RPG Sales for Black Lives Matter

If you would like to give something to the Black Lives Matter movement, there are some great RPG-related options!

• DMs Guild has a Black Lives Matter spotlight. You can buy D&D material from people of color. There are 11 items in the spotlight, including a couple of bundles. One of them, a Black Lives Matter bundle, has nearly 30 D&D supplements heavily discounted.
• DriveThruRPG (DMs Guild's sister site) has a spotlight page too. This includes some awesome products like the Cyberpunk Red Jumpstart Kit, and a bunch of bundles which include Rocket Age and Shadows Over Sol.
• Itchio's MASSIVE bundle has raised nearly $5M so far, and contains over 1,000 products for just $5! They're not all tabletop RPGs, but there's a whole bunch in there including Lancer, a mech pilot RPG I've been meaning to pick up for ages!

As a side note, as I've said elsewhere on EN World, if you feel the burning need to declare that hearing about the suffering of others infringes on your gaming pleasure in some way, or that fundraisers for charity are somehow bothering you, I'd suggest you find somewhere else to say it. It's not welcome here.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

How to say this without causing controversy? I will try it.

The speculative fiction may be a softer way to explain the things.

The RPGs has tought us, showed how a lot of different people can cooperate to work together, and sometimes to use diplomacy and social skills to avoid innecesary fights.

Do you remember the old Robin Hood's stories about the conflicts between Saxons and Normarns? Both learnt to live together peacefully as good Christians. And who cares about this now? After the fall of Roman empire Visigoths arrived Spain and takeovered the relation with the natives wasn't good. Both had got different legal codes, and mixed marriage was forbidden (good time for a historical romance novel about forbidden loves). Step by step this started to be allowed, to look the other way, turn a blind eye, and in the end, both communities become one, the Spanishs.

Reporting racism isn't enough. Martin Luther King's dream wasn't only about respect and dignity, but also a dream of reconciliation and mutual trust, and everybody has to help about this, not only a part or side. And we can't forget we have to defend the respet for the human dignity, the core of our rights as citizens. Without that the rebel against authority may become a new tyrant, sometimes worse than the previous one.

Do you know Charle Dickens' "Barnaby Rudge" novel, about the 1780 Gordon riots? Let's use some historical event but with characters totally different to judge the same actions with a lower level of prejudices. We could use a fantasy version of the planet of the apes, or the characters from the X-Men, used as an allegory about the minorities. Do you think any actions would be right if they are done by other characters?

 

[Stefano Rinaldelli]

Somewhere I've seen something about Magic the Gathering removing some cards like Crusader for antiracist purposes. Somewhere else I've seen somebody request a new edition of Curse of Strahd without the vistani race that is racist against Romani people.
Somebody can give me a confirmation of this news?

 

[Tales and Chronicles]

Somewhere I've seen something about Magic the Gathering removing some cards like Crusader for antiracist purposes. Somewhere else I've seen somebody request a new edition of Curse of Strahd without the vistani race that is racist against Romani people.
Somebody can give me a confirmation of this news?

MTG has indeed banned a few problematic cards, like ''Pradesh Gyspy'' and ''Invoke Prejudice'' (which depicted Klan-like figures).

As for re-editing CoS (ToA was mentioned also), I dont think it will happen, but I think the demand is legit. The demand, though, is not about removing the Vistani or Chultans, is more about editing the book to present Vistani in a better light without the ''drunken, child-stealing, thieves, all of 'em!'' part, much like 4e did with them, and editing Chult to add more info about the culture of Chult.

Some also said that there was a problem with the fact that the only remaining city in Chult was one built by colonial powers, like if the native could no build things as good, but I dont see this one: to me its pretty clear that Port Nyanzaru is the last town because its city that offers the most distance between the inhabitants and the ever-advancing hordes of undeads! Its not superior in any way when you compare it to Mezro, who was so cool that it was the throne of a god and was taken to a demi-plane to protect it from a fallen former protector.

 

[Xaelvaen]

If you feel the need to take this down Morrus, I'll understand, but I want to add this precursor that I'm actually trying to be very informative here, and not demeaning in any way. A lot of people are being misled at the moment by certain things out there.

