 moral relativity, slip-slidin' down the slope |
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 Apr 24 2007, 04:59 PM
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#26
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Uncle Fisty  Group: Admin Posts: 13,891 Joined: 3-January 05 From: Next To Her Member No.: 6,928  |
I'll give a few examples of characters that have passed through my games, mine and others. A lot of these go around the racist pieces.
The first is Titan, your standard BFTroll street sam. He's nominally connected to the Sons of Sauron, doesn't get along with most humans, and is generally very abbrassive to most non-trogs. He's also one of those closet trolls that really likes the idea of being with the idea of an elf or human woman, and has never been with a troll or ork woman. He was born a human to a huan family, wage slave type. Younger sister, working paretns the whole bit. When he was 15, he changed in to a troll. The change was a huge drain on his families resources, he was mocked at school, because of the pain coming and going, and the socail problems, he tended to get frustrated quickly. He often broke thing on accident because of not being used to his new bulk, whic of course made more frustration at home. His parents started looking for ways to un-troll him. He way away at 16, hit the streets. He lived there on the streets in the ghettos with other orks and trolls. Due to his size, he was able to get basic muscle work, going up the scale over the years until eventually becoming a full fledged street sam. He was pretty smart to being with, and invested in cerebral boosters. But everyone expected him to be a big dumb trog, so he acted like it. His actions made people dismiss him as a big dumb trog of course. He'd been refused service at Lordstrom's before in game, he'd had crushes on female human and elf characters that were never even noticed, etc. He became a lot more violent towards humans and elves than he was to orks and trolls, who he'd tend to assume were more likely to be his friends. Nightshade was from the Tir. He was born to a minor noble family (chivalry) except that due to some freak genes, he was born as an albino human. Rather than just discarding him, they kept him, but ket him hidden. Over the years of hiding, his magical ability began to manifest. of course, it manifested as adept powers that enabled him to "fit in" such as Facial sculpt, melanin control , and boosting stealth powers to hide. Eventually he joined the Peace Force and did well. All the time he was masquerading as a true elf. His adept abilities (that they knew about) made him more than worth while to have. He eventually decided to go for the Ghosts. He started the training, and then was "found out". Hed had the masking and false siganture metamagics for quite a while , using them to disguise his aura. But the kind of thorough going over they'd given him for that exposed his secret. he was washed out. Of course, he was kicked out for lying on his applications and deceiving his commanders and comrades. It may have had something to do with the fact that he was really a human, but that he would lie to everyone that had to be able to trust him was the main issue. That wasn't how he saw it. Instead he took his training and went to Seattle, became a runner and an assassin. he would wear other people's faces and use various disguises to do his work. During his "off time" he would be an elf (elf poser flaw and dark secret). He was always the "mroe elven than elven" looking down his nose at others, especially orks, who he had total disdain for. The race he hated most of all was humans, although he didn't show it overtly. He hated what he saw as his own weakness. He absolutely laothed the Tir, but at the same time, wanted nothing more than to prove him self worthy to it. He was extremely racist to a lot of differnet metatypes. Character had very bad social skills when he wasn't playing a role. Billy Bedlam was just a ganager with the 405 Hellhounds. His story is a lto less complicated. He got his arm lopped off by a troll fro mthe Spikes once, and barely survived (naturally). Ever since, he became a trog hater. he dind't join Humanis or anything, because he very much wanted to be a "real street samurai" one day. he wanted to be a "professional shadowrunner" that everone would take seriously. Of course, on Shadowland, everyone pans the humanis guy, even if what he says makes sense some times. That was his sole reason for not joining humanis, or hanging with the Night hunters from time to time. But when ever he'd get work, he would come down hard on any trolls that crossed his path, and even walked on a run with a troll on the team. These aren't the rule by any means to the types of characters we've had, just some examples of racism in play. We allow Racism as a flaw similar to allergies in points and effect. It comes up with NPCs as well. The most common racist problems are ususally with trolls and elves. Another example that covers a lot of differnet areas, one of my player's characters, an elf named Sinn. He hates orks, lives in New Orleans. Not a good combination. He's a voodoun. He's trashed an ork bar once because they talked trash to him, has a rep across the city as an ork hater. On a run once a group of 5 orks were all ready to take him down as he was coming out of a meet. The ork on the PC team talked them down, being big and heavily cybered with a great street rep (as a kick artist). They came bacl alter and hit him in a drive by. He wound up in the hospital, only two boxes from death. He was the one that was raped, by a female Grand Zombie of Erzuile that he inadverntantly created. The same Grand Zombie later blew up his house, with his wife and kids inside out of jealousy. One of his kids survived (twins) albeit badly burned. Ironically, he had doted on the one that had died, because he showed a lot of magical potential, and had basically ignored the one that ended up living. Later, he was pressured in to a hmosxual realtionship by someone that had offered to help pull his bacon of the fire, as things were really starting to ocme down on him from a lto of different directins. That one wasn't so bad for him, since the Spraw Surv Guide basically says that hmosexuality in the 6th world is no big deal anymore. Not a taboo in most parts of the world. He played it out well. The guy has really been through the ringer, but everything that happened to him was because of the character's actions, and moral quandries where he decided one way or the other. The Grande Zombie for example was the result of multiple murders and torture he did after deciding to take a job that called for that. One of the people he killed was possessed by a loa spirit of Erzuille, and he had her in a site he had been using that was aspected towards voodoo magic. He'd been working amateur blood magic there for a while, and never realized it was specifically aligned towards Erzuille. |
