The Devil’s Game

Does anyone remember the hub hub in the 80s over the game Dungeons and Dragons?

Some mothers and ministers got heated over a game that was said to invoke the devil and demons in the minds of their young children. They imagined that the game was no more than a portal or an “open door” to hell itself.

In reality, playing Dungeons and Dragons was no more harmful then reading J. R. R. Tolkien, whose books DnD borrowed from liberally. (It’s interesting to note that Tolkien addmitted Lord of the Rings was a work in Catholicism.)

I dabbled in DnD during my impressionable years, so I can say from experience that other than being a bit addictive, it was …well… it was like this:

It’s not like anyone ever busted out a hammer and started wailing on the other participants …right?

Wellllllll….Enter Wulfgar AKA Zachery Frank King…

Testimony Monday suggested a motive for the attacks may have grown from the trio playing the fantasy role-playing game “Dungeons and Dragons” and jealousy over a girl who King and Bryson knew.

That’s right, DnD has claimed another soul. How wrong I was all these years…Sorry, God.

Apparently, after a rough night of rolling 1s on his saves, Zachery Frank King crept back into the Dungeon Master’s house and proceeded to beat him and another player with a hammer, blinding one of them and concussing the other.

As the guys at Penny Arcade mention “There are manifold unanswered questions: for example, was defendant Zachary King playing a class that can even wield hammers?”

You can see their Comic take on this story here.

In conclusion: Yes, DnD is evil. It will cause your friends to brain you in the middle of the night….and I’m pretty sure you will also be going to hell. But the decision is yours. I say, don’t roll the dice with your eternal soul.