Racism in your game?

[Campbell]

Yes, but such adventuring parties are not really racist in the first place as they let other races into the party.

Racism isn't limited to its most obvious forms. Real world racism is often subtle, pervasive, and even unintentional at times. Legolas and Gimli's initial attitudes towards one another was most certainly a form of species bias as was the Fellowships' reactions to Frodo, Sam, etc.

 

[Scrivener of Doom]

I definitely use racism in my games.

Half-orcs are always insulted as "one tusks". Half-elves are brutalised if captured by the Eldreth Veluuthra (FR's very own elven racial supremacists). Wererats - we have one in the party courtesy of a 4E theme - are simply "filthy".

It's a game. And we're all mongrels in real life (with apologies to anyone who is not Australian who is offended by the term "mongrel") and it's not targeting any of us or our families so it's all good.

Also, it's actually racism. It's about race - orc, human etc... - rather than real world prejudice based on skin colour (and I live in one of the most discriminatory countries in the world when it comes to skin colour - the Philippines - and it's something I simply don't touch). Also, they are fantasy races with no real world equivalents - although I may have met a few half-orcs here from time to time....

 

[delericho]

IMC an individual character (or even nation) may be racist*/sexist/homophobic. However, the "core areas" of the setting, and certainly the default behaviour I assume unless I have good reason to do otherwise, is to use what I term the "Battlestar Galactica" model, where not only can a female/black/gay character be a fighter pilot/president/whatever, but it doesn't even occur to most people to even ask if that's possible because of course they can.

* Incidentally, where 'racist' actually means 'speciesist' in most cases.

I do, however, have two other thoughts to offer:

- The above applies mostly to fantasy and sci-fi settings. I haven't done much present day or historical role-play. However, if running something like 1920's-era CoC I would probably be inclined to build a significant amount of prejudice into the setting. Although even then, I would only do so after discussing the matter with my players, because if they're not comfortable about such things, what's the point.

- Two recent podcasts (Grumpy's "Blacks in Gaming", and F. Wesley Schneider on "Know Direction" about homosexuality in Golarion), have led me to question whether I need to be a bit more deliberately inclusive - my defaults have tended to be for straight white male NPCs, and I'm sure it wouldn't hurt to change that.

 

[Janx]

IMC an individual character (or even nation) may be racist*/sexist/homophobic. However, the "core areas" of the setting, and certainly the default behaviour I assume unless I have good reason to do otherwise, is to use what I term the "Battlestar Galactica" model, where not only can a female/black/gay character be a fighter pilot/president/whatever, but it doesn't even occur to most people to even ask if that's possible because of course they can.

That's effectively what I do as well. Partly to not intentionally exclude anybody who really isn't the same gender/race/attraction, partly to not exclude anything thing the game.

- Two recent podcasts (Grumpy's "Blacks in Gaming", and F. Wesley Schneider on "Know Direction" about homosexuality in Golarion), have led me to question whether I need to be a bit more deliberately inclusive - my defaults have tended to be for straight white male NPCs, and I'm sure it wouldn't hurt to change that.

Per some other thread that wasn't about this, I proposed rolling the gender randomly when you create NPCs. You could extend that to race and preference if you wanted. I suspect we pick straight white guys for NPCs because we are straight white guys. Not as a deliberate anything, just as an unthinking default.

Personally, I see the same challenge trying to incorporate black NPCs into the game. With the D&D races, I just make them come from different places (like their real world counterparts). So saying where black people come from isn't as obvious to me, because other than "from a place like Africa", which i don't tend to put in my euro-medieval worlds, kinda makes it hard.

I think the simplest thing is just to roll for it. Get 1, this NPC's black, 2, this NPC's white, 3, this NPC's purple. Don't worry about the logistics. It's just D&D.

 

[delericho]

I suspect we pick straight white guys for NPCs because we are straight white guys. Not as a deliberate anything, just as an unthinking default.

Exactly.

 

[Fetfreak]

Yup probably, the NPC's that are not straight white guys are usually the npc I give more thought in the first place.

 

[Morrus]

Yes, but such adventuring parties are not really racist in the first place as they let other races into the party.

Racists can, and often do, associate with those they discriminate against.

