From the article archive
Writing Practice, Nov. 23rd 2001
I hope all those who celebrated Turkey Day had a good time. Me? I'm feeling better. By tomorrow's Writing Practice I will have a substantial update on Ki.
Essay: Today's essay was going to be about Psionics in RPGs, giving the term's background, plus a short history on ESP and other psychic abilities. But the subject of disease popped up and refuses to be ignored.
Which means I have this question for you. How many of you use disease in your game? Not just as a plot device, or as a plot hook, but as part of the world.
Diseases of many sorts affect daily life all over the world. My cold of recent memory affected my ability to function, and the common cold is considered a mild disorder. Then you have serious diseases, diptheria and cholera for instance. Since disease affects the real world why shouldn't it play a part in your campaign.
The first thing to consider is, how healthy over all are the people of the setting. Does the dominant society promote public health, or is it ignored? What about the standard of living and diet. A poorly fed people are more susceptible to disease than a well fed one.
Second, what is the state of medicine? How advanced is medicine, and how widely available is it. If healing magicks are used instead, how capable are they, and how widely available? A society where medicine -scientific or magickal- is primitive and rare will be less healthy than one where medicine is highly advanced and available to all.
Third, how is medicine viewed in society? Is it viewed favorably? Are people leery of it? People are more apt to use something they think highly of then they are something that troubles them.
By and large a society that has advanced medicine, an emphasis on public health, and a favorable attitude towards to practice of medicine will tend to be healthier than a society that takes the opposite tack. However, sometimes there are exceptions.
Take AIDS for example. While the U.S. is better off than Sub-Saharan Africa thanks to the availability of better medical care, a higher standard of living, and an increased emphasis on preventive measures, the fact there are no cures, and no effective lifelong treatments for the disease makes the difference between the U.S. and Sub-Saharan Africa a matter of degrees rather than kind.
(And Magic Johnson me no Magic Johnson. His disease is in remission, it has not been cured. The odds are the drugs he's now taking to control the virus will fail sooner or later and he will develop AIDS and likely succumb to some opportunistic ailment.)
Getting back to the main theme, what role does disease play in your game? Is it part of the background noise? Are there periodic epidemics? What sort of stories are told about disease and diseases? About epidemics of the past? About reported epidemics in distant lands? Are there any superstitions regarding disease in the campaign? About the causes and treatments? How are medical experts viewed and treated? How capable are they?
And now that I think of it (I do space such things), how is disease spread? Is it through medical or magickal contagion? (This is why this is called, "Writing Practice". I'm putting ideas down in the hope it comes out as a coherent essay.) Is there a natural, preternatural, supernatural, or divine agency behind disease. Is it a mix of the above or is there a single agency?
Again we come to a disorganized end. This I present to you in the hope it leads to some discussion. What are your thoughts on the subject of disease in RPGs?
Coming Up: After thinking about it, I have realized that I have been writing about society in RPGs in the recent series of columns. So it looks like my first pay article for GO will deal with societies in role-playing games. How they come together, grow and change. How they organize themselves, teach their young, care for the ill, and how they keep the peace between their members.
Tomorrow I will present a short piece on Psionics in RPGs, then on Sunday it'll be a look at the impact of working magick on societies. If you have any subject you'd like to see my take on in this column, get in touch. See you later.
Alan
Essay: Today's essay was going to be about Psionics in RPGs, giving the term's background, plus a short history on ESP and other psychic abilities. But the subject of disease popped up and refuses to be ignored.
Which means I have this question for you. How many of you use disease in your game? Not just as a plot device, or as a plot hook, but as part of the world.
Diseases of many sorts affect daily life all over the world. My cold of recent memory affected my ability to function, and the common cold is considered a mild disorder. Then you have serious diseases, diptheria and cholera for instance. Since disease affects the real world why shouldn't it play a part in your campaign.
The first thing to consider is, how healthy over all are the people of the setting. Does the dominant society promote public health, or is it ignored? What about the standard of living and diet. A poorly fed people are more susceptible to disease than a well fed one.
Second, what is the state of medicine? How advanced is medicine, and how widely available is it. If healing magicks are used instead, how capable are they, and how widely available? A society where medicine -scientific or magickal- is primitive and rare will be less healthy than one where medicine is highly advanced and available to all.
Third, how is medicine viewed in society? Is it viewed favorably? Are people leery of it? People are more apt to use something they think highly of then they are something that troubles them.
By and large a society that has advanced medicine, an emphasis on public health, and a favorable attitude towards to practice of medicine will tend to be healthier than a society that takes the opposite tack. However, sometimes there are exceptions.
Take AIDS for example. While the U.S. is better off than Sub-Saharan Africa thanks to the availability of better medical care, a higher standard of living, and an increased emphasis on preventive measures, the fact there are no cures, and no effective lifelong treatments for the disease makes the difference between the U.S. and Sub-Saharan Africa a matter of degrees rather than kind.
(And Magic Johnson me no Magic Johnson. His disease is in remission, it has not been cured. The odds are the drugs he's now taking to control the virus will fail sooner or later and he will develop AIDS and likely succumb to some opportunistic ailment.)
Getting back to the main theme, what role does disease play in your game? Is it part of the background noise? Are there periodic epidemics? What sort of stories are told about disease and diseases? About epidemics of the past? About reported epidemics in distant lands? Are there any superstitions regarding disease in the campaign? About the causes and treatments? How are medical experts viewed and treated? How capable are they?
And now that I think of it (I do space such things), how is disease spread? Is it through medical or magickal contagion? (This is why this is called, "Writing Practice". I'm putting ideas down in the hope it comes out as a coherent essay.) Is there a natural, preternatural, supernatural, or divine agency behind disease. Is it a mix of the above or is there a single agency?
Again we come to a disorganized end. This I present to you in the hope it leads to some discussion. What are your thoughts on the subject of disease in RPGs?
Coming Up: After thinking about it, I have realized that I have been writing about society in RPGs in the recent series of columns. So it looks like my first pay article for GO will deal with societies in role-playing games. How they come together, grow and change. How they organize themselves, teach their young, care for the ill, and how they keep the peace between their members.
Tomorrow I will present a short piece on Psionics in RPGs, then on Sunday it'll be a look at the impact of working magick on societies. If you have any subject you'd like to see my take on in this column, get in touch. See you later.
Alan
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