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5 Things You May Do That Hurt Your Game (And How To Fix Them)

23/5/2017

20 Comments

 
Picture
If you're a fan of Ravenloft, then chances are you're a pretty big horror fan, particularly Victorian, cosmic, or survival horror. Chances are also pretty good that you're cisgendered, heterosexual, white, male, and of Protestant descent (or at least more of those than not).

Now, there's nothing wrong with any of that.  Something to consider as a DM, however, is the subjective nature of horror.  Any veteran DM for a horror game like Ravenloft, Deadlands, or V:tM knows that what scares one person is just ho-hum to another.  Our experiences color our perceptions when it comes to the visceral reactions that horror depends on.  It's rare for a DM to be able to affect everyone at the table equally, but we do our best to try and make sure everyone has stories that resonate with them.

Sometimes, the stories we write may not just resonate differently with someone, they might mean something different entirely.  This is a phenomenon that's common in literature and film, where two opposing interpretations of the exact same artistic offering will emerge, often diametrically opposed.  So it's no surprise that a game performance, where people are much more personally involved and affected, can be just as susceptible to this kind of thing.

With that in mind, let's take a look at a couple of campaign tools and tropes that you might be using, or considering using, and how they could be seen differently by your audience.

1) Color-Coding
The ball is in full swing. The elite rub shoulders and make deals with one another, grateful that the local lord is using his newest marriage as an excuse for such a lavish gathering.  As the ancient clock begins to chime the hour, he arrives. From the moment he enters the room, all eyes are upon him, for his is a visage that could never blend in: statuesque features carved from ebony standing resplendent amid the pale faces of his subjects.  There is no doubt as to who the lord of this land is.

What you do: Make an NPC stand out from the crowd by making them a different color than their peers.  

Why you do it: A simple, stark, physical difference is the easiest way to make a character distinct. This draws PC attention to them just from their very description. For a villainous NPC, this can be an indicator that they 'don't belong' in the society they're found in, or can be a clue to an origin in a different nation or culture. This can lead the PCs down an avenue of investigation to the villain's hidden past. For an allied NPC, this can mark them out as someone who is different from the crowd (usually because they are helpful when the rest of the populace is not).  

How other people might see it: POC players might see this differently than you. If all the people of a specific race or color are presented as evil (for example: if the only black man in the kingdom is also the vampire lord that's been plaguing the countryside), it can appear as if you're presenting this specific race or subgroup as the problem. In the case of allied NPCs, it can appear as if you're presenting this particular race or subgroup as nothing more than a mysterious fairy-godmother figure.

How to fix it: If you need to make your villain or NPC stand out, particularly if you want to show that they aren't a part of the culture they're found in, give them a distinctive behavior or mannerism instead. A peculiar manner of speech or abnormal behavior pattern can be just as effective a clue, and since it's a touch more subtle, it can have the added benefit of making players feel clever for catching it. If they're an ally, you don't need such an obvious physical distinction to get your PCs to notice them. Their willingness to provide aid will provide all the initial emphasis you need.

2) Queer-Coding
The archmage closed his eyes. Though his voice was soft and delicate, he stumbled over not a single line of the incantation. His smooth, manicured hands traced the arcane sigils flawlessly. For ninety-eight nights he had made the same invocation. One more would make the ritual complete. They would pay for what they'd done to him, the burly mocking huntsmen and their simpering ladies: they would pay dearly...

What you do: Give an antagonistic NPC characteristics typically associated with the LGBTQ+ community.

Why you do it: If your PCs occupy traditional gender roles, you might do this to reinforce the notion that they are heroes, by contrasting them with an enemy that defies social norms (or the social norms that your PCs uphold, at any rate). For male NPCs, you might give them more effeminate traits to show them as more cultured or refined than their peers (or the PCs), maybe hinting at a greater social/mental strength as opposed to a physical danger. For female NPCs, you may be ascribing them masculine traits in order to portray them as tough.

