RPG Player Flips Out Over A Black Player Character | r/rpghorrorstories

[@Yojimbo16]

That story about the dying parent reminds me of the only time I decided to go a DnD Night instead of visiting my grandma in the retirement home would be the last time she was in the retirement home as she would spend her last days in the hospital the day after. Thankfully, I visited her there at every opportunity I could at that point and apologized for not visiting her that one night and felt ashamed for choosing DnD over visiting her and she assured me with what strength she had left that I had nothing to be ashamed about and that I told her what a great grandmother she's been to me my whole life so nothing was left unsaid and to make peace. I told my DnD group about how I would stop showing up for a while and unlike the DM in the story, they understood and told me to take as much time off as I needed.

[@bongodavid123]

You solved that far better than OP did in that story then. Personally I can easily see both OP and DMs side in that story. OP should have stepped away, because while DND is just a hobby, because it involves other people it does need a certain level of commitment that OP wasn't giving that group. Which was the right thing to do obviously. DM should not have focused on the other group, but giving a heads up and setting requirements on attendance would be fine. And if OP couldn't meet those requirements agree that OP wasn't the right fit for that table at the time. That simple really. Both sides are assholes in my opinion.

[@vegeta002]

Why do the people who get stuck on "historical accuracy" in their games always seem to use the theme-park version of history? It's always such black and white thinking.

[@rfountai]

I fear this may simply be a result of the current political climate/ zeitgeist. When you are constantly focused on politics, which is inherently divisive, fixation is inevitable.

[@SomeOrdinaryJanitor]

@@rfountai absolutely, and a big problem is saying anything about can garner a wild reaction from EITHER side. i just want to play a fantasy game WITHOUT realworld politics please, more people need to take the Helldivers approach.

[@waifusmith4043]

I'm usually the only black person at the table, and usually play brown skinned characters, thankfully to this day I haven't gotten any weirdo statements about mine.

[@ghost7685]

"theme-park version of history" i have never heard this. what does this mean?

[@starofjustice1]

@@ghost7685 It means a greatly simplified version of what things and people were really like. It can also mean that something was exaggerated to be more appealing to an audience.

[@williamt2700]

3:35 "We're here to stop cosmic horrors. Not deal with every day horrors." 😂 Brilliant line 😊

[@Allantitan]

And so true

[@sailorsloth8183]

A city with Calm Emotions crystals all over the place is actually a really cool idea for a dystopian society. It’s a shame it was only used to target a specific player and ruin their fun. Plus, Calm Emotions doesn’t end a Barbarian’s Rage. Just because the ability is called Rage doesn’t mean the character is actually getting angry. It could be reflavored as extreme battle focus or a deep meditative state, that’s what I like to do when playing Ancestral Guardian Barbarians.

[@theimperviousfirecracker7934]

I think they got the idea that calm emotions ends rage from Baldur's Gate 3

[@clericofchaos1]

I think racism has it's place in tabletop. Like having drow look down on every other species as inferior or having dwarves hate elves because it's a tradition. You just have to be sure that everyone at the table knows and is ok with you exploring themes like that in the game.

[@GreatScottch]

Precisely, and it's not like people AREN'T okay exploring those ideas. Baldur's Gate pretty handily addresses the disdain for gith, drow and even tieflings. The game has yet to receive flak for it either, so clearly nobody's felt overtly disrespected by it. Granted, I still want to punch Aradin anytime he calls me foulblood, but that's a me problem for constantly picking tieflings

[@LucyBean42]

@greatscottch almost all my runs in BG3, I ran a halfling, cause it's my favorite. Then, one run, I took a tiefling cause I never ran one before, and Aradin dropped a racism straight on my head. It's fascinating how, of you don't play those races, you just never see that side of it. It's good storytelling.

[@Wordweaver166]

If racism or any kind of discrimination is part of a setting - say, in Rogue Trader with Navigators being obvious mutants, as well as psykers being "witches" - the point should always be that the players stick together. Thankfully, I have only seen this play out in a good way in campaigns I have run, with players happily bickering and trading barbs, but immediately closing ranks and always working together when an outside party or problem presented itself.

[@deltagearadvanced5140]

Racism can be an amazing story telling block for any world or tale. The issue is you either get stories like the one in this vid with a racist dude, or vice versa virtue signaling jerks upset that DEI isn't used in a table top that actual good stories, the vast majority of what happens, get's overshadow to the point people just think that's it's never a good idea.

