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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

#81

Post by dragonwriter »

iamdave wrote: post #67
dfee wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you think this is a representative sample or a bizarre situational experience?

Ever hear of the Jehovah's Witnesses? Ever hear how people who managed to pull themselves out of that looney bin talk about the way they view the outside world and especially games like DnD? It's more common than you think. Nothing in that comment surprised me and made me wonder if that kid was raised in a JW household before finally getting out of the house and turning hard into the party life. It's way too common o…

> Ever hear of the Jehovah's Witnesses?

Yes, known some even.

> Ever hear how people who managed to pull themselves out of that looney bin talk about the way they view the outside world and especially games like DnD?

I've seen mixed reactions, from participating, to seeing it as time wasting, to seeing it as prohibited because of the use of dice (some JWs view the gambling prohibition to extend to all dice), to seeing it as undesirable because of content (specifically fantasy occultism), to stronger negative reactions based on the same kind of myths that originated and were, AFAICT, more popular in fundamentalist / evangelical mainstream American Christianity.

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

#82

Post by mr_toad »

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…

And yet, power blackouts, police strikes and natural disasters usually lead to outbreaks of looting and vandalism.

At least some proportion of the population are deterred by the possibility of being caught and punished.

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

#83

Post by YeGoblynQueenne »

EggsOnToast wrote: post #70
VyseofArcadia wrote: post #53

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 pun…

I'm just giving anecdata here so I'm curious to see if you agree with me. Having known two people that went to prison, my opinion on the system is that I think people usually go to prison for the legally correct reason. That being said, a lot of people I meet seem to associate going to prison with deserving to live in a hellhole. No one considers the social exclusion itself a hellhole as evidenced by the ubiquitousne…

Being deprived of your freedom is punishment enough. That should be easy to accept for any libertarian and even many conservatives (the ones with libertarian tendencies).

Anything beyond that is just adding insult to injury and only serves to reflect badly on the correctional system itself. For instance, I don't understand under what logic prisoners absolutely need to have their stuff chucked out on a regular basis. It serves to do what, besides further humiliate people who are already driven into the ground?

You fuck up once and then your whole life goes in the shitter? What sense does that make? Whom does it benefit?

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

#84

Post by Unbeliever69 »

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.

U.S. jails/prisons are designed specifically to make the inmate's life as miserable as they are allowed to by law. Trust me, if jails/prisons could ban books or commissary, they would. What you describe is what the Swedish prison system is all about. https://mic.com/articles/109138/sweden-has-done-for-its-pris.... This is a system designed to make people not only pay for their crimes but to help them rehabilitate and reintegrate into society. Pretty much the polar opposite of the US system of mass incarceration with a revolving door attached to the end.

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

#85

Post by tzs »

setr wrote: post #22
kibwen wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"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..."

If you converted the rules to be powers of 2, each coin representing a binary digit, it shouldn't be too bad 24d10 becomes 0-240, so change it to 0-256 and you've got 8 flips (8d2?) Distribution won't be correct but hey, 8 flips

At most 8 flips. In many cases you'll be able to use less if you flip the most significant bits of your 8 bit number first. E.g., if you have 45 HP and the first flip is 1, you can probably stop flipping at that point.

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

#86

Post by dfee »

DoreenMichele wrote: post #66
dfee wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you think this is a representative sample or a bizarre situational experience?

When I briefly attended church in Germany while hosting games at home for my husband who still played, one gamer consistently got up on very little sleep to go to church on Sunday morning. Where I would then listen to the preachers talk about what evil pieces of shit we were. Meanwhile, every single gamer who left Germany came to my apartment to tearfully say goodbye because gaming at my apartment was an escape from…

I cannot relate to any of this, but the clergyman’s approach / perspective definitely seems bizarre.

Gaming has much to offer, as does the social scene at a bar. Where I’ve been these two aren’t at odds. I wonder why they have been in your experiences - maybe it’s the military scene (referencing where you said mess hall).

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

#88

Post by tuxxy »

DoreenMichele wrote: post #72
iamdave wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ever hear of the Jehovah's Witnesses? Ever hear how people who managed to pull themselves out of that looney bin talk about the way they view the outside world and especially games like DnD? It's more common than you think. Nothing in that comment surprised me and made me wonder if that kid was raised in a JW household before finally getting out of the house and turning hard into the party life. It's way too common o…

I don't know if it was a JW household. Poverty stricken single mother, iirc. This was in Georgia, deep in The Bible Belt. Hellfire and Brimstone types seem to vastly outnumber the Christians who read the parts of the Bible about love thy neighbor and judge not lest ye be judged. I've known sincere Christians that I respected. I have known a lot more that make me think of the passage about someone telling Jesus "Somed…

What passage was that one?

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

#89

Post by iamdave »

tuxxy wrote: post #88
DoreenMichele wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know if it was a JW household. Poverty stricken single mother, iirc. This was in Georgia, deep in The Bible Belt. Hellfire and Brimstone types seem to vastly outnumber the Christians who read the parts of the Bible about love thy neighbor and judge not lest ye be judged. I've known sincere Christians that I respected. I have known a lot more that make me think of the passage about someone telling Jesus "Somed…

What passage was that one?

Matthew 7:21-23

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

#90

Post by throw1257 »

Unbeliever69 wrote: post #84
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.

U.S. jails/prisons are designed specifically to make the inmate's life as miserable as they are allowed to by law. Trust me, if jails/prisons could ban books or commissary, they would. What you describe is what the Swedish prison system is all about. https://mic.com/articles/109138/sweden-has-done-for-its-pris... . This is a system designed to make people not only pay for their crimes but to help them rehabilitate an…

Maybe this is a good thing.
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