Theology, Religion, and Dungeons &amp; Dragons: Explorations of the Sacred through Fantasy Worlds

Scott Donahue-Martens; Brandon Simonson

doi:10.5771/9781978716032

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Bibliographic data

Edition: 1/2025
Copyright Year: 2025
ISBN-Print: 978-1-9787-1602-5
ISBN-Online: 978-1-9787-1603-2
Publisher: Lexington, Lanham
Language: English
Pages: 276
Product Type: Edited Book

1. Contents No access
2. Foreword No access
3. Preface No access
4. Acknowledgments No access
1. Overview of the Game No access
2. Part Story, Part Game No access
3. The Fantasy Genre and the Fantastic in D&D No access
4. The Academic Fields of Religious Studies and Theology No access
5. The Chapters No access
6. Conclusion No access
7. Notes No access
8. Bibliography No access
1. 1. Magic and Healing Word No access
  2. Speech-Act Theory No access
  3. Hospitals and Chaplaincy No access
  4. Empowering Interpathy No access
  5. Interpathic D&D No access
  6. Conclusion No access
  7. Notes No access
  8. Bibliography No access
2. 1. The Role of the Dungeon Master No access
  2. The Role of a Spiritual Director in St. Ignatius’s Spiritual Exercises No access
  3. Balancing Individual Agency and Established “Canon” No access
  4. The “Rule of Cool” and the Annotations No access
  5. Adaptation Within Bounded Community No access
  6. Engaging Complicated Legacies No access
  7. Negotiating the Limits of Bounded Community No access
  8. Real Sources of Power: Players and Uncertainty No access
  9. The Power of Unknowable Uncertainty in Adaptation No access
  10. Notes No access
  11. Bibliography No access
3. 1. The Meaning of Redemption No access
  2. Redemption in Critical Role No access
  3. The Age of Authenticity No access
  4. Authenticity in Dimension 20 No access
  5. Continuing Adventures No access
  6. Conclusion No access
  7. Notes No access
  8. Bibliography No access
4. 1. Roll for Initiative No access
  2. More than Going to Church on Sunday No access
  3. Boundaries, Freedom, and Consequences No access
  4. Nurture and Formation through Dungeons & Dragons No access
  5. New Worlds Await No access
  6. Adventure On No access
  7. Notes No access
  8. Bibliography No access
1. 1. Defining “Canon” No access
  2. Expressions and Settings in Life No access
  3. Transmedia, Participation, and Canon No access
  4. Recent View on D&D Canon No access
  5. Acquisitions Incorporated No access
  6. Conclusion No access
  7. Notes No access
  8. Bibliography No access
2. 1. Prelude to Hell No access
  2. Dungeon Delving: Visiting Hell in Antiquity No access
  3. Katabasis and Role-Playing in Imaginary Worlds No access
  4. There and Back Again: Adventuring in Hell and Assessing Its Real-World Analogues No access
  5. Notes No access
  6. Bibliography No access
3. 1. Religious Names and Meaning No access
  2. The Evolving Use of Religious Names in D&D No access
  3. Conclusion: The Role and Function of Religious Names in D&D No access
  4. Notes No access
  5. Bibliography No access
4. 1. Existing Connections No access
  2. Published Responses No access
  3. Players Bringing Tolkien No access
  4. Tolkien Inspiring Fantasy: D&D as Sub-Creation No access
  5. Conclusion No access
  6. Notes No access
  7. Bibliography No access
1. 1. Dungeons, Dragons, and Alignment No access
  2. “Through Me the Way to the City of Woe” No access
  3. The Devil in the Details: Hell in D&D Compared to Dante No access
  4. Baldur’s Gate: Descent Into Avernus No access
  5. Why Journey to Hell? No access
  6. Notes No access
  7. Bibliography No access
2. 1. 1. 1e/AD&D (1978–1989): The Hickmans and Castle Ravenloft No access
    2. 2e (1990–1999): TSR and the Demiplane of Dread No access
    3. 3e/3.5e (2000–2007): White Wolf’s Ravenloft No access
    4. 4e (2008–2013) and 5e (2014–Today): The Wizards’ Ravenloft No access
  2. 1. A Literature of the Dark No access
    2. The Dual Nature of Man No access
    3. Externalization No access
  3. The Anatomy of a Darklord No access
  4. A House of Corruption No access
  5. The Absence of Divine Guidance No access
  6. Conclusion No access
  7. Notes No access
  8. Bibliography No access
3. 1. Lunch among the Dunes No access
  2. Why Dark Sun? Power Fantasy and Power Relationships No access
  3. Process Ecotheology and the Social No access
  4. When Your Meal Talks Back to You No access
  5. Two Models of Sapiophagy No access
  6. Predation, Natural Evil, and the World to Come No access
  7. Conclusion: Theology for the Brown Age No access
  8. Notes No access
  9. Bibliography No access
4. 1. Alignment Wasn’t Always Alignment: D&D and AD&D No access
  2. Alignments Get (Closer to) Systematic No access
  3. Alignments Are No Mere Beliefs: D&D Third Edition No access
  4. Rejecting (and Returning To) the Grid: D&D Fourth Edition and Fifth Edition No access
  5. Virtues and Traditions on the Tabletop No access
  6. Chaotic-Narrative Moral Formation No access
  7. Notes No access
  8. Bibliography No access
1. Connections No access
List of Abbreviations No access Pages 267 - 268
Index No access Pages 269 - 272
1. About the Contributors No access