One of the most difficult things about roleplaying is handling very real issues such as sexism, racism, intolerance, abuse and other controversial subjects.
From one standpoint, they are great story hooks. From another, unless handled well, they can very easily offend people–a lot. Playing solo helps me avoid most of those pitfalls, but I still have to be aware of them.
Historical Problems
Setting a roleplaying campaign in modern-day America can be very fun. The problem is that there are a number of social issues still extremely prevalent. Racism, sexism, social injustice–all of these are very much a part of society, as we have all seen. The difficulty in dealing with them in a roleplaying game is not ignoring them and pretending everything is just fine, while not being preachy about them and offending players.
Playing solo can bypass many of those complexities… After all, it’s just you. The trouble is if you post any actual plays to the Interwebs, your actions and how you handled them could very easily offend someone. The trick is to be adult about the issues, and deal with them in an honest manner, while being sensitive to who may read anything you post for everyone to read.
Racism, Sexism, Abuse and Social Issues
One of the largest issues that is obvious to most gamers today would be that of racism. In the past, America was a land of black and white–literally. The same country that fought and won a war against the most racist nation in history was itself an extremely racist nation. Although the Civil Rights movement changed a lot of that in America, just reading the news today you can see that we still have a long way to go in order to realize equality.
The same thing can be said about sexism. By the 1930s, women could vote, but were really still looked down upon by a male-dominated society. While women in general were treated better than blacks, or even native Americans or Latinos, there were still restrictions on jobs and what women in society could do. Like racism, that has changed a lot since then, but if you look around you will see that, again, we have a long way to go.
Something that does not get as much airplay as those issues is that of social injustice and economic inequalities. If you include intolerance to immigrants, you can see that many of the same issues we have today were still there in the Twentieth Century.
For example, in Oklahoma at that time, a large population of German immigrants were brought in to work the coal mines in the eastern parts of the state. They were paid almost nothing, and looked down on foreigners and outsiders. The same could be said of Latinos throughout the state. Layer on top of this the wide inequality of society and economic levels only made worse by the Great Depression.
All of these issues are aspects of our society and heritage, but are landmines when it comes to gaming.
My plans are this: address them, but not make them central points of any campaign. I also plan to act myself, and treat readers, as intelligent adults.
My Plans To Handle These Issues
My plans are this: address them, but not make them central points of any campaign. I also plan to act myself, and treat readers, as intelligent adults. I will not engage in racism, sexism or any other -ism myself during my plays, but the characters may encounter them during the course of the adventure. I understand what is happening in our world today, but will still be sensitive to how the adventure plays out and what I write down.
In addition, I just cannot bring my characters to engage in acts of racism or sexism. I know that may be just how people are, but I can’t take my roleplaying that far. That may be bringing 21st Century views into the setting, but so be it. I personally can’t take the alternative.
So while modern America is a fun time for a number of reasons, there are some dark sides to it as well. Those dark sides can have an impact on roleplaying, which can be awkward at best and offensive at worst. The trick is to not let the dark aspects overtake the fun of the game, while not being offensive yourself. This may be easier to say and harder to do, but I think it is a line worth walking.
Marko ∞