How other people might see it: Unfortunately, giving feminine traits to male villains in order to make the male lead more manly by comparison is a time-honored Hollywood tradition.  Oftentimes in the fantasy or action-adventure genres we only see these types of behaviors when they're used as traits for a villainous foil in this manner. So it's easy to see how some in the LGBTQ+ community might see this as taking traits typically associated with their community and using them to indicate corruption or malevolence.  It's even double-hurtful when these same traits are used to indicate to the audience that the characters are supposed to be the object of ridicule and scorn. (The 'sissy-boy' archetype we see in Disney's Prince John, or the overly combative female co-worker from Boondocks Saints, for example.) Even in instances where these traits are being used to show a strength (by showing a character is more reliant on brains than brawn, for example, like we see with Disney's Jafar or with Timothy Olyphant's character in A Good Day to Die Hard) it can leave an unpleasant reminder of the past, and the nagging sensation that these traits are being used to portray the villain as somehow 'lesser.'

How to fix it: If you're trying to emphasize the player character's strength and virtue, you don't need to tie that to traditional gender roles. Non-traditional--or even openly LGBT--characters in positions of respect and authority in your game world (NPCs the PCs are intended to look up to) can do a great deal to show that non-traditional gender traits aren't being used to show weakness, corruption, or displacement, and that they aren't targets for derision.

3) Body-Coding
The emir gazed through half-lidded eyes at the adventurers. His bulk could barely be contained by his throne, which groaned as he shifted his weight. His pudgy fingers, festooned with chunky gold rings, steepled beneath his several chins as he scowled in consideration. The dancing girls waving fans gently over their lord dared not look at the captured heroes. They had seen similar mercenaries captured in their lord's keep before, and knew there was only two outcomes: death, or torturous death.

What you do: Use a bodily imperfection as an indicator of a character flaw, such as an obese character who is lazy or gluttonous.

Why you do it: By taking a trait that society often finds disagreeable and associating it with a negative character trait, you hope to reinforce the negative trait. In other words, you're showing an inner corruption so intense that it manifests outwardly.

How other people might see it: It can be very easy for someone who has one of these physical traits (or who has a loved one who does) to see your link between the character trait and the physical trait as general rather than causal (not 'this character is obese because he is greedy and lazy,' but 'people are fat because they are greedy and lazy).

How to fix it: In the long-term, highly-involved setting of a tabletop RPG campaign, this kind of shortcut isn't something you really need. You have more than enough time and room to show the depths of a character's corruption without having to use their physicality to make the point.  If you do want to have a character whose physical appearance also dovetails with a typically-associated character flaw, then consider adding friendly or allied NPCs with the same appearance. That way you show that you (and the society in your game world) don't consider these physical traits to be indicative of moral or ethical corruption.

4) Sexual Violence
Morena pulled her sword from its sheath as the bandits circled around her. The road was little traveled these days, and the thieves in the forest were growing desperate. When she stood and turned, their eyes lit up. One of them licked his lips, and with a nauseating turn Morena realized that she was facing a far worse fate than mere robbery.

What you do: Use the concept of sexual violence as an escalating factor, showing the depravity of a villain or the dire stakes of a threatening situation.  

Why you do it: You're not a complete monster! You recognize that sexual violence is perhaps the ultimate form of violation, so if you have a villain willing to commit such an action, you're indicating the unequivocal evil in their hearts. Although you recognize (of course) that only the most sociopathic, misogynistic gamemaster would actually force a female PC into a situation where she was the victim of sexual violence, you also think that the threat of sexual assault makes a situation more dangerous, or even that the threat is logical in certain circumstances (a lone female cleric being captured by a pirate gang, for example).

How other people might see it: The CDC estimates 1 in 5 women (and 1 in 71 men) are victims of rape. The odds are almost certain that you have gamed with (or currently game with) sexual violence survivors. In-game depictions of sexual violence can easily aggravate trauma issues. Even if that isn't the case, portrayals of sexual assault being used in a game to hang a lantern on the morality of a fictional character could very well strike some of your players as trivializing something that is all too real for them.

