What is it like to play Dungeons & Dragons in Prison? Ft. Keith Davis
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 18 ก.ย. 2024
- A conversation with Keith Davis, who got his start playing RPGs while incarcerated and continues to play on the outside. We talk about logistical challenges, how RPGs can be an escape in hopeless circumstances, and how they bring people together.
Keith Davis socials:
IG: / keithdavis1893
'They didn't like the Player's Handbook because it taught you how to make a Fireball.'
They're really gonna hate it when they get right down the page where it teaches you how to Fly.
Or Pass through walls
wild shape into a flea and hop right out of prison!
Or unlock doors whooo
Or better yet..meteor swarm.
I cast dimension door, lata suckas!
My cousin played D&D while he was incarcerated. He said that it was one of the things that helped him maintain his sanity. Last year, I had free ticket to a gaming con where I was running Shadowdark and he attended it. He really enjoyed playing again, particularly as a free man.
I was a CO at Eastham State Prison in Texas. I saw DND play regularly and books in their cells.
Never occurred to me until I saw it.
Same with me but non imate
I played Shadowdark at Gameholecon last October, and it was one of the best games I've ever played. I'm glad he liked it.
@@barbdwyer22any yugioh?
I met a guy who said D&D was what got him through prison. "I love that elf" he said with all seriousness.
Hey that's my DM! He's awesome
Thank you
Nah that’s mine
hey welcome distant d&d cousin
@@keithdavis6503 Sir, you are a type of hero we need more of. I'm not sure if your games help people stay out of prison, but I do know the games help people socialize in a more healthy and appropriate manner.
Game wardens banning things that help prisoners move away from their old lifestyles and opinions is just pure absurdity. The paranoia that you could make a fireball from a DnD book is just pathetic. I was banned from playing DnD, because my family thought it was satanic. These absurd beliefs are holding kids and adults back from having positive, healthy social groups. Instead of shaming "nerds" for wanting to have fun, I think it's time we start shaming adults with willful ignorance.
We need people like you to educate some brain dead government officials who run prisons. They need to learn the benefits of a positive, social game. And a DM could absolutely tailor a game to make crimes seem less desirable; players could literally learn some moral values in a game, where they may have never had parents or role models to learn from. Instead of punishing a player for a crime, they could instead be rewarded for any positive behaviors. Criminal activity could be discouraged without extreme punishment; for example, that guard you just murdered for fun? he was the son of that popular store owner, and now everyone's favorite shop is permanently closed because she couldn't live with losing her only son. there can be more dire consequences too, without direct punishment. Prisoners could literally learn what is right and wrong, because many or most never had a decent family to learn from.
If I was studying criminal justice and prison management, I'd write a thesis on what should and shouldn't be done in prison systems. Since America has the most failed prison system on the planet, I think all of us could agree that it desperately needs some extreme changes. Someone like you could have the knowledge, experience, and social skills to start some of those changes. You don't have the political power, but maybe you could connect with someone who does.
1:12 I respect that. He did his time. He is a free man.
Exactly!
Everyone deserves a second chance, people who answer for their crimes fairly are not any less respectable than any other citizen.
Indeed, although while incarcerated, the debt to society was not yet paid.
Wtf are you talking about@@monomakes
@@Awwwwwyeeeee I think this is an American thing, where people feel like prisoners still owe them something because the state pays for prisons.
I was in jail for 3 months. No books, no dice set for d&d. So we made up a new system using a few D6s, affectionately called the D6 system. I spent $6 for 100 sheets of yellow "legal letter" paper. Pencils, 3 pieces of legal letter paper, and 3 envelopes were free every other week so we were set. We did a martial arts/ cultivation campaign. Experience and leveling up was based on us exercising irl. I miss the encouragement, the time, and people.
I have had a similar experience only as a soldier. When we were invading Iraq in 03 I ran a few sessions of Dark Sun for some of the guys out on wherever the FARP was that day. We didn’t have much time, so it was only a couple of hours a night. Unlike prison we worked 18 hour plus days. Because I had to be able to fit all my belongings into my rucksack, I had no books or dice, only a small hardback green notebook to use as blank paper for character sheets and the like. Everything was done from memory. The way we rolled dice was I would chose an offset, example 1=14 then asking them to chose a number between 1 and 20. What ever they chose I added the offset to then determined if it was a successful or not.
