A problem with RPGs: RPG developers are not well-read in myth and fantasy/sci-fi literature

[ERYFKRAD]

people were throwing around quotes from Hagakure and The Book of Five Rings

Hagakure is fucking dumb. Old man yells at cloud bullshit.

I'm not wrong dude.
It's 30% "the way of the samurai is death" and 80% "kids these days can't into samurai no more. Why back in the day when my lord asked me to die, I did so twice so no one would doubt it."

 

[0sacred]

Dude was lamenting the decline of his civilization, seems to me like he was dead on the money

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Dude was lamenting the decline of his civilization, seems to me like he was dead on the money

Well shit. Now that you put it that way.

 

[Fedora Master]

There's a difference between "I read The Art of War" and "I put direct quotes from The Art in my game". With the latter you just know the devs are pretentious.

 

[Iucounu]

Dude was lamenting the decline of his civilization, seems to me like he was dead on the money

Well shit. Now that you put it that way.

You're both right: it's foolish to sacrifice your life for a politician, but at the same time the politician that can amass the largest number of such fools usually wins. No worries though; when a war starts there will be no lack of reborn patriots, just like in every previous conflict...

 

[Iucounu]

philosophy? people were throwing around quotes from Hagakure and The Book of Five Rings and trying to learn Zen for a while before they decided it was cultural appropriation. i'm not a philosopher, but mindfulness meditation comes from zen and they're using it to treat anxiety and depression.

A bit off-topic, but if you're into the creepier side of Japanese Buddhism this may be of interest:

Sokushinbutsu: The Terrifying Practice of Living Mummification
https://www.historicmysteries.com/japanese-mummy/

 

[Iucounu]

yellow people has their own culture. ninja/shaolin monk/samurai is a trope already. what blakpipo bring to the table of races and classes? naked tribal spearchukka and voooooooodooooooooo?

I suppose we're all a bit ignorant about African history (that goes for black Americans as well) but help is on the way: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_science_and_technology_in_Africa (a fairly long text including all the external links, but since this thread is about being well-read that shouldn't scare anyone).

 

[ropetight]

yellow people has their own culture. ninja/shaolin monk/samurai is a trope already. what blakpipo bring to the table of races and classes? naked tribal spearchukka and voooooooodooooooooo?

I suppose we're all a bit ignorant about African history (that goes for black Americans as well) but help is on the way: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_science_and_technology_in_Africa (a fairly long text including all the external links, but since this thread is about being well-read that shouldn't scare anyone).

That is going to be more of a pamphlet than a book.

 

[Reinhardt]

yellow people has their own culture. ninja/shaolin monk/samurai is a trope already. what blakpipo bring to the table of races and classes? naked tribal spearchukka and voooooooodooooooooo?

I suppose we're all a bit ignorant about African history (that goes for black Americans as well) but help is on the way: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_science_and_technology_in_Africa (a fairly long text including all the external links, but since this thread is about being well-read that shouldn't scare anyone).

i asked which unique class nigga could be realisticaly in role-playing rpg game except blackwashed bishop/knight/samurai.

 

[NecroLord]

yellow people has their own culture. ninja/shaolin monk/samurai is a trope already. what blakpipo bring to the table of races and classes? naked tribal spearchukka and voooooooodooooooooo?

I suppose we're all a bit ignorant about African history (that goes for black Americans as well) but help is on the way: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_science_and_technology_in_Africa (a fairly long text including all the external links, but since this thread is about being well-read that shouldn't scare anyone).

Yooo, it's not Black History Month yet...

 

[Iucounu]

yellow people has their own culture. ninja/shaolin monk/samurai is a trope already. what blakpipo bring to the table of races and classes? naked tribal spearchukka and voooooooodooooooooo?

I suppose we're all a bit ignorant about African history (that goes for black Americans as well) but help is on the way: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_science_and_technology_in_Africa (a fairly long text including all the external links, but since this thread is about being well-read that shouldn't scare anyone).

i asked which unique class nigga could be realisticaly in role-playing rpg game except blackwashed bishop/knight/samurai.

Sorry I misunderstood, the above only applies to African RPGs of course.

In Medieval East Asia there normally shouldn't be any Africans, unless the RPG was about the Ming dynasty's expeditions to East Africa:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zheng_He#Expeditions

It also seems Somalia traded with India and China, but I can't make out how far the Somalians sailed themselves:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maritime_history_of_Somalia

In Medieval West Asia there were likely quite a few Africans; especially from the Arabic slave trade, but maybe also a few Islamic scholars from the Mali Empire, so I wouldn't rule them out (as Muslims) in an RPG about the Crusades. But in Medieval Europe the number of Africans were likely too few to be noticeable in a RPG game, unless the game was specifically about such a historic individual (and/or the developers have an agenda).

 

[Iucounu]

yellow people has their own culture. ninja/shaolin monk/samurai is a trope already. what blakpipo bring to the table of races and classes? naked tribal spearchukka and voooooooodooooooooo?