How to fix it: Authors wiser and more eloquent than me have opined that it's bizarre that we're more willing to accept a fantasy world where lizards fly and breathe fire, or where magical fog can transport people through time and space, than we are to accept a world where sexual violence just doesn't occur. There are other ways to show that a character is evil other than to show that they've raped someone.  

As far as using the threat of sexual violence goes: Probably best avoided in most groups. Your players, hopefully, already know you'd never follow through with having a PC actually being the victim of sexual violence (after all, you're not the kind of depraved, slavering shitheel that would do such a thing, right?) so the threat doesn't hold water. Further, it's unnecessary. If you've got a female PC being threatened by male enemies, you don't need to add the threat of sexual violence; it's almost a certainty that in her mind, that threat's already there. The only thing you do by making it explicit is show that the thought was in your mind too, making you look insensitive at best, or like a creep at worst.

If you have a group of close-knit, trusted friends, this might be a topic you can explore more thoroughly. The tabletop RPG campaign can even be a healthy outlet for discussing sexual assault. However, that kind of in-depth exploration of such a sensitive topic is probably not something to spring on new acquaintances or casual friends.

5) Babies
The thief crept down the tunnel, the rest of the adventuring party behind him. The lone member of the party with infravision, it was up to him to lead the heroes to ambush the hag. They moved carefully, cautious of the shifting carpet of bones beneath their feet.  he druid, feeling the delicate remains beneath her feet, had commented on how many animals had died to satiate the fiend's bloodlust. Only the thief knew the truth: the bones were tiny and delicate, no larger than a bird's, but they were all unmistakably human.

What you do: Use violence against children to up the stakes in an adventure, or to signal the ultimate evil. Alternatively, use possessed/fiendish children as the enemy themselves.

Why you do it: Virtually no character, no matter how jaded, is willing to allow children to be the victims of a monster's depraved whims. Even many villainous characters will rise to the defense of a kid.  

If you're using a child as the villain, then you may be trying to spring a surprise on the players, giving them a villain hiding in a guise even veteran adventurers might not suspect.This can lead to a very different kind of encounter, if the child is brainwashed or possessed, where the players can't kill the villain but instead have to find some way to free the child. Alternately, a fiendish villain merely impersonating a child can make PCs have to make very difficult choices if they want to defeat the villain permanently--killing a child, even a demon disguised as one, is no small thing.

How other people might see it: It's possible someone might think of this as trivializing violence against children. Many of the friends I spoke to while thinking about this said that after having children, their perception of children (and children in imperiled or victim roles) in media, including RPGs, changed after having children of their own. Stories of lost or endangered children affected them more than it had before. This isn't limited to parents, either; I've seen similar feelings voiced by gamers in professions that require them to bond closely with children (such as preschool teachers). Since it's often difficult for a player to say "Hey, this story makes me uncomfortable, can we do something else?" it can lead to players feeling like they are stuck in a situation that isn't comfortable but that they can't fix. (Good players are loathe to ask a GM to discard all the work they put into an adventure, after all.) I've even seen a player walk away from a game because of this issue.

How to fix it: This is a situation where tact is the best medicine. Violence against children (especially if the story requires it from the PCs) is a serious topic, and should probably be best handled in a serious fashion. As long as you don't exceed your players’ comfort levels, you should be good to include children in your game as long as you aren't being cavalier about harm coming to them.

Conclusion
Chances are, you're a nice person. You became a GM because you want to help tell a good story with your friends. Only you are going to know if something is right for your game. The better you know your players, the better you're going to know what you can do, and what might be misinterpreted.  

That's not to say that you can never incorporate any of the story aspects we discussed, and it certainly isn't to say the way these topics could be interpreted is how they will be interpreted. It never hurts to try to gain a different perspective, though. People come to gaming from all different walks of life and a variety of backgrounds. Trying to be aware of how a story aspect could be perceived differently is never going to be a bad idea.

Even if you examine what you're doing and ultimately make no changes, the extra attention to detail will make itself known in other aspects of your game.Your players will definitely take notice, and anything that enhances their enjoyment is a step in the right direction, right?