Playing Dark Sun in the Southern deserts of Iraq was very immersive. The guys were living in that landscape already.
It's also been found to be very helpful for military personnel (and others) suffering from PTSD. Roll Brittannia (one of the players is ex military) interviewed someone who has a British charity using D&D successfully for therapy.
One of the groups I’m DMing for now is all military, former military, or military wives. We are doing an actual play show. It’s the kind of show you’d expect from 2 former Marines and a retired army NCO.
I was in Long Range Recon in the 90s. We smuggled an AD&D PHB, DMG, and MM over to Desert Storm. I had a set of dice in one of my ammo pouches. I missed sleep the night before my second combat mission because we played an all-nighter.
It seemed to me especially after I got back from Iraq, mainly because my girlfriend at the time was a hell cat, I got by on about 3 hours sleep for months at a time. I was 30 then, now 20 years later I’m sure a few days of that would brake me. Lol
I lost track of a friend in highschool that enlisted during Desert Storm. We were big into D&D and I hope he continued playing throughout his life.
I worked for Texas Department of Criminal Justice.. (TDCJ) for 12.5 years. Offenders (Inmates) knew I had played D&D since 1978. There were players who were artists who drew character portraits on papers, They made their own dice out of Dominoes. Most used spinners. We allowed the books. They made maps. Often Players would ask me to do make game rulings. Even our Administrated Segregated offenders in cells by themselves would play by calling out to each others. Our Offenders played in the Dayroom, never in Cells. They asked me often if the books were worth buying. Of course the were officers who could be only be called A$$____$ who made life misserable for Offenders.
Excellent video. In Clinton correctional, we could order books. An origami book that teaches you to fold platonic solids was useful for dice. Dungeons and Dragons is very helpful in a prison for socialization.
This is brilliant
Solids that only like you as a friend?
@@ChrisJ2001 Platonic solid, any of the five geometric solids whose faces are all identical, regular polygons meeting at the same three-dimensional angles. Also known as the five regular polyhedra, they consist of the tetrahedron (or pyramid), cube, octahedron, dodecahedron, and icosahedron.
@@ChrisJ2001 My thought exactly. 😅
@@vaughngifford7192 I like my answer better.
This is great. Gaming done right, they leave all their differences at the door and play. Well done Ginger we need more of this in our community.
In prison, you don't mess with the man who gives you fun. Seems like he could set the rules that the other prisoners had to either follow or they had to sulk in their cells.
I did volunteer work with an organization playing D&D with kids struggling with behavioral issues to help socialize and integrate them, and teach them responsibility and consequences as well as providing a creative outlet. I think it's great to hear this kind of story, and see how much good TTRPG's can really do.
I would like to look more into these sorts of things. Thanks for the comment!
How do you handle kids who put the group in jeopardy and don't take accountability. I have a kid in a camp who is being really obstructive and I feel like it's unfair to others in the event not to address the behavior. For context, the kid has some intense ADHD going on and that's usually something I can work with in adult and kid players. Unfortunately, he does not own actions when the impacts are negative and it feels like he's trying to gaslight a table of people who just witnessed the action and then had to spend time recovering from the blowback. The kid likes to know what the reason is for everything until it's about a bad choice or selfish thing he has done.
I first started D&D with a therapist as a way to help my anxiety and depression. I played with a group of players. It was so much fun. I am now a DM myself. D&D is such a healthy choice for so many people.
This sounds like an interesting idea! I know people with anxiety and depression problems. How did D&D help, and did you have to do anything different than just regular play to make the game therapeutic?
We would create characters, run a session zero. We would play a session and then a debrief in character and then we would do journals in character and out of character reflecting on our own personal lives and how it related to our characters.
@@CuteGallifreyian Thanks for the update. I'll mention what you did and see if anyone thinks this would be a good fit for them.
Thanks for doing this. I was incarcerated and am an avid TTRPG player who ran many games inside. It's insane the limitations you have to overcome to be able to play while inside.
mind explaining more in depth? i would love to know more about it as i personally have found this topic fascinating for quite some time and would be very appreciative.
