D&D General Modules with a political message?

[pointofyou]

On some level I do not see how it can be avoided. Every game I run and every setting I create will at least somewhat reflect my understanding of how the world works which will inherently reflect my beliefs. That does not of course mean there's overt or intentional messaging.

I cannot believe the same is not also true of published settings and adventures.

 

[Charlaquin]

I don't know.

this is one of those deeply held things that can turn people off. Even just a hint of a political message can. Heck some just "hey I want it to look like the real world" gets push back as being political.

Even “not having a political message” is itself a political message.

 

[R_J_K75]

Even “not having a political message” is itself a political message.

Can't this just be a case of someone not wishing to add a political message or revealing their political position/loyalty?

 

[Celebrim]

Even “not having a political message” is itself a political message.

Let's not go there again. People that believe that everything is political are scary.

 

[pointofyou]

Can't this just be a case of someone not wishing to add a political message or revealing their political position/loyalty?

Not wishing to add a political message is not the same as not having one. I do not set out to score political points when I run but it is probably not hard to discern my real-world positions or to see some point or theme. Because not all my players agree with my politics I try to keep such things in the subtext but I do not always succeed at that.

 

[NaturalZero]

Every game is political, if you're really looking closely.

• Humans are people with a society worth protecting, and adventurers steal from other peoples who are seen as less than human.
• An invading empire is authoritarian and the PCs are freedom fighters killing their troops in order to push them out of the country.
• The PC is a cleric of a religion, and goes around proselytizing his agenda.
• The PCs work for a rich and powerful benefactor and commit violence against other people in order to further the agenda of said benefactor.

Now, a lot of people on the internet are going to rush in and say that some of the common tropes are not really political and that it's just some woke ideology to claim that they are, but that just shows us that when people become so comfortable and complacent with their very, very, very political ideas, they cease to see them as political at all.

 

[R_J_K75]

Not wishing to add a political message is not the same as not having one.

Why I chose the word "OR" and not "AND" when I wrote my post.

 

[pointofyou]

Why I chose the word "OR" and not "AND" when I wrote my post.

I was getting at the difference between what you quoted and what you said.

 

[Blue Orange]

There's an argument that certain things are implicit in the plotlines even if you don't intend them to be--for example, superheroes are inherently fascist, since you are relying on the single leader to solve everything, RPG parties are colonialist in their invasion of other groups' spaces and plundering of their possessions, police procedurals discourage questioning of the police force, and the 'chosen one' plotline encourages individualism and/or acceptance of hierarchy. (I think there may be something to this but am unwilling to litmus-test all my entertainment for adherence to a party line.)

Underground, by Ray Winninger, who went on to do many other things, had a 60s-90s liberal rage-against-the-Man plot, with allusions to the problems of returning Vietnam veterans and criticisms of consumerism and urban social disintegration as a big part of the plot. It even had rules for attempting positive social change.

Greyhawk's Scarlet Brotherhood were basically Nazis, fanatical followers of an absolute leader and obsessed with bloodline purity.

Hive insects have sometimes been used as metaphors for Communism, though not in a game as far as I know.

 

[Cadence]

Every game is political, if you're really looking closely.

• Humans are people with a society worth protecting, and adventurers steal from other peoples who are seen as less than human.
• An invading empire is authoritarian and the PCs are freedom fighters killing their troops in order to push them out of the country.
• The PC is a cleric of a religion, and goes around proselytizing his agenda.
• The PCs work for a rich and powerful benefactor and commit violence against other people in order to further the agenda of said benefactor.

Now, a lot of people on the internet are going to rush in and say that some of the common tropes are not really political and that it's just some woke ideology to claim that they are, but that just shows us that when people become so comfortable and complacent with their very, very, very political ideas, they cease to see them as political at all.

If the tropes are all political, and if posting about politics is banned here, then is posting about <vanishes in a gout of flame>