Make sure you know the charity you are supporting when buying/donating. A lot of 'Support BLM' donations are going directly to political charities, and there's not a lot of transparancy. Specifically, the #BlackLivesMatter donations go to ActBlue, which is a payment processor. Black Lives Matter, Inc is a corporation, not a charity, so they are not held accountable for the money donated to them - they are in no way required to PROVE where this money goes, because ActBlue is only required to prove the money went to the corporation, and the corporation isn't required to show you anything. You can prove this factually by clicking the donate button on their very own website. Bullet 2 of the donation requirements shows you ActBlue's 501(c)3 information, and since there is no BLM 501(c)3 information, this confirms that only ActBlue is held accountable. Now, if you have no problem that your money intended to help this movement is just going to politics, or likely even held to no accountable standards, that's cool - I'm not saying this is a GOOD or BAD thing. I want to clearly state I'm not inflicting my will here.

Myself, I believe there are better charities to help the problem - Equality Justice programs, and charities that specifically are targeting the minority communities and seeking that actual resolutions be taken, not just politics as usual in our country (the U.S.). There are even some global justice charities out there. Make sure the charities you're choosing to support will actually help the cause you're wanting to help, and not just be more political fundraising (if that's what you're seeking to do) and that these charities are transparent. Also check the overhead of these charities, and see the percentage of the funds actually being delivered to the target audiences. You don't want to give money to a charity that only has a 50% efficiency rate, for example. If you don't mind that your money for this cause is just going to a political machine, or half the money (or more) is being spent on overhead, more power to you.

Again Morrus, if this is just against what you want to see on your site at all, I understand if you want to take it down, but I feel I didn't cross any lines here, and wanted to make sure people KNEW who they were donating to when they were looking at these deals. I've found myself donating a lot lately, and making sure every dollar gets to the people who need it is a lot of effort - trying to help in every small way.

 

[Stefano Rinaldelli]

MTG has indeed banned a few problematic cards, like ''Pradesh Gyspy'' and ''Invoke Prejudice'' (which depicted Klan-like figures).

As for re-editing CoS (ToA was mentioned also), I dont think it will happen, but I think the demand is legit. The demand, though, is not about removing the Vistani or Chultans, is more about editing the book to present Vistani in a better light without the ''drunken, child-stealing, thieves, all of 'em!'' part, much like 4e did with them, and editing Chult to add more info about the culture of Chult.

Some also said that there was a problem with the fact that the only remaining city in Chult was one built by colonial powers, like if the native could no build things as good, but I dont see this one: to me its pretty clear that Port Nyanzaru is the last town because its city that offers the most distance between the inhabitants and the ever-advancing hordes of undeads! Its not superior in any way when you compare it to Mezro, who was so cool that it was the throne of a god and was taken to a demi-plane to protect it from a fallen former protector.

Thank you very much for the confirmation.
For the rest I think the rules of the forum do not allow me to express opinions about and I find it acceptable.

 

[CleverNickName]

Make sure you know the charity you are supporting when buying/donating.

This is good advice for everyone who wishes to donate to any charity. I remember the 'fundraising' scams that cropped up in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the Haiti earthquake in 2010. Please donate, as much and as often as you can, but also do your research and know where your money is going.

 

[Lem23]

Drive Thru are doing several bundles, 2 each for BLM, NAACP, and NPAP. Remarkable value too, $10 for $500+ on each bundle.

 

[Morrus]

I dunno if they did any publicity about this; I only stumbled on it by accident. I’d have included some thing in the bundle if I’d known!

 

[paladinn]

I'm sorry, I have a problem with this. Black lives definitely do matter. All lives do. I don't know when saying "All Lives Matter" became a mark of racism.

The death of George Floyd was tragic, and the cop(s) responsible deserve the full measure of justice. But it has become a "justification" for rioting and looting. And more African American people have died during all this in the last few weeks than at the hands of cops in the last few years. Combined. To say nothing of all the AA families and business owners who have lost homes and businesses.

Whatever the purpose of BLM, it has become co-opted by anarchists and anti-American extremists. The NY director of BLM, Hawk Newsome, has stated their objective of raising, training and equipping a force to combat the police. As much as I do care about the black community, I cannot in good conscience support the BLM organization.

Why does even our beloved hobby have to buy into this?