Post by linebeck on Jul 4, 2020 10:25:31 GMT -6
www.austinchronicle.com/news/2020-06-26/a-dangerous-man/
Wardlow is scheduled to be executed next Wednesday (July 8, 2020) for a murder he committed when he was 18. He is about my age (early 40s) and has been on death row the majority of his life. I'm against the death penalty in general, but this case is especially troubling, and not just because the guy sounds like a good DM.
Being able to communicate with 41 other men makes it possible for Wardlow to preside over games of Dungeons & Dragons, the fantasy roleplaying game. In D&D, players assume an identity – wizard, elf, dwarf, human – with various attributes and vulnerabilities, and embark together on an adventure. The Dungeon Master – Wardlow – creates a goal for the group and weaves together a storyline as players encounter challenges, choose a response, and roll dice to determine success or failure.
In D&D, characters may attack and kill adversaries, and each other, with swords, maces, and balls of fire. For a bunch of convicted murderers it could devolve into unchecked aggression. But Ford says this doesn't happen when Wardlow runs the game, that he finds gentle ways to challenge players, "to get them to think about their actions." Ford said Wardlow's approach to the game is like therapy. When it ends, players feel lifted up: "They are much more social and they can't wait until the next session."
In D&D, characters may attack and kill adversaries, and each other, with swords, maces, and balls of fire. For a bunch of convicted murderers it could devolve into unchecked aggression. But Ford says this doesn't happen when Wardlow runs the game, that he finds gentle ways to challenge players, "to get them to think about their actions." Ford said Wardlow's approach to the game is like therapy. When it ends, players feel lifted up: "They are much more social and they can't wait until the next session."
Wardlow is scheduled to be executed next Wednesday (July 8, 2020) for a murder he committed when he was 18. He is about my age (early 40s) and has been on death row the majority of his life. I'm against the death penalty in general, but this case is especially troubling, and not just because the guy sounds like a good DM.
