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a military family can cause extreme feelings of alienation, anger, frustration, depression, and resentment due to the nature of the long deployments and secrecy related to the marine's work. D& D provided a safe outlet for all these emotions, as the family members could choose characters that reflected their internal emotions, and then let the characters behave in all the ways that the person could not do in real life. Role-playing provided them a chance to experience combat with or against their marine, which is something they couldn't do in real life. Many used the game as a way of explaining to their children why they were going to be going away for a long time. Of course, the game was often adapted to meet the individual needs of the players.

When Mike was discharged from the Marine Corps, we moved to Texas. My sons founds other teens who liked to play D&D, and so we started hosting games in our home once more. Mike & I came to the realization that many of these kids needed help in straightening out their lives. So Mike adapted the D&D adventures to be parallel to what the kids were facing in real life. The games gave them a chance to test out new personalities, to express hidden emotions, and to safely rid themselves of anger and frustration. The games brought the kids closer together, and lessened their loneliness and sense of alienation. These games also improved their problem-solving skills and their self-esteem. Their roles helped them to discover who and what they wanted to be and not be. It helped them to learn about love, hate, and forgiveness, as well as self-survival. In many cases, the games renewed these kids' hope and love of life, and helped them past the point of committing suicide. They also learned other valuable social and life skills. For instance, these kids learned how to work as a team, and how to take responsibility for their own choices and actions. They learned the importance of obtaining and wisely applying knowledge. Moreover, they gained the courage to be themselves, even if that meant not being like anyone else.

So you see, Dungeons & Dragons is not satanic in nature. It is not evil. There are many benefits to playing this game, or other role-playing games like it. The only thing that makes it harmful to anyone is when a person takes the game too seriously, and the Dungeon Master is too inexperienced to recognize the person needs help getting back in touch with reality. Fortunately, in most D&D games, there are several levels of experienced players, and they can step in to help the DM and person needing help.

Learn more about this author, Penny S. Vincent.
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