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Tracy Hickman's rant

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Fellfrosch:
Apparently, the recent issue of Dragon magazine contained a sealed section for "Mature Audiences Only," probably as a prelude to the release of "The Book of Vile Darkness." The sealed section contains rules for some pretty vile necromancy and some overtly sexual necrophilia, among other things. Tracy Hickman goes off on the subject very emotionally, which you can read here: http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=24200

There are some of his points that I don't agree with (for instance, I think the Comic Book Code did more harm than good), but he also makes some undeniable and prescient points. So I ask--is there a way to include evil in your games without going over the top? Is it better to stay, as Hickman suggests, on the squeaky-clean, family-friendly side of the hobby, or is there something to be gained from a darker, more serious game? When does it become too much?

Spriggan:
The linking it to terrorists went a little far.  But I do agree with some of the things.  First off one thing he didn't mention was the fact that they sent out the "mature" section to all dragon subscribers.  And there are a decent amount that are under 18.  That's not good, If I was a parent and wizards sent that to my house I'd be furious.  It's almost like that Ambocrobie and Finch catalouge controversy.  I personaly don't have a problem with pepole playing that type of game.  I personaly wouldn't but as Bill O'Riley say: "I don't care what you do in private as long as it dosen't hurt anyone."  I think it is a liitle bad for D&D's image to have wizards publishing this.  It is different then a 3rd party.  It's saying the Wizards endorces maybe even engourages (in the extream view) that type of game.  I can see where Tracey is comming from (not just as a Mormon), he was with TSR from the late '70's on if I'm correct and had to deal with people constantly saying that D&D was evil and Demonic.  He worked to counter that view.  Now from what I udersatand (and I haven't read the dragon article) most of the book reads like a cheep horror flick.  But their appears to be detailed (how much, I don't know) necromantic rituals.  as well as sex cults and things like that.  I personaly think that If a person wants that stuff then they could add it, I don't think that Wizards should be supporting it in any way.

42:
I agree that the terrorist link is going a little too far but other than that I completely agree with Tracey Hickman. Books like that give all of role-playing a bad name. Sure it's just a game, but games are one of the most powerful learning and teaching tools available. Role-play is used A LOT by educators. Most studies find that role-playing helps in developing habits and retaining information. Role-playing games do this as well, but to a much smaller degree. I also find that the line between pretend and reality can be crossed over fairly easily. This isn't always a bad thing, in fact it can be a good thing. For example, role-players can learn social skills by pretending to do them in a session and then applying what they learn to a real situation. "The Book of Vile Darkness" doesn't seem to be giving that sort of encouragement.
Personally, I strongly discourage evil characters in my role-playing games and I give out punishments for performing evil acts (no matter what the rule-book says). I also try to avoid having completely evil villians, which keeps me from having to play evil characters and tends to make the story-line more interesting.
People that I have met who continually play evil players in role-playing games tend to be poeple I would rather not associate with and have some very bad habits and attitudes.
On a final note, I agree that "The Book of Vile Darkness" is for an immature-mature audience.

Entsuropi:
*sigh*
this is why i make certain not to discuss tabletop, video games or roleplaying games with highly religious people. it just isnt worth the effort.
oh and what is the comic book code?

Entsuropi:
oh and if i hear one more person defining people who swear as automaticly immature, there's gonna be hell to pay.

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