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Apr 24 2007, 08:45 PM
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#27
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Immortal Elf Group: Members Posts: 11,410 Joined: 1-October 03 From: Pittsburgh Member No.: 5,670 |
it's not just cartoonish, it's all but non-existant. once every few books, tops, some guy will log on and post some ridiculous racist crap, and either his post will get cut off or the reply will get cut off. the only sign in the entire game i've seen that racism isn't limited to a few, loud extremists is the fact that Karl Brackhaven made it to the presidential election ballot. and even then, it wasn't a regular election, it was an emergency thing where everything was up in the air. it seems to me that the only minority in SR that actually get discriminated against are racists. but they shouldn't be the minority, not by a long shot.
as others have pointed out, you might very well seriously fear a racist, if nothing else. another example would be a card-carrying Humanis guy who's very good at his job and who doesn't go out of his way to cause problems with metas. you can see in the way he looks at metas that he has no respect for them, but he otherwise keeps it to himself and does his job well. some runners would refuse to work with him, of course, because they wouldn't want to be associated with Humanis. but most runners, i think, would swallow their disgust and allow him to run with them because he's good at his job. of course, if the world ran the way i'd run it, they'd be glad to get to run with him, because not only is he competent, he'd be well-connected.
haha, i think i like that Sinn dude.
the fact is, there are people who will allow themselves to get beaten on. i'm not saying it's their fault, i'm not saying they deserve it, i'm saying it's a documented fact that certain types of people will go back to, and even defend, their abusers. a lot of things change in 2012--but i don't think that's going to be one of them. the thing that brought this thread on is the fact that i recently put together a character who beats his wife. it's not his defining trait, or anything; there's no flaw on his sheet related to it (unless the fact that i didn't give him the dependent flaw counts), it doesn't affect his work in the shadows. i basically decided to do it because my last big character had a real family that he loved and took care of, and i kinda wanted to go the other way. and then i realized i'd never actually seen anyone make an abusive character. so, y'know, i thought i'd ask around. |
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Apr 24 2007, 09:14 PM
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#28
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Uncle Fisty Group: Admin Posts: 13,891 Joined: 3-January 05 From: Next To Her Member No.: 6,928 |
A lot of his recent stuff has been in the Welcome to the Shadows area. |
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Apr 24 2007, 09:41 PM
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#29
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Immortal Elf Group: Members Posts: 11,410 Joined: 1-October 03 From: Pittsburgh Member No.: 5,670 |
that's another one that weirds me the hell out. what kind of dystopia is this? |
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Apr 24 2007, 09:44 PM
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#30
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 777 Joined: 22-November 06 Member No.: 9,934 |
that's because it is a gradual slope, they get hit once, and he apologizes...tells her he loves her...etc... then it happens again...and again...and again... they make the codependance of their dependant a focal point "I can't live without you!" so they feel guilted into staying until they just accept and defend the life. when they defend their abuser they are indirectly defending themselves and their choice. not the abuser directly. then again I like to play unrealistic characters, who fill their squirt guns with soapy water just for the bubbles...I get to much reality in real life |
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Apr 24 2007, 09:53 PM
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#31
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 386 Joined: 2-January 04 From: California Protectorate Member No.: 5,949 |
One that is very careful not to offend any groups that actually exist today. :-D Personally, I'd have wished that they had just left that entire issue alone. There are good arguments both FOR including (heavy) prejudice against homosexuality and against it. It all comes down to preferences, and what you feel is right for the group as GM. Are you running a bunch of 12 year olds who are JUST getting into RPGs as a whole? Or a bunch of fully grown adults who have spouses, kids, and decades of RP experience? Obviously, there will more than likely be vast differences in the playstyle of those groups, and having the book rule one way or another is a little insulting. Which is better: prematurely exposing youngsters to awkward situations, or frustrating older gamers by hedging areas that allows for some deep roleplaying? Frankly, I'd say just avoid the whole issue in the books. There are so many issues like rape, racism, persecution of all kinds that exist in the game, but how prevalent and important they are in your game is totally up to you. |
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Apr 24 2007, 10:00 PM
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#32
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Uncle Fisty Group: Admin Posts: 13,891 Joined: 3-January 05 From: Next To Her Member No.: 6,928 |
My thought was that it actually sort of makes sense. I compare it to dating interracially today. Where I lvie at least, no one's going to think twice about an asian girl and an indian guy dating. No one cares. Go back fifty or a hundred years and in a lot of places, a white person and black person dating would be scandalous. We're at the point now a days where there's plenty of places where homosexuality is no big deal. I see that sort of equating.
