The Devil's Game: A Dungeons & Dragons Story

The Satanic Panic of the 1980s permanently altered pop culture, but what caused it, and How did Dungeons & Dragons Find itself at the center of the controversy?
Chapters:
0:00 Introduction
1:35 Chapter One
7:12 Chapter Two
11:28 Chapter Three
17:43 Chapter Four
Background Music Used (in order):
Secret of Mana - A Curious Tale • Secret of Mana - A Cur...
Secret of Mana - In The Dead of Night • Secret of Mana In th...
Cowboy Bebop - Tank! • Cowboy Bebop OST 1 - T... Syd
Valentine’s Patent Leather Kids - Rock and Gravel - archive.org/details/RockAndGr...
Undertale - Death by Glamour • Undertale OST: 068 - D...
Undertale - Ruins • Undertale OST: 005 - R...
Undertale - Another Medium • Undertale OST: 051 - A...
Undertale - Waterfall • Undertale OST: 031 - W... The
Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time - Boss Battle • Boss Battle - The Lege...
Undertale - Dummy • Undertale OST: 036 - D... The
Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time - Hyrule Field • Hyrule Field - The Leg...
Undertale - Hotel • Undertale OST: 054 - H...
Minecraft - Haggstorm • C418 - Haggstrom - Min...

[@VikingMale]

I started playing in the late 70’s, I was asked by my teacher in front of the class if I played D&D I said yes, he asked me if I killed anybody yet. I said Not Yet…. I’m 53 and still haven’t killed anybody, and I still play 1st edition…. Lol

[@journalm]

51 now, and neither have I. The removal of the words "demon" and "devil" in 2nd Edition was irritating (Cowards!) but I still played it because I loved the Dark Sun setting. 3.5 is my favourite Edition and I actively dislike 4th and 5th.

[@thomastaylor6355]

I played 1st Edition DnD also

[@flaredragoon8922]

Damn, I only got in between 3 and 3.5 much respect to you my lords!

[@ThaiThom]

I'm also 53 and 1st edition is the only way I roll - it's the real game. Gygax and co. got it right the first time. I never saw any need for further editions, that was about money. Yeah in 1980 or so my teachers were worried about what was going on; they believed what they saw in the news, so they were afraid. The more things change...

[@popechucky]

53, as well… I came I to the game in ‘83… and haven’t killed anyone either… still playing👍👍👍

[@davidcardoso3525]

I played D&D during the '80's. One of my friends had relatives in the Bible Belt of the USA & he came back from a vacation w/ a pair of pamphlets about the Evils of D&D. The pamphlets took 1/2 a sentence from one book & spliced 1/2 a sentence from a different book. The pamphlets made us players look like we ate babies. We went through both pamphlets point-by-point & sent it off to the Pastor who published the pamphlets, including an invitation to visit with us & sit down at a table with us. We received no response, but learned a valuable lesson about closed minds.

[@unrulyarcana2394]

The Satanic Panic is what ended up getting me into D&D. 😆 I was a kid, and I knew nothing about the Satanic Panic. But I heard about the game, and saw the cartoon, and I got curious. I told my parents I wanted to play. We were poor, and they told me that we couldn't afford it, but maybe I could ask for the game as a birthday or Xmas gift. Then my Grandmother's church went on the rampage against the game. She went into a full on rant how no one in her family would ever play it. She wouldn't allow it! Etc etc. And my father reacted with something like "You won't allow it? I didn't know we needed permission." Or something along those lines. He spent the next week or so combing every thrift store, flea market, and yardsale in town. And he brought home a small stack of books for me. A mix of 1e, 2e, and AD&D. It took about a month, but he found a set of used dice. And that was that. That's how I got to start playing F&D, even though we really couldn't afford it at the time.

[@journalm]

Thank you. Very thorough. I'm a South African and started playing D&D in the early 80s. The Satanic Panic was exported here and hybridized with the local Christian National Education system of the Apartheid government. They formed an "Occult-Related Crimes" division of the police, pretty much as a direct response to the D&D panic in the US. I kid you not, I once confronted a police officer spying on my D&D game session with binoculars, a notepad, and a set of notes about what to look for to identify "satanism". I invited him in to have a Coca-Cola (it was hot) and observe a game while sitting at the table. He left thinking his superior officers were crazy. PS: The Adventures in Blackmoor module series by Dave Arneson and David Ritchie has to be one of the best ever published by TSR.

