Before I continue with my discussion on stereotyping and “minorities” I want to do a little exercise with you. I want each of you to guess my cultural background, sexual preference, genetic ancestry and age just from my name and the style that this article is written in. Here is a hint: my full name is Conan Donald Tinirau McKegg. The point of this exercise is to prove how we all stereotype regardless of culture or upbringing.

I previously scraped the surface of this controversial can of worms by saying that roleplaying is about entertainment and shouldn’t be used as a platform to expound personal beliefs about race, gender or sexual preference. Some people seem to have taken this to mean I was saying RPGs should avoid these issues altogether. This couldn’t be further from the truth. I am saying that the goal of roleplaying is to enjoy the game first and foremost. Social issues should be bought up only if they are relevant to the story, not just to make a point.

Last week I said that this part of the article would be used to discuss what GMs should be considering when using characters of a different ethnicity than their own. However, due to some of the interesting and lucid comments that were made over forum, I will also address some other issues about ethnicity, preference and discrimination. For those of you who will no doubt be wondering, “What has this got to do with roleplaying?” I would answer…”everything”. As I stated in the previous article, portraying a character as a stereotype simple helps propagate said stereotype. To get the most out of roleplaying a character, you need to have more depth than using a mere stereotype. While stereotypes can make useful frameworks to build a more in-depth character, I feel that there is a need for people to stop yammering on about “I’m soooo different”. Rather we should be saying, “I come from a different culture, but I am just as good as you are.”

Once I stated that if a GM wanted to use characters from a different background to their own, they must research it. (See Stream of Consciousness 2: Horror: The misunderstood genre) One of the greatest mistakes a GM can do is fill a game with unrealistic stock stereotypes. The “violent, radical blacks”, the “honky, arrogant white-boy”, the “effete, bitchy homosexual”, the “butch, dyke, lesbian” and so on. Let me point out that while there are indeed people who fit these stereotypes, they are a very small part of a larger population.

Research, research, research. It is vital. By the way, watching every Spike Lee film is not going to make you the expert on African American society. Nor will watching Priscilla: Queen of the Desert and Queer People, give you many insights into the gay community. These are fine places to start your research, after all you are running a game…not writing a thesis. Yet I would recommend talking to the people based in that ethnic/cultural/social area to learn more about them. I’m not telling you to interview hundreds of people, but most of you out there no doubt will have friends who belong to a different culture (even if it is the Welsh). Ask them what it is like to be a part of their culture/background. You may get a surprise from the answer.

Do not name a character’s ethnic/social etc background unless it is relevant to the game. If the players ask, “What does she look like?” by all means mention if the character looks Korean, Japanese, Chinese, African, Samoan or European. (Assuming the game is set on Earth.) Otherwise try to show the difference through the character’s behavior. Different cultures have different ways of expressing themselves. It has been my experience that most players automatically assume that NPCs are straight, white middle-class males even without any evidence (and even sometimes contrary evidence) to back up the claim. For example, how many people noticed that in D D 3e with the gender line-ups of the races that the two humans have very Mediterranean features (D D 3e PG pgs 12-13). While the male could be English, Italian or Spanish…the female appears to have very Hispanic features. Now be honest. How many of you only saw white?

Which brings me neatly to my next point. About less than twenty years ago we had rallies and protests where people were saying, “Despite the color of our skin/the people we love we are all essentially the same!” Whereas now it is a time of people wanting to be different. We all desperately want to be recognized as individuals. Tell someone that they are similar to everyone else, and he/she becomes offended. Being similar doesn’t take your individuality away. When someone says, “All cultures are the same” they are talking about the group not the individuals.

Now for the bit that will no doubt piss off a lot of people. Cultural differences are NOT racial differences. A European child bought up in Japan by a Japanese family will be Japanese by ethnicity. Her Cultural identity will be that she is Japanese. Genetically she is European, but mentally and culturally she will be Japanese. (Although I must admit that she would not be considered Japanese on a social level.) The greatest mistake people tend to make is in thinking that Culture, Ethnicity and Race are all the same. They are not. For example, you may be American-Chinese. Your family has a Chinese ancestry, but you have grown up in America as an American. You don’t speak any Cantonese or Mandarin. You eat burgers and fries and you speak with an American accent. Yet you get harassed by morons who think because you look different means that you are different. Culturally you are American. Ethnically you are American-Chinese and racially you are Chinese.

Now what has all of this to do with roleplaying? Basically roleplaying involves getting into the psyches of other people. Yet to do this successfully we need to understand what makes a character think. Just like an actor will spend months observing people who are similar to his/her character to allow a more accurate portrayal, we as roleplayers need to learn more about the people we intend to roleplay. Sure we don’t get paid for it…but on the other hand we can then argue to our spouses/parents/significant other/friends that we are being educated while we play. (Yeah, I know, how often is knowing the weak spot on a dragon going to actually come in handy in real life?)

To sum up, or maybe to get to the core of the issue, we all have the same basic desires regardless of culture or race. We all want to be loved. We all want to be accepted. We all want to be recognized as an individual and not as part of a homogenous whole.. While each culture attempts to reach these shared goals in different ways, at the core of it all we are the same. Contrary to what many people who like to complain or argue would have you believe, we can still retain our individuality while recognizing what we share as a species. There is no need to forsake your culture or religion. But there is a need to accept that other people are the same as you. Not worse, not better. Different, yes, but only in how they are striving to reach the goals we all desire.

There is no excuse for discrimination by age, gender, race or sexual preference. Ever.

To answer the Spice Girls question I raised last week…buggered if I know! I reckon it’s those damn catchy songs that must have been composed within the very heart of Hades itself. (Has anyone realized that the Spice girls have essentially become the pop version of the four horsemen of the apocalypse? Sporty/War Spice - she always looks for a fight. Scary/Death Spice - cause that’s where her singing career seems to be headed. Posh/Famine Spice - self-explanatory really. Baby/Pestilence Spice - Will someone please shut her up! I also guess that makes Geri the Beast that said “I am”…she’s been hanging out with Robbie “Antichrist” Williams…)

Finally, because I am such a Scorpio, I will answer the question of my background etc in next week’s column. I shall be very interested to see what comes up on the Forum. By the way, next week I will be discussing why Kevin Costner isn’t sexy and what really went on in the Brady Bunch household…

Until then. Keep smiling, and in the words of the immortal Jerry Springer…

“Take care of your self. And each other.”