Racism in RPGs, especially related to fantastic races

[Grumpy RPG Reviews]

I am not comfortable with the description of any mortal, humanoid race as automatically, objectively evil - with the exception of the mind flayers. I have read "Bury Mt Heart at Wounded Knee" and the description of orcs in gaming literature is often too similar to the 19th century description of Indians for me to be amused by it. However, having flawed and biased characters in the game being racist is acceptable.

 

[Janx]

I either read r heard an interview abut this with someone. Was it Michael Dorn on Nerdist? I honestly can't remember, but whoever it was discussed at length the process of designing the new Klingons for TNG (and I recall the word "Samurai" being used a lot). I can't remember what they said, though, or who it was, or where I heard it, or if I heard or read it. Maybe I dreamed it.

I think another aspect to consider is Plans vs. Execution.

The Ferengi were originally planned to be the new big bad evil villain race. Then they filmed an episode and were patently ridiculous as villains. So they shifted to a more comic, larcenous role.

With Worf, the very earliest klingon episode in TNG (Heart of Glory if I recall), they had the whole honor and thing going on.

Later, with the introduction of the klingon intrigue and stuff for Worf's personal episodes, things morphed.

Perhaps Mongol Horde would be a better comparison. No doubt the klingons were the barbarians of ST. Once past the TOS, they got mixed with bushido/warrior code culture stuff from somewhere.

 

[Janx]

I don't buy that interpretation. There is only one who is really focused - Worf. This, in fact, is pretty constantly used as a specific contrast between him and his fellow Klingons. It sets him apart - which means the rest of the race doesn't fit the stereotype.

You do have valid points (as always).

I consider Worf to be very close the ideal Klingon. In the sense that all Klingons claim to strive for the ideals we see in Worf. But they fail. Ironically, for Worf, he had no direct role model, so he established his character based on the ideals of Klingons, rather than actual experience.

Kind of like a kid with no father, learning about how to be a man from King Arthur stories.

 

[Umbran]

I don't think anyone has compared them to Soviets.

Cringe all you want, the reference is there from the start.

The first episode in which Romulans appeared was TOS: "Balance of Terror" - This title is a direct reference to the Cold War arms race between the USA and the Soviet Union. The phrase was coined by Lester Pearson in June 1955, "the balance of terror has replaced the balance of power," at the 10th anniversary of the signing of the UN Charter.

The third episode in which they appear ("The Enterprise Incident") is again a pretty obvious play on US/Soviet Cold War spy games.

Anyone who doesn't compare the Romulans to the Soviets, to my mind, has failed to remember the historical context in which TOS was written.

In later portrayals, the "Tal Shiar" secret police are a pretty obvious analog of the real-world KGB. The Soviet Union reference was still alive, as Next Gen started airing in 1987, but the Soviet Union didn't fully dissolve until 1991. The tension between the Tal Shiar and the Romulan Military roughly mirrors what was going on in the Gorbachev-led USSR...

By the time DS9 rolls around, the Romulans have again followed the Soviet/Russian progression, and have become sometimes allies, sometimes adversaries in a politically complex world without clear superpowers.

 

[Janx]

Just to bring the ST:Klingons back into scope for the topic (sorry for hijacking):

Consider Klingons in TOS to be akin to Orcs in D&D 1E era. Klingons are bad, kill Klingons.

Actual exposure to klingons is during episodes where we see them doing bad things. So you COULD interpret that Kirk is a racist who hates Klingons, but there's no ulterior motive for that. He doesn't need to justify violence against Klingons because they are Klingons. The Klingons are doing bad things, and he IS justified in stopping them, regardless of his feelings for them.

Additionally, as I'm re-watching TOS now (near the end of season 2 finally), while Kirk or some redshirt may at times a bit strongy (Klingon!), Kirk always acts with restraint despite any kneejerk pre-judice he might have. He effectively controls his base human nature to react negatively to the "outsiders" and choose better behavior.

Orcs in early D&D can be construed the same way. As long as we're not seeing Orc villages and babies being killed by Paladins, we're not making racist/pre-judicial judgements in the context of D&D. The party comes across a caravan being attack by Orc Raiders. What do they do? the decision has less to do with their race, than the unlawful activity going on.