I suppose we're all a bit ignorant about African history (that goes for black Americans as well) but help is on the way: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_science_and_technology_in_Africa (a fairly long text including all the external links, but since this thread is about being well-read that shouldn't scare anyone).

Yooo, it's not Black History Month yet...

Why do you let the enemy dictate what (or when) to read things?

 

[Reinhardt]

yellow people has their own culture. ninja/shaolin monk/samurai is a trope already. what blakpipo bring to the table of races and classes? naked tribal spearchukka and voooooooodooooooooo?

I suppose we're all a bit ignorant about African history (that goes for black Americans as well) but help is on the way: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_science_and_technology_in_Africa (a fairly long text including all the external links, but since this thread is about being well-read that shouldn't scare anyone).

i asked which unique class nigga could be realisticaly in role-playing rpg game except blackwashed bishop/knight/samurai.

Sorry I misunderstood, the above only applies to African RPGs of course.

In Medieval East Asia there normally shouldn't be any Africans, unless the RPG was about the Ming dynasty's expeditions to East Africa:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zheng_He#Expeditions

It also seems Somalia traded with India and China, but I can't make out how far the Somalians sailed themselves:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maritime_history_of_Somalia

In Medieval West Asia there were likely quite a few Africans; especially from the Arabic slave trade, but maybe also a few Islamic scholars from the Mali Empire, so I wouldn't rule them out (as Muslims) in an RPG about the Crusades. But in Medieval Europe the number of Africans were likely too few to be noticeable in a RPG game, unless the game was specifically about such a historic individual (and/or the developers have an agenda).

no seriously, what EXCLUSIVELY black class can you think? criminal is very common but still not exclusive. what exactly is unique blakpipo contribution? name me some class based on africa so everyone would be "oh, it's african!" just upon hearing it.

 

[NecroLord]

name me some class based on africa so everyone would be "oh, it's african!" just upon hearing it.

Peaceful protester.

 

[Iucounu]

yellow people has their own culture. ninja/shaolin monk/samurai is a trope already. what blakpipo bring to the table of races and classes? naked tribal spearchukka and voooooooodooooooooo?

I suppose we're all a bit ignorant about African history (that goes for black Americans as well) but help is on the way: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_science_and_technology_in_Africa (a fairly long text including all the external links, but since this thread is about being well-read that shouldn't scare anyone).

i asked which unique class nigga could be realisticaly in role-playing rpg game except blackwashed bishop/knight/samurai.

Sorry I misunderstood, the above only applies to African RPGs of course.

In Medieval East Asia there normally shouldn't be any Africans, unless the RPG was about the Ming dynasty's expeditions to East Africa:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zheng_He#Expeditions

It also seems Somalia traded with India and China, but I can't make out how far the Somalians sailed themselves:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maritime_history_of_Somalia

In Medieval West Asia there were likely quite a few Africans; especially from the Arabic slave trade, but maybe also a few Islamic scholars from the Mali Empire, so I wouldn't rule them out (as Muslims) in an RPG about the Crusades. But in Medieval Europe the number of Africans were likely too few to be noticeable in a RPG game, unless the game was specifically about such a historic individual (and/or the developers have an agenda).

no seriously, what EXCLUSIVELY black class can you think? criminal is very common but still not exclusive. what exactly is unique blakpipo contribution? name me some class based on africa so everyone would be "oh, it's african!" just upon hearing it.

The female Dahomey warriors seem pretty unique, but wouldn't all classes be exclusively African in an African RPG? I think it depends on how specific you want to be. For example, ninjas are specifically Japanese, but similar secret agents have existed in other parts of the world as well, such as the
Persian assassins, Indian thugs or West African Leopard Society (not sure about the motives of the last two, though).

 

[Reinhardt]

yellow people has their own culture. ninja/shaolin monk/samurai is a trope already. what blakpipo bring to the table of races and classes? naked tribal spearchukka and voooooooodooooooooo?

I suppose we're all a bit ignorant about African history (that goes for black Americans as well) but help is on the way: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_science_and_technology_in_Africa (a fairly long text including all the external links, but since this thread is about being well-read that shouldn't scare anyone).

i asked which unique class nigga could be realisticaly in role-playing rpg game except blackwashed bishop/knight/samurai.

Sorry I misunderstood, the above only applies to African RPGs of course.

In Medieval East Asia there normally shouldn't be any Africans, unless the RPG was about the Ming dynasty's expeditions to East Africa:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zheng_He#Expeditions

It also seems Somalia traded with India and China, but I can't make out how far the Somalians sailed themselves:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maritime_history_of_Somalia

In Medieval West Asia there were likely quite a few Africans; especially from the Arabic slave trade, but maybe also a few Islamic scholars from the Mali Empire, so I wouldn't rule them out (as Muslims) in an RPG about the Crusades. But in Medieval Europe the number of Africans were likely too few to be noticeable in a RPG game, unless the game was specifically about such a historic individual (and/or the developers have an agenda).

no seriously, what EXCLUSIVELY black class can you think? criminal is very common but still not exclusive. what exactly is unique blakpipo contribution? name me some class based on africa so everyone would be "oh, it's african!" just upon hearing it.

