Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is coming! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Do your Political Views shape how your villains and heroes act?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Gradine" data-source="post: 7510985" data-attributes="member: 57112"><p>Let's do a case study. Here's a game I like to call Find the Politics:</p><p></p><p>My fantasy world has a fantasy race of creatures. This race has its own culture, family structure, military structure, language, religion, trade, art, etc. Let's call them... oh, I don't know... Gerblins. By the default rules of the RPG system I am using to play in this fantasy world, this race is also, to every last man, woman, and child, irredeemably evil. The heroes (yes, explicitly <em>heroes</em>) are thus rewarded for their wholesale slaughter. If they find a settlement (sorry, <em>lair</em>)? Bonus treasure!</p><p></p><p>Don't worry, this is definitely Not Political. It definitely bears no resemblance to any kind of historical Othering or Cultural Genocide! No no, it's just a throwback to a series of popular fantasy stories written in a historical place in time where support for that kind of historical Othering or Cultural Genocide was more the norm. But not for Gerblins, certainly no, those are fake fantasy people! Gerblins have a completely different skin color, and tribal social structures, and shamanistic religion, and, and...</p><p></p><p>This is just the most egregious example, but look, no one is saying to not enjoy your pop culture fantasy game with your Gerblins and your Orks and your Cobalts or what have you. I'm not, anyway. I'm also not saying it's not possible to enjoy these fantasy tropes completely divorced from their troubling historical-political origins. But to purposefully ignore these politics? To shut your ears and eyes to it, and pretend they don't exist? I'm of the belief that pop culture consumed uncritically is pop culture that risks influencing one's thoughts and beliefs without being aware of it. </p><p></p><p>My two cents, anyway.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Gradine, post: 7510985, member: 57112"] Let's do a case study. Here's a game I like to call Find the Politics: My fantasy world has a fantasy race of creatures. This race has its own culture, family structure, military structure, language, religion, trade, art, etc. Let's call them... oh, I don't know... Gerblins. By the default rules of the RPG system I am using to play in this fantasy world, this race is also, to every last man, woman, and child, irredeemably evil. The heroes (yes, explicitly [I]heroes[/I]) are thus rewarded for their wholesale slaughter. If they find a settlement (sorry, [I]lair[/I])? Bonus treasure! Don't worry, this is definitely Not Political. It definitely bears no resemblance to any kind of historical Othering or Cultural Genocide! No no, it's just a throwback to a series of popular fantasy stories written in a historical place in time where support for that kind of historical Othering or Cultural Genocide was more the norm. But not for Gerblins, certainly no, those are fake fantasy people! Gerblins have a completely different skin color, and tribal social structures, and shamanistic religion, and, and... This is just the most egregious example, but look, no one is saying to not enjoy your pop culture fantasy game with your Gerblins and your Orks and your Cobalts or what have you. I'm not, anyway. I'm also not saying it's not possible to enjoy these fantasy tropes completely divorced from their troubling historical-political origins. But to purposefully ignore these politics? To shut your ears and eyes to it, and pretend they don't exist? I'm of the belief that pop culture consumed uncritically is pop culture that risks influencing one's thoughts and beliefs without being aware of it. My two cents, anyway. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Do your Political Views shape how your villains and heroes act?
Top