Question on D&D

[meebs]

I wish I could have sex with elves.

You and me both buddy...

wha?!!!

....

You both need to get out more

seriously though wish i could play the game...

 

[meebs]

Now if only I could convince my mom so that I could invite her to a game...

i suppose i COULD convince my family to play...

except...wait - no, my mum didnt even like warhammer!

 

[Eudaimonist]

D&D has been criticized because it "allows evil."

So does the child's game "Coyboys and Indians".

Technically, it is life that allows evil. D&D allows roleplayed evil, just as voice artists might verbalize for an animated movie, and that's only if you choose to play an evil character. Just try to roleplay evil with a lawful good Paladin character, and all your Paladin powers go poof!

 

[Abbadon]

So does the child's game "Coyboys and Indians".

Technically, it is life that allows evil. D&D allows roleplayed evil, just as voice artists might verbalize for an animated movie, and that's only if you choose to play an evil character. Just try to roleplay evil with a lawful good Paladin character, and all your Paladin powers go poof!

That was what I had said.

Read the rest of my previous post.

I've been playing the game since middle school, I know a paladin has to be lawful good at all times. Why does every assume that all Christians play paladins? No, I usually play a chaotic good ranger or cleric whose hobbies include argueing with paladins. (Actually, I'm considering a chaotic neutral priest of azathoth from Call of Cthulhu, but in D&D) About half my D&D group can't stand the playing lawful PCs (the atheist, agnostic, and one of the baptists in my group are ones that actually enjoy playing lawful characters).

 

[Abbadon]

That was what I had said.

Read the rest of my previous post.

I've been playing the game since middle school, I know a paladin has to be lawful good at all times. Why does every assume that all Christians play paladins? No, I usually play a chaotic good ranger or cleric whose hobbies include argueing with paladins. (Actually, I'm considering a chaotic neutral priest of azathoth from Call of Cthulhu, but in D&D) About half my D&D group can't stand the playing lawful PCs (the atheist, agnostic, and one of the baptists in my group are ones that actually enjoy playing lawful characters).

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I suppose it would help explain what we're talking about so the ppl that don't play D&D will know.

In D&D, you create an imaginary character, like in a story. You have rules about your character's race (e.g. human, elf, gnome, etc.), class (e.g. paladin, wizard, thief), and so on. These are used to defin your character's abilities and weaknesses (e.g. a fighter can't cast spells, but can wield weapons that a wizard can't). You also have alignment. There are nine different alignments:
* Lawful Good - your character obays laws and helps people.
* Neutral Good (a.k.a. true good) - your character helps people, whether or not it's legal.
* Chaotic Good (my favorite) - your character helps people in the ways the government doesn't approve of. Like overthrowing dictators.
* Lawful neutral - Your character obays laws whether or not they're good or evil. They're laws and should be obeyed because they are laws.
* Neutral neutral (a.k.a. true neutral) - Your character is an average person or animal, and avoids going to any extreme.
* Chaotic neutral - Your character is more than likely psychotic. About the only thing you can expect them to do is the unexpected. Sometimes not even that.
* Lawful evil (boo) - Your character uses the law to commit evil.
* Neutral evil - Your character commits only evil acts inside or outside the law. Whichever would prove more evil.
* Chaotic evil - Your character is not only evil but crazy. You probably don't have followers, because you ate them.

The game has been criticized because players are allowed to create evil characters (this doesn't actually make any statement about the players themselves, but Jack Chick doesn't seem to get that). This game has also been attacked because of the "Chaotic good" and "Lawful evil" alignments, again, by Jack Chick, because he apparently never heard of Adolf Hitler (lawful evil), or Robin Hood (chaotic good).

The game does have potential for any religion (or lack thereof), same as any other form of entertainment that stimulates thinking does. The game is only as good or as bad as the people playing it.

 

[corvus_corax]

D&D huh?
Wow, that brings back memories.
I havent touched D&D since 1991...the year Vampire: the Masquerade was released

 

[christzen]

Most Pen and Paper D&D players now play online RPGs. I prefer Neverwinter Nights.

The issue with D&D, like most things, is your belief in people's ability to self-regulate. If you believe that fully informed adults can self-regulate and police their actions, then D&D (and any other vice) is not an issue.

If you're more conservative, and believe that people need help regulating their intake of thoughts and ideas, then D&D is a problem.

