume your life and doesn't involve anything overtly satanic, the Orthodox Church isn't going to be concerned about it. We distinguish between fantasy (Harry Potter-grade fictional magic and D&D), and the occult activities that either blur or cross the line into actual practice of witchcraft and sorcery (Ouija boards, etc.).

That said, if you play D&D with a honeybucket beside you so that you don't have to stop to use the bathroom, that is cause for alarm. Games that are in and of themselves harmless still have the potential to become what's called a passion--that is, a worldly desire or activity that takes a higher place in your life than it deserves. Even theological studies can be a passion, if everything you learn stays an abstract concept and doesn't deepen your spirituality or bring you closer to God.

 

[Dust and Ashes]

I play Dungens And Dragons alot, in fact, sometimes I'm even the Dungen Master. However, I've heard a ton of bad things from other Evangelical Protestant Christians about this activity. They claim that it is occult in nature and thus a very serious sin.

I however, do not find Dungens And Dragons sinful. What's wrong with pretending that you're a knight killing a dragon or a mage blasting away a band of knolls? How's DnD different from cops and robbers? It's just a glorified version of it anyway in my opinion.

People argue that gamers eventually lose touch with reality and consider the game real. My view is that if you think touching a glowing rock will transport you to Mechanus, the plane of law, then you're mental.

But since I've been misled in a lot of other things, I'm going to ask you all a question. What is the Church's opinion on role playing games?

I don't know what the Church's opinion is on it, but I personally love a good RPG. I'm currently jumping between City of Heroes and Dark Age of Camelot right now. I haven't played a pnp rpg in ages. There just aren't that many people around here that are into them.

I CAN tell you that a lot of the evangelical position are the same as that idiotic Jack Chick comic about D&D. Oooooo, at lvl 8 I can cast real spells!! What a crock! It's a pity so many people have perfectly good brains and choose not to use them for some creative enjoyment. Or even for thinking for that matter.

BTW, you ever play Neverwinter Nights? I want to get it soon. It is awesome.

 

[Nickolai]

I have been playing RPGs since I was 5. I was never into the ones with an actual board though. I was a video game RPG guy myself (Final Fantasy 6, Best Game Ever...). And I never had any problems distinquishing fantasy from reality. But That's me. Some people are very impressionable.

 

[Patristic]

I play, and still do to some extent, video game RPG's. (Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, and the like) I never became overly absorbed or lost touch with reality, but I definitely see how that could become a possibility for some. As far as board games are concerned, I too heard the standard evangelical rhetoric when it came to D&D and other games. I was always afraid a demon would take over my mind if I even tried playing that game. I remember once seeing a Dungeons and Dragons video game when I was a teenager and being petrified by the prospect of trying that game because of the stigma attached to the D&D name.

 

[Matthias]

You should see some of the games I play!

 

[SaintGeorge]

Thank you for all of the good advice and personal experiences you shared!

I promise that Dungens And Dragons will not take over my life.

You also won't be seeing me making a wand of magic missile with 50 charges in my garage either.

 

[Grand_Duchess-Elizaveta]

Even theological studies can be a passion, if everything you learn stays an abstract concept and doesn't deepen your spirituality or bring you closer to God.

Very wise words, Matrona! I think that too often we forget that even good things can become bad if they do nothing for, or hinder, ou relationship with God.

 

[Oblio]

... if you think touching a glowing rock will transport you to Mechanus, the plane of law, then you're mental - Esran

This is begging to attach itself to my sig file

 

[vanshan]

I have heard the profession of acting is condemned by the Church, which I guess role playing gets into a little. Of course all things are lawful, even if they are not profitable for us.

Basil

 

[tizziale]

I love a good pen-and-paper RPG - can't beat it. In fact I'm hoping to play tomorrow with a good group of friends. We do more laughing than playing and it's good fun for a bunch of geeks.

rusty

 

[pnotc]

Man, I wish I could find some people for some good RPG-ing. I used to play way back in the day, but haven't for years. Didn't stop me from coming up with new game scenarios and maps when I was bored, though.

Me and a few friends had a conversation kind of related to this a couple of years ago. It was more about video games, but I think it could apply. Basically, the question was "is it a sin to kill the image of the image of God?" In a lot of video games you're basically running around shooting "people", which, particularly after I started exploring Orthodoxy and its iconic theology, started me thinking about the appropriateness of such an act. There is obviously a difference between me shooting a character on a screen and me shooting a real person, but then again, we'd also think there is a difference between anger & murder. I'm not saying RPG's are sinful or wrong - I certainly don't buy into that whole occult-involvement nonsense - but there tends to be a lot of violence in them, regardless of whether its board, card or in-your-head based gaming. And for me, the question is really a matter of focus - is that focus the right one for a Christian?

Since I don't have anyone to play with, that's really not an issue for me, so I have the luxury of not really having to decide on it! ")

 

[Dust and Ashes]

I think about theological aspects of games myself sometimes. I just recently pulled Vampire: The Masquerade - Redemption off the shelf and started playing it again. It is a great game but the premise behind it used to bother me. For some reason, it doesn't bother me much anymore and I just feel that it's fiction and don't take any of it seriously. Still, I do wonder about it.

With the origin of the vampires it is probably over the line. For those not familiar with it, Vampire: The Masquerade is a PnP rpg like D&D but you play vampires from warring clans. The vampires are descendents of Cain who was turned into a vampire after murdering Able. Of course that doesn't say how they survived the Flood, etc. but still...

In the video game version, you play Christof, a crusader wounded in battle and left at a convent in Prague. After being nursed back to health, he falls in love with a young nun there and they are condemned by the arch-bishop who has a thing for the young nun, himself. Christof burns off his angst by killing vampires in the local mines until he is taken by the leader of one of the vampire clans and turned into a vampire himself. The story spans medieval Europe to modern America and is pretty deep if you can get past the twisted theology of it.

 

[SaintGeorge]

I have a friend named Daniel who plays that game, but I prefer blasting the vampires away to actually being them.

That's why I prefer DnD and SciFi RPGs; really big guns and spells. Although the rest of my party doesn't like my character. For some reason, they always get in the way of those cool little evocation spells like meteor swarm. *sighs*

Well, at least the cleric can bring them back, that is if I didn't accidentally fry the cleric too.

 

[jameseb]

You also won't be seeing me making a wand of magic missile with 50 charges in my garage either.

As a fellow D&D player, I can appreciate that joke.

 

[Rick of Wessex]

Hi, Esran!

As a 15-year-long fellow AD&D player (yes, I prefer 2nd edition! ) I can tell you that I don't see anything wrong about roleplaying games, as long as - as Matrona stated on her brilliant post - it doesn't become the main focus of your life.

In other words, anything that becomes an obsession (whether it is RPG or poker or anything else) is harmful.

Your brother in XC,
Rick

 

[Grand_Duchess-Elizaveta]

I have heard the profession of acting is condemned by the Church, which I guess role playing gets into a little. Of course all things are lawful, even if they are not profitable for us.

Basil

I've heard this from some Orthodox people as well. Anything involving the use of fantasy and imagination is condemned (I don't know how "official" this statement is, it may just be the opinion of a particular group of Orthodox folks). Personally, I've never understood why it would be condemned alltogether.