So yeah, it's going back some years now.

I started playing RPGs about 1982 I think and the Satanic Panic was in full swing around then.
I was in Sydney Australia around then and there were documentaries on "60 Minutes" addressing RPGs and DnD in particular.
It was all done in a spooky way to promote the "Magic" and potential entry point into Satanism etc.

I used to get joking references to this sort of thing from older people I knew who knew I played DnD and RPGs in general.

Still, Australia is pretty open minded in general and most people don't really care, or not enough to actually do anything about people doing their own thing for the most part, so it wasn't really a problem for me.

TBH, I probably enjoyed the attention and played up to the hype sometimes to get a reaction.

So, for those around then, what were your experiences with this?
Were you impacted by the Satanic panic?
If so, in what way?

The closest I ever got to it was the movie Mazes & Monsters and that one Dark Dungeon comic. But I've always lived in more "progressive" areas of the US, and I'm young enough that I suspect whatever 'Satanic panic' was present (if any) largely missed me.

I should probably clarify for the younger people here.
In the 70s and 80s, more the 80s really, various groups such as concerned parents, religious organizations and so on were concerned about RPGs, Dungeons and Dragons specifically.

They went on media campaigns, even to courts and so on to get DnD banned or at least looked into.
I believe some police forces in the USA took an interest in it as a cause for concern.

Quote from: Antiquation!;1108095The closest I ever got to it was the movie Mazes & Monsters

Yeah that movie kicked off a lot of panic too.  lol

I started around the same time in the UK. But the only sign of the satanic panic I saw was when that dreadful Mazes and Monsters TV movie came out. It was as hysterical as the 2015 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episode Intimidation Game. That anyone is ever taken in by such blatant twaddle is a mystery to me.

No.  And I was living in an area that was supposedly hot with it.  Never had anyone get in my way while being very public about our gaming.

The closest I came to personally dealing with it was in a little mini revival of the panic, in the late '90s, when a friend cautiously asked me about it.  One conversation later, it was no longer an issue.

Yes. My first DM's mom threw all his D&D books into the fireplace and burnt them. He stopped playing right then out of embarrassment and heartbreak.

Several years later, he turned into a drug dealer.

A few years after that, he killed himself.

My own mother had a bunch of whacky beliefs, but she thought playing D&D with friends was an excellent way to stay away from drugs. She was right on that account.

Thinking back to those years, D&D was a great game for us poor folks. We pooled our money and shared books. We even shared dice. The dice sat in the middle of the table, and you rolled them as needed.

But I still feel bad for Mitch to this day. He worked hard one summer to buy his AD&D books. The game he ran was more to the Christian heroic ideal, the opposite of satanic. His mom didn't care; all she cared about was what her friends thought about her son playing D&D.

Quote from: danskmacabre;1108094So, for those around then, what were your experiences with this?
Were you impacted by the Satanic panic?
If so, in what way?

Only a couple of small moments.

We used to play after school sometimes, and I asked a teacher to sponsor us as an after-school activity. The teacher in question declined, her comment was along the lines that she didn't want to be associated with the controversey surrounding the game.

My mother once asked me if there was anything about D&D that should concern her. I told her no.
It helped that we played at the house and she could see what we were up to. Mostly when bringing us bags of popcorn for snacks.

Quote from: Anthony Pacheco;1108107Yes. My first DM's mom threw all his D&D books into the fireplace and burnt them. He stopped playing right then out of embarrassment and heartbreak.

Several years later, he turned into a drug dealer.

A few years after that, he killed himself.

My own mother had a bunch of whacky beliefs, but she thought playing D&D with friends was an excellent way to stay away from drugs. She was right on that account.

Thinking back to those years, D&D was a great game for us poor folks. We pooled our money and shared books. We even shared dice. The dice sat in the middle of the table, and you rolled them as needed.

But I still feel bad for Mitch to this day. He worked hard one summer to buy his AD&D books. The game he ran was more to the Christian heroic ideal, the opposite of satanic. His mom didn't care; all she cared about was what her friends thought about her son playing D&D.

Well,that's a rather depressing story.

Not really.

I grew up in a rural Southern area with small towns and mostly Baptist churches. In late 80s/early 90s, a few older folks (60s+) maybe furrowed their brows suspiciously at the mention of D&D, but I never encountered anyone who actually tried to dissuade me from playing in any way. In fact, my grandmother (very religious) bought me tons of books. She was happy to see me reading. So, my own experience doesn't really foot with the horror story stereotypes I hear people mention from time to time. Maybe the crazy had passed by then. /shrug

Quote from: Anthony Pacheco;1108107Yes. My first DM's mom threw all his D&D books into the fireplace and burnt them. He stopped playing right then out of embarrassment and heartbreak.
Several years later, he turned into a drug dealer.
A few years after that, he killed himself.

That's absolutely awful. Poor guy.
I wonder if his mother realises what she might have caused, at least in part?

I left home very young at 16, so I could do whatever I wanted without anyone breathing down my neck.
Although had I still been at home when getting into RPGs, it probably would have been a huge problem.

Quote from: Ratman_tf;1108109My mother once asked me if there was anything about D&D that should concern her. I told her no.
It helped that we played at the house and she could see what we were up to. Mostly when bringing us bags of popcorn for snacks.

You have a cool mum, send her a thumbs up from me

Yes. Mom hated D&D but I got away with playing Traveller because it had equations in it (I told her it was helping me learn math and science, she relented).

EDIT: I should probably add that my Dad didn't care. Years later after my mom passed away, I asked him about it and he told me that when he was the age I was when I started gaming, that he used to collect WW1 flying ace pulp magazines and dreamed of that. He didn't think that RPGs were much different.

My grandmother was a religious fanatic who jumped on the hate train as well. But when she was finally driven from our immediate lives by my mom. I actually bought the Basic, Expert and Companion sets. And that started a huge controversy with my mom over it because she had been brainwashed by my grandmother.

I finally had enough. I grabbed my books and told her to read them and make her own decision. After she did, I never heard a negative thing about roleplaying games or D&D from her again. Reason and fact won out with her. Instead of lies that were told by fanatics and strangers.

My mom has always supported my interests.