TheAlkaizer
Game Designer
I think the statement that some ways of roleplaying a character with a low intelligence could absolutely help perpetuate some stereotype. Just like when I was in high school jerks would imitate someone with conditions like Stephen Hawkins to communicate the idea of someone that's not very intelligent.
However, reading some of the pages of the thread raised a question for me. For a little bit more context, I wrote some Game of Thrones fan fiction with others. And in that setting, there's some groups that dislike each other, the Stormlanders and the Dornish. They have a history of never-ending war and raiding and it grew to a point where many nobles just outright dislike everything that represents the other culture.
I wrote some plain out racist characters and it was enlightening, fun and challenging to write. The books by George RR Martin are filled with distasteful characters that are still very interesting. I don't think that many people have fundamental issues with the presence of racist, homophobes, ableist, sexist characters in fiction, as long as it doesn't put these things in a good light or promote them.
When it comes to TTRPGs and roleplaying, a previous post in this thread asked the question "would you accept your players roleplaying a racist character at your table?" . If I had the absolute certaintly that it would be done in good taste and that everyone else at the table was OK, I would love to have a PC that's racist. It would make an interesting character, create interesting drama and tension. But my first thought to that question was no; because I would trust very few people to roleplay that and not make it very cringe or just plain wrong.
I think I feel the same way with a character that's stereotypically dumb? If I knew I had a very astute roleplaying at my table and a certainty and that he could pull it off, it could make for an interesting character. But I'd think about it five times before saying yes... there's too much risk of things being icky.
Now I'm pondering why I'm more prone to trust people to write about these things then to act them.
However, reading some of the pages of the thread raised a question for me. For a little bit more context, I wrote some Game of Thrones fan fiction with others. And in that setting, there's some groups that dislike each other, the Stormlanders and the Dornish. They have a history of never-ending war and raiding and it grew to a point where many nobles just outright dislike everything that represents the other culture.
I wrote some plain out racist characters and it was enlightening, fun and challenging to write. The books by George RR Martin are filled with distasteful characters that are still very interesting. I don't think that many people have fundamental issues with the presence of racist, homophobes, ableist, sexist characters in fiction, as long as it doesn't put these things in a good light or promote them.
When it comes to TTRPGs and roleplaying, a previous post in this thread asked the question "would you accept your players roleplaying a racist character at your table?" . If I had the absolute certaintly that it would be done in good taste and that everyone else at the table was OK, I would love to have a PC that's racist. It would make an interesting character, create interesting drama and tension. But my first thought to that question was no; because I would trust very few people to roleplay that and not make it very cringe or just plain wrong.
I think I feel the same way with a character that's stereotypically dumb? If I knew I had a very astute roleplaying at my table and a certainty and that he could pull it off, it could make for an interesting character. But I'd think about it five times before saying yes... there's too much risk of things being icky.
Now I'm pondering why I'm more prone to trust people to write about these things then to act them.