Question about the Introduction

Formerly the play-by-post forum for my TSGS Space Force game, now the private forum for development of the new Space Force Science Fiction RPG game. I've retained the entirety of the original game threads here, to be mined for possible content. See the introductory post for more information.
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Limthro1
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Question about the Introduction

Post by Limthro1 »

I started to read your Space Force rules and one of the first things that caught my attention was your ‘note on gender’ right after the paragraph stating ‘this is old school’. One of the reasons I like Basic Fantasy over D&D 5e is that BFRPG was well organized, simple, and left out modern politics. I’m not stating an opinion one way or another in regards to contemporary culture or politics other than to say they probably don’t belong in a game. Is it really necessary to even bring up this topic? We are all here to enjoy fantasy/sci-fi games which allows us to temporarily escape from real world issues. I didn’t see anything like this in the BFRPG rules, so why even bring it up here? (Ps. I’m all for inclusivity, but why even bring it up?)
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Solomoriah
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Re: Resources

Post by Solomoriah »

Hah. Because the statement "this is old school" is read by too many people as being sexist. Even though I don't have that sort of text in BFRPG, we have discussed it among the production team and we have rather strict (but simple) rules for dealing with the issue.

The short answer is, that's the way I wanted it.
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Limthro1
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Re: Resources

Post by Limthro1 »

I have much respect for you saying “that’s the way I wanted it” and taking ownership of your decision. I’ve never inferred any sexism from the term ‘old school’. I consider myself ‘old school’. But thanks for the reply, it was well stated.
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Solomoriah
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Re: Resources

Post by Solomoriah »

Reviewing the material, I see that was only part of the issue. One of the firm rules of BFRPG is to always use inclusive pronouns, complicated by our other rule that we use them in the traditional fashion. Thus, a lot of "he or she" in the book.

As stated in that section in the Space Force Actor's Guide, part of the book is presented in the form of a circa 1969 military guidebook. Such books were written using strictly male pronouns; to maintain the verisimilitude of the work, I needed to do that also. A disclaimer was needed, and so I wrote the section you called out to serve both purposes.

And to be clear, this isn't a question of "modern" politics. This was a hot topic of discussion in 1969... hardly modern. I dealt with more or less the same thing in the introductory parts of Iron Falcon '75.
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Limthro1
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Re: Resources

Post by Limthro1 »

I went back and reread the section on gender. What you wrote seems very reasonable. I probably overreacted as I was reflecting on the nonsense in D&D 5e. Funny how times change, back in the 80’s it was the “satanic panic”, and D&D was purged of any mention of ‘devils’ and ‘demons’. People eventually woke up to that censorship idiocy, and devils and demons were put back in the game. Hopefully this is just a phase and will pass in time like the satanic panic of yesteryear.

Mod note: removed a sentence that was potentially offensive to some that don't share the poster's view on current political landscape.
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chiisu81
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Re: Resources

Post by chiisu81 »

Splitting these posts off and locking thread. Please keep discussion on the games themselves.
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