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Don't laugh!

Started by Tank, June 03, 2010, 09:15:41 PM

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Tank

When my kids were around 10 and 12 I started playing Dungeons and Dragons with them. It is a fantastic game to let kids learn and experiment with morality in the safety of a family environment and where I could guide the kids into and out of difficult moral dilemmas. If your not familiar with the game one particular aspect is brilliant. You have to play an 'alignment' from Lawful Good to Chaotic Evil. Now you can't just choose an alignment and then behave in another way, if you do the Dungeon Master (me) can manipulate the story line to show the player the effect of their 'out of character, behaviour. We played some campaigns for days. They loved it, I loved it and they had no idea I was shaping their morality and world view  :D
If religions were TV channels atheism is turning the TV off.
"Religion is a culture of faith; science is a culture of doubt." ― Richard P. Feynman
'It is said that your life flashes before your eyes just before you die. That is true, it's called Life.' - Terry Pratchett
Remember, your inability to grasp science is not a valid argument against it.

pinkocommie

I love D&D too!  My son has already shown interest in playing, I'm just waiting for his attention span to develop a bit more before playing with him.  :D
Ubi dubium ibi libertas: Where there is doubt, there is freedom.
http://alliedatheistalliance.blogspot.com/

Squid

I played D&D for nearly 20 years...1st all the way up through 3.5 edition...haven't played in a long while though.

KDbeads

D&D was banned in the schools and public places where I grew up, and since I was never allowed to visit anyone.... I've never played it  :blush:
A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools. - Douglas Adams

Whitney

I thought it looked interesting but the boys who played didn't want to let any girls play so I never tried it.

pinkocommie

Quote from: "Whitney"I thought it looked interesting but the boys who played didn't want to let any girls play so I never tried it.

I ran into some of that too, and boy did that ever piss me off as a kid.
Ubi dubium ibi libertas: Where there is doubt, there is freedom.
http://alliedatheistalliance.blogspot.com/

joeactor

I played for about 5 years until I left Ohio... (AD&D, Hero, etc) almost every weekend.

Actually got to play with Gary Gygax once at a convention (he was the DM, natch)

Tank

Quote from: "Whitney"I thought it looked interesting but the boys who played didn't want to let any girls play so I never tried it.
Well that's a shame. We used to play with 4 or 5 people. My two daughters and son and 1 or two of his mates. I built in all kinds of scenarios, as well as a lot of monster killing. It's a brilliant teaching aid.
If religions were TV channels atheism is turning the TV off.
"Religion is a culture of faith; science is a culture of doubt." ― Richard P. Feynman
'It is said that your life flashes before your eyes just before you die. That is true, it's called Life.' - Terry Pratchett
Remember, your inability to grasp science is not a valid argument against it.

Tank

Quote from: "joeactor"I played for about 5 years until I left Ohio... (AD&D, Hero, etc) almost every weekend.

Actually got to play with Gary Gygax once at a convention (he was the DM, natch)
We never got too far into advancement as the stories I built were much more about problem solving and building relationships with strangers than killing monsters and if they fought a sentient enemy without good reason where negotiation was an option then they always took a lot of damage.
If religions were TV channels atheism is turning the TV off.
"Religion is a culture of faith; science is a culture of doubt." ― Richard P. Feynman
'It is said that your life flashes before your eyes just before you die. That is true, it's called Life.' - Terry Pratchett
Remember, your inability to grasp science is not a valid argument against it.

pinkocommie

Quote from: "joeactor"Actually got to play with Gary Gygax once at a convention (he was the DM, natch)

That's pretty sweet, dude.  I would have loved to meet him, I always heard he was super cool.
Ubi dubium ibi libertas: Where there is doubt, there is freedom.
http://alliedatheistalliance.blogspot.com/

joeactor

Quote from: "pinkocommie"
Quote from: "joeactor"Actually got to play with Gary Gygax once at a convention (he was the DM, natch)

That's pretty sweet, dude.  I would have loved to meet him, I always heard he was super cool.

Indeed he was.  Very fast thinker.  Came up with scenarios and responses on the fly.

Our regular games got pretty involved.  Multi-year ventures with sociopolitical systems, multiple plot lines - detailed stuff.
I've played everything from a lawful good Paladin of Odin, to a chaotic evil High Elf Mu/Fighter/Thief with half a hand.  (for some reason the party didn't like him...)

Kylyssa

Quote from: "Squid"I played D&D for nearly 20 years...1st all the way up through 3.5 edition...haven't played in a long while though.

Ditto.  After a couple years of 3.5 edition, my group broke up.  People's work schedules were just too crazy and we never matched up anymore.  In my youth, I tended to play chaotic evil characters - now, I'm all over the board.  My use name and major pen name is taken from one I created as the name of a chaotic evil, half-elf magic user in the early eighties.

elliebean

Quote from: "Tank"When my kids were around 10 and 12 I started playing Dungeons and Dragons with them. It is a fantastic game to let kids learn and experiment with morality in the safety of a family environment and where I could guide the kids into and out of difficult moral dilemmas. If your not familiar with the game one particular aspect is brilliant. You have to play an 'alignment' from Lawful Good to Chaotic Evil. Now you can't just choose an alignment and then behave in another way, if you do the Dungeon Master (me) can manipulate the story line to show the player the effect of their 'out of character, behaviour. We played some campaigns for days. They loved it, I loved it and they had no idea I was shaping their morality and world view  :D
[size=150]â€"Ellie [/size]
You can’t lie to yourself. If you do you’ve only fooled a deluded person and where’s the victory in that?â€"Ricky Gervais

Miss Anthrope

Quote from: "Whitney"I thought it looked interesting but the boys who played didn't want to let any girls play so I never tried it.

Don't sweat it...now they've grown up and those same boys are still playing D&D because girls won't "play" with them  :)

But seriously, I think the OP makes a good point, and I could see a game like D&D having some greater benefits on a child's mind than a typical board game becasue of its open endedness and complexity.

Speaking of complexity, that's the reason I could never get into it. It's a shame becasue part of me has always wanted to get absorbed in those types of games, but my gaming tastes run more toward the visceral and simplistic. Give me a digital gun and some aliens to shoot.
How big is the smallest fish in the pond? You catch one hundred fishes, all
of which are greater than six inches. Does this evidence support the hypothesis
that no fish in the pond is much less than six inches long? Not if your
net can’t catch smaller fish. -Nick Bostrom

DJAkuma

I'd be ecstatic if my daughter got into D&D since it was something I did a lot of when I was younger, I was even the president of the strategic games club at my high school where we played RPGs as well as games like Magic:the Gathering.

The way I see it RPGs are a great workout for the imagination and a good tool for teaching basic math and tons of other skills.