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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Dispater" data-source="post: 7619219" data-attributes="member: 683">The lowest common denominator.Violence is the basest, crudest capital of our society. A massive oversimplification, I know, but I am one of those who think ordered society is based on the control (or monopoly) of violence. We humans are social animals who have found coded language, laws and rituals to circumnavigate the need for violence, yet instead, we ceaselessly describe and portray and discuss violence in art, literature, games and films. We are essentially indulging in a form of fantasy or fetishism; sometimes for the lack of conflict it in our own lives. I think most people who have seen true violence shy away from it, and even in games, because it would remind them too much. Yet most people who have never experienced it properly are drawn to it. And lets face it, thats us, sitting here, and posting on this forum. A blanket statement, I know, but the fact is we are sitting here discussing games on online fora, not out in a ditch somewhere shooting bullets with screaming sergeants about. We are so fortunate to live in relatively peaceful times. Still even the most enlightened progressive individual has no appreciation for this. But has plenty of power fantasies and violent dreams. These cravings are coded into our genes, and I think we resort to games and entertainment to scratch that itch.I am not one here to call out what came first, chicken, or the egg; it is a paradox, as we make greater leaps of technology, we use a greater part of our intelectual effort to describe violence. Whether it is a coded ritual we inherit from our parents or culture, we pass on to our kids. Do not ask me why. So when you get together with your group and play out combat; you are not really describing proper violence. I understand we here are mostly just using it as a vehicle for conflict and drama. However, my point here is, we humans often resort automatically to violence when we have to describe something new. When you are writing you campaign lore, you most likely have "the war of -insert goofy fantasy name-" kick of a chain of events that leads to your currentd day. And most DMs not being the most original of creatives; will most likely, most often, resort to combat as the vehicle for challenge to his group, an easy fix. It takes more effort to understand that a political conflict, an intelectual or  emotional conflict can have so many other forms. You can run entire games where violence is simply not an option (consequences too great, or simply not needed). If you want to see less of it, it is down to you. Either as a game designer - make up a game about court intrigue that has only minimal violence involved. As a DMs, run a story where every encounter is one where the characters have talk their way out of it. Make the games reflect more the world we live in; and not the violence fetishism of computer games.</blockquote>

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