[@GreatScottch]

@@LucyBean42 I like another addition they have is how you can choose to respond to the various racism sent your way. Good example I noticed from my friend who's a forever drow, a lot of npcs tend to be outright afraid of you and you can choose to lean into it or assure them you're not like other drow

[@Chocogrimm]

The most simple way to explain a social contract is to say as a community we all agree to do this thing this way. So the social contract in terms of dnd is "we all show up at this time to play, the GM prepares the session, and we agree to go with the GMs rules and work together to make a story." It probably would have been better to step away from the game for the parent, but that's no excuse for that gm to treat them so poorly. I'm so sorry to hear about your situation, Doge. Wishing you the best

[@swallowed103]

Simba: it fits, therefore I sits.

[@JackAttack15]

The handbook for Call of Cthulhu literally goes out of its way to say they built a setting that revolves around mystery solving and the HP Lovecraft's mythos while excluding his more controversial themes. Meaning: it is lore accurate to ignore the racist/classist topics that occured at the time.

[@CallMeKes]

Simba looked so proud of his tiny box. Bashful proud. My heart.

[@MatrixRefugee]

"If I fits, I sits."

[@heatherharrison264]

Cats love cardboard boxes, paper bags, and other similar objects. It's funny to watch them wedge themselves into boxes and bags that are too small for them. Like many animals, cats love the apparent security of a tight, constricted hiding place.

[@timalice-2833]

I’m so sorry about your dad. That’s a horrible thing to go through for him and your family. I wish for the best possible outcome for all of you.

[@vortega472]

Simba is the master of: If I fits, I sits. I'm so sorry Doge (((hug))) I lost my big sister during the quarantine and didn't even get to say goodbye - I live in Canada, and they were in the states, I was also out of work with no money. F*** cancer. I hope you know you have support online and in real life.

[@MenxiGoblinQueen]

completely negating a character's class feature like this isn't "difficulty", or nerfing, it's crappy DM power-tripping

[@SageTigerStar]

I'll never understand that DM vs Player mentality, it's supposed to be a fun game for everyone, not just a "how can I lead my players along until I get bored and TPK them?" power-trip for these DM's. :(

[@alanbear6505]

Last story: yeah, the DM does have an obligation to know the rules…or at least the core and be able to quickly look up or improvise around the rest (that last bit is NOT recommended for novices). If you think 6v1 is unfair don’t send in a boss unsupported. Lastly he did say he wanted the players to break the game so he should have been ready for worse than that.

[@kirbygivens8223]

"I go back outside and look for a dragon." "Okay, perception check please." "Nat 20." "You look all over but you don't find any dragons."

[@TheFuriousScribbles]

"With that Nat 20, you are very confident that there is no dragon here."

[@jordanhunter3375]

There are no dragons within your general vicinity.

[@solosynapse]

​@@jordanhunter3375Your exits are north, south, and Dennis.

[@marybdrake1472]

Nerfing the players is not a way to challenge players, the DM was both targeting and cheating.

[@byronsmothers8064]

A confrontational GM denies players their features to make the challenge hard, a good GM sets a situation that requires their features in a specific way to stir creative thinking. I had a GM that had a habit of building their boss encounters to answer our party a little too well, the campaigns tended to go on hiatus if those combats took more than one session.

[@marybdrake1472]

@@byronsmothers8064 Oh my, that sounds like a mess. And yeah, I agree. The DM/GM needs to think dynamically if they want their players to do the same.

[@AtelierGod]

@@byronsmothers8064I had a situation where instead of nerfing the DMs response to us being able to fight above our level CR rating enemies when all he was doing was one combat encounter per day meaning we didn’t have to care for saving any resources and just went full out on them, only to then drop a boss rush encounter on us with CR5-14 in waves against our party of level 6-7s with so little time between each enemy that they might as well have been one encounter.

[@kainslegacy78618]

I think the "social contract" refers to the dedication players have to keep up when sign up to a game. If that's the case, it really shows how much of an inflexible control freak that DM was (stopping the old DM from getting the chair back is also a glaring sign of power trip). Although, the "contract" of TTRPG is important most of the time, having a literally dying relative stopping you from being reliable about it is the true exception and anyone with any kind of sense would understand. The new DM being the only one not doing that is very telling. EDIT Not just cold-hearted, but delusional also.

