tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4372464286852637246.post2011249344523783925..comments2024-03-17T19:27:36.946-07:00Comments on Pits Perilous: Evil Orcs and Real-World Racism...Olde House Ruleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06672388784118015345noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4372464286852637246.post-79816703611803615582018-09-12T03:30:13.357-07:002018-09-12T03:30:13.357-07:00Which is rather funny given how hard Tolkien troll...Which is rather funny given how hard Tolkien trolled the Nazi censorship bureau in 1938 when asked to prove his Aryan ancestry.Ethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13196257853962186227noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4372464286852637246.post-77961710647019468962018-09-11T22:15:59.664-07:002018-09-11T22:15:59.664-07:00Agreed.
By now I make sure folks know ahead what t...Agreed.<br />By now I make sure folks know ahead what they'll get when I offer a game at a con because some are not open for moral dilemmas or deadly dungeons anymore. Sadly.Mike Bauerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13595534818964228414noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4372464286852637246.post-67799599145851224132018-09-11T21:50:49.110-07:002018-09-11T21:50:49.110-07:00Fantasy is an escape from reality for sure, but we...Fantasy is an escape from reality for sure, but we probably need to prepare people for a more nuanced campaign...Olde House Ruleshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06672388784118015345noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4372464286852637246.post-82504963173421900372018-09-11T21:37:58.392-07:002018-09-11T21:37:58.392-07:00Very nice article, thank you!
Just something I...Very nice article, thank you!<br /><br />Just something I'd like to add because your orc/fake monster picture reminded me of it: In university I was writing something about (classic) fairy tales and their characters and cliches. The fact that orcs are most often portrayed as ugly reminds me of the bad fairy tales characters. It's basically about how children see the world, and (even if it seems unfair) ugliness goes together with wickedness - there are no beautiful monsters in classic fairy tales. The good guys have the good looks and the bad guys have the bad looks (e.g. the witch has a wart to "mark" her).<br />I believe it's the same in RPG's. Evil creatures are most often monsters, easy to identify because they look like monsters. No thinking needed, they're evil, you can kill them, it's good. <br />It's probably helpful to make it easier for the players to make the "right" decisions and live with it, especially when we're younger and tend to see the world and morals more as black/white. <br />Example: We just played a Dark Eye adventure where we attacked ("We could talk to them!" - "What?! They're orcs, they'll just attack us anyway!") and killed a group of orcs in our way without even asking, only to find out that they had their women and children in the next room. Some players started to feel really bad about that and what had been a hard fight with a good victory for our group, suddenly turned sour. It took away the fun for some of the players who enjoyed the black/white view and their characters being the "heroes", which was what they expected and came for after a day of work. They didn't want to have to think about morals.Mike Bauerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13595534818964228414noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4372464286852637246.post-23764651481455710022018-09-11T21:36:18.140-07:002018-09-11T21:36:18.140-07:00People will twist things to their ends, sadly...People will twist things to their ends, sadly...Olde House Ruleshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06672388784118015345noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4372464286852637246.post-83982896976811319862018-09-11T21:09:36.233-07:002018-09-11T21:09:36.233-07:00I agree. Sane people can play D&D with racial...I agree. Sane people can play D&D with racially evil orcs without it propagandizing their brains.<br /><br />I remember hearing, anecdotally, that a lot of Neo-Nazis like Lord of the Rings because it sort of fit their narrative. White dudes fighting to protect their ancient homeland from the dark-skinned hordes and their scimitars. Racially-evil orcs aren't racist, but it's the kind of story that racists like.Arnold Khttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12603155377769597516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4372464286852637246.post-90689318671741153402018-09-11T18:06:26.271-07:002018-09-11T18:06:26.271-07:00You're the eloquent one!You're the eloquent one!Olde House Ruleshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06672388784118015345noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4372464286852637246.post-82491711642886403772018-09-11T16:28:28.716-07:002018-09-11T16:28:28.716-07:00You addressed this far more eloquently than I coul...You addressed this far more eloquently than I could. I've really wanted to talk about this as well. The notion that fantasy monsters being inherently evil leads to real world racism is just a reskinning of the old fear that fantasy spellcasting leads to real world witchcraft and summoning of devils. <br /><br />It's the old idea that all recreational activity is supposed to be propaganda to train people for some greater purpose, and cannot be enjoyed for what it is. It's an idea I reject. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08045035810170152443noreply@blogger.com