Dark Dungeons

This article is about something that is considered by the overpowering majority of /tg/ to be fail. Expect huge amounts of derp and rage, punctuated by /tg/ extracting humor from it.

This article contains PROMOTIONS! Don't say we didn't warn you.

One of Jack Chick's most satirized tracts is Dark Dungeons, which depicts a group of teenagers playing Dungeons & Dragons. Not to be confused with Darkest Dungeon, which is a Dark Fantasy videogame, or the Dark Dungeons RPG which is a clone of the Basic D&D Rules Cyclopedia.

When one player's character dies, the other player tells her: "Marcie, get out of here! YOU'RE DEAD! You don't exist anymore." The game master then tells the surviving player that she will teach her how to cast real spells, claiming that the Dying Earth style Vancian magic system of D&D was already preparing her for spell casting. The reader then sees a hidden underworld of dark sorcerers; Debbie starts casting real spells and with these magical powers is able to exert mind control over her father. Strangely, instead of using this new ability for all the regular things people do with unchecked power, Debbie gets her father to buy her more D&D merch. This is followed by Marcie committing suicide because her character died. The game master tells Debbie that the game and her character are more important than real life. An evangelist comforts Debbie, telling her that in fact, it is Jesus who is most important. After going to a church meeting, Debbie eagerly converts and attends a book burning of D&D-related materials, at which the preacher calls the game "filth of Satan" and possessed of "demonic forces." This is what evangelicals actually believe. The full tract is in the gallery below.

Chick had been told by John Todd that C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien ‒ both noted Christians ‒ were satanic, so the original tract warned readers about these authors. Given Chick's virulent hatred of the Catholic Church, and how one was a devout Catholic and another was a devout Anglican (though Lewis' theological works are admired by Orthodox and Catholics as well), it's more likely that just caused him to shit even more. He removed said admonitions at the behest of the author's estate and the threat of legal action if he continued (libel suits in Britain are serious business). That didn't stop the film version from including it though...

The tract was popular enough that at least one retroclone was named after and also used a character named Black Leaf as it's "stand in character" for showing how to do character creation and such.

Black Leaf

Black Leaf is the name of a thief played by the character Marcie in Dark Dungeons. She is killed by a combination of a trap she failed to notice and one bitch of a DM that didn't even give her a saving throw. Marcie, tragically upset by the death of her character, later commits suicide by changing a lightbulb with her mouth. The couple panels with Black Leaf in them surface on /tg/ every now and then and produce quite a bit of lulz.

Movie Version

It exists. It's also surprisingly* tongue-in-cheek. Even the producers of the film knew the comic was a steaming pile of shit, and they have fun with it, even going so far as to sub in ol' Stan with Cthulhu.

Check it out, and brace for lulz.

• Note that the creators are also behind the D&D fan movie series 'The Gamers' and are big fans of D&D. No wonder they'd do a parody of a infamous tract that doesn't do favours for the game.

See Also

Chick Tracts

A "measured" review of the film.

Gallery

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  The DM's next line should be "BITCH PLEASE! The monster fails its save when I say it does."

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  I hate rolling up new characters too.

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  My cleric got to 18th level, but the asshole DM didn't want to let me in the real power. Also; personality? Clerics use Wisdom, not Charisma.

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  Do you know any coven devoted do Sune? Just askin'

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  "Is it possible to learn this power?" "...Not from a Jedi."

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  Mind bondage leaves some collateral effects on the caster's face

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  Thank god she didn't force dad to buy her GW licensed products... he'd be broke by now.

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  I call dibs on her miniatures.

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  That's what you get for roleplaying instead of munchkinning

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  See? Min/Max or GTFO

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  I want a threesome with both of them, that'd be great

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  He was heavier than a duck

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  Dungeon of Bondage? Hmm, /d/elicious...

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  A fine example of Jack Chick misinterpreting the Bible.

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  Wait, the guy behind Debbie there, own with the glasses. Is that D. B. Cooper? Holy shit, he looks just like D. B. Cooper!

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  Do you remember the name of that guy that also loved burning books?

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  "The Next Step" probably being you turning into a lawful stupid paladin, as the small cover suggests.

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  Rule 34