[@ShitpostingJoJo]

Bruh 💀 Imagine getting kicked out of a roleplaying game table, FOR ROLE-PLAYING. 💀

[@jeremyjbaker1]

People are weird

[@roercula8425]

You should never a 100 percent believe these stories when it comes so self reflection

[@woodlefoof2]

@@roercula8425 yeah, there’s more than a few stories where I go “I… I feel like you’re skipping important details.”

[@Blindy_Sama]

Much love Doge.. it's been a good number of years for me by lost my mother to kidney failure... We had a rough path that we made a mess before she got sick. The dialysis and her didn't go well and she wasted a way to almost nothing... She had a terrible quality of life so she decided to get off of dialysis and went out on her own terms naturally which I respect. Best wishes to you and yours.

[@ryanlittle3440]

Sorry about your dad man. That’s really rough. I need you to know that your stories bring me a lot of joy and help me get through the work day. I know that’s true for a lot of us here. Thanks for continuing to put out content even though it’s a tough time for you. Thoughts and prayers are unhelpful, I know, but you still have mine♥️

[@fylimar]

I'm sorry about your dad being so sick. I wish you strength to go through this.

[@TigerW0lf]

Calm Emotions doesn't suppress rage anyway. It negates charmed or frightened conditions. He was wilfully misinterpreting the spell for his own ends.

[@bandwagonbuzzard1617]

Must admit, I thought it would've worked at first. Maybe it ends up as a house rule, or is just commonly misinterpreted. It may not have been willfully. Certainly maliciously, so that's splitting hairs.

[@schwarzerritter5724]

I played with a DM who constantly came up with new ways to mess with my barbarian. Like having an enemy every combat just happen to surprise the party and just happen to land a critical hit on the barbarian. Or coming up with new houserules on the spot that made barbarian lose Rage, like Grappling is an action, not an attack, or only attacks that deal damage maintain Rage. Or the next enemy in a theatre of mind game is exactly 35 feet away.

[@ss3nm0dn4r8]

@@schwarzerritter5724 I had a dm who made every enemy deal psychic damage and paralysis

[@lovemachine1342]

Calm emotions ends rage in 3.5 and pathfinder.

[@TigerW0lf]

@@lovemachine1342 was this either of those systems? I missed that detail

[@N843M]

My condolences Doge, my prayers are with you and your family, and thank you for continuing your videos during this time.

[@fred_derf]

I'm a white guy and I play a black character, he's also a half-orc! What part of "it's fiction" doesn't Problem get?

[@jamcalx]

A Blork if you will. 😎👌🏿

[@PMbarbieri]

@@jamcalx Your pfp next to this comment only makes it better XD

[@kainslegacy78618]

Just as hypocritically racist and stuck-up as any other woke. Why didn't they kick that guy?

[@keezydamascot]

I remember a couple years ago some D&D tiktokers were pushing a narrative that white people weren’t allowed to play POC characters cuz they considered it racist or appropriation or something like that.

[@marcusreading3783]

I'm a white guy and I once played a middle Eastern inspired woman. Admittedly, it didn't really come up much since we were playing a module and it was a short campagene, but still.

[@aaronbennett7714]

So sorry to hear about your dad, Doge. And yeah, family life before Table Life, our table is the same way.

[@DuranMK2]

Simba: "If I fits in it, I sits in it." OP: "Let's play a game set in an alternate reality version 1920s where otherworldy eldritch horrors are everywhere..." Problem: "I can get behind that." OP: "... and where black people can be successful." Problem: "THAT'S SO UNREALISTIC!! MUH IMMERSION IS RUINED!!"

[@PaladinGear15]

The "That Guy IRL" story reminds me of a DM I once had. He set up a game where he invited like 3 brand new players, me who's been playing for many years, and another guy who's a frequent player. Every time one of the new players had a question or made a common mistake (such as the wizard thinking he had to collect rose petals before he was allowed to cast sleep), the DM would tut, sigh, groan, or even snap at them. After the session the DM loudly and angrily lectured the new players that they were completely useless, and "thank god for the players who actually know what they're doing", so I told the DM off and then left the game myself. He'd also allowed two of the players to play homebrew classes, one which was extremely underpowered, and one that was extremely overpowered, like one was based off the Naruto ninjas but their "ninjitsu" attacks were incredibly low damage with no conditions (which the DM for some reason nerfed and made it so the player had to pay gold each time he wanted to cast) and another guy was the Red Mage class from final fantasy, not only could he cast both divine and arcane spells, he leveled up like a full caster, and at level 1 he had an ability that let him cast two spells in a row then make a melee attack, and he could do this 5 times per short rest, all counting as 1 attack action meaning at level 1 he could attack 4 times while duel wielding.