Jim Stearns is a deranged hermit from the swamps of Southern Illinois.  In addition to writing for the Black Library, he puts pen to paper for High Level Games and Keep on the Heathlands. His mad scribblings can frequently be found in Quoth the Raven, as well as anthologies like Fitting In or Selfies from the End of the World, by Mad Scientist Journal. Follow him on Twitter @jcstearnswriter.

Image: Dungeon Master by Alexandre Salles (Deviant Art)


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20 Comments
Atrayu
23/5/2017 10:28:28 am

This isn't so much about how to improve your game but actually how to make it more generically politically correct and less offensive to those who might be easily offended. If there are people playing this game and only making villans either minorities or members of the LGBT community or constantly referring to the rape of women as plot points then thats a problem with your DM being massively ignorant and not so much White Male Cis privalage (as said in the first paragraph of this article) . I'm getting very tired of being accused of being racist, sexist and abusive just for my race and gender and now it's crossing a line by accusing RPG players of such and a very accusing blanket article.

The title of this article is massively misleading making it sound like it will actually give you tips on how to be a better DM for your players and instead accuses you of being ignorant and tells you to stop that.

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Nadragul
23/5/2017 11:13:22 am

This article title is misleading. I am not going to repeat what Atrayu stated, but they are completely correct. Shame on you High Level.

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Will
23/5/2017 11:33:19 am

You're lacking some pretty basic empathy.

If you've never done this, this article isn't for you obviously.

But yes, if you are a cis-white male, you are MUCH more likely to perpetrate this because it -doesn't- affect you most of them time. And because it doesn't affect you, you don't care. It's just a game. It's not like your every waking moment is a reminder on how you're different, because you're not in the greater scope of things.

And obviously, this doesn't affect you or your friends because if it DID, you would see how important it is to those that it does affect. How it's not just about making things more politically correct, it's about making things more welcoming and less cringe inducing.

But the fact that you're COMPLAINING about it means that you feel threatened by making games more open and welcoming. If you weren't, you'd be able to shrug it off, saying, "That's true, but it's not me, so don't have to worry about that."

Making these changes doesn't affect your wonderful little white cis male bubble at all. It literally does NOTHING to harm you. But it does so much to make everyone else feel more welcome in the community.

And if you can't understand that, High Level Games is NOT the place for you.

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DJ
23/5/2017 06:12:47 pm

Wow, condescend much? I guess High Level Games is not for me, either. I prefer game companies which don't use misleading titles and begin articles with an attack against their core demographic. By using polarizing PC terms like "cis-white", you're actually declaring yourself to be part of the problem and not part of the solution. There's a way to write an article imparting the information you want to impart without alienating anyone. Perhaps you should read an article about the top five things that will elevate your blogging skills to the next level. Oh, and just so you're aware of it: Taking you to task for your obvious missteps here doesn't equate to "complaining about and feeling threatened by the thought of making games more inclusive".

Derp
24/5/2017 01:16:23 pm

Nice projections mate.
Being running RPG tables for what, 20 years now?
In a group that always had women, gay man and cis-white males. Never really did anything listed here and neither did my friends and members of the group, in fact the closest we got to something even in the same ball park here was one PC who was sightly sexist in a scene to make him seem like a bad person to a particular NPC.

The article title *is* misleading because:
- If the entire group is ok, like you putted it here:
"Making these changes doesn't affect your wonderful little white cis male bubble at all."

(I could point it out how hilariously condescending you are for assuming the sex and the gender from the above poster but I'll spare you the identity politics) then you aren't being inclusive or more open by being more PC and it's not hurting your game at all.

If the article name was "5 things you may do that might alienate some people on your table" or even "5 things you may do that hurt your convention and open game from total strangers that are on your gaming table somehow".

The criticism that the article is misleading is a valid one. I clicked here to read about GM tips on how to improve my game, not some guide on being more PC because honestly? My play group is doing fine on that front thank you very much. I wouldn't even be here if it was about public groups or how to be more inclusive because I literally DM for the same people for over 20 years and whenever I do ran to other people I make an effort to make everyone comfortable and avoid all the things mentioned here because they are actually common sense.

