D&D General Al-Qadim, Campaign Guide: Zakhara, and Cultural Sensitivity

[LuisCarlos17f]

I guess this is not off-topic if I copy and paste this from kickstarter crowdfundin: Historica Arcanum, a new setting inspired in Near Easten.

Historica Arcanum: The City of Crescent (5E)

Sourcebook Inspired by Near Eastern Cultures | Professions for 5E Characters | Toolbox to Forge Your Alternate History Campaigns

www.kickstarter.com

Cultural Sensibility:

Tabletop role-playing games have, in our experience, been dominated by the same western cultural backdrop for a long time. But with a lot of truly amazing indigenous creators bringing their own cultures, this has started to change. This is what inspired us.

On top of this, we think ignoring world's cultures due to fear of contributing to stereotypes is just as dangerous as the stereotypes themselves, because in this case; those cultures are not accessible to the players who genuinely want to immerse themselves in those worlds. Nobody quite frankly "dares" to make content for these amazing cultures, and consequently, players don’t get exposed to anything new, other than what the current perspective deem “safe”. This is the status quo that what we wanted to challenge.

What backers will get from this project is an authentic and historically well researched mythical guide to the Near Eastern cultures by the people living in this cultural backdrop. You can use Historica Arcanum: The City of Crescent to introduce your table to the Near Eastern cultural settings, without the fear of misrepresenting.

So, welcome to the world of D&D to Near Eastern Myths, Legends & Magic. This means, for starters, that djinns are no longer just elementals on magical steroids. They are not wish-granting blue dudes coming out of lamps either.

 

[MGibster]

I can understand people preferring to play in a more modern theme park version of historically-inspired gaming, I really can. To me though, it seems disingenuous to present a setting that looks kinda like a place and period in history, but with all the parts we don't like cut out.

I get where the conflict lies, but it doesn't bother me much. Themepark settings are pretty much the norm for D&D and it's kind of what I expect. I won't run a Call of Cthuhu game in the 1920s and completely ignore the prejudices of the era, but I admit to toning it down quite a bit.

 

[Deset Gled]

To me though, it seems disingenuous to present a setting that looks kinda like a place and period in history, but with all the parts we don't like cut out.

But isn't that an accurate description of almost all medieval style fantasy?

 

[Micah Sweet]

I get where the conflict lies, but it doesn't bother me much. Themepark settings are pretty much the norm for D&D and it's kind of what I expect. I won't run a Call of Cthuhu game in the 1920s and completely ignore the prejudices of the era, but I admit to toning it down quite a bit.

To me, the closer you get in your inspiration to real history, the less acceptable it is to remove unpleasant aspects of that history.

That said, if one of my players has a specific issue, I will of course make an adjustment. I feel, however, that stuff like that should be handled at the table.

 

[Micah Sweet]

But isn't that an accurate description of almost all medieval style fantasy?

More or less, yeah. I still don't care for it, and try to insert more immersion where I can, leavened by what my players are ok with having in the game.

 

[MGibster]

To me, the closer you get in your inspiration to real history, the less acceptable it is to remove unpleasant aspects of that history.

I actually agree with you. It's just that D&D is pretty far from any historical period, which is why the thempark settings don't bother me.

 

[Micah Sweet]

I actually agree with you. It's just that D&D is pretty far from any historical period, which is why the thempark settings don't bother me.

Stuff like Al-Qadim pushes that envelope though.

 

[Faolyn]

I can understand people preferring to play in a more modern theme park version of historically-inspired gaming, I really can. To me though, it seems disingenuous to present a setting that looks kinda like a place and period in history, but with all the parts we don't like cut out.

So, like typical D&D, where most of the Medieval European-typial sexism, racism, religious intolerance, child abuse, slavery, random cruelty, etc., has been cut out.

 

[EzekielRaiden]

I can understand people preferring to play in a more modern theme park version of historically-inspired gaming, I really can. To me though, it seems disingenuous to present a setting that looks kinda like a place and period in history, but with all the parts we don't like cut out.

I mean, it's not like I've elided everything out. There's significant, severe economic disparity (to the point that there are Robin Hood-esque organizations in the shadows working to balance out the excessive imbalance). Genies in particular are incredibly opulent...and some still engage in slavery, just less obviously so, generally only in Jinnistan, where they rule. (Formally, some still keep slaves, but most prefer a more "wage slave" type model, as there is a major prestige factor in having lots of people dependent on your rule who are genuinely healthy and happy.)

More importantly, I work with my players to ensure that there are reasons why things end up differently. As noted, the anti-slavery thing arose from the (completely unrelated) backstory component that the Tarrakhuna had developed its modern culture as the result of a slave revolt. I did that because someone I asked for advice on how to run an "Arabian Nights" game mentioned the Pre-Adamite Sultans, and I wanted very much to incorporate that idea in a different way. So I did, as the ancient genie-rajahs who once ruled the land as tyrants, some benevolent, some cruel, but all ruling absolute, with mortals as their property. The fact that slavery did exist (and to some extent still does in Jinnistan) is part of why noble genies, the ones with the both literal and metaphorical power, are VERY distrusted in the Tarrakhuna. (That and...they have a well-earned reputation of blue-and-orange morality, as saving face and holding the dominant political position is much more important to them than thoughts of benevolence or malice. Living centuries or millennia will do that to a person.)

Now, perhaps you might retort with, "Well sure, you can always invent a reason, you're still disingenuously presenting a saccharine candyfloss world." And my response would be that I don't invent reasons willy-nilly, nor do I go out of my way to invent them for all possible things. I do pursue them for the Really Icky stuff that I don't want to subject my players to--things like rape and torture. Yes, in theory, these things still exist (as slavery still theoretically happens in the Tarrakhuna). But compared to our world? These issues far more rarely come up. Because that's neither fun, nor interesting, nor challenging. It doesn't make for a heightened experience, nor does it add any additional grounding that wouldn't already be present because of my stupidly overwrought attention to detail.

Other problems, both fantastical and mundane, take center focus. The party has, for example, helped a young man who was being led down a dark path through offers of good money for easy work, so long as he ingested certain strange alchemical substances when instructed to do so...and which had begun physically transforming him, slowly but surely. He's better now, the roid rage is mostly gone and the party have set him up with a steady, legitimate job. But there are many other unemployed folks out there. There are many people who are struggling to get by, or who are suffering and dying from preventable illness (despite the existence of magic and active effort on the part of priests to heal others). People still starve to death. The mundane tragedies of life aren't absent by any means. And the fantastical horrors of D&D fiction aren't absent either; the party has been tricked by a mindflayer (he did not live to regret his trickery), dealt with a mind-control cult, faced off against a wicked hive-mind death-druid sect, opposed assassin-cultists who dream of being able to murder whoever they want, whenever they want, in order to see Death's gate, etc.

Whether or not slavery is widely practiced does not really have much impact on whether there are dark things in the world. Nor does it have much impact on how grounded and sober my presentation of it will be. It mostly just helps my players feel comfortable actually playing in said world.

 

[Reynard]

So, like typical D&D, where most of the Medieval European-typial sexism, racism, religious intolerance, child abuse, slavery, random cruelty, etc., has been cut out.

It's not even about history. Find me a cop game that deals with civil rights violations.