[@ashleingebretson8420]

Sending you lots of digital hugs. I helped my foster papa when he had his stroke and went into hospice care. I totally understand helping a family member and need to prioritize.

[@BlueTressym]

I think with the terminally ill parent story, the GM wanted to blame playing at another table for the problem because they knew damn well that treating them the way they were for the real reason - which they knew - was an AH move. I'm sorry to hear about your dad, Doge I hope it goes as well as it possibly can.

[@missnobody8480]

Exactly my thoughts. I feel like dm just wanted to find a way to boot op out while trying to save face. I get wanting to play dnd, but that’s just cruel

[@montix0476]

I hope everything turns out good for you dodge, i'm sorry to hear that you are going trough a situation like that, I am currently going trough something similar with a very close eprson to me, you are not alone, sending prayers from spain.

[@DnDDoge]

I appreciate that

[@Xalerdane]

“There weren’t any multi-dimensional tentacle monsters running around in the 1920s either, and yet you don’t seem to have a problem with _that._ Rather curious, don’t you think?”

[@ArcCaravan]

Funny how people invoke realism to justify discrimination in games that are explicitly fictional.

[@brynion2117]

@@ArcCaravan what i find strange tho is that the OP heavily implied that the guy was very progressive and actually against racism in real life

[@ArcCaravan]

@@brynion2117 Maybe it's because that guy hates racism is why they argued it should be in the game, like to oppose it or condemn a more racist time.

[@CruelestChris]

It's weirder that he thinks no black people in the 20s were rich and everyone else was uniformly evil to them.

[@gearsofdawn]

As far as the last story, there is a combat encounter where the "boss" summons a "golem" of themselves. I don't remember their name, but they're on the side of the empire. They're on a "ship" that looks like a jellyfish and has a scream that disables spelljammer helms.

[@videogamefan101]

I'm sorry to hear what your dad is going through, Doge. I recently lost my mom to small cell lung/brain cancer just this March. It was already hard having to watch as she withered, doing my best between shifts to just try and make her comfortable in hospice. My brother wasn't helping things leaving his kid at our house (or I guess 'my' house now), even if he was helping out as well. Enough about me though. I wish the best for you, and hope your dad can live his remaining life in comfort and happiness.

[@rynowatcher]

First one: there is a lot to unpack there. I can understand someone not wanting to edit history for fear of historical revisionism and forgetting the horrors of racism, but i am not sure that is what this is about. I find the 1920's american urban area a good place to explore these themes, and a few people have already mentioned Harlem Unbound. The 1920s in America were rough on everyone if you were not rich; no sugar coating that, and i can see someone not wanting to shy away so it is not forgotten. A game issue; most character professions try to balance credit rating with other skills because you can solve a lot of problems with money in that game. The "millionair mechanic" is a bit hard to balance in game terms and making your grandfather an ageless necromancer is a bit main character-y. I generally try to encourage the pc's to be with a CR of 30 of everyone else in the group, otherwise why is a homeless guy, a waitress, and a hooker hanging around this millionaire? Just makes the rp better.

[@ArcCaravan]

I honestly doubt the player cares about historical revisionism. Looks like he just wants a player to be punished for playing their race, using history as an excuse despite GM saying that's not what their game is about.

[@rynowatcher]

@@ArcCaravan I do not think historical revisionism is a concern with the problem player, and I said so above. I am saying I can see why some players would feel that way, hence why Harlem Unbound was written. It is important for some folks to not shy away from the ugly bits of history. I am not sure he nessicarily wants to "make him pay for playing his race." He played with him before and after and it was not an issue then or since if op is to be believed. He does not seem to have a problem with other races outside of a 1920's context, and that might just be what he considers fun about the 1920's is overcoming a bigoted culture and lost interest in it if that was not an element they were going to explore. I do not think op states if the problem player is homosexual, Hispanic, Jewish, Asian American, Native American... or a member of another group that might also be the target of equal bigotry and deflated that it would not be present. Overcoming bigotry in a fictionalized situation can be cathartic. Racism in games is tricky as there are good reasons to avoid it as well as good reasons to have it. As I and others pointed out, Harlem Unbound is a source book that does not shy away from the topic because a good number of players and the author himself felt it important to address. I personally do not like such games, but some people enjoy them because it gives them a way to work though their feelings.