[@argotvv]

Thanks for the response! In researching for this video, all of the sources I looked at were focused on the US, but it's very interesting to hear how it spread to other countries. I'll definitely need to look more into the international response to the Satanic Panic!

[@danielramsey6141]

😮 wow I had no idea that happened in South America. Not sure what events happened, but I can imagine it too an equally long time to Fix this issue!

[@ashwinnmyburgh9364]

A fellow South African! I have only recently really gotten into DnD, and am in love with the game. I was actually wondering recently how South Africa reacted to the whole satanic panic, and wow, sounds crazy. The fact that they even got the police involved is nuts.

[@journalm]

It is, isn't it? As recently as 2003, the Occult-Related Crimes division was proudly displaying its expertise at the Moreesburg Agricultural Show by presenting Magic: The Gathering cards as Tarot cards and a "goat skull" that was actually a seal skull. Mamparas! @@ashwinnmyburgh9364

[@danquaylesitsspeltpotatoe8307]

@@argotvv Its weird how religious get upset when other play pretend like they do! At least with game players they dont actually have voices in their head talking to them!

[@RQuinton79]

Let's break down the panic into its base parts. 1) People want to blame something, anything, to explain a tragedy in their life. This has happened throughout history, music, comics, critical thinking, video games, etc. and will most likely never end. D&D was just the flavor of the month. 2) Media sensationalism. See Part 1, just with a financial spin on it for viewership. 3) Lack of knowledge and experience. In every instance, the claims could be easily disproven because they had no basis in reality, and the hard evidence, such as the rule books themselves, contradicted the claims. I grew up and played D&D in the 80s (I still play), and when I tried to get my religious best friend, James, to play, there was an initial backlash from his parents. However, we were lucky because despite their belief in the media non-sense, they were willing to at least let him play if they got to sit in and watch. They watched our first three sessions, and his mom, in particular, read every book I had for D&D during these sessions. In the end, they agreed that the media and claims had almost no truth to what they read and witnessed in our game. They still objected to the use of devils and asked that I didn’t use them in our games. I said I wouldn't, and I did keep to that promise. Even if I didn’t agree with it, I felt it was the respectful thing to do. Unfortunately, James passed away from cancer 9 years after we started playing. A year after that, I visited my friends parents, and D&D was brought up. His mom mentioned how much playing meant to James and how they believed it opened up his creative side in life, such as enjoyment of writing short stories. That was it, but it was nice to hear a positive perspective from them concerning the game. If only more parents took the time to learn about their kids' activities rather than just writing them off based on preconceived and ignorant beliefs.

[@Waaagh40KRed]

It sucks that an innocent game like Dungeons and Dragons had so much propaganda pushed against it. Honestly it reminds me of Frederic Wertham and his book the Seduction of Innocence, and how he pushed the idea that juvenile delinquency was connected to comic books corrupting the youth. Nowadays, the problem with Dungeons and Dragons was the corporate greed of Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast. That’s why I got into Pathfinder.

[@seancullinan9674]

Dungeon Crawl Classics

[@dr3dg352]

Pretty much anything new, exciting, and engaging gets opposed by these people. 😞 Metal music got the same thing. It's no wonder a religious fundamentalist invented corn flakes lol.

[@michaelmullenfiddler]

Hasbro will probably finally be the death of the brand, D&D. They are a corporate behemoth with cash flow in the billions. And their WOTC division that owns DnD is the most profitable part of the company. They are going to turn DnD into a sanitized and homogenized IP, played only on a company owned VTT, by subscription only, and laden with microtransactions. These days such entities never die. They will own the IP forever and it will fade into obscurity as a curiosity and perhaps an object lesson in corporate overreach. Meanwhile, the hobby will continue to thrive, the term "D&D" will continue to be used within the hobby until it eventually becomes a generic term, like kleenex. Try DCC RPG. It's more fun anyway. 😁

[@qsviewsrpgs4571]

I remember that era well. I had a friend who's mom refused to let him play D&D with us because of all that was going on.

