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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

#161

Post by forapurpose »

jdietrich wrote: post #77
dfee wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

There was a widespread moral panic over D&D back in the 1980s. A lot of Christians sincerely believed that D&D was a recruitment tool for satanism. Well into the 1990s, many evangelical groups were producing materials warning that D&D inevitably leads to witchcraft, murder and suicide. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATUpSPj0x-c https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/18/us/when-dungeons-dragons-...

I think I read that the makers of D&D removed/renamed things like demons and devils as a result.

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

#162

Post by e12e »

DoreenMichele wrote: post #92
dfee wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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).

My ex was a soldier. These guys were soldiers stationed in a foreign country. In the US, soldiers are mostly not locals and spouses have a hard time getting a job because everyone knows you will move again in two or three years. But they want your money. At our first duty station, the landlords were raising rent every three months until a General threatened to build enough on base housing to kill the local rental mar…

> These guys could not trust that local women were really interested in dating them for any reason other than their money or a green card.

Local German women interested in a green card? Sounds unlikely.

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

#163

Post by paulmd »

specialist wrote: post #120
dfee wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

People believe all sorts of things. One devout partner implored me to stop meditating (during my Zen & Buddha kick) because she didn't want me to succumb to Satan. Another believer partner educated me about ghosts (tl;dr: they're every where). A coworker told me my cancer was caused by negative thoughts and that germ theory was a conspiracy. Whaddya gonna do? My fear is that I'm unknowingly harboring some wildly irra…

> My fear is that I'm unknowingly harboring some wildly irrational beliefs.

The beauty is, that makes you uniquely able to identify and eradicate them.

I've said some bullshit things before, people have called me out on them. I usually defend them for way too long. That's called being human.

When people keep calling me out, with facts, I don't always immediately concede but I do think about it, and sometimes I realize I'm being an idiot.

It would be nice if I was constantly afraid my beliefs were stupid. Conviction requires additional convincing.

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

#164

Post by forapurpose »

DoreenMichele wrote: post #92
dfee wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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).

My ex was a soldier. These guys were soldiers stationed in a foreign country. In the US, soldiers are mostly not locals and spouses have a hard time getting a job because everyone knows you will move again in two or three years. But they want your money. At our first duty station, the landlords were raising rent every three months until a General threatened to build enough on base housing to kill the local rental mar…

> In a foreign country, the degree to which a soldier is met with open animosity while everyone wants their money is typically more bald faced than in the US, where it is bad enough.

Where in the US are soldiers met with open animosity? The military and soldiers are glorified to an extreme, in my experience.

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

#165

Post by [deleted] »

e12e wrote: post #162
DoreenMichele wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My ex was a soldier. These guys were soldiers stationed in a foreign country. In the US, soldiers are mostly not locals and spouses have a hard time getting a job because everyone knows you will move again in two or three years. But they want your money. At our first duty station, the landlords were raising rent every three months until a General threatened to build enough on base housing to kill the local rental mar…

> These guys could not trust that local women were really interested in dating them for any reason other than their money or a green card. Local German women interested in a green card? Sounds unlikely.

[deleted]

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

#166

Post by e12e »

Izkata wrote: post #148
partomniscient wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The girl in it casts the Mind Bondage spell on her Dad to make him buy $200 worth of D&D stuff. I was rather incredulous at the time because a) they thought it was the case that spells in D&D work in our reality and b) there didn't appear to be a Mind Bondage spell.....unless perhaps they meant Charm Person? What's their take on Stranger Things?

I've heard similar stories of people thinking the Harry Potter books taught kids how to use real magic.

They do; they contain role models that suggests kids should think for themselves...

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

#167

Post by bb88 »

jdietrich wrote: post #77
dfee wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

There was a widespread moral panic over D&D back in the 1980s. A lot of Christians sincerely believed that D&D was a recruitment tool for satanism. Well into the 1990s, many evangelical groups were producing materials warning that D&D inevitably leads to witchcraft, murder and suicide. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATUpSPj0x-c https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/18/us/when-dungeons-dragons-...

I remember it being pushed by the 700 club. And the problem was that nobody knew what it really was.

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

#168

Post by dvtv75 »

specialist wrote: post #120
dfee wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

People believe all sorts of things. One devout partner implored me to stop meditating (during my Zen & Buddha kick) because she didn't want me to succumb to Satan. Another believer partner educated me about ghosts (tl;dr: they're every where). A coworker told me my cancer was caused by negative thoughts and that germ theory was a conspiracy. Whaddya gonna do? My fear is that I'm unknowingly harboring some wildly irra…

My ex- told me that I had to stop believing in gravity because it's just (her) God pushing down on us. That's why mountains don't pull you towards them. (She cried when I told her about the experiment where just this thing was tested and it was found to be untrue, said something about Satan.)

A friend once told me that meditation allows demons to take over your mind and make you crazy. This guy has a physics PhD, and not only believes this but also that global warming is an evil communist conspiracy designed to steal our freedoms. Not precisely his words, but close enough.

A good friend was told by his girlfriend that she couldn't marry him unless he converted and joined her church. Another of my friends was a member of that church, and won't talk about his time there (he's really messed up, and if you touch him accidentally he almost loses it) but tells me that it's all about control and power.

> My fear is that I'm unknowingly harboring some wildly irrational beliefs.

I have very much the same fear. I know I have held stupid beliefs ("depression isn't real, harden up!" was particularly ironic, as I was depressed, didn't know it, and that attitude was a result).

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

#169

Post by forapurpose »

kolpa wrote: post #105
tuxxy wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>if jails/prisons could ban books... They sorta have. If you want to send a book to an inmate, it must be paperback, must be brand new, and shipped from the retailer. The books cannot have "controversial" material. I've heard of some tech books getting rejected because of "hacking". I know all of this because I have participated in my local Anarchist Black Cross events which is a prison abolition group. Often times,…

The US prison system is largely a loophole to recreate slavery without violating the letter of the 13th Amendment. http://www.historyisaweapon.com/defcon1/gilmoreprisonslavery...

I wouldn't be so definitive, but if anyone wants to see an excellent documentary on the subject, watch 13th (after the 13th Amendment):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/13th_(film)

I'll add a couple of common arguments that at least get you thinking, even if they aren't as powerful as evidence.

First, note that mass incarceration began after segregation and other civil rights abuses were outlawed. One ramped down and the other ramped up. Many believe that one tool of oppression merely replaced another.

Second, the legal and prison system have always been used, since the Civil War, to oppress black Americans. Mass incarceration wasn't a new tool, but an expansion of an old one. And it extends into today, as has been well-publicized recently. Or I'm sure everyone has heard the phrase, 'driving while black'. I've personally witnessed that kind of abuse.

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

#170

Post by bb88 »

cableshaft wrote: post #80
Thrwr11 wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You have to put the slips of paper back if you want to simulate dice.

Yes, I didn't mention it but that's what you'd do in the first one. There are people that prefer dice get rolled more predictably (an even amount of 1s, 2s, 3s, etc), so you can just have a few sets of repeats and don't have them return the slips if you wanted that. Some people get really mad with true randomness and think the system is rigged. Something I've learned when designing video games. Settlers of Catan have…

http://gamesbyemail.com/news/diceomatic
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