01.25
In some of the worst news I have heard all year, it appears that prison inmates in Wisconsin are forbidden to play Dungeons & Dragons or even possess D&D materials. This inhumane practice was just upheld by the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, making Wisconsin one of those shameful government entities, like the IDF, that has an official anti-roleplaying policy.
My own experience with the police has mostly been negative, so I can’t say I’m surprised, but this is incredibly frustrating. It’s the same old argument, used after the Columbine killings and many other times, that says that “fantasy games” (RPGs, MMOs, Settlers of Catan, what have you) will make people engage in violent behavior. Personal experience to the contrary, this is simply not true — roleplayers, if anything, are far more likely to act out their violent impulses in the game rather than taking them out on real people or objects. But once again, like in the old RPG “Paranoia,” the government insists on acting like thought police. (Especially annoying is the prison psychologist’s brainless association of the “Dungeon Master” with a “gang leader” — as if! It’s almost impossible to make a group of players even go on a mission to fight wererats, let alone commit real crimes!)
So prisoners are allowed to work out in the gym, and allowed conjugal visits, but not allowed the freedom of their imaginations. When will the government stop trying to control what goes on in people’s minds? Can the creative space ever be kept free of interference, or is this doomed to be an eternal human struggle between Lawful Neutral and Chaotic forces? I’d like to hope that the forces of roleplaying are victorious, even if this has to be taken to the Supreme Court. Better to roleplay a dragonborn or a tiefling rather than roleplaying a kowtowing yes-man to a prison guard or a tough gangsta gang member to those who know you. :/ But of course, some kinds of roleplaying are accepted by society and others are not.
I would agree with you if the prisoners in question weren’t lifers. If you got some guy in county lockup because he did something stupid, sure let them play, but lifers? Can’t feel sorry for this guy, no matter what perspective this story is in or how badly the court interpreted what they thought D&D was.
You can take away a man’s RPG materials but you can’t take away role-playing. Fact is, you don’t NEED materials. I’m sure they have access to 6-sided dice, pencils and paper. I’m sure they have the time to commit characters to memory. You can’t take imagination away.
And of course, my other response: How dare they curtail liberties in prison??! Oh wait…
[OOC: The following may be offensive to those who have never read the HoL: Human Occupied Landfill RPG -- or who found that to be offensive. No disrespect for the victims of Mr. Singer is intended. This is gallows humor, and as such pushes the line of taste.]
Ha Ha! Once more your lack of knowledge when it comes to the world of role playing games manifests itself. Kevin T. Singer wasn’t denied the access to his Dungeons and Dragons books because they simulate, and facilitate, “gang related” activity. He was forbidden the rulebooks because they might have given him an unfair advantage in the live action role playing game “Freebase” he was currently in the middle of playing.
Kevin is a notorious rules lawyer and understood that “Freebase”: The RPG that everyone is playing was originally based on the Dungeons and Dragons rules set. He was looking for a way to argue with the Dungeon Master that he deserved more experience points for the murder he committed. Looking in the rulebooks for ways to manipulate other players, and the game master, are expressly forbidden in any game of “Freebase.”
Mr. Singer’s use of a sledgehammer in the murder he committed places him within the Cleric class and as such he should be using his “Word of Recall” spell to escape from prison and not rely on attempts to manipulate the underlying rules of reality.
In the words of the secret DM, the Street Master, “There are no limits in role playing games! …Except the RULES!”
If you had more experience with role playing games other than those 3 sessions of “The Pocket Monster Adventure Game” you ran last month at Mysterious Galaxy, you would know of the existence of the notorious game “Freebase” and the fact that everyone plays it.
By the way, house rules allowing players to use their Hand Held Video Game characters in your “The Pocket Monster Adventure Game” campaigns is a bad idea, and is why little Jimmy was so distraught when his Flowurtle was defeated by your Canozard. In the video game, Flowurtles turn Canozards into Mudlings. Another oversight on your part!
Ultimate DM indeed?! Ha, Ha!
Prison should be a punishment – the question is were to draw the line. Sure, it seems unfair… but whatever brought you to prison was unfair to other people, too.
I parts I agree with you – but in the end I don’t really know what to think about this. One of those questions I can’t answer for myself…
@Kerrigan and @Cyroc — If people are going to be kept alive at all instead of being given the death penalty, there’s no reason they should be deprived of the fundamental necessities of life, among which I would include roleplaying. Lacking any logical reason to take away a person’s roleplaying game privileges (and not just on a temporary basis for instance for bad behavior), I would say it counts as cruel and unusual punishment.
@B.N. Nemecz — Ha ha. ^_^ Firstly, before you cite the Street Master as an authority, you should ask yourself why, if he is such a good DM, he needs a mask to stand between him and the players. Does he think his players are unworthy of staring in the face of the Game Master? If he is truly the creator of his campaign world, why does he have to hide behind his masks? I do not have a problem with anonymity, but his behavior is suspiciously ‘private’ from someone who claims to be dedicated to spreading the word of RPGs to a broader audience.