Now in ST:TNG, we're shown Klingons in a different context (and in fact, direct animosity between humans and klingons is greatly diminished and instead is used to portray prejudicial behavior as a bad thing.

So in D&D now-ish, if you've got Orcs being portrayed as "just another society with a dental problem" then you're also not likely using them as the villainous foil for the PCs to unleash justice upon.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

...just another society with a dental problem...

...and cheese graters on their foreheads. Don't forget those.

 

[Janx]

Cringe all you want, the reference is there from the start.

The first episode in which Romulans appeared was TOS: "Balance of Terror" - This title is a direct reference to the Cold War arms race between the USA and the Soviet Union. The phrase was coined by Lester Pearson in June 1955, "the balance of terror has replaced the balance of power," at the 10th anniversary of the signing of the UN Charter.

The third episode in which they appear ("The Enterprise Incident") is again a pretty obvious play on US/Soviet Cold War spy games.

Anyone who doesn't compare the Romulans to the Soviets, to my mind, has failed to remember the historical context in which TOS was written.

In later portrayals, the "Tal Shiar" secret police are a pretty obvious analog of the real-world KGB. The Soviet Union reference was still alive, as Next Gen started airing in 1987, but the Soviet Union didn't fully dissolve until 1991. The tension between the Tal Shiar and the Romulan Military roughly mirrors what was going on in the Gorbachev-led USSR...

By the time DS9 rolls around, the Romulans have again followed the Soviet/Russian progression, and have become sometimes allies, sometimes adversaries in a politically complex world without clear superpowers.

Yup. If nothing else, the Romulans were another Mashup. Romanesque culture (titles, etc), Soviet era issues.

In some ways, I would consider that the default Hollywood standard procedure. Take 2 things and merge them together to create the new alien race/culture/situation.

In this way, you can tell a Hunt for Red October story in the guise of "they're aliens". The Romulans are so roman, you can't be accused of mocking the russian culture. Yet the behavior and situations were exactly what the Soviets were involved in.

 

[Lwaxy]

The first episode in which Romulans appeared was TOS: "Balance of Terror" - This title is a direct reference to the Cold War arms race between the USA and the Soviet Union. The phrase was coined by Lester Pearson in June 1955, "the balance of terror has replaced the balance of power," at the 10th anniversary of the signing of the UN Charter.

The third episode in which they appear ("The Enterprise Incident") is again a pretty obvious play on US/Soviet Cold War spy games.

Ah yeah, might explain why the German titles were weirder than usual. Generally the German translations sucked big time though including changing names so that's probably why in our German-based fandom things are seen slightly different

The original German title was "Spock suspected."

I know all the episodes, including the one never aired in Germany, in English by now, of course, never made the connection though. But I'm a cold war kid, references to spies and such seemed natural enough, and we really didn't see the Romulans that often before TNG came around.

Seriously, I thought the classic Rommies looked like wearing their night clothes at all times, but same reference could be made to all the uniforms, especially the Federation uniforms.

 

[Lwaxy]

Actual exposure to klingons is during episodes where we see them doing bad things. So you COULD interpret that Kirk is a racist who hates Klingons, but there's no ulterior motive for that. He doesn't need to justify violence against Klingons because they are Klingons. The Klingons are doing bad things, and he IS justified in stopping them, regardless of his feelings for them.


Orcs in early D&D can be construed the same way. As long as we're not seeing Orc villages and babies being killed by Paladins, we're not making racist/pre-judicial judgements in the context of D&D. The party comes across a caravan being attack by Orc Raiders. What do they do? the decision has less to do with their race, than the unlawful activity going on.

Kirk didn't hate the Klingons until they killed David, he disliked them but was able to work with them just fine when they weren't totally stupid about it (Day of the Dove - which was, funny enough, called Balance of Power in German).

As for the orcs, definitely true. But as a GM I'd not ever describe orcs as only raiders. I would place as many of them in reasonable positions, even if they are mostly working as guards and not as farmers, than I'd place them as raiders. Everything else would feel totally wrong to me.

 

[Janx]

...and cheese graters on their foreheads. Don't forget those.

yeah, my wife had never heard of "forehead aliens" before when I had to explain why the aliens on DS9 had goofy stuff on their head. From TNG on up, that was ST's go-to method for making new aliens.

Probably economical, and generally looked better than TOS aliens, but as it became over-used as a strategy it became a running joke.