Original Dungeon Masters

The co-creator of Dungeons and Dragons, Dave Arneson, died today.

D+D is one of those things that I can't say I do much anymore. It's too restrctive in its time consumption and its difficult ro find people to play with (or with whom to play, however you like your grammar served.) [or ).] But I will say that D+D took up a great deal of my time in high school. Time that I should have been doing homework or calling girls or doing other things that are typical to a sixteen year old boy, as opposed to sending a 24HD frost worm to kill my friend Paul's half-Elf fighter/thief.

Parents have always had a problem with D+D. The notable instance is when a Harvard undergrad student killed himself while apparently re-enacting actions his character took during the game campaign. Even in the 80s, before the unchecked rash of blaming popular media for kids acting violently (Doom and Marilyn Manson for Columbine, for example), D+D and what is now known as "geek culture" came under fire. Later, of course, it turned out that the student (whose name escapes me at the moment) was dealing with some pretty serious drug issues, was diagnosed by the school counseler as severely depressed and also dealing with very repressed homsexuality - not something you want to be open about at Harvard. In the 80s. So he was prime suicide fodder to begin with for reason much less exciting than going off to be a Paladin and lead the armies of Ravenloft against the grimlocks.

And then of course there's Everquest kid. Everybody remembers Everquest kid. He lived in his mom's basement and played the online RPG, and essentially became the most powerful character in the world. Eventually someone came along and dethroned him, and the guy was so dismayed that he offed himself. Once again, all the blame fell on the game, and the media decided not to report that he also had a drug problem, had some mental issues, and the very mother that was campaigning so ardently to avenge her beloved son's tragic demise was the same mother who routinely abused him from a young age and probably had a good deal to do with turning him into a social recluse to begin with.

Thankfully my own parents were a little more open-minded about these things, though they were probably thinking, "Where did we go wrong!?"

The only friend I had who really had whacko parents was Keith, whose mom burned all of his D+D books (about $100 worth) because "(quote, as in, I'm not making this shit up) demons would jump out of them while he slept at night and dance around his bed," (end quote). Thankfully Keith got the hell out of there and, the last I heard, is doing graphic design.

As someone who believes that gaming is generally a benign activity, I really don't see much weight to these arguments. Sure, people get obsessive with games, particularly nowadays, but I somehow doubt all of the people who have ruined their lives or others because of a game pales in comparison to the number of obssessive weirdos who've ruined their lives or others in the name of Christianity. And playing pen-and-paper games like D+D has a number of benefits. They re-enforce basic math, teach both logical and dynamic thinking, improve memory (those rulebooks are fucking thick), and generally encourage the use of imagination and improv. Also, since game design is such a sought-after skill in serious game markets, D+D also teaches many of those fundamentals. I for one never thought the little maps of caves and sprawling icescapes in 8th grade would ever come in handy, but they apparently do.

Anyway, a big shoutout to Dave Arneson. Thanks for wasting so much of my childhood and keeping my imagination alive.