I have read that sci-fi fandom was also more racially diverse but I don't think I have ever seen the same claimed for SCA etc.
The SCA is not the most diverse group out there by a long shot, no.
I have read that sci-fi fandom was also more racially diverse but I don't think I have ever seen the same claimed for SCA etc.
Depends on the size of your table.
Who is in the space shapes the ideas, for sure. If you stray from the wargaming table you stray from the ideas being discussed which would lead to ttrpg. How is characters in a historical context more welcoming to LGBTQ+ folks than say characters in a-historical context, like a character or creature of fiction? I'm not seeing this connection.More women, for sure, and the distance from the wargaming table and focus on costuming and enacting character in a historical context might have made it more welcoming to LGBTQ+ folks earlier. I have read that sci-fi fandom was also more racially diverse but I don't think I have ever seen the same claimed for SCA etc.
It's not the historical context, it's the play context. People playing dress up and pretending to be princesses (I DO NOT mean this pejoratively; I was and am one of those people) are, in my experience, much more welcoming of LGBTQ+ folks than most. That's just my experience, and it's possible it is not representative, but I don't think so.Who is in the space shapes the ideas, for sure. If you stray from the wargaming table you stray from the ideas being discussed which would lead to ttrpg. How is characters in a historical context more welcoming to LGBTQ+ folks than say characters in a-historical context, like a character or creature of fiction? I'm not seeing this connection.
Good point, the play context. Highlights why the wargame scene was the place for ttrpg's to get created. The play context was practically screaming you need to try out this ttrpg idea. SCA and historical reenactment scenes lacked the play context for such an idea to take root and flower. But say it was like the theory of relativity and was hatched from within a patent office (unlikely play context) and took root in historical reenactment. The people hot on the idea would need to move out of the patent office and find places willing to try out their game ideas. And probably would end up at wargaming tables trying to get their involvement. Because they would be one of the few places you would find people willing to play test your ideas.It's not the historical context, it's the play context. People playing dress up and pretending to be princesses (I DO NOT mean this pejoratively; I was and am one of those people) are, in my experience, much more welcoming of LGBTQ+ folks than most. That's just my experience, and it's possible it is not representative, but I don't think so.
The initial response to D&D and even Chainmail was that it was too fanciful and not serious enough. It wasn't until it reached past the "historical realism" grognards that ruled the wargame scene that it got traction.Good point, the play context. Highlights why the wargame scene was the place for ttrpg's to get created.
I was thinking more of practicality, people actually sitting at a table playing games, all in the same room. And when enough people who got it were available it moved into a more private laboratory. But once Arneson and Gygax were happy with the "final" product, and correct me if I'm wrong this is pure assumption, wouldn't they have turned around and pitched it right back at this same crowd? Sure, the general consensus in the wargaming scene may have thought this ttrpg thing was never going to fly, or was poor entertainment, but enough people in that crowd (and sci-fi fans and SCA fans, etc.) got it as soon as they were shown the game and made it a thing. I like to keep in mind the game wasn't found in the books people were writing, but people actually at the table playing the damn thing. And that takes people getting exposed to the experience and being able to replicate it with a new group of people. So ttrpg's pull interested people like a magnet pulls metal filings out of a pile of sawdust into its orbit from all sorts of places and backgrounds. I don't think there was an outside public clamoring to get in so much as the weird lights in the windows got curious people to step into the store.The initial response to D&D and even Chainmail was that it was too fanciful and not serious enough. It wasn't until it reached past the "historical realism" grognards that ruled the wargame scene that it got traction.