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In addition to extreme "geekiness", Dungeons & Dragons has been linked to psychological instability, suicide, and cultism. Rumors surrounding D&D caused something of a moral panic in the 1980s, but the "steam tunnel incident" was just one aspect of the hysteria.
In Part 2 of this series, we learned about some crimes that were falsely linked to D&D, a role-playing game that is popular among many engineering students. The books and movies based upon these events gave the game a bad reputation, and were extremely unsettling to those who were unfamiliar with D&D. Today, we will look at the reactions of some members of the religious community.
Authors & Articles
In the 1980s, some religious groups accused D&D of promoting interest in devil worship, witchcraft, sorcery, suicide, murder, and demons. The two driving forces of these accusations were Patricia Pulling and Chick Publications.
D&D is BADD
Patricia Pulling was an avid anti-occult campaigner in Virginia who had very little knowledge about D&D. When her son Irving, an active D&D player, committed suicide, she believed it was directly related to the game.
Pulling first filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Irving's high school principal. She accused him of being responsible for the "Dungeons & Dragons curse" that was placed on her son. She also filed a lawsuit against the D&D publishers, Tactical Studies Rules (TSR), Inc. (The game is now published by Wizards of the Coast.)
 After both of her lawsuits were dismissed, Pulling founded Bothered About Dungeons and Dragons (BADD). Essentially a one-person advocacy group, BADD promoted the regulation of D&D and other similar role-playing games.
Pulling published and circulated her beliefs about D&D. She obtained a private investigator's license, became a consultant to law enforcement, and served as an expert witness in several gaming-related lawsuits (all of which lost). Pulling also wrote the book The Devil's Web: Who Is Stalking Your Children For Satan?
The book, contrary to the author's intentions, revealed that Pulling had, at best, only a basic understanding of the alleged occult activities that she was so vehemently against. For example, she writes about the Necronomicon as if it is a real and factual publication.
In reality, the Necronomicon is a fictional book created by horror, fantasy, and science fiction writer H.P. Lovecraft. It appears in the stories by Lovecraft and many of his followers as an evil and powerful book. Many authors have written, based on the few descriptions provided by Lovecraft, their interpretation of what Necronomicon is. These books, many also with the word Necronomicon in their titles, are also fictional.
Straight Talk
Chick Publications is a publishing company that produces and markets Protestant fundamentalist comic tracts, books, DVDs, posters, etc. The Chick tracts are the company's most widely known products.
Dark Dungeons is a tract about a group of teenagers playing D&D. In the tract, the players believe that the game and their characters within it are more important than all else, including real life. When one player's character dies within the game, she commits suicide. The teenaged players also attempt to learn how to cast real spells, claiming that the magic system of D&D is preparation for real spell-casting. Dark Dungeons ends with one of the teenagers converting to Christianity and attending a book burning of D&D-related materials.
 Chick Publications also published two essays by Bill Schnoebelen, "Straight Talk on Dungeons and Dragons" and "Should a Christian Play Dungeons and Dragons?" Both essays describe D&D as a means of teaching ideas and behaviors that are contrary to that of Christianity.
The first essay, which cites Patricia Pulling as a source, suggests that spells and rituals from the game are capable of summoning demons and producing other effects. Aside from describing the effects of these spells and the type and level of spell-caster that a player must be in order to use them, these D&D books contain very little information about the spells themselves.
In reality, any incantations and rituals are left to the imagination of the player. For example, the sorcerer in our group usually says something to the effect of "Fireballs, go!" while making a slow throwing motion with his arms. (In my opinion, this isn't very imaginative – and hardly a reason for alarm.)
The essay also takes portions of D&D books out of context. For example, Bill Schnoebelen writes that "the Dungeon Master's Guide gives the celebrated Adolf Hitler as an example of a real historical person that exhibited D&D charisma!" The actual purpose of using Hitler as an example, however, is to demonstrate the difference between physical attractiveness and diplomatic attractiveness.
While figures such as Napoleon Bonaparte or Adolf Hitler may not have been described as particularly beautiful people, they were highly persuasive and had personal magnetism, which would give them a high level of Charisma. (In D&D, "Charisma" measures a character's ability to lead, among other attributes.) Similarly, an extremely beautiful woman could be described as having a high level of Charisma.
The second essay, though subtler in its statements, argues similar points.
All Things Immoral
While the steam tunnel incidents linked Dungeons & Dragons to crime, murder, and suicide, Patricia Pulling and Chick Publications directly accused D&D of endorsing cultism, witchcraft, and all things immoral.
In the final part of this four-part series, we'll examine the current state of D&D's reputation and take a look at the people who play.
Click here for Part 1!
Here for Part 2!
And here for Part 4!
Sources:
Wikipedia – Dungeons & Dragons
Wikipedia – Dungeons & Dragons controversies
Wikipedia – Patricia Pulling
Wikipedia – Necronomicon
Wikipedia – Chick Publications Inc.
Wikipedia – Chick tract
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