[@ArcCaravan]

@@rynowatcher While I understand some people may want to roleplay racism as something to overcome, it should be respected when people don't want to include racism (especially non-fabtasy racism) in their game. And this problem player didn't just lose interest, he kept arguing with DM to include racism regardless of the opinion of the player who'd face the brunt of it. That it was brought up explicitly because a black player was playing a black character (and the awkward way they brought up that player's race) has me doubt anyone else was someone who'd face racism in a stereotypical 1920s setting. I recall no rule saying historical settings have to use "appropriate" racism, same how fantasy religions aren't obligated to include persecution or corruption. Plus people who invoke "historical accuracy" tend to ignore anything that isn't common knowledge of history.

[@pulsefel9210]

that last one could have been a fun encounter. just need to roll the boss pulling that off into a story instead of obvious cheating

[@spoonyluv19]

First story's problem player never heard of a speak easy owner? Most of them were POC as well as the folks delivering booze for the moonshiners

[@MatrixRefugee]

Yeaaaah, this guy needs to read up on the whole culture around jazz clubs in Harlem in that era.

[@ianhutchinson7358]

Sorry to hear about your dad bro. Wishing you the best!

[@DnDDoge]

I appreciate it

[@mark9960]

Oh, doge i know the feeling i lost my mom to cancer as well. All i can say is stay strong, bro.

[@reginlief1]

I’m totally fine with questioning what sort of effect a character choice like that would make in a specific world setting, but at the same time, for a “historical” setting, you can always just say that it’s a version of history that is in some way a little different to the real world event. As many people would obviously say, it’s just down to what is agreed upon before the campaign starts.

[@7thsealord888]

Story #1 - Solely Problem's problem. If the DM chose to play down historical accuracy in pursuit of a more entertaining game, that was his call. Despite the horrendous racism of that era, there were (rare) instances of people attaining genuine status despite the odds against them. So being rich wouldn't have opened ALL doors for a Black person in the 1920s, but it would have at least unlocked a great many. So Smuggler's Character had genuine plausibility, if that at all mattered. Historical accuracy and strict reality isn't much of a thing in ANY RPG. In reality, most people will DIE or at least be hospitalized by one or two solid bullet hits, or hard whacks from a sword. Neither D&D nor any other sword'n'sorcery type game is accurate about what went on in ancient or medieval societies or economies, or even how weapons and armor were typically used.. Problem then becoming the company man who does horribly in an Alien game seems entirely appropriate, btw. :) Story #2 - If the DM wanted to put a nerf into one very specific situation, that would have been unpopular but tolerable. This wasn't. I don't believe that simply changing the Character would have ended the nerfing, as I'm pretty certain the DM would have just done something else to the new Character. Characters that are legally- built and played properly - but are STILL overpowered or game-breaking - are a problem that most DMs will face. Ideally, the way to deal with it is with honesty at Session 0. Check out the character and class properly, make sure there are no rules problems first then, IF still a problem, politely ask for something different, discuss alternatives or variations. If the problems come up during actual play then, again, discuss and try to work something out. If it comes down to it, making the enemy a little tougher might help. Targeted nerfs during play are NOT the answer, that is grossly unfair and will only lead to bad feelings. Story #3 - Yeah, that DM's attitude was the worst, enough said. Story #4 - Some Players need a Great Big Glowing Arrow to show them the way. Not much the DM can do there, except to have any important plot hooks basically knock a Character over, and start jumping up and down on their chest. Other times, the same Players might pick up on a meaningless detail, and the DM is faced with maybe trying to turn that into something more. Story #5 - Sitdown and serious talk with X is in order. Story #6 - Absolutely the DM's issue(s). Story #7 - Entirely Rookie DM's problem. He challenged the group to try and break his game, but couldn't handle it when they did so.