The female Dahomey warriors seem pretty unique, but wouldn't all classes be exclusively African in an African RPG? I think it depends on how specific you want to be. For example, ninjas are specifically Japanese, but similar secret agents have existed in other parts of the world as well, such as the
Persian assassins, Indian thugs or West African Leopard Society (not sure about the motives of the last two, though).

ok, let's try even simpler. you are developer and making rpg game with characters based on various earth cultures. which character class will represent black africa?

 

[0sacred]

Barbarian.

Niggers would always have been more believable in this role than Nordics, berserker lore notwithstanding. Just ooga boogaing everything to death while being basically naked and wielding crude weapons screams black people to me

 

[RaggleFraggle]

I think Imaro would make an amazing rpg. And the best part? No white people!

I cannot believe that I now consider “no white people in the setting” a selling point.

 

[Iucounu]

yellow people has their own culture. ninja/shaolin monk/samurai is a trope already. what blakpipo bring to the table of races and classes? naked tribal spearchukka and voooooooodooooooooo?

I suppose we're all a bit ignorant about African history (that goes for black Americans as well) but help is on the way: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_science_and_technology_in_Africa (a fairly long text including all the external links, but since this thread is about being well-read that shouldn't scare anyone).

i asked which unique class nigga could be realisticaly in role-playing rpg game except blackwashed bishop/knight/samurai.

Sorry I misunderstood, the above only applies to African RPGs of course.

In Medieval East Asia there normally shouldn't be any Africans, unless the RPG was about the Ming dynasty's expeditions to East Africa:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zheng_He#Expeditions

It also seems Somalia traded with India and China, but I can't make out how far the Somalians sailed themselves:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maritime_history_of_Somalia

In Medieval West Asia there were likely quite a few Africans; especially from the Arabic slave trade, but maybe also a few Islamic scholars from the Mali Empire, so I wouldn't rule them out (as Muslims) in an RPG about the Crusades. But in Medieval Europe the number of Africans were likely too few to be noticeable in a RPG game, unless the game was specifically about such a historic individual (and/or the developers have an agenda).

no seriously, what EXCLUSIVELY black class can you think? criminal is very common but still not exclusive. what exactly is unique blakpipo contribution? name me some class based on africa so everyone would be "oh, it's african!" just upon hearing it.

The female Dahomey warriors seem pretty unique, but wouldn't all classes be exclusively African in an African RPG? I think it depends on how specific you want to be. For example, ninjas are specifically Japanese, but similar secret agents have existed in other parts of the world as well, such as the
Persian assassins, Indian thugs or West African Leopard Society (not sure about the motives of the last two, though).

ok, let's try even simpler. you are developer and making rpg game with characters based on various earth cultures.

Not cultures from all over the world mixed together, I hope? That actually sounds a bit woke, unless it's science fiction (in which case traditional cultures would not necessarily apply anyway).

which character class will represent black africa?

Most of those I've seen should apply, such as: warriors, archers, bards, mages, beast masters, rouges, maybe even some kind of monks. I'd likely exclude heavily armored soldiers.

 

[Reinhardt]

Most of those I've seen should apply, such as: warriors, archers, bards, mages, beast masters, rouges, maybe even some kind of monks. I'd likely exclude heavily armored soldiers.

so nothing specific. nothing "african". just some guy in blackface.

 

[JarlFrank]

no seriously, what EXCLUSIVELY black class can you think? criminal is very common but still not exclusive. what exactly is unique blakpipo contribution? name me some class based on africa so everyone would be "oh, it's african!" just upon hearing it.

Spearchucker

 

[Reinhardt]

no seriously, what EXCLUSIVELY black class can you think? criminal is very common but still not exclusive. what exactly is unique blakpipo contribution? name me some class based on africa so everyone would be "oh, it's african!" just upon hearing it.

Spearchucker

yellow people has their own culture. ninja/shaolin monk/samurai is a trope already. what blakpipo bring to the table of races and classes? naked tribal spearchukka and voooooooodooooooooo?

 

[JarlFrank]

Oh yeah voodoo is also a very stereotypical African class

 

[NecroLord]

Oh yeah voodoo is also a very stereotypical African class

Are those fetuses in those jars?...

 

[Iucounu]

Most of those I've seen should apply, such as: warriors, archers, bards, mages, beast masters, rouges, maybe even some kind of monks. I'd likely exclude heavily armored soldiers.

so nothing specific. nothing "african". just some guy in blackface.

Again, it all depends on how specific you want to be --is a European bard just a West African griot in whiteface, or are both specific for their respective culture? All my RPG classes would be uniquelly African versions of course, just like a ninja is a uniquelly Japanese covert agent (and not say a Persian one).

Or do you mean an African RPG class that has not even a remote equivalent anywhere else in the world? Then I might have to invent it, since it likely doesn't exist in the (mostly Western and Asian) RPG tradition. But what could such a class possibly be, if the more broad classes like Warrior, Magician etc are already taken? And what gives European and Asian RPGs a monopoly on those broader classes in the first place?