Like I could ran all the things mentioned here (I already kinda do lol) and it wouldn't improve my game at all because I'm playing with friends and we already set it up the game in a way that everyone feels comfortable and honestly, any group in the entire world that is composed by people who know each other would never commit gaffes that would alienate them.

Finally, when you know your buds when you do pull some things condemned here they know you are not making a stating about an entire race just because the BBEG is of Asian descent or something similar because these people are your freaking friends and they can just talk it out if they feel uncomfortable at the table with you.

The title assumes you are playing with strangers or people you barely know. It's a general title that makes you think it's about general DMing or Player woes when it's actually about something that is very specific and not a problem at all to most games ran between buds.

Finally, this was my first article from High Level Games, and you made me feel alienate from it. Guess it's not for me lol.

DD
24/5/2017 10:36:36 am

Shame this helpful article instantly put people on the defensive. As usual, a decent portion of this community can't entertain criticism of the community without feeling personally attacked. If you don't feel the advice is meant for you, then don't take it personally. There are people who abuse these tropes in their campaigns and you know this - if you don't, save the advice for people who need it.

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The Delusion
24/5/2017 11:56:22 am

The ultimate irony here is that the article essentially criticizes the tendencies and traits of some DMs in the interest of avoiding players feeling criticized or marginalized due to their tendencies and traits.

It's also ironic that the writer failed to see the obvious and inevitable pitfall in suggesting that DMs use a "peculiar manner of speech or abnormal behavior pattern" to depict a villainous NPC. All this will do is make players with a similar manner of speech or behavior pattern feel "peculiar," "abnormal," and associated with villainy.

In the end, anything you do to depict characters as villains or threats will coincide with traits or tendencies of real-life people, and this could potentially offend them or make them feel uncomfortable.

If the objective is to eliminate this or minimize it to the greatest extent possible, then it's time to put away the books and dice, and stop playing the game.

This is the inherent self-contradiction and absurdity in all efforts to keep people from ever feeling offended or uncomfortable. If you ever truly succeed in doing so, there won't be anything left we can do or say.

While the intent here is positive and constructive, and it will hopefully encourage some DMs to think about other perspectives, it's ultimately a self-defeating and self-contradictory proposition.

Karl Galeton
24/5/2017 12:45:18 pm

"The ogre raises his giant foam hammer over his head and, with a roar, brings it down upon you. You feel it's impact like a pleasant massage on your shoulder and down you right arm."

You for got to add that some people are triggered by violence and so we should never include that in our games. Instead, we can replace it with pillow and/or tickle fights. (Unless of course someone in your group has personal space issues then we certainly can't have tickle fights.)

Also please don't depict the pillows in an in-game pillow fight as filled with goose down, as that is cruelty to animals that your vegan players won't like, plus someone might suffer from a goose down allergy irl, and so the reference might trigger them.

Maybe suggest that your group play a nice game of chutes and ladders, instead?

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DM
24/5/2017 03:49:54 pm

Not going to lie, this is a pretty garbage article. By "5 Things You May Do That Hurt Your Game", I was expecting to get some actual tips on common DM mistakes - not you trying to force your own rhetoric onto other people's games.

I think a better hint for you is to leave your social justice beliefs away from the table altogether.

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Homgrohn
24/5/2017 08:19:07 pm

Agree with Atreyu. Whole heartedly.

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Robert Cruz
23/5/2017 02:18:19 pm

This some of the most pc psychoanalytic garbage I have ever read relating to creatures and races of people that do not even exist. This will not improve my game in any way. Let me point out the problems with this political correct trash.

1. It's a game and I do not want "really life" politics involved in my game.

2. The game designers worked anymosity between races so you would have evil to fight. Devils against Angels undead against the living, Elves vs Gobblins. So the prejudices are placed in the game to give the world a kind of life of its own.

3. If you are so concerned about offending players that would be offended by a game the perhaps they should stick to chutes and ladders.