To start with dice means gambling, so no dice are allowed in prison
@@sebbonxxsebbon6824Paper mache dice?
Thanks for keeping Keiths private life private. Thats his business not ours as long as he is participating in society as a contributing member it doesnt matter
I worked in a maximum security prison for about a year during the pandemic (I was a RN). You'd be surprised how many guards also play. I've also heard it's pretty popular in the military.
Very popular in the military. Troops are some of the biggest D&D geeks. Luke Gygax (Gary Gygax's son) that I know, is a retired Lt. Col introduced me to several guys in the Army. One of them was a Special Forces weapons instructor. Dude was built like a tank and a big geek for D&D, Cyberpunk and several other RPGs.
It's popular everywhere that you're stuck inside for a long time and can't leave as you please, basically.
I was a Corrections Officer on a Long Term unit. One of the guys ran a Pathfinder Game in the dayroom for a long time.
This is really, really interesting and I really like your calm and non-disruptive interview style. It's almost as if you are used to let people tell stories, like a moderator or something, the right word doesn't come to mind right now 😀
Thank you! I think I am getting better at it!
Had one of my bros spend a lot of his life locked away, D&D is what saved him too. Good interview!
I started dnd like this back in 2014. First I was told about it from my room mate. I started with memorized rules from one and used a deck of cards for random numbers. It was cool and looking back all this years it sucked. It was my introduction. Then I met my dungeon master that looks somewhat like this guy. Tough looking dude. Total nerd. Great guy. He knew 4.0 and he showed me how to dm. It is the style I use.
Later I found out the new edition came out. I ran 5 ed. Loved it. There are a lot of points this guy is talking about that is true. We ran 6 to 8 hour sessions. Though I did not running everyday. I like to creat the story and I prep a lot.
I did other ttrpg and some were better then others. Some GMs were better then others.
I never had problems with other people because I played. I'm 6 foot 2 about 270 pounds. I was also known as the comic guy and the artist. So I was able to know a lot of people.
Later I got into mtg.
I have lots of good stories about all my groups. So much so I started making comics about some of the moments.
Lots of my campaigns started with new players. I found out I was a good starter DM because of how patient I was.
Well that's a lot of writing. Thanks for the video as bad as prison was, I have happy memories in DnD.
It often depends on the facility staff and whose in charge, some will not allow you to own game books, others don't care. Some allow you to own them, but not play them, go figure. In one place we were able to fashion Magic the Gathering cards using a catalog of cards for the base; in another Star Wars RPG was fine where D&D was not; in a third we could have as many books as our limit would allow. One thing you do have is time, lots and lots of time to find creative ways to pass. I spent ten years working on a game of my own, as well has wrote half a dozen would-be novels.
A productive use of time. When you have no choice but to waste your time, you might as use the waste as well as possible.
❤ This is amazing. They should make a movie about it, how it brings people together, how it generates well-being, and helps people to keep mentally sane in hard circumstances. Simply amazing Thank you to you both!
I love this comment. Great idea about the movie or perhaps a documentary! That’s my man!!
Absolute masterclass in Interview technique and a fascinating look at this aspect of the hobby!
Absolutely about this interview style ... Very thoughtful, compassionate, inquiring yet patient.
I realize the editing fail a few minutes in, it should be fixed when youtube allows it!
No worries.
Cool interview. I had a few friends that were incarcerated and played. I on the other hand played and stopped doing nonsense.
I envy that 6 hr - five day a week marathon gamming
This was amazing! Thank you so much for exploring this aspect of D&D. I'd love to see one of Keith's games!
Very cool to see this from a smaller creator! Great work!
I'm about 1 minute in. What a great idea for a yt video. I'm so glad that you found this man, and that he was willing to do this interview with you. Gonna start watching it now.
This guy’s a class act. Lotta wisdom there. Thanks for sharing
What an enlightening interview.
Thanks to you and Keith for talking about this. I love how RPG's can be used to help build bridges in prison and outside.
Love that ingenuity kept the games going, and that playing helped bridge gaps. Thank you for sharing this, good idea for a video
The algorithm brought you to me. Your voice over at the begining was excellent, very professional, very scripted. I enjoyed this content, thank you.
