# D&D Bashing in this Day and Age **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 19, 2010, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-bashing-in-this-day-and-age/529638 "2010-02-19T16:22:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uosdwis_R.Dewoh)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2010, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-bashing-in-this-day-and-age/529638/61 "2010-02-22T21:35:16Z")
> [@Mollie\_Magill](#): > > I remember, just after the big 60 Minutes expose on D&D, my mother wanted to watch us play one night. Just in case we were up to anything nefarious. > > She got bored after twenty minutes and went upstairs. The expose can be sen on [Youtube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbcWKWp2UE4). Sensational journalism at its finest. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2010, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-bashing-in-this-day-and-age/529638/62 "2010-02-22T21:47:27Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > I must say, since I’ve hit my 30s, I’ve never \*ended \*a game as sober as I started. I generally go through at least 1 bottle of red wine a session. More if I’m DMing. PCs will do that to you! Bourbon is a good alternative. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2010, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-bashing-in-this-day-and-age/529638/63 "2010-02-22T22:00:45Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > Um…these guys I knew in college called it Dungeons and Drugs for a reason. I suppose there are probably drug-free games somewhere, though. We played “Drunkards and Daiquiris” in college. Ah…good times. But I’ll still cede 'Mika her point. In high school D&D nerds like me knew to avoid the drunk/stoned jocks. They were the antisocial bullies. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2010, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-bashing-in-this-day-and-age/529638/64 "2010-02-22T22:29:54Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > FWIW, though, I won’t ever tank in WoW if I’ve been drinking. Why not? It can be loads of fun. Down a few, turn up Tub Thumping on the iPod way loud, and go Leeroy Jenkins on everything 😃 ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2010, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-bashing-in-this-day-and-age/529638/65 "2010-02-22T23:23:39Z")
I will never understand how so many people get and keep their panties in such large, convoluted knots over such a frankly tedious game. My brother was always a big gamer, and when he and his friends starting playing in the school library before classes started the guidance counselor called Mom in a state of utter panic over his devil worship, wanting to know if Mom knew who he was hanging out with and what they were doing. Mom just snickered and said, “Of course I know, the whole lot of them are in my dining room right now throwing dice around, quoting Monty Python, and telling dick and fart jokes. That’s where they are all weekend every weekend.” ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-bashing-in-this-day-and-age/529638/66 "2010-02-23T00:10:14Z")
From the article: > [@](#): > > Some experts have cited the D&D backgrounds of people who were later involved in violent crimes, while others say it just a game. Several recent studies have demonstrated that many violent criminals have Monopoly backgrounds. Monopoly apologists say that it’s just a game. All executive-level employees of Parker Brothers have been placed on the FBI watch lists. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-bashing-in-this-day-and-age/529638/67 "2010-02-23T01:35:45Z")
> [@Mr.Miskatonic](#): > > Beware of the Grue. You should have told that to [her](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/member.php). 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-bashing-in-this-day-and-age/529638/68 "2010-02-23T04:46:27Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > Um…these guys I knew in college called it Dungeons and Drugs for a reason. I suppose there are probably drug-free games somewhere, though. My Bro stared playing D&D back in the old 3Volume set days. I started not long after. Other than a little pot and some beer, drugs are very rare. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-bashing-in-this-day-and-age/529638/69 "2010-02-23T08:28:27Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > Well, a guy in the group got himself killed \*by another member of our party \*(by not caring that the bugbear was in the way, IIRC, when he blasted some fire spell at an encroaching zombie horde, and the bugbear then turned around and got three crits on him in a row), and I was the one who thought to ask the DM if the zombies were moving slowly enough that I could stop to loot his corpse, thereby saving a number of very useful items that he’d been carrying. 😃 Did you get some bonus XP for quick thinking? I love bonus XP, and in fact when I DMed, I’d reverse the bonus XP for very good and very bad stats. A fighter who fought with a strength of five got bonus XP, while the guy with the 18/00 strength was penalized. I always figured that having an above average Prime Requisite was reward enough. Players who managed to do things in a way that I hadn’t anticipated usually got bonus XP. And, of course, as a player I love getting it. Anyway, you were saving those items for the party’s use, right? You didn’t want the critters to get hold of them, right? ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-bashing-in-this-day-and-age/529638/70 "2010-02-23T18:04:03Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > **MrDibble** , how many of those turn into “ **ROCKS FALL, EVERYONE DIES** ”? 😃 Surprisingly few. I had a mammoth dropped on me once, though. \*Falkenstein \*game, long story… ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-bashing-in-this-day-and-age/529638/71 "2010-02-23T19:27:39Z")
> [@SteveG1](#): > > Why not? It can be loads of fun. Okay, let me put it this way: I don’t tank \*progression raids \*when I’ve been drinking. 😃 Or, generally speaking, random dungeons, since I don’t want to count on some DPS I don’t know to hold back if it takes me an extra second to grab aggro. > [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > Did you get some bonus XP for quick thinking? It was a few years back, so I don’t recall–I \*do \*remember that the party was pretty excited that I’d managed to salvage the items. Unfortunately, the DM refused to play along later in the game when he presented us with a hole we couldn’t see the bottom of, and I wanted to light a corpse on fire and drop it down there to illuminate things. ☹ > [@](#): > > Anyway, you were saving those items for the party’s use, right? You didn’t want the critters to get hold of them, right? Ssssssssure, that’s it! 😃 (IIRC, my character was Chaotic Evil, as was at least part of the rest of the party, so my motivations may have been… less than altruistic.) ---