[@battleswithdicenmice4307]

Same here!

[@kapnkerf2532]

D&D kept so many young men chaste and drug/alcohol free by cloistering them in basements away from cool people parties. It should get a medal from uptight parents.

[@homebrewisthebestbrew5270]

Roger that. I used to tell people that "If it wasn't for D&D, I'd really go nuts." Not that I was ever into intoxicants; it was my one outlet for dealing with family/college stresses after Dad died.

[@michaelfox8297]

Remember being at school in the 80's playing D&D at school and to this day still do. Was also a WW2 wargamer and remember painting French figures with a fellow player a Vicar. My parents where more concerned that I was hanging around with an adult vicar than playing a fantasy RPG. In the UK at that time certain revelations about the clergy where coming to light.

[@GameOfDepth]

My mother taught me how to play in 1979, so she would have someone to play Dungeons & Dragons with. Good coverage, you have Our subscription!

[@journalm]

I subscribed too because of the clearly thorough research. And your mum was an epic-level mum. I tried endlessly to get mine to learn the game but she never did.

[@mikem5454]

Coolest. Mom. Ever....

[@Sarace22]

Dang I didn’t know any of this! Great video!

[@stopmoman4582]

As a Christian who plays DnD, yea there's nothing demonic about it unless the dm specifically makes the campaign about that topic. Its frustrating telling other people who share my faith about it bc some of them are still "recovering" from the satanic panic.

[@Skelecruce]

Same.

[@corbanbausch9049]

Yeah, sounds about right.

[@shallendor]

I told one religious girl, i was in choir with that she had a symbol of evil around her neck, when she criticized me for reading The Arcanum from Bard games which had a pentagram on the cover(1 point up) which meant the same thing as the cross around her neck, but upside down(2 points up) meant the same as an upside down cross! The next day she apologized for her actions! that was back around 86! D&D and other RPG's were played by us dregs and outcasts of society(freaks, geeks, nerds along with us band/choir/theater kids!

[@AAron-gr3jk]

A girl who realised she was wrong and apologised as wel? You're making that up

[@codyhoney9101]

I grew up in the 80s in a very religious home. I wanted to play DND but my mother believed the satanic connection so I never did. I started playing last year for the first time by DMing a game for my kids. Knowing what I know now, it makes me sad knowing how this game would have helped me socially as a kid. But I'm glad that this is something special I get to share with my kids now.

[@s4mbrun3s]

I want a new version of Mazes and Monsters with old Tom Hanks 😮

[@argotvv]

instead of the twin towers, he could go to the Las Vegas Sphere during a U2 concert.

[@katherineberger6329]

@@argotvv Robbie can team up with the "All I wanted was a Pepsi!" kid to bust out of the mental hospital that they've been unfairly institutionalized in for their entire lives.

[@dirtybasementterrain]

I grew up during the height of the Satanic Panic. I also was thoroughly enjoying D&D. If someone heard that I played D&D I would get asked the "Are you a devil worshiper?" question. I would try and get them to sit in on a session and say make your own mind up. Even as a kid I thought the whole movement was at best a big joke.

[@ogrehaslayers605]

I did NOT know miniature wargaming went back to the 1880's. Wow! Warhammer 1990 😂

[@bjornh4664]

It actually originated in Prussia as far back as in the 1810s, where tactical situations where wargamed in the form of "Kriegsspiel" (literally "wargame"). It gained wider use in the early 1870s. In 1913, author H.G. Wells ("War of the Worlds") published "Little Wars", which was rules for miniature wargames. So yeah, the hobby has over two centuries of history.

[@ogrehaslayers605]

@@bjornh4664 thank you!

[@fredmonroe6042]

My parents took a watch and see approach. Found out about it years later cause they concluded there was nothing wrong other than me and my friends being typically weird.😇👻

[@MichaelBacaArtist]

Thank you for the history and bringing light to troubled lives, if only we had you and KZbin, back in the day. Loved the video and the hat! And I just noticed your plants, the snake plant and what looks like an oxilas (false shamrock)? Perfect fitting for the story; my grandmother called those praying hands because they fold closed at night.

