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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

#51

Post by DoreenMichele »

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.

D&D and similar have a really negative reputation in some circles, including religious groups.

I was a gamer in my teens. One younger member of the group was probably being given a hard time by his religious family for being a gamer. He was often absent from gaming sessions.

The weekends he was absent consistently included stories like a drunken car wreck, and now he has a broken leg, or a wild party where some gal says he is the daddy and he has no idea if he even slept with her.

I never could fathom why his family didn't just tell him to go gaming every weekend. We fed him free food, used no drugs or alcohol and drove him home safe.

But we were Satan worshippers, I guess, because we gamed. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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

#52

Post by cableshaft »

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.

Slips of paper, write 1-20 (or whatever the die faces are) on them, shuffle them up, have people pick one. There's your randomness.

You could even insure an even distribution and have like 1-6 in there 4 or 5 times (if it's a d6), and don't return the slips back to the pile until the pile is depleted.

Or you can do what I've done for testing pen and paper game designs where a die wasn't handy, and do the above and write the series of results down in a list on a separate paper, and then refer to the next number in the list when you're playing.

I even did it where I put the numbers into several 4 by 4 square grids, and would simulate different games by picking the next number by from the grid but going from different directions (left, right, up, down, etc).

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

#53

Post by VyseofArcadia »

For a semester, I taught in a state prison for a prisoner educational program. Every time I went in, I was struck by how punitively petty so many of the rules and corrections officers were. The environment is carefully crafted to suck out all joy and hope from the inmates. Azkaban with its dementor guards is a pretty good illustration of an American prison.

Guards are as likely to confiscate gaming materials (and punish inmates) for breaking the rules as they are to do the same because they stubbed their toe or someone looked at them funny.

Thankfully we do have some more progressive correctional programs making a little headway like the one I taught for, but nothing about this article surprised me.

edit: I accidentally a word.

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

#54

Post by csours »

skissane wrote: post #44
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.

Some fundamentalist Christians are convinced that D&D is occult, a gateway to Satanism and demonic possession, a cause of suicide, etc. I wonder if any prison administrators share that belief system, which might contribute to a decision to ban D&D.

As illustrated in the well known documentary "Mazes and Monsters" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpcL-fQNPfQ

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

#55

Post by eximius »

labster wrote: post #23
John23832 wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

But how will the corporate prisons earn future profits if prisoners reform in jail?

Hire them?

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

#56

Post by aphextron »

I have fond memories of playing D&D in the barracks with my fellow "volunteers" during US Army basic training. For those not aware, the conditions for enlistees are very similar to prison. We made a d20 out of wadded up toilet paper and a sharpie that had to be kept hidden until late at night. Our "rulebook" consisted of the hazy memory of our DM who had memorized most of 5E (He also had a separate project going at the time of writing down word for word the entire script of LOTR: Return of the King in a notebook, from memory, to pass the time.). It's one of the few things that kept me sane during that time.

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

#57

Post by cease »

This is a refreshing read that I can relate to personally. I have never been to prison, but myself and a group of fellow soldiers played D&D in army basic training. We drew all maps on notepad paper, played using rules someone either recalled or made up on the spot, and carved bars of soap into dice. It always sticks out in my memory as a great example of how humans can figure out a way to find joy in an _extremely_ bleak environment.

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

#58

Post by JeffreyKaine »

paulddraper wrote: post #29
John23832 wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Criminal justice is for reforming but also deterring criminals. If it were only for the former reason, capital punishment wouldn't exist.

I think that was the point. Capital punishment shouldn't exist (and doesn't in most first world countries).

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

#59

Post by JoeAltmaier »

scarmig wrote: post #32
paulddraper wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Criminal justice is for reforming but also deterring criminals. If it were only for the former reason, capital punishment wouldn't exist.

Whether prisons are effective for deterrence is an empirical question. As it turns out, they're not particularly effective. The people who go and hold up a convenience store aren't doing it because of a reasoned cost-benefit analysis based on risk of capture, differential value of prison vs freedom, and future discount rates. They're doing it because they don't do those things. That leaves three real reasons: 1) Refo…

Capitol punishment is however a complete solution to recidivism for violent crime, undeniably.

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

#60

Post by logfromblammo »

philipov wrote: post #50
skissane wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some fundamentalist Christians are convinced that D&D is occult, a gateway to Satanism and demonic possession, a cause of suicide, etc. I wonder if any prison administrators share that belief system, which might contribute to a decision to ban D&D.

I think it's more a matter of people using their authority over prisoners to satisfy their sadistic power fantasies.

...Which they could probably satisfy less destructively with role-playing. The irony is extra ferrous.
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