**Author:** ![Bookkeeper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bookkeeper/32/281_2.png) [@Bookkeeper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bookkeeper)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2010, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-bashing-in-this-day-and-age/529638/72 "2010-02-24T01:47:30Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Surprisingly few. I had a mammoth dropped on me once, though. \*Falkenstein \*game, long story… Our D&D group learned that, if you \*really \*want to bring a mule into a dungeon which is accessed by descending a very long, straight stairway, you really should have the mule go first, not last, just in case, you know, it trips or something… :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2010, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-bashing-in-this-day-and-age/529638/73 "2010-02-24T13:13:37Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > **MrDibble** , how many of those turn into “ **ROCKS FALL, EVERYONE DIES** ”? 😃 Famous last words: I attack the DM. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2010, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-bashing-in-this-day-and-age/529638/74 "2010-02-24T13:19:30Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > I mean, its just a game. I used to know a guy who was a fundamentalist Christian-he thought playing D&D was akin to inviting satan into your house. When I was 10, my mother had several litters of kittens and forbade me from reading Marvel Comics when she saw a Thor. Saying “it’s a story, Mom! Like Snow White! I don’t believe in some dude flying around with a hammer any more than I believe in gingerbread houses that hold up when it rains! MOOOOOM!” didn’t work. Eight years later, Santa (well, the Three Magi) brought D&D 1st Edition for Middlebro… She was Not Happy, but couldn’t say anything, since Lilbro still believed in the Magi 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-bashing-in-this-day-and-age/529638/75 "2010-02-25T03:26:43Z")
> [@](#): > > Unfortunately, the DM refused to play along later in the game when he presented us with a hole we couldn’t see the bottom of, and I wanted to light a corpse on fire and drop it down there to illuminate things. I was playing in a group once, and we were at the top of a building with many wooden items and furnishings. One of the group (not me, thank goodness) had the bright idea of lighting something large and flammable and dropping it down through the top of this building, to give us light to climb down. Well, the DM informed us that we’d set the furniture or something on fire. Guess what? This was a multi level adventure, and the DM had planned to use it for several games as we levelled up. However, all the critters came boiling out of the building at once. Including the highest level monsters. All of the monsters, or all of the thinking monsters, were very, very upset about their homes being set on fire, and they saw us, and put two and two together. ---
**Author:** ![LeeshaJoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e8cbc/32.png) [@LeeshaJoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LeeshaJoy)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-bashing-in-this-day-and-age/529638/76 "2010-02-25T03:58:56Z")
> [@SteveG1](#): > > Why not? It can be loads of fun. Down a few, turn up Tub Thumping on the iPod way loud, and go Leeroy Jenkins on everything 😃 I can’t speak for anyone else, but I avoid playing _any_ sort of 3D video game when I’ve been drinking. Alcohol makes me prone to motion sickness. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-bashing-in-this-day-and-age/529638/77 "2010-02-25T04:06:08Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > I was playing in a group once, and we were at the top of a building with many wooden items and furnishings. One of the group (not me, thank goodness) had the bright idea of lighting something large and flammable and dropping it down through the top of this building, to give us light to climb down. Well, the DM informed us that we’d set the furniture or something on fire. Guess what? This was a multi level adventure, and the DM had planned to use it for several games as we levelled up. However, all the critters came boiling out of the building at once. Including the highest level monsters. All of the monsters, or all of the thinking monsters, were very, very upset about their homes being set on fire, and they saw us, and put two and two together. Not too long ago, my party was tasked with clearing out an old mansion and restoring the nearby lighthouse to full function. This involved carry a delicate glass lens from the nearby tower to install in the top of the lighthouse. We got the lens up there, but no one in the party had any ranks in engineering, and we were having trouble getting the lens installed. So one of the party had the bright idea of hammering the lens into place with the pommel of his sword. Actually, it wasn’t _quite_ as stupid as it sounded. The lens had a metal rim around it, so he wasn’t pounding directly on the glass. Not that it mattered much, after the GM had him make an attack roll and the die came up a natural 1. We still haven’t cleared the mansion, and we’re on our fourth lens for that damned light house. Did I mention they each cost 3000 gp? And that the Duke stopped paying for them after we broke the second one? This adventure is going to leave the party at a net loss, by the time its over. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-bashing-in-this-day-and-age/529638/78 "2010-02-25T06:38:31Z")
> [@Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](#): > > The expose can be sen on [Youtube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbcWKWp2UE4). Sensational journalism at its finest. [No, I’m pretty sure this is the real documentary.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Mp7Ikko8SI&feature=related) ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Onimous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ea5d25/32.png) [@Ann\_Onimous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Onimous)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-bashing-in-this-day-and-age/529638/79 "2010-02-25T16:04:33Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > We still haven’t cleared the mansion, and we’re on our fourth lens for that damned light house. Did I mention they each cost 3000 gp? And that the Duke stopped paying for them after we broke the second one? This adventure is going to leave the party at a net loss, by the time its over. Yikes. And what is the time frame to have a new lens made? Hopefully the party has an arrangement for somewhere to stay, otherwise they’d be paying out the nose for room and board. I can see the net loss getting huge at the end of this adventure. At this point, I’d hire someone in town who had at least some engineering skill, hope he does a better job, and cut my losses. My most fun game: I ran a D&D/Toon combo. We took a bunch of toons through Grimtooth’s Dungeon of Doom. Hilarity ensued. We had Bugs Bunny, Darkwing Duck, Splinter, Calvin, and Shirley the Loon. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-bashing-in-this-day-and-age/529638/80 "2010-02-25T17:16:49Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > I don’t believe in some dude flying around with a hammer any more than I believe in gingerbread houses that hold up when it rains! MOOOOOM!" didn’t work. I love that the part you don’t believe about gingerbread houses is the engineering difficulty. 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-bashing-in-this-day-and-age/529638.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-bashing-in-this-day-and-age/529638.md?page=5)