 

[Loonook]

I have no issues with sexism, racism, or any force of orientation discrimination in our games. The idea that there is no human prejudice in a game where the default is 'kill everything with green, red, or purple skin' seems a bit silly. Mechanically? I like a more complex form of Outsider Ratings from Ravenloft, and changing how specific groups will look at you based on how you are seen.

Of course most mercenaries and adventurers care about three colors: Copper, Silver, and Gold.

Slainte,

-Loonook.

 

[sabrinathecat]

It is more of speciesism. In my world, the Eladrin rule. Always have done. They found this fragment of the prime material plane and claimed it. While drunk at a party on another plane, someone let the location slip in mixed company, so Gnomes and other fey found their way it. Then someone blurted it out to a dragon (in an attempt (failed) to not be eaten), and they showed up. The Dwarves seem to have tunneled in from somewhere. Over time, on this plane, some of the Eladrin (or their descendants) found themselves unable to teleport, but better at skills and hunting. Thus they became elves. Devils found the plane by accident, and brought human slaves with them. And bred with them (disgusting) to create tieflings. But the humans, with much training, were decent pets and could be trained to be servants, so the Eladrin actually began copying Devil social habits. Then, much to their utter horror and disgust, some of the more decadent Eladrin and elves discovered that it was possible to breed with humans. The only thing lower than a human is a half-elf. The only thing lower than a half elf is the Elven parent. The only thing lower than that...
Which brings us to an incident that occurred about 800 years ago, when an Eladrin lord imported 100 goblins into his game forest and gave them 20 years alone, so that for his next anniversary, he and his guests could have a jolly wonderful time hunting, with prizes for whoever bagged the most. Well, the goblins got loose, and bred with everything they could, and created their own bizarre cross/sub-species. Worst of all, it wasn't that good an anniversary party.
But the Eladrin still claim supreme rulership, and regard the Dwarven kingdoms and the Draconic Empires with distain.

 

[haakon1]

I proposed rolling the gender randomly when you create NPCs. You could extend that to race and preference if you wanted.
...
Personally, I see the same challenge trying to incorporate black NPCs into the game. With the D&D races, I just make them come from different places (like their real world counterparts). So saying where black people come from isn't as obvious to me, because other than "from a place like Africa", which i don't tend to put in my euro-medieval worlds, kinda makes it hard.

When I had a bunch of wererats attacking a crowd at the fair, I had their victims descriptions totally randomly determined -- gender, age, social class, occupation, and D&D race (e.g., Halfling). I didn't bother describing sexual orientation or races within humans as it didn't seem relevant. I do that sort of thing whenever I need to make up NPC's on the spot.

The chances though, are not all even. For example, for a night watch patrolman, I might say 1-7 human, 8 dwarf, 9 half-orc, 10 other race (infravision is valued), and gender 1-7 male. Whereas a daytime watch patrol might be 1-7 human, 8 elf, 9 half-elf, 10 other race.

As for races of humans in my Greyhawk campaign, I think of it like this, and combining somewhat unrelated Earth origins (Greek & Mongol within Baklunish), I can give it a lot of historical and cultural flavor while not having it exactly like any real culture.

-- Suloise = northern European. English, Scandinavian, and Finnish. I even give them Norse gods + Suel specific gods.

-- Oeridian = southern and central European. Italian, French, Celtic, and German (Holy Roman Empire = Great Kingdom). I give them "default" Greyhawk gods, most of which are Oeridian in origin.

-- Flannae = original people of the Flanaess = Native American/First Nations, with weird admixtures of Sumerian and Swiss (as Perrenland is theirs). I give them American Indian gods (from AD&D Legends & Lore), Sumerian gods, and specific Flannae gods.

-- Baklunish = "eastern" people = Greek, Turkish, Hungarian, Middle Eastern, Mongol, and Russian. I give them Greek gods, plus specific Baklunish gods.

-- Touv = subSaharan African = We've never been to Hepmonaland, so their gods are unknown. They show up as a subsection of the population on the coasts of the Azure Sea -- Cauldron, Sasserine, Holds of the Sea Princes, Keoland, Wild Coast, and Greyhawk City. They came as merchants long ago, so they tend to be rich, but rare. They follow "normal" Greyhawk gods (mix of mostly Oeridian, some from the other races).

-- Olman = Central American natives = We're never been to their homeland, so we don't know their gods. Extremely rare outside their homeland, except in the Hold of the Sea Princes and Cauldron/Sasserine.