Sanctuary D&D comes to the Cathedral!

Although the cartoon is a simple black and white line drawing, the contours of the young girl’s face are masterfully depicted: tight, twisted, derisive.

“I used the mind bondage spell on my father,” sneers “Debbie,” a blonde pig-tailed teenager. “He was trying to stop me from playing D&D.”

This bizarre and unsettling panel is from “Dark Dungeons,” a Jack Chick tract published in the 1980s as a polemic against the role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons.

Dungeons and Dragons is a role-playing game where players create characters and go on adventures as a team. It’s famous for its rich and complex gameplay and world-building, as well as the many MANY books of lore, beasts, and scenarios groups may use to craft their odysseys. A game- or dungeon-master takes charge of leading the group, holding the story close so as to allow things to unfold with a sense of mystery and tension. The game is also highly adaptable: while some groups may prefer to explore the different relational dynamics of their team, almost as an extended improv exercise, others may prefer to focus on battles and other challenges, which they can do with the use of dice-rolls and strategy.

Before you ask: yes, I played it on and off through high school and college. What you might not know is that our dean is also a big fan!

Jack Chick was not alone in his fear of Dungeons and Dragons. There was a widespread moral panic among parents in the 1970s and 1980s for a number of reasons, most of which boiled down to its being co-opted by those driving the wider Satanic Panic of the time. Suffice to say, from your doting digital minister, that D&D is a harmless pursuit that gave me (as a screamingly shy and self-conscious queer teen) the chance to step into the shoes of a magician or hero that spoke and moved with confidence, practice strategy, community-building, and thinking on my feet, encouraged teamwork and socialization – and helped me with my math too!

While hardline evangelicals are still for the most part deeply wary of Dungeons and Dragons, mainline churches mostly approach it with benign indifference. But the game, and its many, many offshoots and lookalikes, is still going strong, and now enjoys the beauty of multi-generational engagement. So we decided to host some sessions here, open to anyone from anywhere, no strings attached – just the chance to do something fun and creative within the beautiful and inspiring walls of our cathedral.

Open doors indeed!

Participants will work with our game masters to develop characters in a setting inspired by Ancient Greece, then participate in group storytelling that explores themes of belonging, colonization, and collective action for the common good. The story, Odyssey of the Dragonlords, was developed by the writer of Baldur's Game I & II, and is adapted for use in Sanctuary D&D by Ben Dobyns, a staff consultant in our office, the St. B’s musician, and a highly experienced game-master in their own right.

Sessions will be held both at Christ Church Cathedral and at Shaughnessy Heights United Church.

Would you like to try it out for yourself? Do you have a friend, child, or grandchild that would jump at the opportunity? Please take our player survey here!

See you there!