[@k2k4]

The d&d over family story hits close to home for me. I have been in a game for 2+ years where we meet every sunday for 4-5 hours. It's spanned several campaigns and multiple DMs. My wife decided that she didn't like the host and also because of her busy schedule she feels like she loses half of her weekend with me every week. Basically, I was put in the awkward position of choosing d&d or marital strife. Of course I choose my wife, but it certainly doesn't feel right to stop playing with my friends just because of her annoyance with the 'strict' attendance policy agreed to by the players.

[@itsyaboiChubbs]

You and other dnd channels really help throughout the workday, also Doge, you have a cameo in the webcomic dungeons and doodles!

[@NhanTran-gy8xk]

Player asking historical accuracy in a game about tentacle monster

[@ketrava0425]

Simba meditating in the box is adorable

[@caioaugusto3138]

in fairness to the DM in the last story, imagine you're a new DM and your experienced friend makes a Silvery Barbs Lucky Divination Wizard. That's a dificult build to deal even to an experienced DM.

[@ArcCaravan]

Then DM shouldn't have told the players to break the game.

[@caioaugusto3138]

@@ArcCaravan yeah. Overconfidence is a slow and insideous killer.

[@ArcCaravan]

@@caioaugusto3138 So is refusing to learn the game.

[@barrydheil]

Some peeps genuinely don't get fantasy, the point of fantasy is that it doesn't reflect all of the realities of these times and places. Sure it can be more immersive or fun to do so (not in this case), but it's definitely not a requirement. I might add, in CoCthulu, you are fighting an eldritch abomination that threatens to wipe out everything, I think that the character can come to accept "I dislike you but bigger threats abound that impact us both." The first guy sounds like he would racially discriminate against all orcs, regardless of alignment, then proceeding to make up a racial epithet surrounding orcs.

[@GarkKahn]

Story 5 It gives me the same vibe as employers complaining about lack of experience when they offered a 1st employment

[@RockR277]

Second story reminds me of one I've got. First time my buddy DMd, we were starting at 5th level. I decided to play lvl 4 warlock, lvl 1 sorcerer. At those levels, I'd have 2 first and 2 second level spell slots, compared to what you have as a normal lvl 5 caster, so I was planning to rely heavily on cantrips. Buddy decided, day of the first session, that cantrip strength was based on each class's individual levels, so since neither of my individual classes were 5th level, none of the cantrips benefited from the boost they should have gotten. When I complained I was told "there's more to dnd than combat" or something along those lines, I don't remember the exact wording. Anyway then we had a 2 hour combat with several waves of enemies.

[@codravolkov8977]

"That couldnt be me"??? I've been playing pen and paper for almost 2 decades now and I still wouldnt have a dice tray if I didnt get one as a gift recently.

[@Arthus850]

It’s a good thing OP decided not to play Call of Cthulhu. With how hellbent Problem was on making it “historically accurate,” had they played the game the way they wanted, he might have done things to make it “historically accurate,” or as we call it, racist.

[@hahahahtrevor]

The Tulsa Race Massacre in this exact time period mentioned in the first story happened because Tulsa was a city of black people that were too rich. Bro locked in on black and let his demons take over lol

[@MarquisLeary34]

Long time CoC GM. That jackass forgot about something in the 1920's called the Harlem Renascence. Blacks in many cities were extremely affluent, business owners, you name it. Also, as good as Alien is, also look at Mothership (more general sci fi horror that feels like Alien but not in the Alien universe). We just played a session of it last week and it's a blast.

[@montix0476]

Dnd dodge never misses, it's best best to lisent while studing

[@zacharysieg2305]

I can see how that could work; his voice is kinda hypnotic. Me personally, I can’t really listen to one set of words while reading another.

[@jamiesheehan6277]

Sucks to hear about your dad dude. Wishing you and your family all the best ❤

[@joseyphipps]

The way that there were multiple wealthy African Americans in the 1920s makes the first story even more absurd. The problem player was going off purely stereotypes and nothing else.

[@patjacksonpodium]

Doge, the Alien RPG is FANTASTIC. Ive run the Chariot of The Gods one shot like 5-6 times and it has always been a blast. Never ends the same way twice! If you wanted to try it out I'd even be willing to run it on Discord or something if you have a group of people!

[@LucyBean42]

I made a really similar character to the one in the last story, but as a Lore Bard instead. Effing with the DM's rolls with Silvery Barbs and cutting words was fun. As a lesson to my fellow DMs, when you lose, you win, cause your players win.

