Modern-day game settings and 9/11

[Eternalknight]

Certainly is, Australia ain't a Republic!

 

[blaster219]

Not yet, but you're working on it

 

[Eternalknight]

True, very true

 

[AlphaOmega]

I am reluctant to post to this thread, but I will anyway.

I wouldn't touch on playing a game involving 9/11 with a ten-foot pole. The company that's cashing in with the D20 Afghanistan game is, in my opinion, run by people who are greedy and lack conscience. I would not sell my integrity, as they have done.

Maybe I'm wrong but I feel you may have misread my initial post. I sincerly hope you or anyone else felt that I was praising the d20 Afghanistan product. I was merely using it as an example. I've never laid eyes on the product. And others keep using the word "entertainment" which should never go hand-and-hand with the phrase 9/11. I guess even prefacing my starting thread posting didn't help.

Once again I was asking how to deal with 9/11 in modern-day game settings. In the spycraft campaign I referred to I now remember that my group never really asked if 9/11 plays a part. The subject only came up when I was planning the campaign (still ongoing process) and that's when I thought to post something here and see what others have done. Thanks to those who answered the question.

 

[Ranger REG]

Actually I agree Buttercup. IF, by chance, someone did want to play out the War on Terror, I don't think a games company should provide it and cash in on it.

Although I was one of the first to question Holistic Design's plan for their Real Life Roleplaying product line, I was open-minded enough to review the book anyway. Not everyday in this millenium can you find a $20 sourcebook that is a game in itself.

What I find that in this Afghanistan d20 book, it is well-written with sensitivity to the matter. And if one were to look for rule mechanics for their modern-era game, this one provide a bulk of it, some of them have come from their own products as well as Wierd Wars II. The fact that it is heavily focus on Afghanistan actually help.

Of course, I when I was younger, I was the first to pick up GDW's Desert Shield and Desert Storm factbooks on the eve of and during the Gulf War for use in my defunct Twilight 2000 game and rules system.

 

[MeepoTheMighty]

For those of you attacking Afghanistan d20 for capitalizing on the suffering of others, have any of you seen it? I personally haven't seen it in any stores, but from the reviews I've read, it's actually a rather decent product. It presents a much more level-headed and informative picture of the political and social situation in Afghanistan than you'll ever get from the news media.

Is it wrong? I can't say. That's up for you to judge. Does playing a World War II game trivialize the sacrifices made by so many soldiers? I'd like to think not. Maybe it's just too early for games.

 

[Wormwood]

Is it wrong? I can't say. That's up for you to judge. Does playing a World War II game trivialize the sacrifices made by so many soldiers? I'd like to think not. Maybe it's just too early for games.

It may be a little soon for Afghanistan d20, if only because Afghanistan was just the first step in a much broader and ongoing conflict. That may have contributed to the impression that the authors were somehow 'profiteering' from a war while it's still being fought.

As for how to integrate 9/11 into your campaign? I don't know if I would make it a focus of a game, but the aftermath of the murders would color just about everything in modern espionage setting.

Edit: me no write so good.

 

[Nine Hands]

My current Spycraft game has the players working for the Central Intelligence Agency (Special Operation Division). I use real world events with a twist (they just finished a mission in Zimbabwae involving biological weapons). Terrorism is a running theme in the campaign. IMO I think it gives the players a little bit of empowerment. In the real world they may not be able to do much against terrorists. In this game they have a good chance of taking them down.

I use hostages, biological agents, chemical weapons, snipers, Spetnaz agents, Russian mafia guys, etc. The real world has enough sickos for me to wrap a good campaign around

I try to use real world locations (including satellite photography), most dossiers are of real people (who may or may not be wanted criminals), etc.

 

[maddman75]

I can almost guarantee that our gruop would run games centered around terrorists, even the ones responsible for 9-11. But, we don't run any modern era games right now, so it hasn't come up.

Ten years ago, I remember a series of Top Secret games where our agents had to infiltrate Iraq and bring back locations of a secret nuclear weapons lab. This was right in the middle of the Gulf War, Of course being gamers we just blew it up ourselves . Plus we were in high school at the time.

Of course, I know my group. While we were all affected by the attacks, none of us has family in NYC or anything. If we did, I'd be more conservative about such a game. I think it comes down to knowing your group. If you aren't certain, talk to them about it.

 

[AlphaOmega]

I try to use real world locations (including satellite photography), most dossiers are of real people (who may or may not be wanted criminals), etc.

I also plan on using the sat images later in the campaign. Something like that can add alot of flavor to a game. But I've altered the names of all "real people." Meaning the president of my campaign world is not named George W. Bush. My plan is have our real world history mirror my game world's up to a certain point. But I guess all modern day games do that to a certain degree.

I do plan on talking to my group about 9/11 at the next gaming session if not sooner. The subject just hasn't been addressed. Looking back on it now, I'm surprised that it wasn't. But like I said earlier, for whatever reason, I'm interested how others are handling it especially those playing Spycraft.