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.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

I agree. Saying "All Lives Matter" is racist because it's trying to minimize the appearance of a problem. It's something white people, such as myself, don't understand naturally. I don't have to be super careful around cops. I don't have to worry that I'll be shot dead while reaching for my driver's license if I'm pulled over. I don't have to worry about being killed while arrested for having a 20 dollar bill that's counterfeit.

The problem with saying "Well, all live matter!" when someone tells you that black lives matter is because that's an ignorant and racist statement. If someone's child who overdosed on drugs, because they got hooked on heroin from opiods that were prescribed to them, you wouldn't go up to them and tell them to not complain because "ALL LIVES MATTER" because that's an insensitive and a stupid thing to say. It's a tragedy, we have to work through this problem while comforting the victims of the problem.

In any other context, anyone who said "All lives matter" in response to someone protesting over their lives being taken away would be immediately condemned. Not only was their post misinformation, but it lacked empathy or understanding of the situation, and they need to reevaluate their stance on Black Lives Matter as a phrase and an organization.

QFT.

We may disagree a lot about game stuff, but I'm glad we can agree on this.

For anyone who struggles with this, but wants to understand what people are talking about, here is B. Dave Walters speaking from the heart about Black lives. B. Dave is one of the most uplifting and inspiring people in the TTRPG community, and I hope everyone will watch the video and try to understand and empathize with what he is saying.

 

[Tun Kai Poh]

Oh, that bundle is fantastic. Thanks for mentioning it!

The 1600+ game itch.io bundle has gotten easier to navigate since they added a search feature, but one dedicated fan has created a fantastic search page that lets you toggle filters for TTRPGs, video games, soundtracks, comics, asset packs, etc... as well as searching by tags! Very useful!

Bundle Browser - Explore Itch.io's Mega Bundles (Indie Bundle for Abortion Funds, Bundle For Ukraine, TTRPGs for Trans Rights in Texas, Indie Bundle for Palestinian Aid and Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality)

Browse, search and filter Itch.io's largest bundles or let us pick a random game for you.

randombundlegame.com

And now the Bundle has raised USD5.9 million...with 3+ days left to go!

 

[3catcircus]

Fair enough! I appreciate the clarification.

The only thing I would add to this excellent conversation is that it has unfortunately come to my attention that simply being a charity isn't enough either; I have seen 501(c)(3)s that are, for all practical purposes, a legal way to funnel money to people (they raise money to provide it to a few individuals as management fees, or to pay money to third parties that are owned by the individual who set up the charity).

That's why it is always prudent to donate to charities you are comfortable with. Oh, and avoid charities that rely heavily on phone banks and calling for donations- those are the worst (IMO).

If it feels like a scam, it probably is. Trust your gut instinct.

The best thing to do is to try and find local charities and donate to them. Usually, but not always, the money stays closer to home and actually gets to where you intended to go. Always check what they actually do with donations and how much is actually given out vs. used for operating expenses.

Better yet, donate your time or skills to, say, teaching at risk teens a vocation, or encouraging an interest in STEM, or inspiring someone to pursue a focused career path, brings more results than throwing money at poverty, drug abuse or crime prevention.

Spouting off on social media or throwing money to a charity are easy. Actually getting involved and doing something to make your community better is really really hard for most people to do. It doesn't even need to feel that significant to you - it will be significant to the people you are helping.

 

[The Old Crow]

I am glad I saw this thread. I have a cause that I am set to donate to, but I am going to do this too. I think it is a great thing that gamers from all over can come together and contribute. Every little push is a little movement forward, and if everybody pushes together, we might actually get somewhere.

 

[GreyLord]

I skipped through a lot of the comments because I did not really want to get embroiled in some of the political stuff in the thread.

I am posting to comment on those that are wary of paying money to charities they do not know much about.

I do not know much about where the finances for some of the charities are going, and I don't know about how accountable they are, but there is one that I FEEL should have had more press considering the current situation and in my own opinion has done more legally to help than many others.

That is the NAACP. Hopefully I can post a link (not directly to their charity, but at least to their site) to those who may be interested. It is a longstanding organization and is an alternative if people are looking for one.

