The RPGA newsletter isn’t always the most fascinating of publications, always showing up as a kind of dollar store Dragon Magazine but with a tighter focus on competitive play. This issue, however, is one that is still interesting to take a look at from the point of view of the history of D&D.

This is particularly the case with Frank Mentzer’s editorial which tries to address some of the controversy and conversation going around about D&D in 1985, specifically accusations of a direct connection between playing D&D and committing s*ic*de (sorry, got to fool the algorithm so I don’t lose the account again). As is normal with this kind of moral outrage, as had happened before with Wertham’s Seduction of the Innocent about comics and would happen later with other outrages around video games, there is little to no causal relation between playing D&D and  self harm. Mentzer covers the subject, shows data to disprove it and then gives players advice about how to tackle this, such as introducing parents to the game, playing with them or joining GLAAD… what does the “Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation” have to do with D&D, I might hear you ask? Nothing at all. 

Interestingly 1985 saw the foundation of two associations named GLAAD, one is the famous and ongoing pro- LGBTQ+ representation organisation and the other was “Game Lovers Advocating Dungeons & Dragons”. This might have made for awkward but hilarious situations when you attended the wrong GLAAD meeting. I think there’s a comedy sketch in here somewhere. The rest of the magazine has the last installment of Mentzer’s competition module Needle and the usual columns, some more interesting than others.