The California Collection/TheCaliforniaCollection.cdr/his075/d_d4.lzh/D&D4.TXT

Text File | 1991-06-30 | 16KB | 283 lines

CUL:Dungeons & Dragons and overview  by Darren Molitor

   Introduction

   The following is an essay written by Darren Molitor, a former D&D
player. Darren was a very devout D&D player who sometimes played
marathon games that lasted for days.

   The friends with whom this young man often played D&D, began
"horsing around" in a game of their own while preparing for a "Friday
the 13th party" on March 13, 1984. The "horsing around" went too far,
and a young girl named Mary Towey (18 yrs old) became the victim of a
"mind game." She was strangled to death by Darren Molitor.

   Darren stated repeatedly in his trial that when he and another boy
tied Mary up, they were just "messing with her mind." By the physical
evidence in the case, a coroner testified that the death did appear
accidental; however, a jury found Darren guilty of murder in the first
degree.

   The prosecution sought the death penalty, but Darren received a life
sentence instead. D&D was a major influence in Darren's behavior at the
time of the incident, but because of a lack of knowledge on the part of
the police regarding D&D, this area of influence was not explored until
it was too late to be considered "relevant."

   Darren, in his own defense, never tried to excuse his actions. The
essay that he has written on D&D was done after his trial, and he
initially sent this essay to an elementary school in the hopes of
helping young children.

   Prior to his involvement with D&D, this young man had never been in
any trouble.

   Dungeons and Dragons - March 22, 1985 by Darren Molitor

   I'm sure many, if not all, of you have heard about or played the
very popular game of "Dungeons and Dragons". Now I'm not speaking of
the board game of which there is one, I'm speaking of the game that is
played in your minds.

   To give some backround of the game for those of you that heven't had
the so-called priviledgd of experiencing the game let me tell you about
it.

   The game is called "Dungeons and Dragons" and it is a fantasy role-
playing game. As you can probably assume from the title it is set in
the medieval era of our time of history. Because it is a game of
"fantasy" anything is possible and being a "role-playing" game means
you act as a character of that time as if you were on stage. But there
is no physical action on the players part. Everything is played or
imagined in the mind. And you as a player, are the sole person
responsible for the actions of your character or characters. You
control him totally. His/her actions, words, feelings, thoughts.
Everything about this character you control.

   To obtain a "character", a player must first roll three six-sided
dice. Add up the numbers rolled and write it down. A player does this
six times and then he must organize the numbers he has rolled to the
six characteristics of his character. The six characteristics are
strength, intelligence, wisdom, constitution, dexterity and charisma.
These six characteristics are the "heart" of your character. After
which the player may roll to obtain the height and weight or he/she may
choose it. The player assigns a race to the character, a class, which
is his/her occupation and the alignment. An alignment is the
character's attitude or outlook on life. The different classes are many
and each class has a sub-class. They are the following: cleric,
(druid); fighter, (paladin, ranger); magic-user, (illusionist); thief,
(assassin); monk and bard. The different alignments are: lawful good,
lawful neutral, lawful evil, netural, chaotic good, chaotic neutral and
chaotic evil. Now the player rolls a particular die or dice, of which
are many to obtain a character's hit points. The "hit points" are the
ammount of stamina or damage the character can sustain before going
into a coma or even dying. You then give him/her some money, by rolling
the dice, and equiping him with supplies, weapons and armor. From here
there is only two more steps. The first is to roll and obtain the
spells a character has if he/she is able to use them. Some classes use
spells and others don't. The final stage is picking a name for your
newborn character. He/she is now a true and real person in the player's
mind.

   There is also a player called the dungeon master or DM, for short.
This player is usually more familiar and experienced in the game. The
DM is a VERY important part of the game. Also a very powerful part.
He/she plays the sole role of being "god" of the game. The DM controls
everything that happens within the game. The only part of the game he
does not control entirely is the actions of your character. But he/she
may constrict them if he/she chooses. He/she is also in control of that
player's character's life. The DM may decide to destroy the character
for some reason, but it should not be for any personal reason and the
DM should refrain from doing such actions unless the player of that
character has become uncontrollable and has changed the fun of the game.

