What would I say to Pat Robertson’s Daughter on D&D/RPGs?

I come from a household where my parents forbid D&D based on religious fears…so I gamed at my friend’s house and had an absolute blast – D&D, Shadowrun, etc.

I would say, if anything, D&D and almost any RPG can strengthen a person’s spiritual beliefs just based on the sheer complexity that one faces when creating a vibrant world of their own filled with races, cultures, engaging personalities, rich history. The staggering level a DM and party can embrace is practically a homage to the creative process a Greater Being would undertake in creation and administration of the none multiverse. After all in the Bible that Mr. Robertson would quote – “God created man in His own image” and indeed so have many-a-DM with Humans, Elves, Dwarves, etc. These are facets of our own image and creativity – from Tolkien to H.P. Lovecraft – stretching the boundaries and expressing the same gift we associate with a Greater Being – CREATION. Movies and novels require the same complexity of story – only with an RPG you can interact and help shape that story allowing ownership, creative pride and narrative growth (maybe even player growth).

D&D allows you to step through situations in a story you would not put yourself in and simulate the repercussions of actions – experience in absentia – of good and bad decisions offer life lessons without learning them the hard way (but more often it’s having deviant fun because you can…thus sparing real-world society by providing a playground for the mind).

Lastly D&D/RPGs for any personality type it are an interactive and personal social experience for a group of friends that brings them closer together, gives them creative focus, leads to some amazing stories of mutual plot construction and more often than not ends in a triumphant win (solid moral-of-the-story endings in the name of the greater good).

All things being equal I believe that the creative process of D&D/RPGs are not only compatible with Mr. Robertson’s beliefs they can, for those of us with spiritual beliefs, increase the appreciation for the complexity of creation and the gift of good friends. Here’s your first d20 Ms. Robertson, welcome.

I would recommend introducing role-playing to the wary by way of something popular in the American culture which many may have little in the way of suspicion. Star Wars. This genre has clear lines of black and white in terms of who are the bad guys and who are the good guys. Typical themes run along these same lines in the products that West End Games and Wizards of the Coast have released for their treatments. It has popular and generally positive appeal to most segments of American society and in my personal experience has been a wonderful vehicle to recruit new tabletop gamers.