The D&D thread
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Onoes
Trakanon Raider
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I'm 41, one of my friends (36) started dating a 24 year old girl like a year ago (he had just got divorced, have fun, whatever). He insists she's super nerdy, loves D&d etc. I invite her to join our game, despite the fact the group was already 5 players and I don't really enjoy dm'ing more than that. She's totally cool and fine for 2-3 hours, then something in game happens that makes a player go "Ohhh NOW you fucked up!" and I immediatly think of the Whitest Kids You Know Abe Lincoln sketch, where Abe keeps chanting "Now you fucked up, now you fucked up, now you fucked up!" and I start repeating it, and one other guy there gets the reference, so we repeat it at each other 3 or 4 times laughing.
She gets up and runs out of the room. We are all baffled, he guy looks confused as fuck and follows her to my living room. We are all in the game room hearing her go from sobbing, to wailing, like super exaggerated crying. We were all thinking maybe she got a text or something, like her mom died, who knows, it was all just so fast and random. They finally come back into the room, her shaking and sobbing and him with his arm around her , like he was having to protect her. He announces "Hername would like an apology, you guys triggered her and she doesn't feel safe here any more."
Now, this group is 50/50 men and women, and all of us were like "Whaaaa? What did we do? huh?"
Turns out that she knew the sketch... and it made her think of another sketch called "The Grapist" about a grape soda mascot who broke into your house to "grape you!" by making you drink grape soda, but heavily implied he was a rapist.
THINKING of that sketch triggered her into a full blown meltdown. Like.... how do you even quantify the absurdity of that?
We were all kind of stunned and like "Uhhh sorry we.. no one was...?" we didn't even know how to handle it. I said something like "None of us could have known, and honestly... no one did anything wrong. I'm sorry that this is apparently an issue for her, but we're at my house, and we are all adults, and I want it to be a comfortable place for everyone. If she's uncomfortable she is going to have to step outside or something, because I'm not going to make everyone else feel like they can't say what is on their mind, or feel like they need to tip toe around."
He said "Well then I think we should leave" and they left. Sucks because I loved playing dnd with him, but she's a fucking nutcase.
She gets up and runs out of the room. We are all baffled, he guy looks confused as fuck and follows her to my living room. We are all in the game room hearing her go from sobbing, to wailing, like super exaggerated crying. We were all thinking maybe she got a text or something, like her mom died, who knows, it was all just so fast and random. They finally come back into the room, her shaking and sobbing and him with his arm around her , like he was having to protect her. He announces "Hername would like an apology, you guys triggered her and she doesn't feel safe here any more."
Now, this group is 50/50 men and women, and all of us were like "Whaaaa? What did we do? huh?"
Turns out that she knew the sketch... and it made her think of another sketch called "The Grapist" about a grape soda mascot who broke into your house to "grape you!" by making you drink grape soda, but heavily implied he was a rapist.
THINKING of that sketch triggered her into a full blown meltdown. Like.... how do you even quantify the absurdity of that?
We were all kind of stunned and like "Uhhh sorry we.. no one was...?" we didn't even know how to handle it. I said something like "None of us could have known, and honestly... no one did anything wrong. I'm sorry that this is apparently an issue for her, but we're at my house, and we are all adults, and I want it to be a comfortable place for everyone. If she's uncomfortable she is going to have to step outside or something, because I'm not going to make everyone else feel like they can't say what is on their mind, or feel like they need to tip toe around."
He said "Well then I think we should leave" and they left. Sucks because I loved playing dnd with him, but she's a fucking nutcase.
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Conefed
Blackwing Lair Raider
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Our playgroup is 37, 36, 29, 22, 21
For some reason just as a campaign gets good, they all start talking about their next character / campaign setting. Then we stall out and get irregular in meeting, then lo and behold new campaign time.
I don't get it, the DM puts crazy amounts of legwork into his worlds with lore and ethos and we barely scratch/explore any of it. And our characters are mostly interesting. How can they just abandon it?
Onoes
Trakanon Raider
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One of my friends brought his 15 year old son to gaming one time... and he just kept coming. I probably play a dozen times a year with him (now 22) and his 21 year old wife. There are both totally fine, in fact I like them a bunch (more than his dad really). Age doesn't necessarily mean someone is going to be a shitshow... but when someone is, they seem to usually be younger.
Sevens
Log Wizard
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Havent really been following this so correct me if I am wrong on any of this
They are making races such as Orcs and Goblin not just "they are evil" stereotypes and giving them more culture and substance? I dont have a problem with that, I hate the generic "im evil cause I am evil" tropes.
They are removing racial penalties from races such as Kobolds and Yun-ti? again Im okay with that, In games I run or play in the race is unimportant, each character gets a +2 and a +1 to spend on any stat they wish (but cant be spent on the same stat), I feel that for someone to take up the adventuring life they must be a cut above the average for their race...so if you want to be a goblin wizard go ahead, you wont be penalized for it as YOU (that specific goblin) is smarter or more charasmatic then the norm for his race.
