http://www.adequacy.org/stories/2001.8.1.165438.1158.html


It wasn't until the paramedics removed his body

after officially pronouncing him DOA that I mustered the strength to make a closer examination. I wanted to know what Billy's last moments were like; what he was seeing and thinking when he placed that noose over his little head and stepped off into oblivion.
I looked down.

Before me was a heap of books he'd arranged as a makeshift stool to stand atop and then kick aside, doing the deed and sealing his fate.

Dungeons & Dragons Third Edition Player's Handbook

Dungeons and Dragons Third Edition Dungeon Master's Guide


I knew my Billy. I watched what he eat, how much he slept, which friends he played with, and everything else, trying to be the best parent I could and trying to make sure he was safe and happy. But I couldn't make heads or tails of what these books were and why he had them.

So I did what any responsible parent would do: after a few days passed and I composed myself, I set out to learn as much as I could about Dungeons and why my Billy had chosen
those books to kill himself with.

I visited the library. I spoke to other parents. I telephoned the chaplain at my husband's military base. And I fired up my internet. And I learned the awful truth: my

Billy had fallen in with a cult.

Dungeons is a cult, plain and simple. The definition of “cult”, which Dungeons fits to the tee, is:

A religion or religious sect generally considered to be extremist or false, with its followers often living in an unconventional manner under the guidance of an authoritarian, charismatic leader.