If violent movies are bad, then D&D is bad.
If alcohol or pot is bad, then D&D is bad.
If some books should be censored, then D&D should be censored.
If morals need to be legislated, then D&D should be watched.

From a strictly Christian view, D&D has no place unless it is being used to promote Christ.

From an American Christian view, ... eh ... where's the harm.

 

[Moncubus Gwazz III]

* Chaotic neutral - Your character is more than likely psychotic. About the only thing you can expect them to do is the unexpected. Sometimes not even that.

I disagree here. CN characters are as sane as anyone else, they just don't feel strongly one way or the other on good and evil and are adverse to law. There are plenty of people like this in reality. Unscrupulous mercenaries, thieves who don't kill and try to avoid preying on the weak (no money there), people philosophically dedicated to freedom above all, and so forth are Chaotic Neutral.

The problem is just that way too many people -take- CN as an excuse to do stupid, crazy things (which becomes Chaotic Stupid, the classic alignment of the barbarian half-orc with an intelligence of 6 that'll hack away at anything for EXP).


Also, Evil can both be evil as a cause (such as Blackguards and demons or devils), or just unregulated selfishness. A man who slaughters a village for personal gain is just as evil as someone who does so to just be evil about it.

 

[corvus_corax]

I disagree here. CN characters are as sane as anyone else, they just don't feel strongly one way or the other on good and evil and are adverse to law. There are plenty of people like this in reality. Unscrupulous mercenaries, thieves who don't kill and try to avoid preying on the weak (no money there), people philosophically dedicated to freedom above all, and so forth are Chaotic Neutral.
The problem is just that way too many people -take- CN as an excuse to do stupid, crazy things (which becomes Chaotic Stupid, the classic alignment of the barbarian half-orc with an intelligence of 6 that'll hack away at anything for EXP).

Hehe
In one of the books (2nd ed I believe) CN was described as the alignment of children and lunatics, people with (generally) little or no self control

 

[Moncubus Gwazz III]

Hehe
In one of the books (2nd ed I believe) CN was described as the alignment of children and lunatics, people with (generally) little or no self control

Ahh, blast. My loyalty to 3e betrays me once more.

 

[Arikay]

D&D isn't evil, now LARP, thats evil.

Anyone else notice that many of the leaders of Anti-D&D ministries have a problem being able to tell reality from fiction? I sometimes wonder if it isn't just a giant case of projection. Seeing the world as being demon haunted with satan lurking around every corner and he is out to get them, the almightly hero of God. It often seems they are off in their own christian D&D fantasy land.

 

[Corran]

I play DnD 3rd edition almost daily online. The type of character i play is almost always an NE Assasin. regardless in real life i am a perfectly normal and contributing member of society. i dont kill ppl and loot them looking for a +1 nokia mobilephone or sacrifice virgins to some random demon.

 

[Corran]

D&D isn't evil, now LARP, thats evil.

Aslong as you dont end up killing/raping ppl or other other wise breaking the law in the larp i fail to see how it could be called evil.

 

[Arikay]

Corran: We all know you are really trying to build up cover to assassinate George Washington. Don't deny it, renounce your evil demon ways and let George Washington live.

I was joking about Larp. Well, sort of. A majority of my friends are Larpers (V:tM) and it's scary.

 

[Lokisdottir]

I think role-playing makes a person (ever so slightly) inclined to act more like what they're role-playing as. The more you do it towards that sort of role, then the more likely you'll express yourself in that way in real life. Although I don't have any evidence to back up my claim. And I wouldn't necessarily be suggesting that the "role playing" causes someone to act like that in real life. I think rather that role playing lowers our resistence to acting like that in real life. Just as an example, if we take 2 kids being absolutely identical in their genetics, environment, etc... If one role plays being a really honorable character in RPGs and the other every time plays some horrific villain, then I would suspect the one who practices as the villain would be more likely to subconsciously act the villain in real life (again, even if ever so slightly more).

Not necessarily. It's more like acting than anything. Some people are good at getting into and out of character; others aren't.

I'm currently playing a chaotic good barbarian. She's a real ale-swigging, axe-swinging, half-insane sort of chick -- kind of like the "Chaotic Stupid" someone mentioned earlier, except there's more to her than just barbarian rage and slaughtering monsters. She's the most fun and interesting character I've ever played, but she's nothing like me. As soon as I put away the dice, I become my soft-spoken self again. I don't feel as though she's altered my normal behavior in any way.

