The Ravens Nest

Dealing With The “Everything Is Political!” Crowd in RPGs

Pictured: Wretched Space, Wicked Ones, Night Witches, WWII: Operation Whitebox, Cowpunchers Reloaded, Atomic Punk 2160 Second Edition, OSRIC & White Star.

One of the things that makes me facepalm the most is the crowd that believes that everything is political. You movies, music, video games, books you read, and yes, even tabletop role-playing games, to these people are political.

To cut right to the chase there are books that hyperfocus on identity politics these days. The people who support these games have made their way into some major publishing companies and the one thing they share in common is that they want to run and control your table. Were it not so, why put them into the books. I’ve outlined this very thing before, citing a specific example from the book Kids on Bikes.

To you and me, movies, music, video games, books, tabletop RPGs and even art that you draw, paint or digitally render are an escape from our day-to-day reality which may run the spectrum of full suck to mind-numbing boredom at times. When we engage in these art forms, we want to be taken to places where we’re motivated, inspired, encouraged and yes, sometimes celebrated for who we are but it’s on a personal level. Sometimes, we get on MMORPGs and want to engage with others and share in those things. We all log into some virtual world and get into everything from Fantasy to Sci-Fi. We are well aware these things aren’t real but, for a little moment in time, whether it’s a few hours a week or a couple of hours per day, we’re taken out of the things that frustrate or disappoint us and into worlds where we accomplish things that we can’t seem to do at our jobs for whatever reason. When that happens, it’s done in a healthy way that we can get back to our lives and then now we have something that can’t be taken from us. Even a modicum of happiness is better than none at all for us. Some of us, we’ll take what we can get.

So how does the “Everything Is Political!” crowd fit in? Well, in short, they don’t. These are unhappy, miserable people who want you to share in their misery so they hollow out all the movies, music, video games, TV shows, books, etc and dress up their misery in it, creating farfetched ideas, calling your beloved IPs “oppressive” but that won’t stop them from sucking money from your wallets as they “update” them for “modern audiences.” Another case-in-point, the constant droning on about the racist, xenophobic and otherwise bigoted views and words of Howard Phillips Lovecraft, author of The Cthulhu Mythos.

My message to these people: We are well aware and you do not have to keep pointing it out. We can and will enjoy the mythos he created while not bothering with his mentality about groups of people. Both can be done and have been done. If you find him so repugnant, stop publishing and making money off of him. Put your money where your mouth is. If you’re about to lecture me about separating art from the artist then I have another challenge for you. Now do Myfarog.

The way to deal with this crowd is simple. Don’t buy their games.

Now, I’m going to be fair. Some of the games you see in the photo above have actually incorporated the “safety tools/X-cards/lines & veils” and the like. Primarily, Wicked Ones. That one stands out. Some of these books have found their way into my library. Okay, those got me, fine, however, if played and if not cannibalized for content for other games, those rules will be ignored at my table. There’s no expectation to be had when approaching my table for it.

Here’s the thing, on top of the expectations when a player approaches a table, seeing certain books and resting on those expectations only to be subverted when the GM says “No, we will not be using those” and presents a far more reasonable approach.

One of the things I failed to mention is that when it comes to books, movies, music, video games, you and I really can’t do anything about them. We don’t have access to Hollywood Studios, big music labels and ASCAP, large publishers, etc. In reality, we don’t need that machine. Artists like Tom MacDonald made himself a multi-millionaire in five years with his skill and acumen in the business and keeping his circle small. Tabletop Gamers now have a host of tools to completely do it all DIY. Self-publication, layouts, writing, artists, etc and Tabletop Gamers have been homebrewing and making things up on their own for the last 50 years. With the glut of tools at our disposal, there’s literally nothing holding you back and that’s where people who hate your guts have really stepped in the fecal matter of dogs and have found themselves in a quagmire.

Yes, you can purchase the books made by those groups and companies and ignore those “optional*” rules but, be forewarned that if the company receives your money, then you’re voicing an opinion (to them, not me) that you support these decisions as they’ll quote their sales numbers to reflect that and you will have to battle expectations of those who rely on those rules because they do not trust you as a GM to run a game that they deem “safe.”

Otherwise, you could research and purchase games that do not have these rules and play them, sending the opposite message. As stated before, there is a seat for every bottom out there, find the one best for you. The third option is that you can create your own and, if you don’t know how, then getting others to consult and aid your work while sticking to your vision as closely as possible is an option.

Personally, if your RPG needs editing, consultation or additional writing, my only fee is a copy of the work in print and a PDF and that’s all. Why so little? Well it’s simple. I love this medium and I do not believe that it has to be anything other than an adventure.

It’s time to start sending clear messages, yes, even to independent studios, authors and publishers that all we want is games for the sake of games. Your Table, Your Rules and Your GM May Vary. Honestly, I think that is the most reasonable approach that publishers such as Troll Lord Games, The Red Room, Elf Lair Games and even Lamentations of The Flame Princess, among others have offered.

Also, set expectations prior to character creation at your table. This is the game we’re playing. This is how it shall be. If you choose to create a character, you do so with the understanding that my word is final and accepted within reason. If not, please gather your belongings and find a table that you think will be more suitable for you.

I invite you all to do the same and call out those publishers and creators, not to berate them but to let the rest of us know if you’ve fallen into material like this so that we know that this may be a property we wish to avoid.

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