My best friend was a low-level prison guard for 12 years. He said that there 5 groups playing all the time. The spinner they used was from the game of life.
I play whenever I get the chance, EVERY. SINGLE. CHANCE!! I'm 6 feet 4 inches tall and easily 400 pounds, I have a big bushy red beard and I look like Jason Voorhees on his day off and most folks are shocked to find out I'm into the nerdy stuff because I look like the stereotypical ex jock football fan more likely to swirly the nerds rather than actually BE A NERD!! D&D is more of a state of mind rather than a physical look 😊
8:55 This is part of the reason I believe everyone should be welcomed to DnD and TTRPGs in general. It doesn't matter what you "look like" or what you do, you should be able to play your favorite fantasy make-believe games with your friends.
Playing d&d is genius, probably one of the few things that would allow me to mentally survive a long sentance. I genuinely don't know how ppl cope with anything past a year in there.
I learned D&D in a mental institution in the 70s at about 11 years old with adults one being the head phycologist and I had a ball. The kids had to behave themselves to play so a lot of us behaved and improved thanks 👍 for the video and have a good day excellent.
Fascinating interview Harmony! Keep up the great content.
Thanks Double D!!
Nice interview with Mr Davis. Nice advice on getting people interested by hosting classes.
I had a family member who was in a minimum security prison for a couple years. He mentioned that there were some people in there who played dungeons and dragons, just like was mentioned in this video they made spinners because dice for not allowed as they could be used for gambling. Unlike this account, however, the prison was totally fine with them having as many books as they wanted, the only stipulation was any hardcover books had to have the covers removed.
I spent 11 years in Arizona DOC and played D&D 3.5e + Pathfinder from 2009-2020 and DM'd for most of the time. TTRPG's were such a huge part of my time in. Amazing moments that I'll never forget.
TIL ... Fascinating interview -- my mind was blown by Keith's revelations and techniques. I think Gygax would be pleased to see how the game has helped folks like Keith find a way to pass the time productively with play. Definitely in for a second deep-dive intvu...
Thank you for making this!! I have been running and playing TTRPG's since I was 6. Now I'm 50. I'm also work in the Chemical Dependency field. Having worked with incarcerated people when I tell people about this very thing, they get amazed. Keep this up!
Great Video. Took a mixed art class in prison during college. It was really eye opening, I'm sure some of the guys inside would have loved to throw dice.
“He’s not on a registry” and that’s all I care about. Thanks for not focusing on his past but the topic at hand. Major kudos for that one.
This guy made prison sound great. Five days of five hours of dnd every day with dedicated players who are so into it they’ll slap a man’s belly and splash cold water on him if it goes bad.😂
Great interview, good conversation from someone who has seen a few things a lot of others in the game have not. If you do get to talk to him again let him know his perspective was appreciated.
As a corrections officer in the past in Texas. The only thing we had to take for the guys was the dice due to gambling. So they used a spinner
Great episode HG! Thanks for bringing this to us.
This was a fantastic video. I was smiling the whole way through.
This is one of the best videos I've seen in a long time. Well done, Red! I hope you keep creating content like this. Hey no pressure haha.
Thank you so much!!
Much respect for you not focusing on his crimes. We often forget the humanity that prisoners have beyond their crimes. Whatever he did in the past, all you can hope for is that he's atoned and is ready to make the world a better place -- which I'm sure he already is doing by creating spaces for people to express their creative and nerdy sides.
Also very interesting how he said that his DnD experiences had people from multiple races playing together. You often hear about how prison guards purposely stir ethnic tensions in prisons to keep people divided and to minimize chances of prisoners organizing and empathizing with one another across identity lines. Pretty great to see how this is one of the few avenues that can allow these tensions to break :)
This video is fascinating having heard people played in prison I always wondered about the practicalities of it. Mr Davis is so earnest and willing to share both his experience and knowledge and the contrasts between playing both in and out of prison. Thank you for making this! :)
Yeah that is the thing about D&D and other rpgs, it really can bring people together. No matter the background. Really is something, this hobby of ours.
What a lovely person! Thank you for sharing your story Keith!
Most hysterical prison break movie. He created an alternative universe and escaped through it without the guards even noticing. I'd watch the entire series/movie.
