Communism (& Socialism) in RPGs

[Kwalish Kid]

I can agree with that, but hippies do not always communists make. Just usually.


For an example of a pseudo-medieval communist/socialist society in literature, I submit the Imperial Order, from Goodkind's Sword of Truth novels. In particular, Faith of the Fallen.

That's a good find. The presence of socialist/communist societies in fantasy literature shows that, even if it would be economically unreasonable, it is not impossible from a narrative point of view. But I'm going academic here.

 

[Doug McCrae]

The D&D party is communist.

The fighter keeps the orcs from the rest of the party, the cleric heals the fighter, the wizard blasts the orcs with fireball. The treasure consists of a ring of protection +1 which goes to the fighter and a headband of intellect which goes to the wizard.

From each according to his abilities. To each according to his needs.

 

[Kwalish Kid]

The D&D party is communist.

The fighter keeps the orcs from the rest of the party, the cleric heals the fighter, the wizard blasts the orcs with fireball. The treasure consists of a ring of protection +1 which goes to the fighter and a headband of intellect which goes to the wizard.

From each according to his abilities. To each according to his needs.

For the win!

 

[Roger]

As part of developing academic work on RPGs, I'm looking at a number of ways of analysing RPGs. One form of analysis is Marxist analysis.

I think the primary danger here is becoming fixated on analyzing merely the settings of RPGs, while neglecting the other aspects of RPGs in play.

As an example of what I mean, consider the Marxist maxim "The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles." It is relatively easy, and relatively unrewarding, to consider only the in-game history of the setting in light of the class struggle. It is much more revealing, in my opinion, to consider the play of the game itself, the actions of the players and their consequences, in terms of the class struggle.

In play, do the player characters most resemble members of the proletariat, or the bourgeoisie? Does membership in these classes change over time? Does play consist primarily of the player characters repressing the lumpenproletariat?

I think these lines of analysis will be fruitful.


Cheers,
Roger

 

[Wombat]

There's also the semi-Victorian, semi-Furry rpg Victoriana:

http://www.cubicle-7.com/victoriana.htm

In that game you are pretty much expected to have a political affiliation, including minute variations between Socialist, Communist, and Bolshevik.

 

[GreatLemur]

In Vampire: The Requiem, some of the Carthians can be die-hard communists wanting to apply the precepts of Bolshevism to the society of the Damned. The Carthians form the most recent Covenant among Vampires. It is merely a few hundred years old. What differenciates the Carthian movement from other Covenants is its stance on Kindred politics inspired by the idea of human democracy. Any type of idealist can be part of the Carthian movement, from the moderates to the die-hard extremists of all kind. Given that communism certainly has been justifying its existence in numerous occasions by a deep belief in the concept of "power to the proletariat", some communists can certainly fit within the movement and form communist factions, even a sort of Internationale, within it.

This is inspiring all kinds of thoughts about a Communist vampire campaign. I think I would have to call it "Red". There are a lot of possible permutations, though: Bolshevik vampires vs. Tsarist vampires during the October Revolution (and I could do something with the Romanovs' hemophilia!), American intelligence operatives vs. vampire commies during the 1950s or '60s, disillusioned Soviet idealists vs. vampiric Stalin-era Party officials during the 1970s or '80s (could work in some kind of angle regarding the shared parasitic nature of vampires, Soviet oligarchs, and capitalist plutocrats), and so on. Only trouble is, both my players and I would need to have a more solid historical understanding to make something like this really worthwhile.

 

[Twowolves]

The D&D party is communist.

The fighter keeps the orcs from the rest of the party, the cleric heals the fighter, the wizard blasts the orcs with fireball. The treasure consists of a ring of protection +1 which goes to the fighter and a headband of intellect which goes to the wizard.

From each according to his abilities. To each according to his needs.

Except, the entire adventuring party is motivated by personal advancement and personal gain, a.k.a. greed. I'm also pretty sure that when the party loots the orc's treasury, they don't go give it all to the party to redistribute to the masses.

Sounds to me the D&D party is composed of specialists in a wealth-driven free-enterprise exercise.

 

[Nifft]

So the Mob template from DMG2 was the advent of communism in D&D?

Nope. Just means the King is more likely to be an 18th level Sorcerer or Wizard than Fighter or Aristocrat.

Cheers, -- N

 

[Aust Diamondew]

I've had Spartan like societies in my games.
I'd characterize Sparta as somewhat communist/socialist.

Edit: Probably more fascist than anything else though.

 

[ForceUser]

Can anyone else think of the communism, socialism, Bolshevism, totalitarian socialism, anti-consumerist anarcho-syndicalism in RPGs?

Not really. D&D is a capitalist enterprise on every level. It is a game that is fundamentally about competition, with cooperation being only one means to increase the success of the competitors. In-game, D&D exalts the ego: the search for greater status, wealth or power is the driving force behind adventuring, and the enabling of such is the selling point of the product. Meta-game, the rules mechanics are designed to reward players for seeking status, wealth and power by doling these qualities out in well-defined increments that encourage players to continue to seek them. Out-of-game, the company who owns the D&D license exists to aggressively market and sell the product and others like it. Any hint of egalitaranism that exists in D&D beyond the occasional fluff piece in the flavor text of a product is brought to the table by individual groups who choose to behave in that way. The game itself does not encourage such behavior.