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How Inmates Play Tabletop RPGs in Prisons Where Dice Are Contraband

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Re: How Inmates Play Tabletop RPGs in Prisons Where Dice Are Contraband

#11

Post by John23832 »

protonimitate wrote: post #8
Notorious_BLT wrote: post #7

I guess I can understand the dice ban (sort of?) but the fact that some prisons have apparently have banned games like D&D altogether is bizarre to me. It seems like a healthy, relatively peaceful way to pass time and do something creative. I can't see it having a negative effect that other prison activities don't already make possible.

As far as pastimes go it seems pretty innocent, but I guess one could argue that because jail is supposed to be punishment time passing actives aren't a priority (not saying I do or do not agree with that stance).

That’s probably the problem. Jail/prison should primarily be for reform, not pusnishment. If I punish without helping you change, I’m only telling you to not get caught next time.

Re: How Inmates Play Tabletop RPGs in Prisons Where Dice Are Contraband

#12

Post by aerotwelve »

walshemj wrote: post #2

Surprised that prisons ban dice but not cards which can be used to substitute for dice. Interestingly some of the early board games used spinners as dice where seen as sinful, normally by the more hard core protestants.

I'm ready to take the hit for asking a very stupid question: why are dice considered contraband?

Wouldn't it make more sense to allow inmates access to dice and real spinners? They're human beings with brains. Wouldn't correction officers prefer that they spent their time playing games instead of thinking of ways to escape or "cause trouble"?

Re: How Inmates Play Tabletop RPGs in Prisons Where Dice Are Contraband

#14

Post by vkou »

aerotwelve wrote: post #12
walshemj wrote: post #2

Surprised that prisons ban dice but not cards which can be used to substitute for dice. Interestingly some of the early board games used spinners as dice where seen as sinful, normally by the more hard core protestants.

I'm ready to take the hit for asking a very stupid question: why are dice considered contraband? Wouldn't it make more sense to allow inmates access to dice and real spinners? They're human beings with brains. Wouldn't correction officers prefer that they spent their time playing games instead of thinking of ways to escape or "cause trouble"?

Because gambling is a moral failing, and prison is supposed to give inmates time to reflect on their moral failings.

Re: How Inmates Play Tabletop RPGs in Prisons Where Dice Are Contraband

#15

Post by politician »

aerotwelve wrote: post #12
walshemj wrote: post #2

Surprised that prisons ban dice but not cards which can be used to substitute for dice. Interestingly some of the early board games used spinners as dice where seen as sinful, normally by the more hard core protestants.

I'm ready to take the hit for asking a very stupid question: why are dice considered contraband? Wouldn't it make more sense to allow inmates access to dice and real spinners? They're human beings with brains. Wouldn't correction officers prefer that they spent their time playing games instead of thinking of ways to escape or "cause trouble"?

The prisons want to ban gambling and currency counters (coins, chips, etc) in order to disrupt the rise of debt-based gang activity.

"The house always wins" turns a prison into an organized structure of debtors and owners fairly rapidly, I'd imagine. And you can't fault the far fewer security guards from wanting to avoid a face-off with a unified enemy.

Re: How Inmates Play Tabletop RPGs in Prisons Where Dice Are Contraband

#17

Post by kibwen »

pesfandiar wrote: post #4

Well, they can't ban 1-bit random number generators (e.g. coins) and with a bit of time, you can simulate any of dice used in RPGs.

"With a thunderous roar, the colossal red dragon envelops the party in a cruel wave of fire! You each take 24d10 damage, but while I'm sitting here flipping this coin six hundred times please do let me know if you make your reflex save for half..."

Re: How Inmates Play Tabletop RPGs in Prisons Where Dice Are Contraband

#18

Post by Buttons840 »

cr0sh wrote: post #10
Sir_Cmpwn wrote: post #3

Disappointing to hear that some prisons are cracking down on D&D, like the Idaho State Correctional Instutition whose rules are quoted ITA. It seems like a productive outlet to me. Locking someone up for a few years with nothing interesting to do sounds like a good way to make someone come out the other end worse than they were before.

> Locking someone up for a few years with nothing interesting to do sounds like a good way to make someone come out the other end worse than they were before. Given the (growing) number of private, for-profit prisons - that would be seen as a feature, not a bug. Because if they leave worse off, they'll likely be returning - thus generating a steady income stream courtesy of taxpayers. Cynical, yes - but likely true.

Things like this don't even have to be someone's concious evil plan. The system simply selects prisons that do this over the long term because they will tend to be more profitable and more likely to survive and be able to build more jails and lobby more politicians for contracts.

Re: How Inmates Play Tabletop RPGs in Prisons Where Dice Are Contraband

#19

Post by thomaskcr »

protonimitate wrote: post #8
Notorious_BLT wrote: post #7

I guess I can understand the dice ban (sort of?) but the fact that some prisons have apparently have banned games like D&D altogether is bizarre to me. It seems like a healthy, relatively peaceful way to pass time and do something creative. I can't see it having a negative effect that other prison activities don't already make possible.

As far as pastimes go it seems pretty innocent, but I guess one could argue that because jail is supposed to be punishment time passing actives aren't a priority (not saying I do or do not agree with that stance).

I think that's a cynical view on their reasoning -- if anything prisoners not being bored is in their best interest in terms of keeping guards safe.

My guess is that a lot of problems stem from gambling debts -- you can allow cards and stem gambling a bit by preventing chips from being introduced (in whatever form). With DnD tracking across the game is important so it's not as easy to prevent a ledger from forming.

Re: How Inmates Play Tabletop RPGs in Prisons Where Dice Are Contraband

#20

Post by labster »

walshemj wrote: post #2

Surprised that prisons ban dice but not cards which can be used to substitute for dice. Interestingly some of the early board games used spinners as dice where seen as sinful, normally by the more hard core protestants.

Well obviously dice are sinful, because they're made from platonic solids and that Plato guy was a pagan. Maybe those cylindrical ones are ok, though.

This brought to mind the fact that in Japan, cards were considered to be the more pernicious influence on gambling, which eventually led to a card deck that was pessimized for gambling[0]. Of course, people can gamble on anything they can play, so it didn't exactly work.

[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanafuda

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