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Arthexis
23/5/2017 04:31:55 pm

It's been awhile since I've read an article so condescending as this one. Title absolutely misleading. Me and all my players are POC, half my table is usually gay. Have I done some of the stuff mentioned here? Perhaps, but certainly not very often.

In itself the article is nothing special, but the title really messed with my expectations. Something like, "5 things to make your game more inclusive" would have worked perfectly, but as it stands, it makes the content underwhelming.

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Matt Johnson
24/5/2017 12:31:22 am

So, I'll just say keep doing what you are doing Jim. Even if I didn't agree 100% with the article's content there was some good food for thought here.

The people coming to bitch about PC culture and all that? Man... you are basically the reason articles like this need to exist.

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Blain1971
24/5/2017 12:58:38 pm

"Chances are also pretty good that you're cisgendered, heterosexual, white, male, and of Protestant descent (or at least more of those than not)."

Ok, what do you want? For me to say I'm sorry with a cherry on top?

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Andrew Boyd-Goodrich
24/5/2017 01:02:22 pm

I honor the intent of this post, and agree that the delivery (and title) could have been stronger. The main reason that I play/DM is to have fun WITH other people, so being empathetic and attentive to everyone's comfort zone IS part of the game for me. The world I've created has violence, oppressive species/characters/regimes, sadism, cruelty, and on and on and on. Both the characters and the players themselves should be disturbed by some of what they encounter. But I should give attention to everyone still enjoying being at the table with me. Thanks for the post!

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Sigfried Trent link
24/5/2017 01:55:06 pm

I appreciate the intent of the article and its a very good structure but of course I want to offer some critique.

When you bring up the genre of horror, I think that you have to accept that part of that genre's goal is to make people uncomfortable, fearful, angry, disturbed, and horrified.

Not every D&D game is about horror, but if the are, then talking about how some subject matter will make players uncomfortable seems to miss the point. If I'm running a horror game, part of my goal is to make people uncomfortable. Simply dodging any social topic people are sensitive about is to some degree the opposite of how a writer goes about crafting a horror story.

I think all these devices can be effective in crafting horror for various reasons you noted. And I would furthermore say they are commonly used because they are commonly effective in pushing buttons. The alien, the strange, and the unfamiliar are always fodder for horror. In society, we want to minimize this so we don't see strangers or other cultures as a threat, but in horror, you play upon these things for effect, and if you are crafty, you can at the same time circumvent them.

I think approaching these tropes from a horror perspective undermines the standard argument of not using them, which is that they trigger fear.anger,alienation when those are emotions you are shooting for in horror.

I think it might be more valuable to identify these as some of the lazier and trite efforts to create horror and to instead explore a richer tapestry of human anxieties, ones that are less rooted in social issues of our times. Offer alternative coding that speaks to more universal or less hot button political issues.

Also, perhaps discuss some communication before launching into a horror game that discusses some of the themes that will be part of the game. That way anyone who is going to be "triggered" by the material can have a chance to say, "ya I'm not interested in playing that." Perhaps that should be done DM to player or should be part of the template for horror adventure modules. The whole idea of trigger warnings is not so that such material can't be discussed, but so that people who don't want to hear about it can avoid it.

Delve into the alternatives a little deeper here. The logic of this article is driving to the idea that all villains should be white, healthy, straight, male, adults, who's only real crime is the banality of cutting state sponsored benefits from the population. ;) Not that I think that wouldn't make a good villain, but ultimately anyone could be evil or good and differences make us interesting either way. I think the real key is to be deliberate and creative. Don't fall into tropes, and if you do, know what you are doing and the message it sends.

I think this is a great topic, but I also think a lot more could be said on the subject and in a way that is more helpful for making a game great.

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Chris The NPC
24/5/2017 04:20:20 pm

I'm gonna skip the "misleading title", because I'd be beating a dead horse at this point. It was a misleading title, to the point of clickbait. You should stop doing that.

Morally, I agree with a lot of your points, with exceptions.

