Real-life experiments with D+D spells

[Cookiemobsta]

Enjoy!
http://www.theescapist.com/spells/

[Olo Demonsbane]

Wow.

Thanks for the link.

[Behold_the_Void]

I remember this one, it was pretty entertaining.

[LurkerInPlayground]

Yeah, surprise, surprise. The fundamentalist religious-right hates rock-and-roll, video games, D&D, Harry Potter, Care Bears and just about everything else.

Appropriately enough, they actually believe magic exists and that their magic is the "good" one.

This is news?

[Ravens_cry]

Yeah, surprise, surprise. The fundamentalist religious-right hates rock-and-roll, video games, D&D, Harry Potter, Care Bears and just about everything else.

Appropriately enough, they actually believe magic exists and that their magic is the "good" one.

This is news?

Actually, if you read the letters he received after, you'll find that's a stereotype. It may be true of some people, but not everybody who would label themselves as members of the fundamentalist religious right.
Sadly, it's mostly the noisiest ones.

[ShadowFighter15]

Sadly, it's mostly the noisiest ones.

Seems that what they lack in common sense, they make up for in volume.

[LurkerInPlayground]

Actually, if you read the letters he received after, you'll find that's a stereotype. It may be true of some people, but not everybody who would label themselves as members of the fundamentalist religious right.
Sadly, it's mostly the noisiest ones.

I'm not sure that does one thing to change the truth-value of my statement. You don't think I've heard this rhetoric before?

This fringe has always been making noise and always will be. Complaining about how rock-and-roll will corrupt our children was just the obvious precursor to burning Harry Potter books.

[Ravens_cry]

I'm not sure that does one thing to change the truth-value of my statement. You don't think I've heard this rhetoric before?

This fringe has always been making noise and always will be. Complaining about how rock-and-roll will corrupt our children was just the obvious precursor to burning Harry Potter books.

Like I said read the letters.I don't really find it fair for you to paint a whole group with a single brush. Stereotyping is still stereotyping, even when it's an acceptuble target

[LurkerInPlayground]

Like I said read the letters.I don't really find it fair for you to paint a whole group with a single brush. Stereotyping is still stereotyping, even when it's an acceptuble target

I sense contradiction and you are only confusing me. It's not okay to satirize certain targets except when it is okay to do it? What.

Even if they don't resemble the stereotype to a "T" that people have these beliefs at all is worthy of mockery on its own. If you have those beliefs or are amenable to them, what you deserve is relentless embarrassment and ridicule, with appeals to even-handed treatment ground contemptuously beneath the heel. I think the linked article on the Escapist makes this point clear.

But of course the mockery is an exaggeration. And not all people of group X are like that.

Really.

But that isn't my point at all. My point is that the fringe that criticizes D&D have always done so as inevitably as they have attacked Harry Potter and most people simply don't care.

[Kris Strife]

Lurker: So, its okay to make fun of their group, but not for them to mock yours?

I wouldnt be suprised if someone actually believed they learned magic from D&D or Harry Potter. After all, RPGs and Childrens Books are Serious Buisiness. And am I the only one who remember the guy who comitted suicide when his EQ character died?

Making loud, insulting protests to counter their's just fuels their anger and sense of superiority. Turn the other cheek, forgive them, be the better Christian. Thats how to beat em

[LurkerInPlayground]

Lurker: So, its okay to make fun of their group, but not for them to mock yours?

I tend to be wordy. And spend a long time editing my posts. There is a reason for this. I like to think it's because I care about my word choice.

Making loud, insulting protests to counter their's just fuels their anger and sense of superiority. Turn the other cheek, forgive them, be the better Christian. Thats how to beat em

"Turning the other cheek" is irrelevant to what I'm talking about. If you have false beliefs and use that as a basis for a feeling of superiority, it is arrogance. As far as I'm concerned, it's a victimless crime.

However, the point of ridicule and satire isn't strictly about those who want to dig themselves in deeper.

[Oracle_Hunter]

Well of course it didn't work - he's doing it wrong! Everyone knows that Gygax cut the full text of the spells when he published OD&D - something about unruly players and fireball, IIRC.

Really, trying to cast out of the third edition? What was he thinking!

[monty]

Damn it, I failed my will save against TV Tropes again.

[Tensu]

Ok Lurker, don't take this the wrong way, but I see a great deal of ignorance to what you're talking about.

Christians don't believe "they're magic is" good.

the problem is the word "magic". It means about as much as "Xyzokpholesomodretttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt ttttttttttt'poerektar", namely, nothing. the problem is, like "Xyzokpholesomdrettttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt tttttttttttt'Poerektar", it can be used to describe anything. Somebody shoots fire and ice out of their hands? that's magic. somebody falls in love? that's magic. somebody is good at what they do? magic. somebody feels a strong emotion? magic. somebody gets lucky? magic. somebody knows a lot about chemestry? magic. a resturaunt serves cheeseburgers? magic. somebody enjoys the holiday season? clearly that must be magic. I don't think there's anything we haven't described as magic.

which leads us to our second problem: the words "sorcery" and "spell". unlike "magic", these words have meaning. a very dark, evil meaning. and not just in Christian culture.

you see, Prophets where not magicians: they where thaumaturges: miracle workers. and the bible did not forbid magic: it forbade sorcery, spellcraft, fortune-telling and other such occult practices.

the problem is both the good thaumaturgy and the evil sorcery are put under the blanket term "magic", and any kind of new power, no matter how little it has to do with these other two, is also called magic. and magic has become associated more with sorcery than anything else it's ever been used to describe. thus, aspects of sorcery are applied to anything described as magic, including things that aren't sorcerous at all.

as I said earlier, Christianity is not the only religion to differintiate between powers granted by God or some other source and powers granted from dark study (the Tlingit come to mind) but all such forces are branded magic, which is associated with the evil sorcery.

If you depicted someone doing something magical, but did not use the words "magic", "spell", or "sorcery", nobody would care.

the second mistake you make is that you assume nobody has ever taken D&D or Harry potter too seriously. they have.

the third, and most important mistake you make, is you believed lies.
I could walk up to you and say I'm a brain surgeon. Your first responce would probably be a question about surgery, at which point it will become clear that I am, in fact, not a brain surgeon and know little to nothing about brain surgery other than that "cerebral cortex" is fun to say. You would then stop calling me a brain surgeon.

however, if someone came up to you and called themselves a Christian, and then acted in a manner that defies all that the Christian religion stands for, you would still refer to them as a Christian even though they aren't.

anyone can say that they're a Christian. Actually being a Christian is another matter altogether. for example, a Christian must not be overly judgmental. and the people you have a problem with are overly judgmental. Therefore, they are not Christians.

It would be like if because I wasn't really a brain surgeon, you assumed all brain surgeons are liars and know nothing about brain surgery. At least with most forms of discrimination are based on the action of someone who was actually a member of the discriminated group, but discrimination against Christians is based solely on people who aren't Christians, or at the very least aren't very good ones.

Am I bothered by the use of words like "spell" and such? yeah, a little. But I don't let it get to me because A) I can differentiate between fantasy and reality. I'm not actually practicing any kind of sorcery B) If God is willing to forgive murder, I don't think a game will keep me out of heaven. and C) Without video games to distract me, I could go off and do something far, far worse.

[Starbuck_II]

I thought it was funny, but the author forgot something.
Life span doesn doesn't equal level.
I mean, elves life really long times, but there are aty least as many humans level 20 as elves (more humans actually).

So I could see why D&D spells failed.

Next he failed his wand making skills: you put the ingredents inside the wand: not as the wand itself.

[BlueWizard]

Funny.