[@CallOfCathulhu]

Always on board to support the doge against the algorithm dragon!

[@LucyBean42]

Plot hooks: I had a new player join a running campaign, during her intro session, she was horning in the magic user and her NPC girlfriend. The only girls in the party. When she had to choose one of 5 male characters to talk to for RP, she just ignored everyone and camped in the street of an abandoned town. She didn't get invited back for session 2

[@solosynapse]

Sorry to hear about your dad, Doge. Best wishes, and I hope everything will be as okay as possible. I know all too well what that's like.

[@nymphia]

first story i feel both OP and problem failed to realize people are the same throughout history -- just because racism is socially acceptable does not mean everyone was racist, especially if smuggler's class had high social reputation. the rich status makes anyone who's hostile towards them seem stupid. that's all OP had to say: "smuggler's class has high social reputation, so the racism isn't a factor... unless you want everyone to hate your party member by being a jerk". (also people could be racist in stereotype negatives i.e. "yeah he's black but he's not a crook so it's okay, etc.") which i feel people fail to factor in because racism as we're taught is always hostile/violent and not social ignorance as it is in most cases. problem arguing so vehemently about it and explaining racism to someone is really just outting himself as a racist LMAO

[@ArcCaravan]

Except OP wasn't insisting on an absolutely realistic setting for Call of Cthulhu nor was he obligated to find a justification for no racism plotlines.

[@demonphyre6186]

I'm sorry about your dad, Doge. I had a feeling there was probably something like that because it sounded a bit like you were tearing up or holding back tears while recording that story. You don't need to read or record stuff like that if it gets to you, I'm sure nobody would mind a lack of coverage on that kind of stuff if it's for personal reasons

[@kollinpoindexter8859]

My take on the second story: A DM's responsibility is to manage the game. A friend's responsibility is to care for their friends. A DM should have sidelined the player who was going through a death in the family until their life was in a place where they could commit to a regularly scheduled session. A friend should support them, and that doesn't need to be through dnd. It could be agreeing to come over and make them dinner, driving them to and from the hospital, having other forms of sporadic get togethers. It sounded like OP was causing a lot of sessions to be canceled. The game was not running regularly, sometimes they ran without OP and sometimes it would be canceled. OP tried to DM again, but it sounded like the current DM was not a fan of having their campaign constantly rescheduled. The idea of trying to find time to meet OP's schedule twice as often sounds like it wouldn't even be possible if they were already having schedule issues. And what do you do when the dm dips? It also sounded likely OP was part of another game already, which likely didn't conflict with their hospital visits, but probably made sessions harder to schedule around. Sharing time would likely mean that their campaign would die so the DM would probably state that they didn't want that to happen. OP sounds like a really inconsistent player to have, and likely would have been kicked if they were not friends beforehand, or if they were not going through something. It got to the point they asked him to sign a social contract... and then he refused? More then that after he refused they stopped playing with him, or talking to him... I am willing to be that he was emotional and said some pretty mean things when seeing the contract. If OP instead said, "I need to take a break while going through this, can I come back when I am ready" he would probably still be friends with them, and would be playing/DMing again now. No one is expecting someone to chose DND over family, they are expecting you to pick your family, while treating their time with respect.

[@UltimateChaos233]

The way I feel about racism/bigotry in a setting is that if I include it I have player permission and they get to kick its ass, lol. It can be cathartic in a way but if I want to deal with bigotry and racism and be unable to do anything about it that's just real life.

[@SomeOrdinaryJanitor]

ok, no no no no.... this DM doesn't understand. this guy was as adamant about the Racism BECAUSE he was west coast progressive... funny how that works huh?

[@MarquisLeary34]

Strange times we live in, ain't it?

[@Blindy_Sama]

The simplest solution would have been to tell the person that is an alternate timeline where racism either was not as prevalent or didn't exist or no longer existed... So I kind of feel that's what they were trying to do. Because it feels historically accurate if any of the characters were Irish or Italian ancestry that would have been mistreated as well... And let's face it a lot of US citizens have a lot of Irish and or Italian ancestry so what I made the game next to impossible if they were playing as such. I'm no DM but I always recommend a alternate timeline or completely fictitious world if I'm in a group and I think these issues are going to be a problem it usually stops the problem before it starts... Usually

[@AzureKyle]

That's what they were doing, but the guy wouldn't accept that.