Points 1 & 2: If there's a black or Asian villain, there will also be black or Asian good and neutral guys. If one of the bad guys is gay, there would be gay good and neutral guys. Cutting different ethnicity or sexual orientations from these roles is also a way to marginalize them. As if a lesbian or Latino dude can't be villainous? That's absurd.

The trick is not to write a "gay character". You can write a fully-fledged out character, who just happens to be gay, without having to make a big deal of it. The Archmage in your above scenario could have looked, and talked, and dressed, and behaved masculine. After being dealt with by the party, a passage in his journal or a letter in his study could have revealed he had a husband, or a bounty of male lovers, or whatever.

Point 3: In real life, I'm a fat dude. When, in game, I encounter a fat priest or a fat noble/king, evil or not.. well, that's basically how real life went. The largest portion of people who could get fat in a medieval setting were the wealthy, and guess what? More often than not, throughout history, they were unscrupulous at best, and downright malefic at worst. Though I've been shamed for being fat the majority of my life, the thought of a fat villain offending me is just downright ridiculous. A lot of people I grew up with were fat villains, and why not? As long as you have a varied type of portly NPCs.. kind innkeepers, etc.. there's no problem with this. I once designed an evil, 500 lb cleric who was carried around by zombies and skeletons on a large, throne of bones. It's just not a goddamned big deal, unless you're playing with the kind of person who would tear up over a sad dryer sheet commercial. And that kind of person shouldn't be playing RPGs in the first place.

Point 4: Sexual assault is easy to keep out of a game, and of your points, this is the one I agree with most. All sex scenarios fade to black for our games, and PCs aren't on the receiving end of sexual assault, ever. I feel like, as a DM, that's a little too messed up (unless they asked for that kind of game, which hasn't happened thus far and hopefully never shall). If it's a game grounded for more adults.. slavery and sexual assault are things, but they're glossed over things that don't require too much attention. I'm not going to play for someone's weird/creepy fantasies.

Point 5: But the child thing, are you kidding me with this shit? Who in the hell is going to take slapping demonic kids around as "trivializing violence against children"? If kids are eaten by monsters, I'd ask the same question. I've been playing D&D for 26 years. My stepdad knocked me around with his fist more times than I'd like to discuss here. I've been a parent for nearly 16 years now, and no matter how many youngin's my characters have seen eaten, possessed, destroyed, whatever.. it's been impossible for me, or anyone else I know, to draw a conclusion that those things = condoning or normalizing real world child abuse. Anyone that would, I think, has some internalized issues they need dealt with before engaging in such a hobby as role playing games.

In real life, I'm a lefty. I've been advocating for equal treatment of the LGBT community, and for other marginalized groups for at least 5 years now. I think Black Lives Matter, and understand why saying "All Lives Matter" is bullshit. So, this isn't coming from a Trump voter or a libertarian wingnut. But this kinda shit is PC taken too far. It's one of the reasons a lot of these comments have so much push back. Just think it over. D&D doesn't need a "safe space".

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Eyes Opened
25/5/2017 09:12:03 pm

Wow! Thank you for this article! I never realized how I was reinforcing everyone's secret discrimination! It's a good thing you opened my eyes to the fact that having fat NPCs who were gluttons was destroying my narrative.

Reply
Chris
28/5/2017 03:53:22 am

Quality article that can stand on it's own two feet on it's own merit. Mislabeling it was a disservice to your own work. I am glad that you did emphasize the concept of feminine male villains as an overused trope as that is one that I personally hadn't noticed for a long time.

However you do also pretty aggressively strawman DMs. Most gaming communities I've been fortunate enough to be involved in were far more socially aware than 1980s Hollywood which crapped out the majority of these tropes.

But seriously, label your articles correctly. If I could trust your content to be advertised and presented appropriately I'd have kept reading your presumably quality content. Now I'm not.

Reply
Dr Rotwang! link
4/6/2017 04:48:32 pm

I don't do any of of this, because I'M NOT A DICK.

Jesus Christ. Really? This is an article?

Reply



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