Gaming: D&D Pt. 03

- "That's the man." I said. "He also wrote The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood."

- "I don't understand." he said. "You act out scenes from these books?"

- "No, Sir." I said. "We're like Robin Hood. But we have our own characters, and our own original story."

- "Who writes your story?" asked Simran.

- "The players do. It's their decisions, their choices, that make the story."

- "I don't understand." said Mr. D..

- "I create the setting." I said. I didn't want to use the expression DM - Dungeon Master. "I'm the GM - Game Master. I choose a location. It could be Merrie Olde England - or Baghdad, of the 1001 Nights."

"I also play the parts of the Sherriff of Nottingham, and Prince John, or Sir Guy de Gisbourne." That was a gamble - I had no idea how familiar Mr. D. was with the Robin Hood legend.

- "I'm told that there is magic in this game." he said. "Witchcraft."

- "Players can be wizards, or clerics, and cast spells - but it's just pretend." I said.

I could tell by the looks on Parvani's parents' faces - they didn't like that.

"Sir - if we were playing the King Arthur legend, wouldn't it be reasonable to have a Merlyn? Wasn't he a magician, of sorts? There are many examples of beneficial magic. The Wizard of Oz. Glinda, the good witch of the North ..."

- "Cinderella's Fairy Godmother." said Nate.

- "That may be," said Mr. D., "but there have been murders and suicides attributed to this game."

- "One boy, in Michigan." I said. I passed Mr. D. a photocopy of the article. "I believe that he was mentally ill before he began role-playing. I don't know how many thousands of people play D&D, or games like it. Statistically, hundreds of them could be mentally or emotionally disturbed."

"Opponents of the game suggest that young people lose the ability to distinguish between fantasy and reality. If that's true, then we should ban Superman comic books, in case kids think they can fly. Professional wrestling, stage actors, method actors ..."

- "I see your point, Ian." conceded Parvani's father. "But none of these other pursuits involve other religions, or witchcraft."

- "Sir, my favourite comic book, growing up, was The Mighty Thor. I haven't heard of a single person embracing the Norse pantheon because of it."

"Even if one of our players wanted to play a character who did worship Odin and Thor - it would be pretend. For example, I might play a Viking whose favourite expression was 'By Thor's hammer' ..."

- "That's all well and good, Ian." said Simran. "But what about demonology? Isn't it true that there are demons in your game?"

I wasn't surprised by the question - but I was astonished that it came from her. I couldn't tell from her expression if she was serious not. Her father looked slightly miffed, though - maybe he had been looking forward to asking that question himself.

- "I have yet to put a demon in our game. That's not to say that I wouldn't - but if there were demons in our story, we would fight them. They're intrinsically evil."

"Dr Faustus, by Christopher Marlowe. Bram Stoker's Dracula. These would be monsters - by definition, the enemy."

Mr. D. wasn't fully convinced, but I sensed that he was wavering.

- "Sir - have you read Mere Christianity, or The Screwtape Letters?" I asked. I already knew that he had, thanks to Parvani.

- "Of course. I quite enjoy C.S. Lewis." he said.

- "Have you also read Voyage to Venus, or The Narnia Chronicles?"

- "We purchased the Narnia books for Simran and Parvani, when they were children."

I nodded. "Were you aware that he was a close friend of J.R.R. Tolkien? They both taught at Oxford, and met regularly to discuss their writing."

I told Mr. D. about the Inklings, and Owen Barfield. Quite a bit of this was news to him, but he seemed very interested.

- "The Lord of the Rings - as much or more than any other book, is at the heart of what we do. Hobbits - or halflings, and elves and dwarves are characters that we play. Tolkien's imagination helped inspire our hobby. You would have to go a long way to find a more devout Catholic."

Parvani's parents weren't 100% won over. But we had tipped the scales in our favour - hopefully enough to permit her to keep playing.

- "You young men are very polite and respectful." said her father. "You also came very well prepared. Are you studying law, by any chance? No? Well, you could be."

"We're quite happy to see that Parvani has such good friends. I still have some qualms about this game of yours, but ... would you be willing to play in our house, from time to time?"

- "Really, Dad?" said Parvani. She smiled, for the first time today.

- "Yes. Your friends are welcome in our house. And if they are ready to play your game when we might walk in at any moment, then I doubt that there could be anything truly harmful in it."

"I don't mean to suggest that we will be snooping around, or listening in ..." he said.

- "I understand, Sir." I said.

Mr. D. excused himself, then. He shook hands with Nate and me.

"Thank you so much for giving us a chance." I said.

- "It was well worth my time." he said. "Thank you."

Mrs. D. offered us more tea, and bustled out to make it. "Parvani - will you help me?"

- "Sure, Mom." Parvani stood up. Then she came over to give me a big hug. Nate got one, too.

- "Well done." said Simran. "I wasn't sure you could pull it off."

- "I wasn't sure whose side you were on, there, for a minute." I whispered. "That demonology thing - was that you pre-empting your father's question?"

- "Yes." she said. "I had to look stern, and critical, or Dad would have dismissed my opinion. Nice work with the C.S Lewis connection - that was brilliant."

- "Thanks."

- "It means a lot to Parvani." said Simran. "Your friendship, I mean. Not just the game."

I glanced at Nate. "We feel the same."

*****