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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Malmuria" data-source="post: 8578209" data-attributes="member: 7030755">To summarize my points above 1. the RPG hobby is still a white, male, US-centric field, and should look to give opportunities to under-represented minorities.  This shouldn't just be the case with 'analogue' settings, but given the history of white authors appropriating and profiting off the cultures of others, it should be a consideration (though unclear if non-wotc rpgs really make money).  2. the cultural memory/lived experience point.  In terms of cultural memory, that also has to do with the way people are inculcated into literary imaginaries at a young age; and 3. cultural sensitivity, since White (and male and hetero and able-bodied) authors tend to not be cognizant of when they are using offensive tropes, or the way different things might be offensive to different groups (in the US vs in Pakistan vs in India, etc).To give one example, I remember reading the 2e Planescape supplement "On Hallowed Ground" as a kid.  Part of the premise involves fitting real-world religions into the great wheel cosmology...and, it's an awkward fit all around.  I remember, even then, that Shiva was NE and located in the negative energy place because he is the "god of destruction."  So then followers of Shiva are neutral evil?  But this is a complete misinterpretation of that god's role in hinduism, and the role that "destruction" plays in sustaining life. I wouldn't say I'm offended by it, because whatever; it's more an eyeroll and a loss of credibility (and overall I love Colin McCombs' work for PS).</blockquote>

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