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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Windjammer" data-source="post: 8050612" data-attributes="member: 60075">Hahaha, this is really funny. I agree with you, when I watch an episode of Star Trek: Next Generation, that's how I set my expectations. The show is framed that way and I adapt my frame of mind accordingly.In real life, of course, what I've learnt by living on three continents and 10+ countries is something rather different. There, the prudent thing to do is to not let the first group of people you meet (person who hands you house keys, mail man, neighbor, garbage collector) set your understanding of what "the Dutch" or "Californians" really are--a "baseline" stereotype from which "later encounters can deviate." Assuming that isn't so much racist/ethnicist/nationalist (take your pick), it's silly. It takes several months of immersing in a new country to really understand how people tick.There's a UK publisher who ran a funny series of books called "(such and such nationality) for Xenophobes" that helps you short circuit the process, and instead adjust your initial encounter to broader realities. The books are written tongue-in-cheek, and when I met my wife, I gave her a copy of my EU nationality, and she retaliated by giving me "Americans for Xenophobes." Choice quote: "To many Americans, the fleeting social commitment is the most lasting form of social engagement." Long story short, I get your point because many gaming tables follow the Star Trek story template: you meet and great (and, optionally, kill) the new monster/fantasy race of the week, then move on to Neighboring Country where people have blue skin and yellow ears, and there they don't have humor and take things literally. But there's no need for RPG campaigning to follow that weak-sauce template. I've made it a point in my own campaigns that the very people of a new group the PCs met are often counter-stereotypical, and that following the Star Trek mindset in that fantasy world is as much of a trap as it's in real life. Not because I think gamers need to be taught lessons in multicultural encounters (sorry, but I use RPGs as silly escapism devices, not pedagogical therapy sessions), but because the emerging stories are a lot more entertaining and challenging for everyone involved.On that premise, re-writing the Vistani because they set the wrong "base line" when first encountered doesn't so much rectify an audience response: it betrays a pretty cynical understanding of how your readership operates, one that mandates a rewrite so the audience won't engage mistaken impulses. That's incredibly paternal and silly, but then that's what I've expected WotC to grope after when it comes to adjusting their product to current sensitivities. ("Warning label: this content may, in some way and manner we're to lazy to spell out, contain stereotypes of something we can't be bothered to explain, so let's just way there's a vague risk over here and you may wish to exercise caution. Or Something.")</blockquote>

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