 

[Abbadon]

Hehe
In one of the books (2nd ed I believe) CN was described as the alignment of children and lunatics, people with (generally) little or no self control

I'll go with the latter.

I usually play either Chaotic Good or Chaotic Neutral, depending on how I'm feeling. That's why I had said Chaotic Neutral is usually not sane. I didn't say "stupid" because there's a difference between stupidity and insanity.

A stupid character would try to take down a greatsword armed paladin (for moral or ethical reasons, no less) while the stupid character is unarmed and unarmored (or wearing full-plate and carrying a greatsword in the case of a monk) because the stupid character doesn't know any better.

An insane character would know better, but would still do it anyway. They just think it's going to be fun.

However, the insane character would probably succeed because the other guy would (hopefully) realize he knows what he's doing.

 

[tocis]

Just to throw in some contrast, if memory serves I played (A)D&D exactly once... in all the roughly 20 years of roleplaying. Started with the German "Das schwarze Auge", then journeyed on to MERP, Call of Cthulhu and now largely play GURPS, with occasional strays into other systems.
And I dabbled a bit with LARP, mostly as non-player character. It's fun to beat up dumb players with bogus swords you know

And something just occurs to me - I find it remarkable that no one so far mentioned the RPG system "Engel" ("Angels") in this place!

There should be an English version of this German product, I don't know the name though - unless it's simply been translated as I did above. That game lets players take the role of (so they think) angels in a post-apocalyptical world, defending humanity against the insectoid horrors unleashed by the "Lord of the Flies" who is thought to be Satan's general on earth.
However, gradually, step by step, the players are bound to discover that their angelic powers might be powered, not by any deity, but by the very thing the church blames for the cataclysm that formed that world - technology...

A very interesting, sinister setting. Anyone checked that out?

 

[Abbadon]

Just to throw in some contrast, if memory serves I played (A)D&D exactly once... in all the roughly 20 years of roleplaying. Started with the German "Das schwarze Auge", then journeyed on to MERP, Call of Cthulhu and now largely play GURPS, with occasional strays into other systems.
And I dabbled a bit with LARP, mostly as non-player character. It's fun to beat up dumb players with bogus swords you know

And something just occurs to me - I find it remarkable that no one so far mentioned the RPG system "Engel" ("Angels") in this place!

There should be an English version of this German product, I don't know the name though - unless it's simply been translated as I did above. That game lets players take the role of (so they think) angels in a post-apocalyptical world, defending humanity against the insectoid horrors unleashed by the "Lord of the Flies" who is thought to be Satan's general on earth.
However, gradually, step by step, the players are bound to discover that their angelic powers might be powered, not by any deity, but by the very thing the church blames for the cataclysm that formed that world - technology...

A very interesting, sinister setting. Anyone checked that out?

Yeah, I saw that in a book store. Didn't quite like it, because it didn't quite go with my understanding of Angels (instead of Cherubim and Seraphim, it had Michaelites and Gabrialites).

Actually, I liked The End. The really short version of it is that the end times come around, God takes all the Good and and most Neutral religious people (Tocis, you would be included according to the game book) and put them in heaven (they ain't in the game). Then He took all the evil aligned people and threw them in Hell. After that, about a thousand people where left in North America (it was made in the US). Then the gate to Heaven and Hell were shut. Everyone got what they wanted (except evil people). Christians, Jews, Muslims, Pagans, Hindus, Buddhists, and so on went to heaven, and people that didn't want to acknowledge the supernatural or didn't want heaven got stuck in a pretty much atheist world (no heaven, no hell).

 

[seebs]

Mmm. I played some Schwarze Auge, sort of; there was a computer series based on it. I still hope to one day finish those games.

 

[ChristianCenturion]

I am asking a question about people's opinions on Dungeons & Dragons. Please give serious responses, and I am getting people's opinions for a project. I want to know what you think of it and why. Also, tell if you have played the game before. Once again, I am not trying to anger anyone. Please give serious opinions. Thank you....

I played it about when it first came out... basic, advanced, expert.

I was the Dungeon Master and I controlled what the game did or didn't entertain in its play, so like anything the game may or may not be used as a catalyst for abnormal scenarios (real life scenarios BTW).

At the time, it was good for exercising our imagination and problem solving skills among other things, but it ended when video games became more sophisticated and more entertaining.



I think I remember someone else posting on this subject some time ago using the description of:

D & D is Chaotic Neutral.