   The DM has a lot of responsibility, as you can imagine. For example,
the DM must create an adventure or dungeon. There are many books called
modules with "dungeons" already prepared, but for the most part the DM
creates them himself/herself. He/she must create the scenery (indoor,
outdoor, underground, the various and numerable characters a player may
encounter, the temperature, the smell, the monsters and the treasure.
It is a very long and tedious process and the average dungeon takes
anywhere from 36-48 hours of work. There is one case of the game being
followed, that the DM, a lady, has quit her job and does nothing except
create and prepare a dungeon for her players. She has created an entire
country. The players of the group support her living necessities. They
pay for her home, her groceries, her bills, etc.

   The game is played with two or more people with the average group
consisting of 5, including the DM. The DM, as I have explained, runs
the show. He/she will describe, in detail, what is around you. What
action is taking place, what sounds you may hear, what smells you may
notice, etc., etc. From here it is the player's option of what to do.
The player must decide what his/her character is going to do. In
responce the DM tells the players of the result of their actions. As
I've said before, a character may do anything, I emphasize anything,
that a player wants him/her to do. For example; the DM has just told
you that you have come up a cave entrance. It is midday, warm, you hear
what appears as water running from inside, but you can't see anything.
The players now decide if they wish to enter the cave, throw a stone in
to try and locate the water, yell something in to try and get a
response or just ignore it completely.

   Another example is; you are in a room or chamber underground that
you have discovered. There is a table, some chairs, a desk with
numerous jars on it. There is a lot of dust covering everything. And in
the corner a chest sits. As a player your first instinct is to search
the chest for some treasure. During the process of checking for any
traps and trying to unlock it a few orcs (a type of human-like monster,
resembling a pig) sneak up from behind. They are very angry and have
their weapons drawn and are about to attack. What do you do now? If you
are a spell user you attempt to cast a spell. You may try and bargain
with them. Or, amd most likely, you may fight them. You draw your
weapon and charge. Now the dice come in. The DM rolls a six-sided,
eight-sided, ten-sided or twelve-sided, depending on the weapon and the
result is the amount of damage to the orc. Now the orc or orcs swing.
The same process is used. And this continues until you or they are dead.

   Remember now, all of this is imagined in the mind. You can actually
see this. What they look like, how you're swinging, the damage given
and obtained. It all appears in the mind.

   The reason for explaining so much is so you may understand how the
game is played. It may seem to be harmless and very entertaining and it
is entertaining, but far from harmless. I have had the experience of
the game for more than 3 years now and I know the effects of the game.
For the majority of those that play it becomes a way to escape reality.
It is a way of letting tension and anxieties loose. And that is good.
But subjecting the mind to the amounts of violence involved isn't. It
is far more bad than it is good. Especially to a young mind. And an 18
or 20 year old still has a young mind. Its effects are both mental and
physical. It is in comparison to drugs, alcohol or tobacco. It is very
possessive, addictive and evil. Evil may sound wrong or peculiar to
explain a game, but there is no other way to describe it. It is a
device of Satan to lure us away from God. It is an occult.

   An occult you say? What is an occult? Defined in American Family and
School Dictionary, a publication based on the American College
Dictionary, prepared by Random House, Inc., it is: beyond the bounds of
ordinary knowledge; magical; supernatural; mystical. Staying on the
same subject let's define occultism: the doctrine or study of the
supernatural, magical, imaginary, etc. Stated concisely it is the
participation or involvement in ANYWAY with fortune telling, magic
practices, spiritism, or false religions cults and teachings. Within
that category is using a ouija board, ESP, telepathy, horoscope, a
seance, yoga, remote influence of the subconscious mind of others,
self-hypnosis, following astrology and Dungeons and Dragons(R). They
are all connected with an occult or are considered occultism practice.
All such occults are condemned by God in the Scriptures, being an
abomination unto Him and are under His curse. To quote a passage from
an article written by Dr. Hobart E. Freeman, I write the following:

   "The Scriptures condemn all forms of occultism as sorcery and warn
that.... they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of
God" (Gal. 5:19-21), but

   ".....are an abomination unto the Lord" (Deut. 18:12),

   and ".... shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire
and brimstone" (Rev. 21:8).

   From earliest times God forbade occultism as spiritually defiling
(Lev. 19:31), and made participation in it punishable by death (Ex.
22:18; Lev. 20:27), and cause for rejection of that soul by God (Lev.
20:6).

