It is interesting to bring Dungeon Crawl Classics into the discussion here: Goodman Games specifically set out to create a game that produced the specific sort of narratives and results to stories as seen in classic pulp fiction. They used Appendix N as the guide to develop the game, to create something thst followed classic fantasy more closely than D&D usually does.
I wouldn't mind my grandchildren reading Conan as adults and having learned critical tools. If one can get past the astonishingly thick and grotesque racism and misogyny (it really is terrible), it is an interesting historical artifact.
That’s why I said grandchildren, not children! But a large part of the target audience is not going to have the maturity to understand the context, and it is decidedly uncomfortable reading for many who do.
But it doesn’t matter what those sources are. Paddington Bear is as relevant as Aragon.
It does not matter what they are.
You go into a library and pull a book off the shelf, or turn on the TV, or go to the cinema. You must think new players are really really dumb if you think they need to be shown how to do that!
Yup, I would not recommend it in a piece of corporate branding for my employer, that's for sure!
