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3 Reasons The “Historical Accuracy” Argument In RPGs Is Complete BS

13/5/2019

18 Comments

 
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Everyone has their own idea of what a gaming experience should be. However, one of the more popular defenses that comes up whenever a player points out that there’s unnecessary racism or sexism in a setting, or how certain themes or tones aren’t what they’re looking for, is simply to say, “Well, that’s just the way things were back then.”

This is a colossally stupid statement. Let’s break down some reasons why, shall we?

1) Back When, Exactly?
The biggest reason this defense falls flat on its face is that most of our games aren’t taking place in a real history (or even a real future, for the sci-fi players out there). They’re drawing on historical elements and weaving them together into a fantasy narrative. Just because there’s knights and lances along with crossbows and feudalism, though, that doesn’t make Westeros a realistic depiction of medieval England anymore than it makes a leopard the same thing as a leopard seal.

Comparing the reality of your game world (a game which often has dragons, magic, and dozens of sentient races in it) to, say, Germany in the 1300s is nonsensical. You need to take the game world as it exists on its own merits, rather than justifying why things exist by comparing them to a completely different planet and saying they’re somehow comparable. Because they aren’t.

2) The Game World Is What You Want It To Be
Unless you play with absolute purists, most groups are willing to alter the rules of a game in order to make it better fit with what they want. They’ll ignore this feat, or toss out that restriction, or change the damage die this particular weapon deals, until everyone agrees this version of the rules better suits them.

Altering the rules of the world so they’re amenable to everyone at the table is no different.

Some time back, I wrote a blog post titled Authors, Every Awful Thing That Happens in Your Book Really is Your Fault. The point of that post, which definitely applies here, is that a thing exists in your game world because you choose for it to exist, and because everyone at the table, in some capacity, agrees that it should be there. If you all mutually agreed that you didn’t want dragons in your game, or the ability to resurrect the dead, you could mark it out with a single stroke of your house rules pen. You could do the same for prejudices, abhorrent behaviors, or things that make your players uncomfortable, too. There is literally nothing stopping you.

3) History is Likely WAY Different Than You Think It Is
Something I’ve noticed is that the more often someone raises a defense of historical accuracy, the less often that person is deeply learned in the history they’re talking about. As an example, the article Vikings Were Never The Pure-Bred Master Race White Supremacists Like to Portray, talks about how there was a surprising amount of diversity among Viking crews. And why wouldn’t there be? They’re pirates after all! One man dies in a raid, you don’t sail all the way back to Scandinavia to find a replacement; you recruit whatever local talent is around who can do Einar’s old job.

Examples of stuff like this are all over when history is used to defend the negative aspects in a setting; from intolerance to a refusal to allow migration (in case you wanted to play someone who was the child of immigrants, as an example) it’s the same tune over and over again. Yet at the same time, we forget just how gay the Spartans were, or how Japanese mercenaries warred with the Dutch when that enemy was half a world away. For every example of prejudice, othering, and violence we find in the history books, there are equal examples of cultures where certain ideas we consider fringe, radical, or just uncommon were a part of the everyday; like how Native Americans respected trans identities in ways that seem like a utopia compared to what we often see in today’s world.

Take Inspiration From History, But Responsibility For Your Game
History is full of cool stuff, unusual personages, lost empires, and strange legends. It makes for great reading, by and large. However, it’s important to remember that the game you see in front of you is your responsibility, and no one else’s. If something is upsetting your players, or people object to a certain kind of content, you don’t get to shrug your shoulders and duck the blame.

It’s your game, so make it the best it can be.


For more gaming insights from Neal Litherland, check out his blog Improved Initiative, as well as his Gamers archive. Alternatively, to take a look at some of his books, head over to his Amazon Author Page!

Picture Reference: https://geekandsundry.com/song-of-swords-the-historical-fantasy-tabletop-rpg-with-gritty-tactical-combat/

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18 Comments
Jason M
13/5/2019 11:52:25 am

Racism is absolutely baked into the RPG cake. RAW in many cases. If you want your world to be the exception, fine...but it's the exception.

Reply
Will
13/5/2019 12:25:05 pm

Yeah, like Elf/Dwarf racism, you don't see much Human hating other humans because of skin color built into the game.

