Dark Dungeons Propaganda

I recently came across an online copy of some anti-D&D propaganda entitled Dark Dungeons. I find it hard to believe that this sort of heavily-slanted dribble could ever convince anyone with half a brain cell that there is any connection between a roleplaying game and the occult. To anyone with enough sense to think twice on the subject, here is a realistic point of view.

To give you some background, I am an expert in fantasy roleplaying games and have considerable knowledge of modern occultism. I have played Dungeons and Dragons as well as many other RPG genres regularly since I was nine years old. Religiously speaking, I consider myself a secular humanist. However, I did spend several of my teenage years practicing Wicca (a spiritual choice having nothing at all to do with my interest in D&D, I might add), and as such have a significant understanding of Earth religions.

Given this expertise, I feel I can say with authority that Dark Dungeons is absolutely ludicrous. There is no connection whatsoever between Dungeon and Dragons and the occult. None. Dungeons and Dragons is a game, nothing more. It features elements of fantasy literature as a backdrop to fun and socialization. Such elements include demons and sorcery as well as angels and miracle-working. Furthermore, these elements are elective, varying between groups and games. One could just as easily run a Dungeons and Dragons game with an entirely Christian background to suit the tastes of the group.

That being said, the scenarios presented in Dark Dungeons are possible but, in practice, hardly plausible. Most players are stable enough to cope with the loss of a character, and such a loss rarely if ever results in ostracism or suicide. The game is, after all, social in nature, and character death most often leads to the player simply making a new character.

Furthermore, members of most Earth religions, particularly Wicca, believe that proscelitism (i.e. the active recruitment of others into one’s religion) is improper and/or immoral. The idea of a using a Dungeons and Dragons game to scam people into joining a religion would be just as offensive to a Wiccan as it would be to anyone else. This is to say nothing of the level of gullibility a person would have to possess to be duped by such a tactic.

The fact of the matter is that Dark Dungeons is religious propaganda designed to brainwash the ignorant into hating a harmless game. I challenge any who disagree to find a local D&D group and ask to join in or even just observe. You will quickly find out that there is no sinister agenda, and that unfortunate incidents such as those depicted in Dark Dungeons are even more fantastic than the game itself.