Nice video, Harmony. I'm very interested in how veteran gamers approach the aspect of teaching of D&D to new players, and what methods they might use to foster a good gaming experience. I like how Keith talked about people who might be intimidated by the game, and who might be dealing with the social anxiety of playing with strangers in person. These things aren't always taken into consideration. Future videos interviews with others who teach D&D would be nice to see, whether the games happen to be taught at game shops, schools, libraries, or elsewhere. I'm always interested in seeing what rules sets are used (and why), what books are used, what accessories are used, etc. Keith's answer about using theater of the mind vs. using minis in prison was fun to hear. Keep up the great work!
Great video, listened through it at work with an ear to ear grin. Love hearing how D&D can help to improve people's lives.
I'd quote-tweet this again if I could! Great video!
The insights he shared go well beyond conventional wisdom, too, because it's like, "We don't have these particular things that are commonly used, so fluff it, we'll just make our own materials!"
Thank you so much for this perspective. Looking forward to more . Thanks for humanizing
Very interesting, thank you for making this.
This is great on so many levels, keep up the good work HG.
Really cool to hear about his experience. Thank you for sharing!
Thank you. Both of you.
I really enjoyed this perspective, I love hearing how different people with all kinds of backgrounds can sit and find something human to bond over. I think it’s a testament to the game but more importantly humans and how we seek fun and storytelling not just for leisure, but sometimes because it helps in serious ways
It's pretty wild to hear this. You're right not to glamorize it but it is quite fascinating to get a sneak peak into that life. I was in a creative writing class about 25 years ago. It was a night class that had this old ex-con in attendance. He wrote a poem about his time in prison. I don't remember what he called it but the refrain was burned into my brain: "EatSleepShitPuke Forever." He was an interesting dude.
Anyway, nice Job Harmony. I would love to see more content like this!
Prison is the closest thing to hell a human can experience. But the little things that are fun make it slightly less shit.
This is awesome. I love seeing this kind of carry on. Really important. Carry on the good work!
Great video! Outstanding topic nobody is talking about. Keep up the good work.
Great video. Inspiring - wish Keith had more videos.
4:47 This is my man!! I will make sure he sees this comment. He wants to do more, so hopefully!
Great video Harmony! I could listen to this GM for hours! What a cool guy.
A heartwarming video, thank you so much for posting this.
Thank you for making this video and I hope other D&D TH-camrs and other game system content creators do more of these too. I have had a couple of friends who didn't play D&D outside but when they got locked up they went all in on whatever system they could get. The prisons in Virginia vary in their rules but I used to photocopy the 2nd edition PHB DM Guide and Monsters Manual and a shit ton of character sheets yearly for my friends and send them via the mail. That was the only way they could get the core rules but the campaign setting books were fine according to the VA prison system. Cyberpunk Shadowrun and Vampire the Masquerade weren't regulated like that for some reason.
Banning player-facing materials yet allowing adventure modules and setting books is perplexing- it's something I never thought of!
@@harmony_ginger I think it really depends on the location of the prison and also if it's state-run, federal, or a for-profit privately run prison. I have heard that prisons in the north and out west don't have restrictions on RPG books but it seems the southern states do. Maybe it's a holdover from the "satanic panic" of the 1980's. There was a documentary that was going to be made about D&D and prisons that had a decently long trailer/promo but it's been a few years since I last heard anything about it.
The "Satanic Panic" is the reason. It still grips parts of the country.
This was incredibly interesting. Thanks so much for sharing!
Really great video! Definitely a unique look at D&D!
Great job! Very interesting perspective.
What an amazing story❤
Very fascinating video; thank you for covering this!
Thank you for this. Good stuff.
What an interesting perspective/way to play. Great interview! Also, totally resonated with your slip and apology to his response at 6:03 😂
That was very enlightening and such an eye-opener as to a way we could incorporate role-playing games in almost any situation
Great interview, and a good idea for any DM's who might decide to talk to half-way houses about running campaigns for the folks staying there. Or rehab centers.
12:51 “That sounds like an amazing form of escapism.” I’ve never thought of D&D in prison but it would be my #1 priority if I end up there. 100’s of pros virtually 0 cons (well maybe a few Cons lol). Brotherhood, intellectual property that can’t be taken from you, healthy distraction from harsh environment via a hobby that can basically, without repercussion, become a lifestyle etc. It’s absolutely perfect.