Reply
Roders
13/5/2019 12:29:09 pm

What are you on about? Most D&D worlds, which to be fair is currently the most popular RPG has no sexism in it.

In any case, the sexist worlds would be the exceptions, not the rule.

Reply
Roders
13/5/2019 12:34:06 pm

*racist worlds

Will (The other one)
13/5/2019 02:00:11 pm

Really? Because we have:

Numenera - No racism baked in
Monster Hearts - No racism baked in
Fate - No racism baked in
DnD - No racism baked in. Any racism is found in setting specific areas. There are no rules that blah have to hate blah.
Savage Worlds - Racism is setting dependent, there isn't racism in the rules.
GURPS - No racism there in those rules.
Traveller - Racism in that is DM dependent, just like the rest.
Blades in the Dark - No racism in the book, it's setting dependent.
Chuubo's - I think they actively avoid racism in Chuubo's.

Racism is often a very lazy trope used to 'spice up' settings without a lot of thought in a lot of cases. But it's definitely not baked in to the RPG cake, as many RPGs exist without it. Just because you can't think of making an RPG without it doesn't mean they don't exist.

Reply
Roders
13/5/2019 12:32:19 pm

Loved the article!

Reply
Ben
13/5/2019 02:19:21 pm

Excellent and insightful as always!

Reply
dx35y
13/5/2019 06:52:44 pm

It is more that propaganda has infected everything today. People will take offence if the RPG doesn't contain their propaganda. Very cultured people value literature that doesn't beat an ideological drum.

Both AD&D and the original Star Wars were inspired works and their authors spent a lot of time researching mythology in order to write satisfying works. Both were criticized heavily for being "sexist" when in fact their authors were not concerned with propaganda at all. Female characters were an instrument of genre.

In contrast both the new Star Wars films and D&D 5e are contrived to be marketable to a large audience and consequently are quit bland.

The are two main RPG campaign styles and both are viable. If the campaign is realistic, by the book, and authentic to its source material the the players can't complain if the GM does bend the rules or arbitrarily forgo the social reality of the game world. Doing so would be very unsatisfying for both the GM and the players.

In contrast if the campaign style is cinematic or "silly" then such the GM can suspend reality whenever it pleases the whims of the players.

Reply
Jason M
13/5/2019 02:47:42 pm

I feel like I'm taking crazy pills.

Pathfinder:
"Elves are prone to dismissing other races, writing them off as rash and impulsive, yet on an individual level, they are excellent judges of character. In many cases an elf will come to value a specific member of another race, seeing that individual as deserving and respectable, while still dismissing the race as a whole. If called on this behavior, the elf often doesn’t understand why his “special friend” is upset the elf has noticed the friend is “so much better than the rest of his kind.” Even elves who see such prejudice for what it is must constantly watch themselves to prevent such views from coloring their thinking.

Elves are not foolish enough, however, to dismiss all aspects of other races and cultures. An elf might not want a dwarf neighbor, but would be the first to acknowledge dwarves’ skill at smithing and their tenacity in facing orc threats. Elves regard gnomes as strange (and sometimes dangerous) curiosities, but regard their magical talent as being worthy of praise and respect. Halflings are often viewed with a measure of pity, for these small folk seem to the elves to be adrift, without a traditional home. Elves are fascinated with humans, who seem to live in a few short years as full a life as an elf manages in centuries. In fact, many elves become infatuated with humans, as evidenced by the number of half-elves in the world. Elves have difficulty accepting crossbreeds of any sort, however, and usually disown such offspring. They similarly regard half-orcs with distrust and suspicion, assuming they possess the worst aspects of orc and human personalities."

D&D 3.5:
"Relations: Elves consider humans rather unrefined, halflings a bit staid, gnomes somewhat trivial, and dwarves not at all fun. They look on half-elves with some degree of pity, and they regard halforcs with unrelenting suspicion. While haughty, elves are not particular the way halflings and dwarves can be, and they are generally pleasant and gracious even to those who fall short of elven standards (a category that encompasses just about everybody who’s not an elf)."