[@7thsealord888]

In Australia, as sometimes happens with stuff from the USA, we got some fall-out from the Great Satanic Panic. It showed up here in various ways: 1. Our local franchise of '60 Minutes' did an utterly disgraceful expose, the core of which was a bizarre murder in which the murderer was known to have played D&D; 2. A local moral crusader-type (also anti-gay and various other things) spoke out against it; 3. A few private schools specifically banned D&D; 4. Several game groups that had run things from church halls were locked out:; 5. One person I knew had his D&D stuff destroyed by his idiot parents. Undoubtedly, there were others.. Thankfully, the craziness never got to the levels that we saw in the US. Things died down fairly soon thereafter. It is worth noting that one RPG group I have been involved with for years just happens to be church-based.

[@homebrewisthebestbrew5270]

I remember the '60 Minutes' hit piece. The selective editing made Gygax pathetic.

[@7thsealord888]

@@homebrewisthebestbrew5270 Sent them a critical letter at the time, for all the good that was. I also NEVER watched 60 Minutes again - and still make a point of trashing the show if it ever comes up in conversation (which is very very rare). Minor, I know, but what else can I do? All these years later. I should emphasize that I do not obsess about this, believe it or not. But the subject still ticks me off.

[@iainhansen1047]

Great video

[@argotvv]

Thanks! I appreciate you checking it out.

[@alansalmi]

Thank you for covering this and being respectful to Dallas. I actually met him briefly at a science fiction convention in the early 1980s in Michigan. I played dungeons and dragons in the 1970s in the first edition, but didn’t have the time or the energy with career, etc. until recently to return to the game. I’m amazed how far it’s advanced, and how a dungeon master can even make over six figures now, as in the case of Matt Mercer and the entire show critical role, and its affect on the media. One thing though: technically, it’s not a board game, there’s no particular board that used for it, the proper term would really be “top role-play game “ One thing that you could have touched on though, which I’m not sure if you found in your research is that the satanic panic in the 80s also led to a mental health scare, that people with dissociative identity disorder (back then called multiple personality disorder.) We’re all induced by satanic ritual abuse. A physician, a psychiatrist in Chicago, actually lost the largest lawsuit of the time due to his mismanagement of patients and his wacky beliefs that even let him to get a concealed carry license because he thought the Satanists were going to get him. it was really found out that such patients were highly susceptible to media, and none of them reported any satanic connection until a book had been published, called “Michelle remembers “by a psychiatrist who wrote up a case that became an example for people to copy. To show how poorly that turned out: he broke all rules of his profession, and actually married his patient! Since I was a mental health, professional, former role-play gamer, and an occultist in Chicago, I got to see some of this right upfront! There’s actually a very good sociological study called “the satanic panic “in book form all about that mental health connection.

[@lvl5Longbowman]

Oddly enough, I remember B.A.D.D. around 1992 (I was 11-12) but had never heard of the game until 2001. When a friend introduced it to me and I plaued that entire summer. Weeknights and every weekend. Today, I know no one who plays.

[@journalm]

Have you tried a game using a VTT (Virtual Table Top)? You don't need nearby players anymore - although I obviously prefer in-person.

[@lvl5Longbowman]

@@journalm currently no computer so, no vtt. And the funds aren't there at the moment.

[@journalm]

Sorry to hear about it. Life's tricky for a lot of people right now. I'm 51 and still working towards owning my own home. All the best going forward.@@lvl5Longbowman

[@user-jt1js5mr3f]

My aunt still won’t let my cousin play because it‘s “about demons.” Even after explaining it to clarify, including the ability to REMOVE ANYTHING DEMONIC, she still doesn’t get it. Some people are just stupid and opposed to things they don’t understand.

[@darknagaadventures7884]

Sadly, parents of kids who took the dramatic option of self-termination lashed out at anything, which is why RPG's, Metal, and anything but the parents and their failures (And the church) was blamed.

[@werin407]

Really well done, thank you!!