I'm sure there will be lots of places where its' still an issue. Really conservative groups for example, the deep south, mafioso, probably radical muslims and christians. I sure don't see mormons changing their views, and I am one! I think it comes down to those "broad statement" things. Like it says about racism about color in the 6th world, when your neighbor has horns, who cares about skin color? |
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Apr 24 2007, 10:03 PM
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#33
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 749 Joined: 28-July 05 Member No.: 7,526 |
i'm there with ya, mfb! the stuff you mention is all good. I'm a mature person and like the mature themes. What's important to me is that those serious, immoral activities aren't trivialized. It's the sociopath characters that I can't stand.
More humanity, please! |
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Apr 24 2007, 10:06 PM
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#34
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 548 Joined: 21-December 06 Member No.: 10,416 |
All of the Elf characters I would play were born to human parents and goblinized in their teens. The families would freak out and the elf got surgery to look human (Looks Human trait). That way, they wouldn't stand out much in the general public and could explain the situation to any elves that didn't like humans.
A lot of the rest I don't get though, aside from possible legal issues. They say racism and sexism are still a problem but never really do anything with it, aside from having Brackhaven turn up now and then (which in my opinion is mildly racist in itself). Older canon had it that the corp world was so thuroughly indoctrinated that those things didn't happen much, at least not overtly. But out on the street, anything goes. Indeed there even used to be a racism table in an earlier edition to see if an NPC on the street had any biases. I'm sure they probably avoid this issue for fear of offending someone and their lawyer and getting sued. As for the other things. I've enver played a character with a significant other or a spouse for the simple reason that they would be in too much danger. After retirement sure, but not while actively running. Though I never got dealt with the matter in detail, if one of them needed, shall we say companionship, that's what escort services are for. Runners just have to be careful not to end up on blackmail video or having their proclivities used as a trap. Mages could also project just about anywhere in the world to mage "hook up spots" and do the deed on the astral. I've been on teams where a member's So got taken hostage or killed, so my characters never went there. |
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Apr 24 2007, 10:16 PM
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#35
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Uncle Fisty Group: Admin Posts: 13,891 Joined: 3-January 05 From: Next To Her Member No.: 6,928 |
I don't have a problem with sociopaths. Another player in one of the games I'm in is playing one, and really well. As in, seriously distrubing. Actually did research and such. No, what bothers me is the players that just do random crap and write it of by saying that their character is a sociapath. If a character is goign to kill somone, they'd better either react to it, or have a damn good reason for not reacting properly. I'm not saying they have to go drown their sorrows everytime, but there should be something.
