an RPG conundrum
Aug. 21st, 2014 03:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bonny_kateI hope you can tell me, friends, if I'm being overly sensitive. This hasn't come up yet in an RPG, but it is looming on the horizon.
The next RPG we'll be playing is Shadowrun (which Joel will be running). In case you don't know all the RPGs by name (I certainly don't), Shadowrun is a futuristic cyperpunk RPG (a d6 system, for those of you who care about such things), that also includes fantasy elements such as magic, mages, trolls, elves, dwarves, and the like.
One of the other players is creating a dwarf. This dwarf will have a prejudice against elves. I'm guessing that he wants to borrow from LOTR, but I feel a little uncomfortable with this. I think it has the potential to sound a lot like racism (with the dwarf making comments about how all elves are liars or some such). I may just be overly sensitive because I recently read The Goblin Emperor, in which Katharine Addison uses goblins and elves to show racism in a less threatening way than dealing with it directly.
My concern as a player is this: what do I do if the dwarf makes a comment against elves? My character is a decent sort of person who also happens to be an elf, and she wouldn't stand for that sort of thing. But I also don't want to make a big deal out of this if I am being overly sensitive. And if it is a valid issue, I want to bring it up now, when we are in character creation, rather than being confrontational when playing.
I do believe that stories, including RPGs, can be a good way to explore questions of prejudice, including sexism and racism. But I also prefer my gaming to be lighthearted, and mostly about shooting stormtroopers or being inventive with explosives.
Thoughts?
The next RPG we'll be playing is Shadowrun (which Joel will be running). In case you don't know all the RPGs by name (I certainly don't), Shadowrun is a futuristic cyperpunk RPG (a d6 system, for those of you who care about such things), that also includes fantasy elements such as magic, mages, trolls, elves, dwarves, and the like.
One of the other players is creating a dwarf. This dwarf will have a prejudice against elves. I'm guessing that he wants to borrow from LOTR, but I feel a little uncomfortable with this. I think it has the potential to sound a lot like racism (with the dwarf making comments about how all elves are liars or some such). I may just be overly sensitive because I recently read The Goblin Emperor, in which Katharine Addison uses goblins and elves to show racism in a less threatening way than dealing with it directly.
My concern as a player is this: what do I do if the dwarf makes a comment against elves? My character is a decent sort of person who also happens to be an elf, and she wouldn't stand for that sort of thing. But I also don't want to make a big deal out of this if I am being overly sensitive. And if it is a valid issue, I want to bring it up now, when we are in character creation, rather than being confrontational when playing.
I do believe that stories, including RPGs, can be a good way to explore questions of prejudice, including sexism and racism. But I also prefer my gaming to be lighthearted, and mostly about shooting stormtroopers or being inventive with explosives.
Thoughts?