[@davidkepler9994]

I did not realize stackpoles role!!! I loved his star wars books! I was a lucky kid. My parents asked our priest about the whole satanic panic thing, and he was well aware that there was no issue if i seemed otherwise okau

[@VengerSatanis]

"The setting [Cha'alt] seems to have an undercurrent of Dark Sun meets 80's Dune meets the Dungeons & Dragons cartoon in a dark alley someplace."

[@user-vg6sg7kh1q]

I played the first edition ad&d at the university during the end of the craziness. I was told right away by the gm to not talk about it and we were playing behind locked doors at late hours so less people could realize that something was happening.

[@riffgroove]

I was reading Ben Riggs' excellent book "Slaying the Dragon - The untold story of TSR" and the producers at TSR themselves said the "Satanic Panic" was the best thing that ever happened to them. Sales went through the roof overnight. "We suddenly became "cool" to teenagers, like cigarettes and heavy metal. Tell teenagers they shouldn't do something, and it just makes them want to do it more."

[@mintybagels]

dam ur presentation style is very engaging, keep it up man 👍

[@Braincain007]

This is a great video!

[@doomhippie6673]

I remember trying to het into an exchange programme to the US - no chance once they found out in the 1980s... Thanks to some friends we had in the US I was able to go as a private person. That happens when you let religious nutheads lead the conversation about what is proper and improper behavior.

[@tasmanianbadger]

G’day. I’m one of those old war horses who started playing D&D in mid - late 1970s. You’ve described the whole satanic panic nonsense very well. Good job!

[@homebrewisthebestbrew5270]

Lived through this nightmare. Took YEARS to get the family off my back. Took DECADES for the more open-minded of them to give me a fair shake in explaining what the game is and isn't. But I never let anyone stop me. Also, you missed the infamous 'Dark Dungeons' Chick tract; I found mine in a game store, stuck in a 1E DMG...

[@michaelmullenfiddler]

I started playing DnD as a high school senior in 1981. Yes, I am THAT old. Lol. The only people the Satanic Panic drove away from the hobby were evangelicals who already had reality issues. The rest of us thought the whole controversy was hilariously silly.

[@lime_stone_]

Great video!

[@danrichards9516]

In a Dragon Magazine from the late 80s there’s a editorial where they thank the angry moms of the world for writing letters that amounts to free advertising. I can’t recall the issue I read it in 1990-91, but I recall it well. Good vid man, keep it up.

[@queenannsrevenge100]

The good news is that there are plenty of current active players who remember and can report firsthand the silliness of the Satanic Panic, and how it impacted them day to day.

[@TheForestWolf]

Great job!

[@RIVERSRPGChannel]

Nice history lesson. I never really had to deal with the satanic panic. I started in 1987, and still play today.

[@trollbait3196]

1:55 I got excited seeing Malifaux in there :p good overview of the history.

[@fredmonroe6042]

As you pointed out the SP kick started the wider awareness and interest in the game. The old bad press can sometimes be good advertising 😇subbed 👍

[@raymondharnack4160]

I was coming of age in the early 90s and felt the ripples of satanic panic. My mother destroyed what would now be hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of magic cards and destroyed all of my RPG books. It obviously didn’t stop me, I just learned to hide it better. A lesson I took into my own parenting choices.

[@Frostrazor]

The "satanic panic" also existed in the 80s for rock music and their fans.

[@rpgfluency]

I wish at least once during this video that you would've mentioned that the Satanic Panic was much larger than D&D. In fact D&D was only a small fraction of the satanic panic phenomenon.

[@jeffreykershner440]

Good presentation! I was in a small Christian school in the 80's and for a field trip to the mall we got to go to the local game store (among other places). We had an assignment to pray against certain parts of the DND game. I was told to pray against the little idols that were used in worship. They were some pewter miniatures. I fell in love woth minis at that point because they were so cool. I didn't play d&d until around 2004, and now have thousnads of minis and run a weekly game for my kids and friends. Im an elder at my church and teach several classes at church. The problem wasn't christians, it was lack of information. It's hard to imagine, but it was really hard for your average Joe to research stuff in the 70-90's. No internet meant that you'd have to buy the game and read it. Then if it does encourage bad stuff, what do you do? Return it, probably not possible. Burn it, there goes a good chunk of money. Most folk i knew weren't in a position to research a game, so when 60 Minutes shows how bad it is, you trust them.