I love that so many comments share common stories. A reminder not to judge; prisoners or gamers. Just a few days with nothing to do can drive you up the wall, so imagine how harsh any longer would be before demanding longer sentences and such.
Thank you Ginger for what you are doing. Mind opening to hear about prison DnD. Love what you do and you are awesome.
Thank you!
Great, thoughtful video. Some states do not allow D&D for numerous reasons. I think the reasons are redicoulous. There are some great skills the game teaches, strategic thinking, social interaction, anger management.
Most facilities ban it for "gang activity". They ban the dice for gambling. They ban file folders and character sheets for "documenting falsifications". They ban groups of larger than 6 people...
Each place is different, but man, some are just assholes about it.
I've generally heard about this being the original response and have wondered about explicitly family friendly/team building/ psychologist-endorsed systems and if an exception could be made for those.
Because some TTRPG could be better than no TTRPG.
And its fun to fuck with shitty systems legally when one can. I'm sure it'd take quite the lawsuit though...
They default to the "safety and security of the institute" every time, just as they use the Ensign act to avoid giving lawful, legally allowed publications by saying the article or publication counts as p*rnography (except items being scientific articles, collections of art that are or have been marked as displayed by a museum, and medical texts).
The last administration we had before my release up at the FMC was getting itself in trouble for things like limiting an inmate to what could fit in the two travel seabags, not what cold fit in the locker. This included the cases of soda which were stored, by the book, under beds, but their test required to be in the bag... even though NO INMATE EVER TRAVELED WITH SODA.
They were cracking down on stupid, so I'm glad I'm out. I hand wrote two different systems loosely based on DnD, Shadowrun, GURPs, and a percentage system I designed myself but was rather generic.
A GM in one of my games did an open 20 (non-registered type of crime). Will share this video with him. Thanks for doing this.
This a really heartwarming video thank you ❤
So much respect for you not disclosing his crime, completely irrelevant and he's clearly served his time.
This is the coolest D&D story I've ever heard.
Absolutely phenomenal interview
I started playing in prison when I was at a medium security prison, but in the honor pod. It turns out the Warden used to play DND back in the day and he was all for it. Since I was in the honor pod, we had additional privledges. I worked up front on the computers and I got permission to create maps and print them in color. We were not allowed to have more than 2 people in a cell but the warden gave us permission to play in the cell. Sometimes there would be 8 of us all sitting around playing, laughing, having a good time. On the weekends in our cell (had a room mate that was really into DND) we would be playing 4-7 hours on the weekends. We had nerds, hard core gang members, every race all playing DND. When I went to minimum security, I didn't play as much, mainly because I was working outside the prison and was too tired to do much on the weekends, but I still played from time to time. Magic the gathering is also extremely popular in prison.
Many, many years ago I worked at a juvenile detention facility in Florida. I'd run D&D (and other rpgs) for the girls and sometimes bring in pool noodles to do boffer battle games with (just the noodle, nothing to make it a boffer weapon like we used in ghetto larps around florida). It was a really great tool to teach them team work, critical thinking, empathy AND it was something I could use as a consequence for behavour. "if you don't start making better choices, I'm not going to be able to come in and run the game for you"
What a good interview!! Thank you. :)
4:20 That's awesome. Truly the beauty of the game.
Thank you for protecting Mr. Davis's privacy. His past crime is... past. The American incarceration system makes it hard enough to improve your circumstances without him being continuously punished by anonymous strangers on the Internet.
I absolutely adore this video when I was in lockup a lot of people you never would have thought would have interests and D&D gave it a go.
There's something powerful with escapism to a fantasy realm when you are incarcerated.
Roleplay manuals where the first thing I asked for from my friends when I got locked up, then the obvious dirty mags and the newspaper 😅
What a fascinating interview. I would love to hear other peoples' experience in playing and running roleplaying games who are from different lifestyles.
This was amazing, thank you!
Underway (on a ship) in the military we played 12 hours straight sometimes (or longer) 5-7 days a week.
This is super cool, thanks for posting! I'll have to check out your other content.