Dungeons & Dialectics

Two weeks ago, we dove into the story of the virgin birth. But now comes the most important part: Who cares? Matt certainly doesn't, but join us as Joe tries to convince him with the true meaning of Christmas: give up sex and you too can become a lion-riding badass who shoots lightning from her fingertips just like a monk or paladin in D&D.

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Sources:

John 2:1–11: The Wedding at Cana

Matt accuses Joey of being a fake Christian as the two investigate the conditions of the possibility of getting laid. Was the Virgin Mary a 'multiple sex haver' or a perpetual virgin like the Catholic Church says she is? Tune in for the surprising answer that solves the problem once and for all.

As a bonus, Matt reveals the ancient secret to spinal health!

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Sources:

Ezekiel 1:15–21: Ezekiel's Vision of Angels

Luke 1:26–38: The Birth of Jesus Foretold

Catholic Church. (2000). Catechism of the catholic church (2nd ed.). 963-975.

Origen (1980). Chadwick, Henry (ed.). Contra Celsum. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 32.

"There can be miracles... when you believe."  -The Prince of Egypt

Just like any good Dungeon Master, sometimes God intervenes in the ordinary course of human affairs to fudge things just a little... curing disease, separating the Red Sea, and getting turnt New Testament style! But if God can intervene, how do they decide when to fudge the dice and when to let it play out? How do they decide who dies? Who lives?

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Sources:

John 2:1–11: The Wedding at Cana

Mark 1:41-44: Healing a leper

Mark 6:31-44: Feeding the five thousand

Gospel of Thomas Greek Text A (Archive), Wesley Center Online, Northwest Nazarene University

Ton Bersee. On the Meaning of 'Miracle' in Christianity. An Evaluation of the Current Miracle Debate and a Proposal of a Balanced Hermeneutical Approach, Peeters Publishers, 2021

If you're a huge nerd you know that "fudging the dice" is when the Dungeon Master changes the results of the die roll to suit their own narrative purposes. Maybe they save your character from a dragon's breath by lowering the damage ever so slightly. Or maybe the final blow barely misses you when you're at 1 hit point left. Or perhaps a sinister DM raises the Difficulty Class of a medusa's gaze so as to petrify a character!

If you're not a huge nerd... well now you are.

Matt and Joe tackle this controversial topic on this episode of Dungeons & Dialectics. Should Dungeon Masters ever fudge the dice? Should PLAYERS? Find out this week on the most niche podcast you listen to!

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Well... do they?

Christianity has a long history of an unsavory association with cannibalism beginning with Roman propaganda in the first century CE. Although if every week you get together to chant about how you're going to eat some guy's body, people might call you cannibals. But what does it mean to eat the literal body and drink the literal blood of Jesus Christ?

Find out on this BONUS EPISODE of Dungeons & Dialectics as we dive into transubstantiation!

How much work goes into creating a world that feels real? Can that work be substituted by the illusion of free will? How many alternate options do the Players need to engage with the world? Is your Dungeon Master LYING TO YOU? Probably.

If you're looking for the answers to these questions (and more!), check out the sources. But if you're content to listen to Matt and Joe swap stories and ramble on about old blog posts and what passes for philosophy, listen to the episode instead.

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The Shell Game in the Sandbox

How Illusion Can Rob Your Game of Fun (Quantum Ogres)

Wow! If you've been listening for the past two weeks, you're probably wondering when the f*ck we're going to start talking about RPGs again. I mean, what is this? Where are the dungeons? Where are the dragons? Where are the stories from games we've played? Well Matt's been thinking the same thing, so get ready to apply our thoughts on Trolley Problems and ethical dilemmas to the game!

Sources:

This episode is based almost exclusively on our own experiences and the theoretical groundwork laid in last week's episode, but check out Miguel Sicart for some more reflections on ethical dilemmas in gaming:

Sicart, Miguel. "Moral Dilemmas in Computer Games." MIT Press, vol. 29, no. 23, 2013, pp. 28-37.

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Spock: "Logic clearly dictates that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few."

Kirk: "Or the one."

-The Wrath of Khan, 1982

OR DOES IT? Is Spock right, or is he just full of sh*t? Maybe he needs to read more Kant... Just kidding. No one needs to read Kant. Because WE read it for you! Listen as Matt and Joe tackle one of ethics' most famous and memeable thought experiments, the Trolley Problem, and the consequentialist vs. deontological implications for real-life decision making.

Sources:

"Trolley problem." Wikipedia, 8 Sept. 2021. (Yea, we looked it up on Wikipedia. So what?)

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When Matt's friend Faraz decides to play Jesus Christ in their next campaign, he calls on Joe to examine Faraz's pacifist savior. In the real world, violent crusades and genocide in the name of God seem to violate Jesus's peaceful teachings... But what do Jesus and the Church say about violence? How do we resist violence? When is violence allowed? Is it EVER allowed? Does it matter who commits the violence?

Find out on today's episode of Dungeons & Dialectics!

Sources:

The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. New York: Oxford University, 1996.

Christopher H. Evans, The Social Gospel in American Religion: A History, NYU Press, US, 2017.

Ellacuría, Ignacio. “El desafío de las mayorías pobres”, Estudios Centroamericanos (El Salvador), vol. 44, núm. 493-494 (1989), pp. 1075-1080, p. 1075.

Ellacuría, Ignacio. "Trabajo no violento por la paz y violencia liberadora", Concilium, no. 215, 1988, p. 84-94

Gutiérrez, Gustavo. "Teología y ciencias sociales." vol. 25, no. 99, Sept. 1986.

Hugo Assmann (1991). The strange imputation of violence to liberation theology, Terrorism and Political Violence. 3:4.

Orr, Edgar W. (1958). Christian pacifism. C.W. Daniel Co.

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Confucius... a gamer?

Find out on this EXTENDED episode of Dungeons & Dialectics (now with gooderer audio and 15 minutes of bonus content!), as we delve into the history of Dungeons & Dragons. From ancient dice to pre-modern chess variants, trace the journey of gaming culminating in a couple of nerds and a dream. You'll get some quality information mixed in with all the foolish tangents you've come to know and love. A recipe for success!

Sources:

Playing at the World

Of Dice and Men

No Princess in the Castle

Jaquaying the Dungeon

The Story of D&D

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