Serfs and Slaves - tell me about the treatment of vassals in your world

[Tonguez]

I know a lot of people don't like the idea of slavery in their games (or else declare it evil) yet 'Vassalage' (from slavery, to identured servitude, to Serfdom, to Vassalry) was a common state throughout earths history and wasn't always a bad thing.

Anyway I'm currently reading a couple of historic novels which include depictions of vassalage (one had an interesting look at slavery as seen through the eyes of a 'serf').

So I was wondering has anyone featured 'vassalage' within their games? Do you have NPC serfs or even PC's who own slaves? A Cohort who is a indentured servant?

and would things like whipping slaves to make them work harder, the wonton abuse of serfs and the practice of prima nocte be things you would introduce in a game?

 

[Crothian]

Slavery and serfs are very common. Slaves are treated as cheap expendible labor to a prized pet in different places and circumstances. Serfs are genreally treated well as long as they keep their duties and taxes in check.

 

[Wombat]

In our world we have a real range there...

I started out telling folks the game was going to be sort of Spanish Colonial; now we have serfs, slaves, indentured servants, pressed sailors, and many other ways for individuals to lose their freedoms. But, hey, it's not just the colonists -- the native peoples also have slaves and semi-slaves (more or less serfs).

Treatment in our world really runs the range as well. Some slaves are actually quite powerful, allowed by their masters to run household finances and the like and even having slaves of their own (more or less the old Roman model); others are considered not even sentient and are treated like recalcitrant animals.

An interesting spin to this is one of our players is black, another creole. They were the ones who first started seeing how far the range of treatment went; one of them has a slave who he treats abysmally. But because of their presence, the whole issue has become much more prominent in the game, again leading to the wider range of treatment and status.

So like I say, we're all over the board...

 

[Fenes]

Our FR campaign is set in a modified Unther/Mulhorand, and slavery is widespread there as well as in the other southern countries. Where slavery is forbidden (like in the North), serfdom is common, and indentured workers are also wide-spread.

How those slaves and slaves-in-all-but-names are treated depends a lot on the people in control, and the kind of slavery. Some slaves may lead a life 99% of the free population can't reach, others may get worked to death in a few months or years.

The PCs themselves keep numerous slaves.