As for lack of S.O. , taht one bothers me, unles it really fits the cahracter. That just stinks of metagaming "I don't want my S.O. used as a plot device in some nefarious trap." That being said, I hate it when a GM uses a S.O. as a plot device in some nefarious trap. There are instances when it makes sense in game, but they're a lot less common than when GMs actually do it IMO. |
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Apr 24 2007, 10:42 PM
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#36
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 548 Joined: 21-December 06 Member No.: 10,416 |
It did fit the characters. Some just wouldn't put people in danger because of them while others just didn't like people enough to have someone else around all the time. My longest running mage was mildly autistic and totally clueless socially and had had always been treated badly. Hell, the first group I played in with him even treated him badly. So to him, the entire idea of an S.O. was nice, but not seen as possible. That did change eventually though, but still, nothing serious until semi retirement. |
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Apr 25 2007, 12:08 AM
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#37
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Midnight Toker Group: Members Posts: 7,686 Joined: 4-July 04 From: Zombie Drop Bear Santa's Workshop Member No.: 6,456 |
That is true, but that kind of relationship does tend to end in the death of one or the other. That is why domestic violence intervention is very important. Assuming that the abuser doesn't kill the victim, there tends to come a point where the victim just can't take any more and decides to kill the abuser. Paradoxically, there is no anger or hatred in most of these cases. The victim still loves the abuser completely and totally and, somehow, murder often seems like less of a betrayal than going to the police does. It is not a lifestyle that can reasonably be maintained indefinitely. Of course, there are many types of domestic violence. We usually think of the classic drunk guy in a tank top wailing on the Mrs. because she cooked the wrong thing for dinner. We might also think of the Stockholm-syndrome breeding total control situation in which the home is more like a prison. Mutually abusive relationships follow similar patterns and sometimes end in murder, but they often have their own little nuances that don't match the traditional abuse cycle. Playing domestic violence as a background trait rather than bringing it up in the game is probably the best way to do it. But I am quite curious as to how you'd characterize this character's relationship. There are a many different paradigms for domestic violence, only a few of which are the outright unprovoked battery that most groups would find so repugnant (which happens to be what I was addressing in my original post). Edit:
People never godlinize into elves or dwarves.
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Apr 25 2007, 12:37 AM
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#38
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Prime Runner Group: Banned Posts: 3,732 Joined: 1-September 05 From: Prague, Czech Republic Member No.: 7,665 |
I see a lot of characters who simply don't invest enough into other people to really have SOs, having instead a series of one-night-stands or short failed relaionships. This makes a lot of sense when you consider the fact that the characters' work is illegal, secret, and sketchy. -Frank |
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Apr 25 2007, 12:47 AM
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#39
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 777 Joined: 22-November 06 Member No.: 9,934 |
and yet the human condition makes you yearn for people to be your strength someone in the void of chaos you call a life to look to for truth, trust, and honesty. |
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Apr 25 2007, 12:50 AM
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#40
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Uncle Fisty Group: Admin Posts: 13,891 Joined: 3-January 05 From: Next To Her Member No.: 6,928 |
I've thought about it, and decided that I would love to godlinize. What are my godhood options? @Frank/Thane: To clarify, my problem isn't with people who don't have in game S.O. for one reason or antoher. my problem is the ones that don't for metagaming reasons (maybe they saw Spiderman a few times too many or something). |
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Apr 25 2007, 01:00 AM
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#41
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Immortal Elf Group: Members Posts: 11,410 Joined: 1-October 03 From: Pittsburgh Member No.: 5,670 |
i guess i feel that if sexuality is seen by the writers as a topic that is okay to bring up in a game book, then it's okay to present sexuality in a dystopian light--ie, non-"standard" sexuality is largely discriminated against. if you want to make your game okay for 12-year-olds to play, don't bring up sexuality in the first place, y'know? if they'd left sexuality out completely, and just had metatype be the only discrimination mentioned, that'd be one thing. but to actually bring up sexuality and then not make it fit the dystopian mold seem really weird to me.
i think you may have extreme cases in mind, where the abuser is causing serious damage on a frequent basis. if a guy gives his wife a black eye once a month or so, or just leaves a handprint on her mouth once or twice a week, that's still spouse abuse, and it can go on for the couple's entire lives. many of my characters, honestly, i don't play enough to really explore how they deal with what they do for a living. the ones i invest in, i tend to spend a good bit of time in their heads, figuring out what makes them tick. my first 'main' character is an ex-Mafia hitman. he has a knack for electronics, but if he gets hired, it is because there is a fight coming. he has killed a lot of people. but he comes home to a wife and stepkid that are his reason for living--he's a good father and a good husband. he's almost got two people in his head (i thought about having his personality split, but decided it'd be too cliche). he flips the switch on, he's Italy--professional, lethal, never takes off his shades. he flips it off, he's Marcus--likes to laugh, takes his son to Little League, pretty handy with a grill. but there's bleedthrough; he can't always keep his peanut butter and his chocolate from mixing. the first time he went through the Arco, his team found a huge mound of bodies, including women and children; he got pretty shook, because he kept seeing his own wife and son in the pile. he kept his cool and did his job--after being so sickened by the sight that he had to open up his helmet and puke. |
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Apr 25 2007, 01:47 AM
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#42
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Great Dragon Group: Members Posts: 6,640 Joined: 6-June 04 Member No.: 6,383 |
PC SOs must look like Leah Ayres (sp?) character in Bloodsport. They must have giant blond hair, boxy clothes, and not know what they're getting themselves into. They must also laugh while blind and leaking Van Damme spin kicks Bolo Yeung with his ultra-twisty hips.
