Shamus,
I credit those D&D-ers with jump-starting my cognitive dissonance!
I was a 12-year-old freshman in high school (so already the JWs considered me too damn smart for my own good), and I befriended all the nerdy seniors and college freshmen who let me sneak off and hang out with them on beanbags while they roleplayed. At first when I figured out what they were doing, I was freaked out because all my life I'd heard of the eeeeeevils of D&D. But then, they were also the first people to treat me normally, like a mascot or a little sister (who just happened to be brainwashed) and I didn't want to lose the little human contact I had, and the feeling of being included. So once I realized things weren't levitating and nobody was being possessed, just nerdy, I shrugged my shoulders and said "to hell with it".
13 years on and I haven't seen any goats slaughtered yet. A couple of them are Christians, some are atheists, one is in law school, one is making movies, and they've all (finally) managed to move out of their parents' houses...they're doing OK ;) I think it's way better that I came across people who were willing to be patient with me as I grew out of my Witness-dom, and include me in innocuous and harmless activities, than if I had fallen into promiscuity, drug abuse, etc. I love my nerds.