Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Yaarel" data-source="post: 8329564" data-attributes="member: 58172">It is problematic if the nonhumans that are "dangerous, less-civilized, raiders" dip into the problematic Asian (Mongol) and African (Subsaharan) stereotypes that are rife in early fantasy literature, like in Tolkien and others.Likewise, if the "less civilized" nonhumans have "shamans", it can be problematic to reallife animistic cultures.Animistic/shamanic cultures include Australian Aborigines, Native American tribes, African tribes, Nordic peoples, Asian Tungusic peoples, Southeast Asian peoples, and others. Of course, there are different kinds of animistic cultures. They tend to share characteristics in common, including shamanic trances, the immediacy of the physical world, relating to each natural feature as a person, and often nomadic or semi-nomadic. Animism is considered the spirituality of paleolithic humans, but survives in various forms today.Strict animism primarily relates to the extended family and a sense of a community that includes prominent natural features as members of the community. Note, the human too is a feature of nature among other features of nature. The job of a shaman is to help resolve any conflicts among the members of the community, whether human or nonhuman. There is no "worship", but there can be a reverence such as toward a grandparent or a love toward a friend. Often, a family of humans believe they partly descend from a nonhuman feature of nature.Animism can blend into other kinds of religion, such as monotheistic animism (where an infinite God created all of the visible beings of nature) and polytheistic animism (where certain natural features gained sovereignty over the community and demand servitude).For gaming purposes, animism is interesting because it isnt polytheism, and is more egalitarian, and less authoritarian. It is also attuned to being in harmony with nature, and eco-friendly. Also, animism tends to be "psionic" where each natural feature, even a stone or a tree, is a nonhuman mind (often a nonanthropomorphic mind), and these minds exert influence over each other, including dreams and manifestations. Compare Aborigine Dreamtime and Norse Mindforces.The theme of "colonialism" is politically charged in reallife, but I suspect a game can handle it in a way that is neutral and accurate. It is the way things were, and there are reasons it evolved the way it did. It is possible to avoid demonizing the colonialists while still paying attention to the injustices and violence that comes with colonialism.</blockquote>

Verification