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Apr 25 2007, 04:29 AM
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#43
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Immortal Elf Group: Members Posts: 11,410 Joined: 1-October 03 From: Pittsburgh Member No.: 5,670 |
forgot to address this part of your post. the character i'm playing, Holden, is pretty psychologically healthy, by SR standards. he doesn't have many compunctions about killing, even kinda enjoys the danger of a good firefight, but he doesn't actively enjoy the actual causing of death. he comes from a family that maintains extended ties (he'd have the Pirate Family edge, except that his family mainly operates in the Carib and points south), and he respects those ties--if anybody in his extended family needs his help, he's there for them. that includes his girlfriend, Molly, who he's had at least one kid by. the kid is elsewhere, i haven't decided where yet. Holden's got a temper, which he can control; it helps him work (high Intimidation skill). he grew up in a violent life, and lost friends and family in it. he's not a sociopath, but he's very callous; he tends to divide the population of the world into sides--Holden's side, and everyone else. if you're on Holden's side, he'll take care of you; if you're not, he'll kill you if you get in the way. he and Molly don't see eye to eye on a lot of things. Molly is extremely loyal to the family; everything she and Holden make, she wants to share with the family. Holden's more pragmatic; he'll help the family, even without being asked, but he's got his own interests and he doesn't like to share. when he and Molly argue about it, he gets physical. he doesn't see it as abuse when he knocks Molly across the room during an argument--hey, she's tough, and they've both seen what real abuse is. they fuck when he wants to, and he's generally got one or two girls on the side. if he ever caught Molly screwing around, he might kill her, but otherwise he'd probably never seriously injure her--no broken bones, no extended beatings. he takes care of her, buys her nice things, and won't take much of her lip. he's a bastard. but like i said, i'm not going for the extremes of morality, here. he doesn't get drunk and beat her half to death, he doesn't use a rubber hose so there won't be any marks. and you know what? truth be told, he's not so bad. in a world with blood magic and insect shamans, one chick with a black eye isn't exactly something to write home about. Holden's never going to 'get his due'. that's what makes dystopia--the fact that there's so much worse stuff out there means that guys like Holden just don't register as 'evil'. the fact that you and i live sheltered enough lives that we can emotionally afford to find Holden repugnant is how i mark the difference between SR and reality. |
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Apr 25 2007, 05:21 AM
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#44
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Midnight Toker Group: Members Posts: 7,686 Joined: 4-July 04 From: Zombie Drop Bear Santa's Workshop Member No.: 6,456 |
Some people would see a country where gay is O.K. to be a dystopia. Those people would be idiots, but there is a point hiding underneath their bigotry. Don't think of it as a utopia level of sexual tolerance. It goes far beyond that. Think of it as the total collapse of sexual morality. This isn't just a world what a couple of Hell's Angels can get away with holding hands. This is a world in which anyone can do anything with anything; short of kids, rape, snuff, or interracial (and it is questionable exactly how taboo the former three are). Do you know the old joke called The Aristocrats? In this kind of world it isn't a joke; its an actual family act. And they do everything from every version of the joke ever told; they even do some stuff that is so perverse that no one ever thought of it before. And are people shocked by this? Are they outraged? Of course not. That would be bigoted. They cheer and and they applaud and they request an encore because are are enlightened and sexually tolerant. Tolerance for alternate sexualities isn't a slippery slope, despite what some may suggest, but it does have its extremes. In a world where any sex is okay so long as it doesn't harm a non-consenting sentient creature you might just drive down to Mr. Rogers's AAA Neighborhood one Saturday morning and see the old fellow out on his lawn buttfucking his dog while strangling himself with a nylon noose in full view of everyone. And anyone who thinks that anal bestiality, autoerotic asphyxiation, and exhibitionism might not be the best things to try out in a family-friendly neighborhood on a Saturday morning is a bigot and should be killed. Is this a good thing? It is it bad thing? I don't know. I really don't. But it can certainly see how it could be dystopian. A world that treats sex so casually ultimately encourages a certain type of sexual dysfunction just as extremely repressed societies do. It could help alienate people more by encouraging meaningless sex, one-night stands, and empty relationships. |
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Apr 25 2007, 05:33 AM
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#45
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 113 Joined: 5-January 03 From: Butte County, CA Member No.: 3,836 |
h - Good post.
