The Evolution of Fantasy Role-Playing Games - Michael J. Tresca [124]
When Dear tracked down Dallas, he postulated several theories as to what happened to him, ranging from suicide to kidnapping to getting lost in the fantasy of Dungeons & Dragons. A shrewd investigator who was no stranger to the press, Dear was concerned that if his kidnapping theory was publicized and Dallas really was kidnapped, he would be killed. Thus, Dear let the Dungeons & Dragons theory percolate: “You have a Dungeon Master—he designs the characters. Someone is put into the dungeon, and it is up to him to get out,” explained Dear. “In some instances when a person plays the game you actually leave your body and go out of your mind.”
Dear was very good at his job. One month later he located Dallas in Morgan City, Louisiana. Under pressure from his mother and struggling with his own sexuality, Dallas had attempted to commit suicide in the steam tunnels beneath Michigan State University by taking sleeping pills. When he awoke the following night, Dallas fled to the house of a friend, a gay man in his early twenties.
The relationship between Dallas, a minor, and his adult friend had legal implications. When the story broke, Dallas was shuttled between houses as each host became increasingly concerned about the media scrutiny. Dallas was sent on a train to New Orleans, where he attempted suicide yet again. Dallas found a job and a place to stay, but eventually all involved decided that he should give himself up.
It’s obvious that Dungeons & Dragons had nothing to do with Dallas Egbert’s disappearance. Unfortunately, it was also clear that Dallas’s homosexual relationships were a concern for Dallas and those involved with him. Dear promised not to divulge the details of the case to protect Dallas’s younger brother, Doug, leaving Dungeons & Dragons to blame. The facts didn’t come out until five years later in Dear’s book.
It is not uncommon for those not familiar with gaming culture to see role-playing as weakening the player’s identity, implying that the players have difficulty distinguishing between what is real and what is fantastical. Roleplaying games can be actually quite healthy. Benefits include sublimation of aggression, the encouragement of “imagination, creativity, reading, group cooperation, social interaction, and the benefit of mutual assistance even with diverse racial perspectives” (Gygax 1989:150).
The pernicious belief that role-playing is somehow anti-authority persists even today (Thomas 2010). The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recently upheld a prison’s decision to restrict a prisoner from playing role-playing games, which promote “competitive hostility, violence, addictive escape behaviors, and possible gambling” (Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals 2010).
However, players are very clear about this distinction and use specific terms and modes of address to clarify when they are in-game and out-of-game. This is particularly important in LARPs. Some LARPs conduct “afterlive,” a meeting after the LARP session to resolve any lingering issues or questions and help players transition from fantasy back to reality (Mortensen 2007:303).
These same techniques are used during intense role-playing sessions for training purposes, wherein players placed in emotionally stressful situations are then allowed to “draw down” in a safe environment. I have participated in business training sessions in which I was thrust into a surprise role-playing experience, and my decades of gaming served me well. I was much better able to adapt to the shifting frames, from that of the player to that of another character. My colleagues, who had never experienced this form of gaming, found it emotionally jarring, enough to reduce two of them to tears. The training’s conclusion carefully compartmentalized the role-playing experience and allowed the players to celebrate their success in passing the course.
Character Roles
True Dungeon players are provided character cards which they wear around their necks. Each of these characters includes typical Dungeons & Dragons statistics of hit points,