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From: fox@daemen.UUCP (Merlin)
Newsgroups: net.kids
Subject: D&D
Message-ID: <1373@daemen.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 11-Nov-85 18:54:20 EST
Article-I.D.: daemen.1373
Posted: Mon Nov 11 18:54:20 1985
Date-Received: Thu, 14-Nov-85 20:54:44 EST
References: <123@mit-hector.UUCP> <327@pedsgd.UUCP>
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Organization: Daemen College, Computer Science Department, Buffalo, NY
Lines: 59


    For those of you who do not know about D&D and are worried about your kids
playing it let give you a basic background.

Dungeons & Dragons is a Fantasy Role Playing game (FRP). This means that the
person playing the game creates a charaters which he role plays as if he were 
that character.  This is done thru the use of special dice. There are 4-sided,
6-sided, 8-sided, 10-sided, 12-sided, 20-sided, 30-sided.  These dice control
(more or less) the outcome of events, be it a fight with a monster, an attempt
to hide in shadows or whatever.  
    The Dungeon Master (DM) or Game Master (GM) controls the game. He decides 
which monster will attack who, if he will attack, etc. etc. The DM usually does
not control what the players will do, unless you have relatively inexperienced 
players who do something like this:

DM > You have a solid oak door in front of you.
Player1> I'm going to bash it in with my shoulder
DM > Why?
Player1> You said it was solid
DM > I said it was solid but I didn't say it was locked or jammed
Player1> Then I'll try to open it.
DM > The door opens into a 40 X 50 foot room, in which you see......

     This may seem unitelligent but I have had people try to do this.

    Many people question this game because of the use of "spells". I use (")
because any intelligent person knows that "spells" do not exist, the only thing
that does exist is ignorance. When a person doesn't understand how something 
is done, then of course it HAS to be magical. In one of the rule books called 
The Players Handbook ([TM] this book is made by TSR) it has listings of magical
spells. Without the use these spells, this game would not have much fantasy 
in it.  
    The spells are said to be cast or thrown. This means that the character
in the game is casting a spell.  Remember, the characters are in an alter world
where virtually anything is possible.  So when the character throws a spell
the person playing is not in anyway throwing a spell.
    Many people question the game because of the use of demons, devils, angels,
gods, etc.  Well on the use of these monsters, these are just like any other 
monster in the game they are to be either overcome in some way it is the same 
with these monster as with anyother monster. (By the way the term monster is a 
general term meaning anything other than my character, after all if a martian 
is a monster to me, what am I to it?) They are nothing special other than being
tougher to deal with.
    One other thing that people don't like is that the Christian God is excluded
in the game, not to mention the Moslum God, the Buddist God, etc.  I believe 
in the Christian God myself and I cannot see how anyone can put set statistics
upon him.  After all what would people think if statistics were put on him 
and some Greek god happened to have statistics higher than those?
After all we just want to play the game to have fun not to say 'This god is
better than that god.' We just want to use our imaginations.
    The biggest thing with this game is the you can use your imagination. Thus
anything that can be thought up can be done. If a kid using his mind is bad
than why be a kid at all? 
    Anyone wishing more info on this game ask about it in net.games.frp
or send me E-mail.

                                    Dave Fox

All statements enclosed herein are mine (and possibly somebody else's)