My 10 year old daughter is running her first tabletop RPG tomorrow. She had organised for three friends from school to come over and play.
I just had a couple of phone calls this morning from the parents of one of the girls, saying that their daughter won’t be allowed to come because it goes against their [religious] beliefs.
Bummer.
My reaction to reading that was feeling left out because none of my GMs ever invited me to join any covens or secret societies 
That really sucks about the girl’s parents. I hope Lea’s game can go ahead!
Sigh I can understand religions a bit… But at times it’s just so… unfortunate, that they refuse to use certain things, or call things you do evil.
I presume you can’t somehow let her parents explain what is so bad about it, and tell them what it REALLY is?
I wonder what would happen if people were to make a Christian version of D&D… Ah well.
I was in more or less the same position when I was at high school - although my parents didn’t really understand what roleplaying was (and probably still don’t 
) they’d heard enough bad stories about D&D that they said I wasn’t allowed to play it. My mates and me ended up playing Paranoia and Recon instead; we had a few sessions at my house - it may have even been their idea - and when they saw that it was mostly just goofing around and a little bit of storytelling they relaxed quite a bit. However I didn’t play D&D until I came up to Uni.
What system is she running?
The link goes to a game called Witch Girls, which is about preteens who are witches.
Derek, did they say if it was the specific content of the game, or the hobby of roleplaying in general? If it’s the former, it might work to try again sometime in the future if your daughter runs a different game.
I believe it was the content of the game (i.e. role playing witches) rather than role playing games in general. I talked to the mother this morning, and suggested she read about role playing games (and this one specifically) on Wikipedia and the the game designers website. They discussed it as a family and decided it was inappropriate.
I’m still not sure if the family actually believes in witches and magic. I decided it was better not to ask, and risk damaging my daughters friendship. 
It’s all fine with me. I’d rather my daughters were friends with kids who have parents that care what they are up to, than ones that don’t. Even if from time to time the list of allowable activities doesn’t line up with what I find permissible.
After all I’ve done similar in the past, by not allowing my kids to attend the weekly bible studies at their primary school.
Well, I have adult Christian friends who roleplay their little hearts out, who choose not to play games with overtly magical/supernatural themes. (Bearing in mind the huge spectrum.)
As you know, I don’t have a problem with it for myself, but I have no problem with them not wanting to.
I also know of some parents who don’t let their children read Harry Potter for much the same reason. And that may seem like an over reaction. But I am not their parents… And in the grand scheme of things, it really doesn’t matter.
There’s plenty of other good books (and games) out there.
Perhaps as they get older, it will become less of an issue.
And in the meantime, maybe some good conversation can come out of it… 
I read it and thought, how come I never got a cleric to 8th level?
Just a thought - the lord of the rings role playing game is very good and alot of ‘hardcore’ christians are fine with it. We get a fair few in the store who are against the deamon / wizard / sorcerer aspects of warhammer / warhammer 40,000 but are totally fine with their kids using gandalf to kill some orks.
Tolkein goes down better in religious circles - on the flip side as a devout anglican I can totally see their point of view and feel for them. The world can be a scary place when you believe in deamons and eternal fires of doom.
Heh, I’ve got a friend who’s christian, and she’s got a friend who is a wikka(spelled correctly?) practitioner.
Thanks Adam. I believe the genre was the problem in this case, not the idea of role playing. However, it was the genre my daughter picked, because she thought for a game with all girls in it, playing witches at a school a bit like Harry Potter would be really cool. 
I will suggest LoTR to her as a possibility, but I knows she prefers the Harry Potter genre.
Because let’s face it, Hermione is a pretty exceptional role model for geek girls
On the upside, the game went really well and I got to have a very interesting conversation with my ten year old daughter about religious differences, religious tolerance and a few other things. She understands and is empathic to the situation.
[quote=“Derek”]Because let’s face it, Hermione is a pretty exceptional role model for geek girls [/quote]Does she watch the new My Little Pony series? It’s fun, good quality and the lead character is basically Hermione with hooves. Plus, a lot of adult geeks quite like it.
And all the strange creatures they encounter in the woods come out of the D&D Monster Manual, just to keep things interesting.
Nope. We haven’t turned on the TV for about 3 years.
Thumbs up, for the TV comment, and for the whole thread & attitude Derek.
I’m a happily Christian roleplayer, who was brought up a specific way. My choices became my own as I got older (Growing up? Never!), and I regret not the changes I have made to my own beliefs.
IMO, whatever your upbringing, if your parents care for what you are doing, excellent. If they then let you grow and decide for yourself, even better.
[quote=“Xcerus”]
Tolkein goes down better in religious circles - on the flip side as a devout anglican I can totally see their point of view and feel for them. The world can be a scary place when you believe in deamons and eternal fires of doom.[/quote]
It’s only scary if you think that the demons have any power over you…
And there’s some great conversation to be had on Tolkien’s treatment of magic and who gets to use it… Not starting in this thread of course, but it’s interesting.
I’m just really pleased at the positive, intelligent tone of this thread in general.
Hurrah for a situation provoking thoughtful and interesting conversations.
I remember all too well what it’s like having your life ruled over by your parents’ irrational fears. I feel sorry for the girl, because I’ve been there and it’s utter BS.
They did; it was called the Crusades 
It’s academically interesting when you start to mix games of “make believe” with peoples beliefs.
In some ways, role playing (tabletop and live action) afford similar opportunities to stand up comedy in that you get to explore areas that are a bit taboo that you really might not otherwise explore.
I know the first Wolfgang’s game sailed a little too close to the wind for some people and subsequent games had their rituals toned down a little bit. It also sounds like the last Witch House was probably not the kind of game you would have videoed and shown your grandparents. 