They are making races such as Orcs and Goblin not just "they are evil" stereotypes and giving them more culture and substance? I dont have a problem with that, I hate the generic "im evil cause I am evil" tropes.
They are removing racial penalties from races such as Kobolds and Yun-ti? again Im okay with that, In games I run or play in the race is unimportant, each character gets a +2 and a +1 to spend on any stat they wish (but cant be spent on the same stat), I feel that for someone to take up the adventuring life they must be a cut above the average for their race...so if you want to be a goblin wizard go ahead, you wont be penalized for it as YOU (that specific goblin) is smarter or more charasmatic then the norm for his race.
Arden
Blackwing Lair Raider
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I think their ultimate goal is to expunge the idea that some humanoid races are inferior to other races. Specifically, intellectually inferior.
Sevens
Log Wizard
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Im no SJW but I dont have a real problem with that, I hate the "evil is stupid" trope. A certain goblin can be stupid but to make the whole race as such is just boring and uninspired. I dont know I just like variety in my villians and having all the "evil" races as just stupid, filthy, talk like a two year old is boring and way over done.
Edit: I dont fucking care how "triggered" you are, if you cant roll for your god damned character then all they are doing is sitting in the corner peeing themselves. Jesus that would have fucking pissed me off.
Arden
Blackwing Lair Raider
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It's a complex issue with a lot of angles. There are three main "problems" that arise when talking about this issue:
1. It's actually several separate issues that people are trying to reduce into a single issue.
2. Just about everyone, including companies like Wizards, has gotten loose and sloppy with their definitions. The result: lots of things are being conflated as "racist" that don't belong in that category.
3. The insanely charged political atmosphere right now prevents people from separating themselves from their political views when discussing the issue.
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Sevens
Log Wizard
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Yeah, I just want to kill monsters, loot treasure and fuck bitches. Good thing I dont do Adventures league or anything of the sort...I can homebrew the shit like I want
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Arden
Blackwing Lair Raider
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For sure. I've played ttrpgs as a GM and a player for 30 years with a lot of different people without having to worry once about things like "racism against orcs." Since I've been designing my own game, I can see how you need to probably at least consider shit like how you are going to approach "races" and cultures in your system if you are a designer- but for players and GMs (i.e. 99.9% of people), it hasn't been an issue before and it doesn't need to be now.
I'm glad to talk to reasonable people about the philosophies behind races and cultures in rpgs because I find it interesting, but it should be approached pretty academically. At the end of the day you are talking about make-believe cultures in a make-believe world. It's a game. If you are getting that emotional about it, you probably need to take a step back and reevaluate your life.
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Sevens
Log Wizard
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If at any time in D&D the orcs had an African feel about their culture or had city / place names reminiscent of Africa or something like that then maybe I could understand...but never has anything been like that existed in D&D. So where is this Orcs = Blacks coming from? I mean they wont make Oriental adventures any more cause I guess drawing inspiration from a culture is now deemed racist but what ever. I dont know, Im just to fucking old and tired off all this shit. Maybe I just need to retire from the internet
Arden
Blackwing Lair Raider
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Who knows where Orcs= Blacks originated, but it definitely originated many years before modern SJW types took it upon themselves to defend against the idea by making changes to RPG systems. I can tell you the first time I saw the comparison was a few years after Hurricane Katrina when this meme started popping up:
It's important to remember that while the changes are fairly reasonable, the type of people that call for these sort of changes are NEVER satisfied. This will not be the end of it.
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I got into fantasy stuff around '89 and I never once thought Orcs were analogous to black people. It took until just a few years ago to ever hear anyone try to make a connection between the two. The only connection in that meme for me would have been that one is looting and the other loots & pillages.
Fantasy already had black people in it. Mixed in with the human race in general and/or in Africa type locations.
It's all just people with nothing better to do than to try to find problems where none exist so they can feel good about themselves while they bully everyone into accepting their idiot viewpoints.
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Pancreas
Vyemm Raider
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After racial attributes are completely eliminated, codifying all 1000 genders in the literature will be next. Then removing projectile weapons or spells that utilize the word shoot in their description.
Then they will make sure all positions of power are equally represented by examples of every race gender combination except for white Male humans.
Classes will be after that. You will only be allowed to play as a proletariat or as a bourgeois. Bourgeois get -10 to all stats, can only be white humans, and roll with privilege.
Finally the lore needs to show how beautiful communist values are when applied to a fantasy setting. With capitalist and monarchical society's crumbling while the collective flourishes as it spreads totalitarian tolerance across the multiverse.
I think I am done buying their books.
Then they will make sure all positions of power are equally represented by examples of every race gender combination except for white Male humans.
Classes will be after that. You will only be allowed to play as a proletariat or as a bourgeois. Bourgeois get -10 to all stats, can only be white humans, and roll with privilege.
Finally the lore needs to show how beautiful communist values are when applied to a fantasy setting. With capitalist and monarchical society's crumbling while the collective flourishes as it spreads totalitarian tolerance across the multiverse.
I think I am done buying their books.
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