D&D 5th Edition
"Although they can be haughty, elves are generally gracious even to those who fall short of their high expectations—which is most non-elves. Still, they can find good in just about anyone.

Dwarves. “Dwarves are dull, clumsy oafs. But what they lack in humor, sophistication, and manners, they make up in valor. And I must admit, their best smiths produce art that approaches elven quality.”

Halflings. “Halflings are people of simple pleasures, and that is not a quality to scorn. They’re good folk, they care for each other and tend their gardens, and they have proven themselves tougher than they seem when the need arises.”

Humans. “All that haste, their ambition and drive to accomplish something before their brief lives pass away—human endeavors seem so futile sometimes. But then you look at what they have accomplished, and you have to appreciate their achievements. If only they could slow down and learn some refinement.”

Now you can claim that the most popular RPGs of all time don't represent, but again, you'd be finding the exceptions.

Reply
j.j
13/5/2019 05:35:02 pm

this article is all about being woke and gaining virtue points jason, you shouldnt care.

Reply
chelonianmobile
26/1/2023 08:43:06 pm

The article was referring to racism against actual human races and you know this perfectly well, you're just starting stupid arguments.

Reply
Mar
13/5/2019 06:17:17 pm

i'm sure vikings were sooo diverse, whole range of colours like white, less white, more white and a slave or foreigner some times. They would not dye their hair and beards blonde to be more "beautiful", nono that would not be inclusive.We have to rewrite history to fit our narrative because we cannot make our fantasy worlds the way we fucking want without that.In my setting ancient times happened a lot of bad things as long as they werent nondiverse and noninclusive because that would not make me look woke.
PD:Sry for my english

Reply
chelonianmobile
26/1/2023 08:41:25 pm

Yes, every historian and archaeologist in the world is wrong, apparently:
https://theconversation.com/vikings-were-never-the-pure-bred-master-race-white-supremacists-like-to-portray-84455
https://www.historytoday.com/archive/history-black-people-britain
https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/9t2oum/norse_thralls/
https://www.livescience.com/vikings-were-not-always-blonde-or-scandinavian.html
https://scandinaviafacts.com/were-the-vikings-black/

Reply
Mica
13/5/2019 06:23:21 pm

It is not as if it made sense to base the skin tone of people on exposure to the sun in their respective geographical environments. Only disgusting poeple that want their setting to make sense do that, thats no inclusive or diverse. It might hurt someone feelings, what a cathastrophe!

Reply
Mica
13/5/2019 06:27:14 pm

An homogeneous habitat,no such bigotry in my setting

Reply
Beto
13/5/2019 07:38:42 pm

"Comparing the reality of your game world (a game which often has dragons, magic, and dozens of sentient races in it) to, say, Germany in the 1300s is nonsensical. You need to take the game world as it exists on its own merits, rather than justifying why things exist by comparing them to a completely different planet and saying they’re somehow comparable. Because they aren’t."

how do YOU know how MY setting is? maybe i want it to be like, lets say, germany in 1300s(? in which case the argument “Well, that’s just the way things were back then.” would be viable

Reply
chelonianmobile
26/1/2023 08:42:13 pm

That's fine until you start filling it with elves and orcs and chainmail bikinis.

Reply
Greg
15/5/2019 06:55:38 am

Racism should (or shouldn't) be part of any RPG setting if that does (or doesn't) make any sense with the setting/theme of the game.
It is absolutely FINE to exist in any/your campaign setting. After all it is a make believe game of adventure/horror/exploration whatever theme you are running your games.
I see absolutely no problem with it being a part of any game. I mean, most characters (players) kill other characters (NPCs, villains, monsters) during the game. It does not make the players killers or murderers in real life.
Where is the problem in exploring racism through a story?
What if you want to run a fantasy "American History X" game where you explore a character transformation/racial drama?
This kind of mentality does not help people get closer, only drives us further apart.
Let us all be mature about the subjects we include in our games yes? And not try to jump on or off the latest bandwagon that society shoves up our throats. D&D (RPGs in general) were always THE hobby for outcasts, nerds and unpopular people. It was not because of the racism/sexism/whatever. Yet all of those people were more often than not some of the kindest, most gentle persons.

Reply



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