[@whisper_dvm5157]

Currently listening to a book on this subject: Dangerous Games by Joseph Laycock. I’ll come back to watch this video later when I have more time. It’s a super interesting subject just from a sociological standpoint

[@Para2normal]

Fun story, both my Parents were Christians and in the late 80's got, briefly, involved in a couple of the more fundamentalist aspects of the Church of England. One of their involvements was with a Clergyman who made some fairly lurid claims which I imagine many of our American cousins would recognise. They even bought me a copy of his book which claimed pretty much everything was Satanic, I read it thoroughly and it was gibberish. Fortunately they fell out with the lunatic fringe pretty quickly, Mum was a Teacher, Dad was a Biochemist who later became a Vicar and he quickly reverted to his Communist outlook on life. Both were happy to let me play D&D even when they were under these peoples influence as they understood the importance of using ones imagination.

[@patricianorwood1075]

I am 71. I started playing 1e in 1975. I still roleplay various ttrpg systems. My dissatisfaction with the AD&D3.5e had me exploring other systems and I mostly stay in the Palladium/Rifts megaverse now though I do have and occasionally play AD&D5e. Rarely because I don't like the direction Habro/Wizards of the Coast took the game. But I still play and haven't gotten possessed by demons or go out and kill anyone in all the time I have been playing.

[@AngelusNielson]

I played through this time and frankly, this is the reason I don't understand why gatekeeping is a good thing. Do people really want to go back to this era of D&D?

[@damianjones6666]

great content really enjoyed it the wizard hat and cloak are worthy. I was aware of the the panic at the time and was always amazed at the ignorance of the logic involved, nobody making those arguments could possible come to those conclusions if they had played the game. baffling?

[@Piell1972]

Great summarization of the stupid D&D panic I grew up with. I also had a person come up to me and ask if my friends and I were devil worshipers. ~Subscribed~

[@robertjohnson7877]

I was born in 1970 and got into D&D early on. Even here in California we felt the satanic panic. I didn't had to deal with some of the worst I had hurd about but I still got some gruff. The worst I had was being othered in school.

[@keithulhu]

One of the earliest treatises on wargaming was written in 1880; Strategos, authored by Charles L.A. Totten.

[@ravenretrograde]

I was unaware of the Satanic Panic of the 80s, when I asked my stepfather if he knew about D&D. He nodded and went on about how it was a gateway to hell and those who played it practiced satanism and witchcraft. He said that if I got into playing it, that I would belong in a straight jacket. I told him "if you think rolling a couple of dice is going to summon a demon, you're the one who needs a straight jacket. There's common sense and then there's the King James Bible. You tell me which one I stayed away from.

[@WolfHreda]

I already liked Stackpole for his books. This is just a cherry on top.

[@popechucky]

There was so much ‘crap’ they went on during this time… I’m 53, and absolutely love the game

[@fredmonroe6042]

Also with a name like Egbert he was kind of doomed 🙄

[@BoredBob]

I started playing in 1978 and at 60 I still play TTRPG's to this day. I've branched out to other systems over the years and have a room set aside for my hobby but 1st Ed AD&D will always be my first love and I've managed to pass that experience on to several of the next generations. My own son who's now 30 himself has the bug as well but mainly leans towards Warhammer 40K but at least he has the opportunity to find the joy that is TTRPG's (or the evil risking of his soul according to my ex-wife, yup the satanic panic still has it's believers). Probably the worst thing that AD&D might have ever done to me (besides emptying my pockets and insuring I never had money for drugs LOL) is potential lead poisoning from all the figures. LOL I used to have tons of miniatures and was constantly buying more. Looking back I probably had several thousands of dollars worth easy. Unfortunately due to time, multiple military moves, an ex-wife, etc all my lead has sadly gone the way of history. These days though I've got several resin printers (with their own potential health hazards) and sometimes think about how many figures I'd have by now if I'd had a printer like them as a kid.

