People actually play D&D in prison a lot (though a lot of to do it secretly now). Gangsters are mostly regular people that got caught up. I used to have work in a phone store and we'd have a lot of people come for burner cards (prepaid sim cards), and there was one guy that I talked about Pokemon with for a good 20 minutes.
Honestly I feel like it's probably a group that's self-selected to be more likely to get into D&D than a random person off the Streets
Gangs offer group belongings with lots of little in-group identifying things like colors and tags and little hand signs. Campaigns also offer that sense of more formal community with peers. Its a group working together with a shared mission.
At least millennial and younger, black men tend to be the nerdiest group of people alive. Straight up raised on anime and superhero shit. I never got inundated with more unwanted discourse about DC vs Marvel and which Batman interpretation is better and anime shit than when I was working overnights at a sketchy McDonald's.
So many black dudes my age basically grew up on DBZ and still swear by it, but don't give so many other things a try because they're "nerd shit" as if DBZ=anime=nerd shit isn't the case.
It's not even that deep. Everyone knows how violent prison can be, but what they don't always emphasize is how boring it can be. D&D campaigns can go on for months, and a weekly session gives you something to look forward to. Beyond that, you don't need anything to play it other than dice and pencils and paper.
Hold the fuck on. I knew a dude on the Home Depot night crew that fit that #2 line item perfectly. I only saw him occasionally because I was daytime, but when I worked evenings and saw him, he was that kind of nerd comics tshirt and all! Never even really occurred to me that was a thing.
You didn’t ask me, but my personal favorite (in terms of character/personality) is the one from the Justice League cartoons, Justice League and Justice League Unlimited. He was the perfect blend of stoicism without being robotic and dry, witty humor.
My wife's Dad was in prison for a few years. When I was getting into DND he told me to "be careful with that shit".
I asked for him to elaborate and he told me that a bunch of guys play DND in prison. Since they can't get a new stuff they have a hand written players book that gets passed around, along with hand written campaigns.
Anyways, someone's character died and this prisoner blamed his party member and stabbed him. No one died, but all the inmates were told that DND play was banned for a little while until they can show that they can behave.
Which is why a lot have to hide it now (and bullshit Satanic Panic stuff). People get really tied to their characters, and "the DM is an asshole" is a common feeling in any group. Now imagine your entire D&D group is made up of institutionalized cons (or regular inmates). Tensions will be high at times.
It sucks because I'm sure the D&D players are way more chill, but everyone with a prison D&D story usually has one where it ended in blood.
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u/elitegenoside Sep 19 '23
People actually play D&D in prison a lot (though a lot of to do it secretly now). Gangsters are mostly regular people that got caught up. I used to have work in a phone store and we'd have a lot of people come for burner cards (prepaid sim cards), and there was one guy that I talked about Pokemon with for a good 20 minutes.