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It Gets
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Wow. That is a lot
of question marks.
(See previous page for
more on real-world mythology in AD&D. With
the exception of the lizard man entry, the other mythologies listed on
this page are from real-world sources.)
It should be noted that
the Dragon magazine reference is the only time
Satan is mentioned as an adversary in any D&D
product - and that is exactly how he is listed, as an
adversary. While it likely meant very little to any RPG
opponent then or now, material printed in Dragon
was not automatically official material for the game, so Satan was
never an "official" AD&D adversary, but
anyone wanting to fight him with their epic-level characters could pick
up that issue of Dragon and start bashing away.
At the bottom of page
21, three words are printed with nearly 20 question marks after each,
apparently in an attempt to convey the sheer outrage that these
adjectives could be used to describe such a terrible game: EDUCATIONAL,
STIMULATING, and MOTIVATING. Since they're posed as questions, I feel
obligated to answer them in this context.
EDUCATIONAL
?????????????????? - The Deities &
Demigods book included several sections on real-world
mythology, gods, and heroes - Aztec, Celtic, Greco-Roman, Native
American, Norse, and many more. Featured in each section were lots of
details on the cultures of the people who believed in these gods and
heroes. So yes, in this context, the game is educational.
STIMULATING
?????????????????? - The Deities &
Demigods book could only fit so much information into each
section - players were encouraged to find out more by looking for books
on the culture and mythology of each mythos. So yes, the game
stimulates thought and inquiry about the history and mythology of the
world - I can say that it certainly did this for me in my early days of
playing. And best of all, it could also stimulate thought about
dangerous cults and religious practices, and the perils of believing in
things that can seriously harm yourself or others.
MOTIVATING
??????????????????? - (This one gets an extra question
mark, for some reason.) AD&D could
motivate players in many ways. It motivated millions of players to get
together in groups and have a great time playing a game, instead of
getting into trouble. In the aforementioned example, it could motivate
them to learn more about mythology and world cultures. It certainly
motivated players to read books (even if it was only the rulebooks) and
write (even if it was only their character description and background).
It can defintely motivate younger players to clean their rooms or
improve their grades when their parents threaten to take away their
books.
...and
when someone publishes and distributes a nastly little booklet on the
imagined evils of the game, it can motivate at least one aging gamer to
spend an awful lot of time refuting it all...
Page 22
The comparisons between D&D
and occultic traditions, most of them from legend and lore, continue
here. The concepts of clerics and shamans healing the sick, and druids
raising the dead, are both from fantasy folklore. The occult has no
exclusive hold on them.
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