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Apr 25 2007, 07:10 AM
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#46
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Immortal Elf Group: Members Posts: 11,410 Joined: 1-October 03 From: Pittsburgh Member No.: 5,670 |
i like that take on it. the problem, of course, is that even if it's okay for an RPG to tell 12-year-olds about sex, it's not going to be okay to make them sick of sex. which i guess is okay--i'd rather not see rules discussions on how to handle damage dished out during BDSM sessions.
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Apr 25 2007, 07:45 AM
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#47
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Great Dragon Group: Members Posts: 6,640 Joined: 6-June 04 Member No.: 6,383 |
Yeah, the whole base M stun thing really cuts BDSM sessions short. |
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Apr 25 2007, 08:05 AM
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#48
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 181 Joined: 29-March 07 Member No.: 11,342 |
Seems like i had a vocabulary problem.
When i said i couldnt take seriously a racist, i meant that i cannot follow their idea or give them any credits. Now i understand what you meant by taking seriously, and i totaly agree. But on that point, i think that some Shadowrun characters are to be taken seriously regarding racism : Alachia (i dont remember her 6th world name) is truely racist, and truely dangerous. From what i can recall she was associated with Nazis during the WW2 ... (in my campaign i decided she was Eva Brown during the war - Hitler's girl friend - ) |
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Apr 25 2007, 08:43 AM
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#49
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 548 Joined: 21-December 06 Member No.: 10,416 |
Good post. I think what we would see is a return to the Victorian era as it really was: an outwardly stuffy and prudish Upper and Middle Class (Corp management and what is left of the Middle Class) and wilder lower classes. The upper classes at least tried to appear moral and proper, but lots of stuff went on behind the scenes. With the lower classes, not all of them were baudy types, but many were. Life was cheap too, and no one much cared about anyone else, including children. So, the things you say would be taboo, like kids, rape and snuff, probably wouldn't be, at least not in the Barrens and other badlands. Just like the Victorians: the AAA zones will at least appear to be straightlaced, but the Barrens, anything goes. I do think, however, that it will be a bad thing. What you say in the last paragraph is how it will most likely turn out. |
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Apr 25 2007, 02:01 PM
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#50
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Neophyte Runner Group: Members Posts: 2,078 Joined: 26-February 02 Member No.: 67 |
I want to echo hyzmarca's post. My take on the Sixth World (which is what I take into my writing), is that sexuality in the sprawls is highly liberal. Not liberal in the happy, free love sense, but liberal in that there are very few taboos and limits. This could be seen as good for some people (certainly makes life easier if you are homosexual), but it could be seen as really dystopian by others. How do you know that woman you just hooked up with in AR club isn't really a 400lb. man with a hot avatar? Or that the street corner joygirls and joyboys aren't ten year olds smuggled in from a third world nation and rushed through puberty by garage-made hormones that will kill them in three years? Non-standard sexuality doesn't have to be discriminated against to have a dystopian setting. Though I'm sure that still happens in some parts of the Sixth World. But the sprawls are generally more free-wheeling, as the cities are today. As for racism, I've found it a very difficult thing to present well in the format that the books have. Just like it would be hard for a racist to pop up in the Dumpshock forums with a racist post and not sound out-of-place if not entirely ridiculous, it's hard to present it in the forum-based format of Jackpoint. Unless that's the topic of the piece, which just isn't something we've had much chance to address yet in Fourth Edition. It's usually more subtly implied in setting material because that seems to be the only decent way to present it. When I mention repeatedly in Runner Havens Hong Kong that the foreigners are pushed out to Kowloon and that the people of Tsim Sha Tsui fear what their neighborhood could become if the foreigners moved south, there's obviously an element of racism there. And not an entirely unjustified feeling either, given that Kowloon is riddled with crime and violence. That feeling of discrimination has made the disenfranchised foreigners equally resentful and you end up with groups like 9x9, who are fed up with the corporations that exploit them and simultaneously silently encourage their mistreatment. Given that the actions of 9x9 are likely to determine the next Executive Council Chairman election, I'd say that racism is an important topic in the Hong Kong setting. |
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Lo-Fi Version | Time is now: 2nd June 2026 - 11:20 PM |
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