[@aymericrichard6931]

I was in an evangelical church at the end of 80s and burned all my rpgs in order to please god (tgis is my only life regret). Was back in church mid 2000s and was again told dnd was satanic. Then i burned nothing and now am happy atheist.

[@byronrhamy1199]

I am 54 started in August 1983, so 40 years ago.Satanic Panic was bad, in my area and time.

[@Big_Mike001]

If you need to explain the Gygax/Arneson situation, it's very simple: If it wasn't for Arneson, there would be no D&D. If it wasn't for Gygax, D&D would have been played by maybe 50 people, ever.

[@nifftbatuff676]

Those were good times.

[@meatKog]

I was playing D&D during this period. I had my parents watch our game so they would calm down. After that they didn't care regardless of what the news said.

[@raymondharnack4160]

There is no such thing as bad publicity.

[@paulbecket7399]

wheee 50 year old controversy...this always made me giggle

[@jacquecortez5014]

I asked my Dad if he wants to watch DnD Honor Among Thieves. He told me No That's stuff is Satanic.

[@DaveTheGM]

I'm from a fundamentalist family, so I had to endure that ideology of D&D being the devil's tool. I'm sure once my family finds out I'm gay the older school ones will find a way to blame it on me playing D&D.

[@Zenas521]

With my eyes going blurry for a bit, you looked like a gnome in costume. This was neither an insult nor a compliment, just a blurry observation. You forgot about 700 Club and Jack Chick and their ignorant crusade. Other than that, well-done kid.

[@Iceblade269]

See, I want to believe that people are smart enough to now do research into something before going on a war path. People did the same thing back in the wotch trials of 16th century, but people died. Pretty chilling considering how progressive we’ve become

[@guerintueno2066]

In Australia so we never got the SP as bad as the USA, but it was still present at least in part. D&D was more fringe and never got the same public focus. We never got the culture wars like the USA has either. But in conservative church circles there was a real concern about it - my parents were against it. Lots of references to it in books out of the USA. Now…. Well still playing D&D. And Warhammer. And an ordained Anglican minister. Go figure. D&D is now used by a social approach here for kids with autism and gets funding by our federal government through the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

[@chaossin7425]

The demonic scare of DND is truly ridiculous. It's just daydreaming with math and friends.

[@HerrLokiZockt]

The satanic panic, a prime example of how, then as now, when disasters happen, it's more popular to focus on a victim's hobby so that some would-be experts can bask in the limelight rather than spend even 5 minutes looking at the real problem and perhaps questioning the socio-political problems of society (that would be communism!!!). And the sad realization: the more things change, the more they stay the same (such as killer game debates, every time a shooting tragedy occurs in my country, and something even vaguely reminiscent of a game console is found).

[@dane3038]

Loved the D$D KZbinr satire at the start. "Idiot". lol.

[@JoeDoesStuff]

My wife wants to know if you get your eyebrows shaped?

[@Sarace22]

@JoeDoesStuff My wife wants to know if you’re gay?

[@s4mbrun3s]

I'm Charles Xavier, would you like some breakfast? I'm Charles Xavier, would you like some breakfast?

[@Thagomizer]

666 people voted thumbs up? Really?

[@rudesthazard5769]

History is sadly repeating itself lol the religious left instead of the religious right this time though.

[@Dracopol]

"Dungoens"? "Tragety"?

[@HeadHunterSix]

"Honar" 😅

[@tomroberts9132]

Wow! Were you even alive when this happened? lol.

[@blackbarnz]

Orcus is from Greek mythology. The "us" suffix gives it away. I was raised Catholic & D&D hasn't been around long enough for the Vatican to notice. I bought my books to church w/ me & we played @ in a building on the property. The current pastor of my church is a gamer. My Satanic Panic experience was very limited. I had to watch a 60 Minutes D&D special w/ my grandfather & then he flipped through some of my books, got to Monster Manual & said "these are just Norse & Celtic Myths" & that was it ... Haven't been a Hanks fan since "Mazes & Monsters ".

[@keithulhu]

William Dear's methods were disingenuous at best and dishonest at worst.

