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<blockquote data-quote="MerakSpielman" data-source="post: 1282225" data-attributes="member: 7464">Back in medevil times, rape was probably much more common than it is now. Largely, women were considered property more than they were considered people. I think the Bible records an old law whereby if one man raped another man's daughter, he had to pay him a few dinars for the loss. No compensation for the daughter, or even recognition of her ordeal or ongoing pain.&nbsp;Also, back then when you were a cruel person with a desire to cause pain, you didn't become a criminal - you became a soldier. Even if your army had specific rules against pillage and rape (which was rare) you'd get little more than a warning if you killed and raped a few innocents in every village you plundered.&nbsp;Wars were not faught for moral reasons for most of history. It was usually something economic. There were no &quot;good armies&quot; and &quot;bad armies.&quot; Once they got on the field, they all acted more or less the same (with the notible exception of extremely disciplined armies, like the Romans, but those are in the tiniest of majorities).&nbsp;Even in our own United States, until very recently it was extremely difficult to convict a man of rape. There had to be witnesses. The victim had to prove beyond a doubt that she fought the man tooth and claw for every instant of the rape. Her reputation would be dragged through the dirt - every immoral thing she'd ever willingly done would be dragged up as evidence that she must have wanted it. To some degree this still happens.&nbsp;In many parts of the world rape is not considered a crime. It's just something men do for fun. They brag about it openly.&nbsp;Rape is no small thing. Women have had to go through a lot over the millenia, and there's no getting around that. &nbsp;That said, I don't know that a focus on the horrors of rape is what I want from my D&amp;D games. I know ignoring it isn't the solution for a progressive society, but shoving it into the background of a D&amp;D game doesn't mean I don't think it's a major issue in real life.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="MerakSpielman, post: 1282225, member: 7464"] Back in medevil times, rape was probably much more common than it is now. Largely, women were considered property more than they were considered people. I think the Bible records an old law whereby if one man raped another man's daughter, he had to pay him a few dinars for the loss. No compensation for the daughter, or even recognition of her ordeal or ongoing pain. Also, back then when you were a cruel person with a desire to cause pain, you didn't become a criminal - you became a soldier. Even if your army had specific rules against pillage and rape (which was rare) you'd get little more than a warning if you killed and raped a few innocents in every village you plundered. Wars were not faught for moral reasons for most of history. It was usually something economic. There were no "good armies" and "bad armies." Once they got on the field, they all acted more or less the same (with the notible exception of extremely disciplined armies, like the Romans, but those are in the tiniest of majorities). Even in our own United States, until very recently it was extremely difficult to convict a man of rape. There had to be witnesses. The victim had to prove beyond a doubt that she fought the man tooth and claw for every instant of the rape. Her reputation would be dragged through the dirt - every immoral thing she'd ever willingly done would be dragged up as evidence that she must have wanted it. To some degree this still happens. In many parts of the world rape is not considered a crime. It's just something men do for fun. They brag about it openly. Rape is no small thing. Women have had to go through a lot over the millenia, and there's no getting around that. That said, I don't know that a focus on the horrors of rape is what I want from my D&D games. I know ignoring it isn't the solution for a progressive society, but shoving it into the background of a D&D game doesn't mean I don't think it's a major issue in real life. [/QUOTE]

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