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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Croesus" data-source="post: 6279894" data-attributes="member: 35019">1. I'm unsure that one can say "Most fantasy campaign settings use the field slave/serfdom model of slavery where the slaves are treated horrifically, being regularly worked to death, casually beaten, raped or murdered", since slavery is rarely included in any published setting, and we have no comprehensive data on homebrews.2. While there have indeed been many differences in the forms of slavery between societies and eras, I find very few examples where slavery was not considered a horrific fate. Ancient Greeks and Romans constantly feared slave rebellions, and those captured in battle and sold into slavery generally did not think of themselves as "second-class citizens". Even house slaves could be abused and there are documented stories of Roman citizens being murdered by their house slaves. I also cannot find any examples of individuals voluntarily choosing slavery in Greece or Rome. Plenty of examples of Roman citizens entering serfdom due to debt, but not choosing slavery because they saw that as an improvement. 3. I did find one example of voluntary servitude - specifically, the devsirme of the Ottoman System. Slaves under this system were drawn only from the Balkans, these slaves were the property of the Sultan alone, were converted (voluntarily or not) to Islam, and trained either for Janissary military units or the palace central administration. Devsirme recruits started at the bottom and were promoted based on talent and performance. Though legally slaves, this seems closer to a caste system, similar to the administrators of Confucian China. The primary reason for this system was to protect the Sultan from rebellion - these slaves were completely dependent on the Sultan for their livelihood and rewards, and therefore (for a time) showed considerable loyalty. Of course, as time went on, the Janissaries became kingmakers, dominating the later Sultans, which begs the question how much like slaves they really were...If one wants to have a campaign that's a bit different, adding something like the devsirme would accomplish that. But given our modern views toward slavery, and the historical reality that the vast majority of slaves were in no way better off enslaved vs. free, I wouldn't recommend it. One could accomplish much the same by using Byzantine eunuchs as a template. (Eunuchs were considered safe in positions of power because they couldn't father a rival dynasty. However, many eunuchs still felt considerable loyalty to their families, and more than one eunuch attempted to place a relative on the throne, so it's not a foolproof option for a cautious emperor.)</blockquote>

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