Secondly, I am aware of all publicly available roleplaying game products (and many private unreleased ones) and I resent the implication that I am ignorant of Singer’s gaming style. I have never DMed for him but based on his profile I would peg him as *not* a LARPer but likely a player of D&D 2nd edition, Shadowrun, GURPS and (of course) Warhammer. Yes, it is possible to play a live action RPG without printed rules, but this is not the type of RPG that attracts a convict mentality. Convicts’ first priority is to gain a sort of control of their surroundings through rules and to replicate a world within the enclosed space of their world, which is why they are fond of simulationist RPGs like GURPs and D&D 2nd and 3rd edition. If you had studied the gang hierarchy in U.S. prisons as I have for my d20 modern campaign in 2008 you would be aware that LARPs are the *least* popular form of roleplaying in the penal system. :P Take your baseless assertions elsewhere, there are tons of D&D blogs where they are still complaining about the dazed condition being too common in 4th edition. >_<
“Fundamental necessities of life” “Cruel and unusual punishment”… now I know you’re being satirical.
Ha Ha! Once more you exhibit your utter lack of knowledge of roleplaying games. You claim to be familiar with all “publically available roleplaying game products,” yet you have no true understanding of “Freebase.” The system was published in the amazing gaming product BUTTery wHOLesomeness for the HoL roleplaying game. The book was originally published by the Black Dog Game Factory imprint of White Wolf Games.
Black Dog Game Factory was/is widely regarded as one of the most important game design studios in the history of roleplaying games. Their rules sets were ALWAYS designed in the most serious light and were never written for cheap thrills or shock value. Their products presented mature and sophisticated illuminations of the conflicts in modern society. They never resorted to cheap tricks, exploitation, or feeble attempts at pure shock value. Their books are to be taken seriously and not as infantile marketing ploys that were feeding off of immature feelings of rebellion against the “establishment.”
I thought you would know this, but sadly you don’t. Likely this is due to the fact that you are only just now old enough to read the books without getting librarians or shop keepers into trouble for giving you a book intended for Mature Audiences.
If you had read BUTTery wHOLesomeness, you would know that “Freebase” is a game that EVERYONE IS CURRENTLY PLAYING. So much for your feeble assertion that, “If you had studied the gang hierarchy in U.S. prisons as I have for my d20 modern campaign in 2008 you would be aware that LARPs are the *least* popular form of roleplaying in the penal system.” Everyone is playing “Freebase.” There is only one way to willingly stop playing, and it isn’t pretty.
Sadly, it seems that you were so Shaken by my earlier statements that you didn’t have any Bennies to spend on Soaking the damage my argument dealt. Either that, or your Spirit isn’t high enough to get a raise.
As for the Street Master, and your apparent disdain for him, if you had more than 3 ranks in Spot you may have noticed that he and you possess similar artifacts. He, like you, wears a mystical d20 around his neck. What could the symbolism of this be? Is he your Master who taught you everything you know and who now you feel you must surpass?
Is he…YOUR FATHER?!
Only time will tell, but in the end you will come to appreciate his Role-Playing Mastery. He is a true Master of the Game. Someday maybe you will feel the pull of Role-Playing Mastery, it is a force that flows through gamers everywhere. Some are strong in Mastery and can use it to reshape the milieu of the world, others are week in Mastery and are baffled by even the simple system mechanics of the Dallas roleplaying game.
In related news, low-security prisons have recently banned board games such as monopoly and payday due to concerns about their white-collar crime inmates expressing their embezzling and bank fraud urges
@B.N. Nemecz — Spare me the insinuations that I am ignorant of a RPG product. （ ´_ゝ`） Of course I am familiar with all White Wolf/Black Dog products, having even spoken to Rein*Hagen personally. I remember him with a lime twist in one hand and a realistic latex werewolf mask in the other, wearing an elegant black suit with a gray turtleneck, his hair in a tasteful Van Dyke. He had about him a kind of Sean Connery feel, a retired Godfather of Gothic-themed RPGing. Despite his age, his eyes had a youthful, changeling-like sparkle. We got in an argument about why there were rolls in the old White Wolf system with target numbers of 10.
As for the Street Master, yes of course he is wearing a d20 around his neck. Why? Because he is imitating me, probably. I know why *I* wear a d20 necklace, and as far as I know I was wearing one well before the Street Master. I don’t know what is the Street Master’s purpose for wearing a mask or why he feels so insecure that he needs to wear a necklace like mine, but I do know that (1) I was not “begotten” from him and (2) there is a suspicious lack of actual gameplay in the infamous “Street Master” video. Was he *REALLY* able to run a roleplaying game with these people he encountered, or did he just whip together one or two combat encounters and then they left to go sell “The Street Sheet” or whatever it is that they do when they’re not gaming? It’s one thing to gather people for half an hour for a short game, but did the Street Master run a *CAMPAIGN*? *CAN* he? Sure, I don’t want to insult the guy without knowing him, but there is good DMing and then there are flashy stunts. -_- Good DMing is required to get players to come back week after week. THAT is the heart of roleplaying — it is a LIFE INVESTMENT, not just something for dabblers. When you are ready to make that commitment, THEN come to my gaming table. “The clothes don’t make the man”, even if you are dressed like a cleric/necromancer from the 3.0 “Defenders of the Faith” D&D supplement.
extremely bad choice of topic