   Dungeons and Dragons(R) is based on magic and the supernatural.
There is, in fact, a hard bound book entitled "Deities and DemiGods"
for the sole purpose of informing you of the "gods" that are involved
in the game. It gives complete details of the "gods" and it expects you
as a player character to pick a "god" to worship him/her. To pray to,
to sacrifice to, to obey. And to die for if necessary.

   Not only is the game based on the supernatural and magic it involves
violence. Serious violence! The type of violence not allowed on TV.
There is hack and slash murder, rape, theivery, pillaging and
terrorism. And in the game it is natural and expected for a character
to do those things. A character must, at least, murder and rob in order
to survive. And it is the object of the game to survive. To do whatever
you must, to anybody or anything, in order to survive and become more
powerful and wealthy. The more you do those things the longer you live.
The longer you live the more powerful you become and usually with power
comes wealth.

   You may be saying, "All of that may be true, but what does that have
to do with me (or my children)? It has everything to do with you (or
your children) if you (or they) are involved in the game. As I have
repeated several times the game is played or imagined entirely in the
mind. Totally and only in the mind. The conscious mind experiences
these visions as reality while playing. And if it is played, let's say,
3-5 times a week, 4-8 hours each time, the conscious mind becomes
accustomed to such acts of violence. Then when the person is finished
playing for that day, it is all pushed back to the subconscious
supposedly. But it is known that the mind is very powerful and
unexplainable. It is very possible for the sub-conscious mind to
"overpower" the conscious mind. Suddenly you are no longer in total
control of your mind. The "fantasy game" becomes a "reality game". You
begin to live it for real. Everything you do, or say, involves or
associates to the game itself. You no longer play the game for
enjoyment, you play it because you feel you have to. You must have it
(play it) just like a person on drugs, achohol or tobacco must have
them. It is an addiction. And your mind is under the control of the
game. It is possessed by the game.

   Now, you're probably saying that won't happen to me (or my children)
because I won't let it happen or I'm too smart for that to happen.
Believe me, it happens! And it happens to anyone. It has happened to
me. It has happened to many college students that have committed
suicide or have done some serious bodily harm to themselves and or
others. It has happened to many younger teenagers, 13 and 14. The
destruction it can cause to the mind and soul is incredible. It's
rather unexplainable. I and many others have had some very bad
experiences because of the game and I am writing too, on their behalf
to warn or make you aware of the game. It is dangerous and against
God's command.

   There are as I've said numerous recorded accounts of teenagers 13 to
19 and some older persons that have had some troublesome experiences.
Many have commited suicide due to the game. Another good many have
either caused serious harm to themselves or other individuals. And some
have coused the death of a friend or family member by accident, but
because of the "game", they took the "game" one step too far. "Playing"
it for real one time too many. For some it was the last time they
played it or any other game. Many were lucky, but you may not be.

   And the fact is, that you don't even have to be playing the game at
the time. The mind is continuously "playing" the game. You could have
played it 2 or 3 days prior, but your mind is still playing.

   So, please for your own safety and salvation and the safety of
others don't play the game anymore. If you don't play it now, don't
even start. It is more dangerous than I can fully explain. Don't play
with your physical life that way and don't condemn your soul to hell by
participating in the game.

   A very concerned ex-player, Darren Molitor

   If you would like to write to Darren Molitor or his parents the
mailing address is:

   Darren Molitor C/O Mr. & Mrs. Louis Molitor 2303 Sublette St. Louis,
MO 63110

   Or you may decide to send a word of encouragement to Darren's
parents.

   There is another young man who is in a similiar situation and he is
16 years old. He is guilty of murder in the first degree. He never had
a trial (plea bargaining was involved). His parents feel that D & D was
responsible for his bizarre behavior in the murder of a next door
neighbor.

   Paul Sargent C/O Mr. & Mrs. Robert Sargent 6545 Tauronee Kansas
City, Kansas 66102

   His parents certainly need a word of encouragement.

   Reprinted with permission from:

   B.A.D.D. Inc. P.O. Box 5513 Richmond, VA 23220

   (B.A.D.D. stands for Bothered About Dungeons and Dragons - a
national organization concerned about the widespread playing of D & D
and its effects.)