I live and work in thte middle east and my best friend and closest co-worker over here happens to be Danish.
It is amazing to me that folks think I am odd for playing fantasy game or am somehow off - when embassies are torched because of a cartoon in a country far away.
I know its not directly game related, but clearly in the real world seemingly little things can flare up into international incedents.
I was wondering what others though of these events. And if anyone incorporates things like this into the political fabric of their game worlds.
If anyone is not familiar with the story english.aljazeera.net has multiple articles on it.
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Hello Kyr,
I do not know if this is the right place for political discussions. On the one hand I think that real world occurences right now are much too fast paced and dramatic to use them in a campaign world. On the other hand this could very quickly turn into a "flame" about political opinions (similar as discussions about death sentence yes/ no).
If you look for advice for political campaigns, though, I can recommend you Atlas Games' "Dynasties & Demagogues".
Greetings,
Guenther
I didn't really want to discuss the issue, it just made me think about fantasy worlds and what is perceived or passed off as realistic in them.
I think your right too volatile.
But that is kind of my point - the real world is highly volatile, violent, and tragic. By comparison, much of the fantasy writing I have been exposed to is actually quite bland. That is actually the main complaint I get from people who have tried fantasy (games or literature) and can't be bothered - too bland.
My question was do folks out there use events in the media, that are hot topics and tweak them to fit in their game worlds and inform the complexion of the fantasy nations therein?
I hope this better defines the topic for discussion.
I definitely use real world events to inlfuence game ideas.
This kind of thing is a perfect kind of background for a D&D game. One culture allows its people to lampoon another, and that culture, which is very proud, looks to strike back, even though it proves the very things being siad about them.
I think that I have gotten some really good ideas from stuff in the news; poltically, we haven't changed all that much. Everyone still gets up in arms over everything, and small things can have dire conseqeunces.
RPGs are on some level all simulations of real life (without most of the actual dangers). If they weren't you would not be able to relate to the game world; so pretty much anything is open for use. I tend to make mental notes of the details and then use them when it seems appropriate changing what details I can to hide my inspiration.
That said, there are some people (players and DMs) for whom the use of such a tactic might be considered the height of poor taste. As an example: Having a fantasy city destroyed by a monstrous natural disaster shortly after hundreds of thousands where killed or displaced in a tsunami might seem disrespectful or callous by certain members of a gaming group while others might not have that much problem with it.
GGG
recent events have gotten me quite worried. :(
As one of the generation that spent their formative years going to bed at night concerned about planetary nuclear annihilation, I'm not that worried yet. If things seem broken right now wait until next week and then the week after. We humans have a knack for holding onto things that make us miserable (pride, regrets, money, the status quo, broken systems and broken hearts). We nurse them the way a alcoholic nurses his drink. I actually hope things get far enough and bad enough that people wake up and see that there is indeed a problem. That the whole thing needs to be looked at from top to bottom, and the stuff we took for granted for so long gets aired out and judged with new eyes. It's time to make a change (the alarm's been ringing for fifty years), but people don't like change because it's scary. Only something scarier will get us to come back from the edge. The real scary thing is what could that thing be? There was September 11th, the genocide in Darfur, the earthquake in Pakistan, and the tsunami and Katrina and yet stuff still moves along as if none these things happened.
Who watches the Watchmen?
The Great Green God
Dryder, you hit the nail on the head my friend. I rant myself blue in the face at least three times a week on that one.
GGG, well said.
Political strife, natural disasters, all great for a campaign.
But personally I don't think I could handle something deliberately similar to the real world in D&D. I don't hide from what is going on in the real world, truth be told I lose quite a bite of sleep over just these type of things. And by some of the posts on these boards I know I'm not the only one.
And for that reason if I came across a version of chreynoble, katrina, or the iraqi war, or a tsunami in a campaign I'm not sure I could keep my thoughts from the real thing and focus on the game. In D&D I admit I enjoy some level of detatchment from the real world. I know it isn't real but it is soothing for me to get together with friends and have some control over the world, make it the way you want it, even when that world is only in your head.
GGG I'm starting to think that the world will never wake up from its little dream.
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Dryder, you hit the nail on the head my friend. I rant myself blue in the face at least three times a week on that one.
Yep, me too!
You can't imagine what discussion I had with my Religion-teacher back in school about that... She never understood me and I had the worst grades (right word?) in Religion because of my point of view.
Dryder, you hit the nail on the head my friend. I rant myself blue in the face at least three times a week on that one.Yep, me too!
You can't imagine what discussion I had with my Religion-teacher back in school about that... She never understood me and I had the worst grades (right word?) in Religion because of my point of view.
I bet I can. Catholic school 8 years. I had problems with every religion teacher, nun, and even some of the preists, that I've ever been exposed to.
Sorry to derail but I have to ask, Dryder, how many times did you ask a question in class and get nothing but complete silence? Either that or taken to the principals office. I have to admit there is a great deal of satisfaction in that and it sounds like you know what I mean.
Ì think that the main divide between real world and fantasy stories (or just stories at all) is that in stories the motivations and actions of people and states should be logical or rational from the viewpoints of the given people or states. This is bevause the actions and motivations are there for a reason, being a part of a plot within the story. This is the case especially when talking about fantasy stories where the main part of the role people and states play are defined by their ideological opposition (good v.s. evil, chaos vs. law, tradition vs. change etc., love vs. hate)to other people and states. This role provides of them to act locigally or rationally according their creed.
in the real world there is no preset plot with roles, nor real purely ideologically opposition. Happenings in the real world don't have to make "sense" or are the results of claerly motivated actions.
Arjen
Director of Narrative
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Ì think that the main divide between real world and fantasy stories (or just stories at all) is that in stories the motivations and actions of people and states should be logical or rational from the viewpoints of the given people or states. This is bevause the actions and motivations are there for a reason, being a part of a plot within the story. This is the case especially when talking about fantasy stories where the main part of the role people and states play are defined by their ideological opposition (good v.s. evil, chaos vs. law, tradition vs. change etc., love vs. hate)to other people and states. This role provides of them to act locigally or rationally according their creed.
in the real world there is no preset plot with roles, nor real purely ideologically opposition. Happenings in the real world don't have to make "sense" or are the results of claerly motivated actions.
Arjen
I will preface this by saying I was not allowed to talk about real world politics at the table for a few years. And only for creativity's sake I don't use currnet politics in my games. (There are plenty of historical loops of the same story to leech off of.)
I totally disgree that a role-playing game storylines and stories in general are not motivated by logic and reason, and that happenings in the real world don't have to make sense. As someone well-versed in political science I find it appalling that more people don't realize the everyday machinations of their government. There are thousands of people everyday in various systems of the American goverment that vie for position, bribe for favor, and attempt to sully an enemy's reputation. If that's not a pre-set plot I don't knwo what is.
One does not have to involve politics into a campaign, but those that do realize that it is as cut-throat if not more so than the real world.