Dragonlance D&D Game Blog

I saw a recent post of an article about Dungeons and Dragons from 1985. It includes all the typical D&D-hysteria, and quotes from all the usual suspects, like Patricia Pulling and Thomas Radecki . What I found surprising about the article was the fact that at least some nod was paid to journalistic balance, in the form of positive comments about D&D from The Association for Gifted-Creative Children, Steven Spielberg, and Dr. Joyce Brothers. Check out the article yourself here . For some previous posts about D&D Controversies, check out this list .

As I mentioned in a previous post , once upon a time there was a lot of controversy surrounding Dungeons and Dragons. James Dallas Egbert III was at the center of one such story about a young, brilliant teen lost in steam tunnels during a "real life" game of D&D (and yes, this was the inspiration for the novel and movie " Mazes and Monsters "). While I was a young boy at the time, I have no memories of when the disappearance of James Dallas Egbert III happened. Years later, before I started playing D&D, I read The Dungeon Master , a book about the incident from the private detective the family hired to investigate James' disappearance. This year marks the 30th anniversary of his disappearance. For the full story, check out this link from GeekSix.com

Clips from 1985 episode of 60 Minutes looking at the alleged harmful influence of Dungeons and Dragons in the murder/suicides of several teens. Part 2 ends with a follow-up on Dr. Thomas Radecki, who became involved in another controversy a few years later. Part 1 Part 2 Sadly, Pat Pulling died in 1997. I've found no information that she ever changed her opinion about the game or its effect on her son. As mentioned in the story, I suspect that this grieving mother may have needed something to blame for her son's unfortunate tragedy.