Is it Wrong for a Christian to Play Dungeons & Dragons?

You’re a wizard hired to escort a caravan of diplomats on an important mission of peace. Suddenly, the lead wagon erupts in flames. You hear guards scream as goblin archers rain arrows down on your party. You whirl just in time to see a wild orc rush towards you waving a bloody club. Thankfully, you have magic and enough mana to spare. You raise your staff to freeze the orc in a cone of ice, but then you remember…

I’m a Christian. I’m not supposed to use magic. What am I doing?

The scenario above is similar to any number of fantasy worlds or storylines in which you may find yourself immersed — should you decide to play Dungeons & Dragons.

Yet should you, as a Christian, play such a game? Isn’t Dungeons & Dragons evil? Isn’t it satanic? Isn’t magic condemned by the Bible?

Let’s step back and first consider the nature of Dungeons & Dragons (D&D). The official D&D website describes the iconic game as follows:

The first Dungeons & Dragons game was played back when Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson chose to personalize the massive battles of their fantasy wargames with the exploits of individual heroes. This inspiration became the first fantasy roleplaying game, in which players are characters in an ongoing fantasy story. This new kind of game has become immensely popular over the years, and D&D has grown to include many new ways to vividly experience worlds of heroic fantasy.

The core of D&D is storytelling. You and your friends tell a story together, guiding your heroes through quests for treasure, battles with deadly foes, daring rescues, courtly intrigue, and much more. You can also explore the world of Dungeons & Dragons through any of the novels written by its fantasy authors, as well as engaging board games and immersive video games. All of these stories are part of D&D.
https://dnd.wizards.com/dungeons-and-dragons/what-is-dd

By now, D&D of course has an elaborate set of rules, traditions, products, expansions, and so forth as well as millions of players and fans. And it’s sometimes hard to set that aside and evaluate D&D‘s moral propriety exclusively in theological (rather than emotional or cultural) terms.

The reality is that some D&D games (each game taking on a unique identity based on the players in a given group) are NOT appropriate for Christians.

But can it be said that no Christian should ever, under any circumstances, involve herself or himself in a D&D game or group?

Some Christians will answer that in the affirmative, citing the D&D game system (complete with magic, monsters, and mana) as incompatible with a biblical worldview.

This may be true (again, it depends on the game and the makeup of the group playing a given game), but a similar argument — if broadly applied – would (in order to remain logically consistent) need to take into account just about any form of secular entertainment.

If it’s wrong to play a make-believe magic character in a D&D game, then it’s also wrong (by that same logic) to watch any of the Star Wars movies or even an old episode of Bewitched.

Some of my favorite childhood memories involve my father and I together creating and playing strategy games. We both loved history, science fiction, and fantasy. And I have many fond memories dreaming up various story ideas and making up our own games – and then playing them.

In one particular game, we had medieval soldiers, castles, dragons, and wizards. I remember it well. We’d dream up the rules, play out our game to see if the rules worked, and tweak things as we went along. And on a least a couple occasions, when I’d start winning, Dad would want to change the rules. :-).

My dad raised me to believe in God, love Jesus, and respect the Bible as God’s word. And it frankly irritates me that some Christians would think we were doing something “demonic” or “sinful” in those harmless father-son games because, in at least a couple of them, we had wizards and dragons!

Or because Dad tried to get me to read The Lord of the Rings books (and I sadly never did — but I love the movies! 🙂 ).

And yet many Christians are indeed that way. And would indeed say those things.

I still remember when the first Star Wars movie came out. I loved it! My dad loved it! It was something that he and I bonded over. He took me to every one of the original trilogy movies. And he and Mom bought me some of the Star Wars comics when they came out.

And I remember taking one of those comics to school one day (I went to a private Christian school) and being told by my teacher that Star Wars was “of the devil.”

Of the devil? Seriously!?

My dad was helping me celebrate something that was “of the devil”?!

For my third-grade mind, that just did not compute. And, honestly, it doesn’t compute for my mind today either.

The Bible certainly condemns “mediums,” “necromancers,” and “sorcerers” (see Leviticus and Revelation). But these passages very specifically refer to individuals consorting with actual witches and demons. These passages are not talking about Gandalf in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings or the main protagonist in I Dream of Jeannie.

There is a big difference between make-believe and reality. And if someone doesn’t understand that difference, then we’re dealing with bigger and more pressing issues.

And that does lead me to one legitimate concern that D&D critics have — one that continually keeps coming up. And that concern is…

D&D can, and has, served as a gateway of sorts for those with a strong fascination of or interest in actual occult practices.

It’s a fact that many players in the overall D&D “community” (and it’s a huge community – more like an overlapping collection of communities plural) are either in the occult or the New Age movement or both — while others are looking to get involved in those things.

There are many stories out there — including one in Playing With Fire by Billy Hallowell (an excellent book on spiritual warfare that I highly recommend) — of people in the occult using D&D games to recruit naive or curious people into the occult.

For this reason, I’m not endorsing D&D without reservations. I’m not even endorsing D&D. Far be it from me to tell you what game you should play. Whether you play chess, checkers, Old Maid, UNO, Axis & Allies, Fortnite, Pokemon, D&D, or whatever — that’s all up to you. It’s between you and God – and, if you’re a minor, your parents.

I’m simply making the case that…

There’s a major difference between someone getting involved in D&D because they want to achieve real-life magical powers versus someone who understands it’s a game and all make-believe and who just wants to have some fun.

If you wish to get involved in D&D, I encourage you to read up on the game, then prayerfully study and meditate on the Bible’s teachings concerning occult practices as well as Paul’s teachings on Christian liberty, meat being offered to idols, and related passages.

The article “What does the Bible say about eating food/meat that has been sacrificed to idols?” from GotQuestions.org is a good start — pointing you to some key Bible passages for further study.

Remember that our overall, primary purpose is to glorify God. In the course of our life, is it wrong to take some recreational and relaxation time for ourselves? Definitely not. But let’s make sure we don’t cause ourselves to stumble into sin or cause others to do so.

At the same time, be cautious and humble in the judgments you make of other people’s hearts – especially those of your brothers and sisters in Christ.

God bless you.

NOTE: Minor editorial changes were made to the preceding article on 5/19/2023

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