THE 1970s role-playing craze Dungeons & Dragons is back and it’s in Cockburn.

A complex board game requiring imagination and dice with far too many sides, D&D sparked a moral panic among America’s conservative Christians who thought letting people pretend to be elvish wizards was satanic.

Now we’re a little more enlightened—the religious kooks have since turned their gaze to the anti-Christ that is Harry Potter—and the game’s valued for helping imagination and problem-solving abilities, and even tough guy Vin Diesel plays it. There are free D&D game sessions every Monday arvo at Cockburn Youth Centre, along with drama, arts and sportier stuff like dodgeball for the more athletically inclined on other days of the week. The schedule’s at http://www.cockburn.wa.gov.au/youthcentre

by DAVID BELL