NAACP

NAACP builds Black political power to end structural racism. Let's put end to race-based discrimination together: become a member, advocate, or donate today.

www.naacp.org

It is one of the first that comes to my mind, so I may be missing a reason why they have not been mentioned more in recent days in the media. If there is, obviously feel free to take it down if it is controversial (I don't feel it should be, but I may have missed something, I expected they would have more media presence considering recent events, but I have not heard much about them recently, so I may be out of the loop).

From my experience they are a solid organization that you can donate to and have a good idea what you are donating for.

Edit: I decided to be less apologetic (excuses to justify posting the link) and more straightforward with putting down the link. I hope it is allowed, I do not desire to offend anyone and only promote another organization that I FEEL is in line with what some may be looking for. If I am wrong, please know I meant no wrong and only meant to help.

 

[Tun Kai Poh]

From my experience they are a solid organization that you can donate to and have a good idea what you are donating for.

They have been pretty consistent and I think they were a good match for our itch.io bundle (they are one of the two charities involved), which is part of the reason several of my game creator friends and I contributed games to the bundle.

Sorry if I keep cheering about it, we're up to 7 million dollars now with 18 hours left to go!

 

[Eltab]

I skipped through a lot of the comments because I did not really want to get embroiled in some of the political stuff in the thread.

I am posting to comment on those that are wary of paying money to charities they do not know much about.

I do not know much about where the finances for some of the charities are going, and I don't know about how accountable they are, but there is one that I FEEL should have had more press considering the current situation and in my own opinion has done more legally to help than many others.

That is the NAACP. Hopefully I can post a link (not directly to their charity, but at least to their site) to those who may be interested. It is a longstanding organization and is an alternative if people are looking for one.

NAACP

NAACP builds Black political power to end structural racism. Let's put end to race-based discrimination together: become a member, advocate, or donate today.

www.naacp.org

It is one of the first that comes to my mind, so I may be missing a reason why they have not been mentioned more in recent days in the media. If there is, obviously feel free to take it down if it is controversial (I don't feel it should be, but I may have missed something, I expected they would have more media presence considering recent events, but I have not heard much about them recently, so I may be out of the loop).

From my experience they are a solid organization that you can donate to and have a good idea what you are donating for.

Edit: I decided to be less apologetic (excuses to justify posting the link) and more straightforward with putting down the link. I hope it is allowed, I do not desire to offend anyone and only promote another organization that I FEEL is in line with what some may be looking for. If I am wrong, please know I meant no wrong and only meant to help.

Thank you for the suggestion.

I speculate that NAACP and other 'traditional' organizations are not getting the attention because they are the previous generation. The energy and enthusiasm is among youth who are too young to remember when the NAACP was in the public eye, but they do remember the rise of Black Lives Matter (and the splash they made) so that is where the attention is turning and the support is going.

And ... you don't have to apologize for wanting to help. Thank you again.

 

[darjr]

Good point! A good friend of mine has an adventure in the NAACP bundle at the DMsGuild. CCC-Nuke-01-02 Hide and Seek.

- | Dungeon Masters Guild

-

www.dmsguild.com

 

[Mike Myler]

There are sooooooooooooooooooooo many games in this bundle so I went through the 57 pages of them and picked out a few that I'm keen to play.

You’ve Bought the Massive itch.io BLM Bundle: Now What?

There are fifty-seven pages of games in this ridiculously, insanely low-priced $5 bundle. These run the gamut from 2-D platformers, virtual reality, soundtracks, assets, 3-D first person shooters,…

mikemyler.com

 

[3catcircus]

So - I have to ask.

The description on DriveThruRPG states "Black Lives Matter was founded in 2013 in response to the acquittal of Trayvon Martin’s murderer. Black Lives Matter Foundation, Inc is a global organization in the US, UK, and Canada, whose missi... " This is patently false. Black Lives Matter Foundation is a Santa Clarita-based charity foundation. BLM Global Network is the organization being described in the DriveThruRPG description. It is not a legally-recognized charity, as previously mentioned in this thread.

So - which is it? Which foundation are people actually donating to? Is it BLM Foundation, a legally-recognized charity? Or is it BLM GN, which sits behind ActBlue and Thousand Currents because it is not a legally-recognized charity? Are fraudulent representations and/or deceptive practices being made to dupe people into donating into a different organization than they think they are donating to? Where are donator's monies actually being sent to?

I could care less which of the two BLM organizations anyone may want to donate to, but it just illustrates my earlier point - donate locally.