Worldviews and campaigns coming together

[Scruffy nerf herder]

They have the one needed for the story being collectively told. Few of the NPCs I run in my game hold my cultural beliefs.
Fictional characters very much do have their own cultural perspectives, regardless of critics who insist they are all the foils or variations of their author. Ideas impacting a work is vastly different from an author assigning perspectives to their characters, especially in a collectively-authored story.

At least, the better authors don't.

I think what Umbran really means, is that whether or not we're always aware, there are little wrinkles of our own unique cultural upbringings that have their influence on the shape of our ethos, our world, and more importantly our use of language and mannerisms. Even when the creator simply thinks "that's different from how I think about this particular subject" their culture is having some influence on them even then.

This is a positive thing it is part of what makes people interesting. Of course none of this is intended to suggest that you yourself weren't aware of all of these basic ideas.

 

[MGibster]

How much have your games resembled the way you think about the world? Do your NPCs at times represent how you think the world often works, and/or express themes that spring from your perspective or culture?

I don't typically do this on a conscious level but I imagine it's unavoidable. When I have NPCs behaving in a "reasonable" manner its very much based on how I think things work or at least might work given the circumstances. This includes NPCs who act from their own worldview, which, again, is really just me putting my two cents in.

Sometimes this can cause some problems. When I ran a pre-made Alien adventure, the pre-made characters all had motivations designed to keep the player engaged in the adventure. The captain of the ship was motivated, in part, by his fear of losing not only his shares but the shares of his crew if he didn't investigate a distress signal as required by company policy. During the first part of the adventure, the player of the captain had him order an evacuation of the derelict vessel before it was fully explored. The player thought, "I don't want to play as jerk motivated by profit at the expense of the lives of people." Which, okay, I get that. But from my point of view, the captain isn't a greedy jerk. If he gives up the shares he's giving up the better part of a year's wages not only for him but for his crew as well. Who can afford that?

 

[Hex08]

I think what Umbran really means, is that whether or not we're always aware, there are little wrinkles of our own unique cultural upbringings that have their influence on the shape of our ethos, our world, and more importantly our use of language and mannerisms. Even when the creator simply thinks "that's different from how I think about this particular subject" their culture is having some influence on them even then.

This is a positive thing it is part of what makes people interesting. Of course none of this is intended to suggest that you yourself weren't aware of all of these basic ideas.

What this really comes down to is recognizing our own biases. People all have them and the pervade our lives. We can do our best to overcome them, but they are always there. It is certainly possible to recognize that we have them and do our best to minimize them but eliminating them is very unlikely so they will intrude in our games.

 

[BookTenTiger]

I'd say the worlds I create tend to reflect my own perspective, especially the idea that good, kindness, and empathy are inevitably more powerful than evil, cruelty, and selfishness.

The NPCs tend to have varying perspectives within that framework, some agreeing and some disagreeing.

 

[dragoner]

In my Solis and Andromeda Dragons settings at dtrpg, I try to do what I think is logical, I don't totally try to use it as a bully pulpit, though I am sure my left politics bleed through.

 

[Scruffy nerf herder]

What this really comes down to is recognizing our own biases. People all have them and the pervade our lives. We can do our best to overcome them, but they are always there. It is certainly possible to recognize that we have them and do our best to minimize them but eliminating them is very unlikely so they will intrude in our games.

Agreed. However we can own and appreciate and have some pride in them too. I'm glad I come from my kind of family and have been fortunate enough to have good and interesting experiences.

We come from a musical family. I.e. super musicology focused, people who have worked in orchestras and musical societies, even a famous artist you all might know and love (Johnny Cash), and this has influenced my games in various positive ways. I'm hardly interested in eliminating this influence.

Okay let's look at my first wife. A wonderful Hungarian woman who had all kinds of interest in Victorian era poetry except not 19th century England, but Hungary and Transylvania. Amazing cultural material, an extensive collection of fairy tales and folklore in general, blossoming into lesser known but engrossing 19th century art. Naturally, cool Eastern European themes and characters (especially monsters) would work their way into my games

 

[Retreater]

I once played in a game that the DM used as an allegory for his own political beliefs (which I won't delve into here). Suffice it to say, he would introduce each NPC as the campaign world's equivalent of "X Political Commentator" or "Y Senate Majority Leader."
As one might expect, my personal beliefs come across more in my original campaign setting stuff than pre-published adventures. This usually has the effect of alienating players since most of my players don't share my opinions. I try to avoid this stuff nowadays. We're there for a fun game, not for Retreater's soapbox.

 

[Catolias]

The games themselves - originals and subsequent iterations or editions - all express a particular world view and are socio-cultural artefacts. Once that’s acknowledged, then we can cut ourselves some slack about whether we should include our own worldview in the versions of these games that we run.

The best example of worldviews embedded in ttrpgs are gods and deities. Despite ttrpgs acknowledging multiple gods and thus suggesting polytheism, ttrpgs typically involve characters choosing a single god and following them. This “choose a single god” approach is consistent with the worldview of the society that these ttrpgs originated in. They have a culture based on a history of worshipping a single, all powerful god. In my games, I’m trying to change the original worldview into a formulation that is more consistent with polytheism.

I don’t think that we should accept all types of worldviews equally and uncritically, though. There are some pretty bad examples - racist, sexist, gendered - that should be called out and revised. That requires some reflective and critical thought about the games we play.

So, in my answer to the original poster: yes I impose my worldview in the games, sometimes knowingly, sometimes not. I do think critically about my worldview, though; I try to change it when something or someone shows me that it has to.