The Gauntlet G+ Archives

I wanted to share this article about how the alt-right — attracted by the myth of an all-white medieval Europe — has infiltrated ttrpg and adjacent fields of interest like larp: https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-alt-right-is-taking-over-renaissance-fairs.

I think it’s important to critically examine whether we — as players, GMs or designers — have contributed to the myth of an all-white medieval Europe. I know I have. Until very recently, I thought that the presence of a character of color in any pseudo-historical medieval game setting required special explanation. I later revised my position to: If there are elves, then why can’t there be PoC? — as if the two were equally fantastical!

My revised position still left the problem: If I was playing in a game that aimed at greater historical accuracy, then I still felt like whiteness had to be the norm. Games that I otherwise really enjoy unfortunately fall into this trap — for example, in Witch: The Road to Lindisfarne, all of the characters are drawn as white (with the exception of Elouise, who is not illustrated at all).

I think we have a responsibility to disabuse ourselves of the myth of an all-white medieval Europe and make sure we aren’t propagating that myth in our games. Otherwise, we are reinforcing a viewpoint that is not only historically inaccurate but also exclusionary, that effectively tells players of color that if they want to play a character who looks like themselves then their existence in this imaginary space requires special justification, and that feeds into a sick fascist fantasy of racial purity.

I’m still educating myself on this  topic. Here’s a great place to start: https://www.publicmedievalist.com/race-racism-middle-ages-toc/.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-alt-right-is-taking-over-renaissance-fairs