[@Peyngin]

The history was interesting but the intro was kinda cringe. Maybe at the outset it was pretty much dude nerds, but D&D has gone pretty mainstream and gender ratio, while still imbalanced, is way more inclusive. I'd rather not see the propagation of old stereotypes taken as gospel in a modern context or send the message to my fellow gamers who happen to be female that they don't belong. My groups are usually half and half as far as gender goes and I don't feel like I have any more right to a seat at the table than my female friends so.

[@drzander3378]

@argoTV, Your understanding of William Dear’s role is not exactly right. Dear knew perfectly well that D&D had nothing to do with James Dallas Egbert III’s disappearance. Dear tried playing a game and quickly came to that conclusion. It’s true that he played up the role of D&D to the media who latched onto the idea, but that was a distraction strategy on Dear’s part. He suspected - correctly as it happens - that Egbert, who was a gay minor, was being harboured by adult men for whom he was creating narcotics. Dear needed to divert attention away from that community to take the heat off if it and make it easier for it to produce Egbert or for Egbert to make himself known. It worked. With the media’s focus on D&D, Egbert was able to come out of hiding. Did Dear harm the D&D hobby? Maybe but it was not out of malice or ignorance.

[@furtivedolus2504]

>block buster movie That movie failed.

[@danielramsey6141]

Just because people say that about Box Office money numbers, doesn’t mean it failed.

[@furtivedolus2504]

@@danielramsey6141 It didn't make back what it cost to make. THAT is objectively a failure.

[@pccleric]

That movie was terrible and hardly a block buster

[@JohahnDiechter]

This was poorly researched, especially concerning the origin of Dungeons & Dragons. I would like to see creators put some sources in their videos.

[@danielramsey6141]

There’s other vids that do a better job. But I can confirm that this information is consistent with what he’s presenting here on for the events of the “Satanic Panic”.

[@JohahnDiechter]

@@danielramsey6141 except for the fact that when people refer to the Satanic Panic they aren't just talking about D&D. The most notorious cases involved child care centers where care givers were falsely accused and even convicted of performing satanic ritual abuse. Things like blaming heavy metal or Dungeons & Dragons were just periphery to greater events happening in the culture at that time. I highly suggest looking up the McMartin preschool trial for some absolutely insanity that sounds like the Salem Witch Trials.

[@whisper_dvm5157]

There’s a pretty good book on this subject- I haven’t watched this video yet so not sure if it is referenced- Dangerous Games by Joseph Laycock. I’m only about 30% into it but it seems pretty thorough and it’s really interesting

[@MrChupacabra555]

Huh, I knew Michael Stackpole was from the TTRPG community, and Star Wars (creator of the Yuzzahn Vong, which are suspiciously similar to a certain Mind Flayer hunting race from Dungeons and Dragons 😅) I had forgoten about his 'Pulling Report', though until now. Old enough to remember the Bad Old Days of the 'Satanic Panic' (had to burn my beloved 'Red Box' copy due to parents 😥). Sad fact is that the whole 'craze' really destroyed a number of lives, both literally and figuratively (as in the sad case of the 'McMartin Preschool Satanic Ritual Abuse' case: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McMartin_preschool_trial

[@Nommicus]

Unless the opposite gender are at the table and one is the forever Gm. Ufortunatly the meme is not true.

[@HeadHunterSix]

Nowadays, _everyone_ at the table seems to be the opposite gender. 🙄

[@spaceranger7683]

Whoever does your captions rolled a few natural 1's on their Spelling skill checks. Not trying to be a dick, but glaring errors like those really takes away from your otherwise good video.

[@TheEldarGuy]

First... let's have a child tell me what I went through in the 70s and 80s. Second, don't redact the art. The old school artwork is awesome and should never be 'fixed'.

[@Giggles_iJest]

Put the cape and hat back on 🫵👁 ...you looked handsome

[@jackskelington7377]

Quick nitpick, it's A-zaz-el.

[@jackskelington7377]

Also regarding the P.I, he did recant his statement about d&d being responsible and did admit he knew very little about the game. Unfortunately only a small number of media outlets posted the update.