[@sherylcascadden4988]

As someone whose ancestors included Irish, Scots, English and Germans I can say that the family tree and history is... interesting. My husband loves running Savage Worlds games and has four homebrew settings he pulls out when up for a spot as DM. One is high fantasy with little racism, one is fantasy/science fiction with too many races for racism to play anything more than an incidental role. One is an alternate reality Wild West setting with potential for Irish/Chinese/Black/Indian racism themes popping up regularly (but most likely only once every 4-5 sessions unless a party member falls into a discriminated against race, and lastly a 1920s U.S. alternate reality where PCs are primarily Drow, hiding in plain sight and covertly fighting for black rights. The discrimination in the last one is 80% of the purpose of the campaign. So far, two groups have chosen one of the other campaigns, but I hope he has the chance to run it eventually, as l think it would be interesting to see haw far the fantasy world's time line diverges from history.

[@MatrixRefugee]

For that matter, it's already a fantasy world since Eldritch Things From Beyond exist, why is Racism Not Existing At All a bridge too far? And you're hitting it on all cylinders by bringing up the bigotry towards Irish and Italian folks (it bugs me, as a USian who's three-quarters Irish that people overlook or just plain forget that bigotry towards non-White Anglo-Saxon Protestant immigrants Was a Thing in the not-so-distant past). For that matter, by HPL's time, people were starting to rethink bigotry and there's even some letters between HPL and some of his circle where someone called him out on his racism.

[@Blindy_Sama]

@@MatrixRefugee this exactly, I hate it when people think that racism or rather discrimination only deals with skin color do I supposed to discrimination is a better term but racism is just a type of discrimination but anyways a lot of people that would have what we would call white skin we're persecuted add or mistreated because of their country of origin and sometimes yes their religious beliefs. It kind of disturbs me when people look at discrimination think that it's a oh if you have lighter skin color you add your ancestors weren't treated badly sort of thing... This is a whole other subject but as an example a lot of Scandinavians even though yes they did do a lot of butt kicking and pillaging they also did a lot of things in a respectable manner as well and did tons of trading and settling down in a legit manner but of course history always portrays them as more or less mindless barbarians when in fact that has some of the best hygiene practices at the time and were excellent at trading and other skill sets not just kicking butt... I was discriminated against growing up as being one of the only white kids in my immediate neighborhood at one point so it goes both ways... I mean I'm a mishmash of European stuff and I think some native American thrown in there but you get the point. People of extremely similar ancestry and DNA discriminated each other because they are part of a different tribal group or village or what have you... Humans are good at judging differences no matter how small they are it's like that Dr Seuss book where the only difference between the two groups of people was that one butter their bread on one side of the bread versus the other... Sorry I didn't mean for this to get super political my bad.

[@Blindy_Sama]

@@sherylcascadden4988 very cool, and you see in the settings that you provided examples for it is upfront and honest what the settings are and what to expect from the people in the world is upfront and honest and if someone isn't comfortable playing in that campaign there's other campaign settings that they can choose to play in and that is a very fair and wise way to do things.

[@kisaknight626]

The story "DnD over family" is odd to have lost friends over. The only one to speak up was the secondary DM. I almost feel like that new DM was poisoning the minds of the others and OP wasn't around to defend himself and what may have been said was so upsetting to the other friends, that they decided just to drop and ignore O instead of confront.

[@JimAbooGames]

First Story: I think op should tell the group anyway. Yeah sure they don't need to know but this may end up being an issue down the road. To play a game like this and expect it to be historically accurate due to how black people were treated in that time period is pretty racist. Second Story: talk about trying to win a DnD Third Story: Yeah all of that was bad on everyone's end but OP here, they all knew what he was going through most of all The DM, he's too power hungry and a control freak. Fourth Story: Yeah those were so obvious they were straight up smacking them in the face. Fifth Story: Yeah I agree with Doge on this one OP needs to talk to everyone and the DM about this, if it doesn't go well either that player full of himself needs to leave or OP should just go if the DM isn't willing to make the player leave. Sixth Story: Homophobia rears its ugly head yet again in DnD for no reason. The DM does even have strong evidence whether or not OP was gay or not. But because of the way he acted by saying what he said to OP and then kicking him because of his toxic maculanty and homophobia shows that he's a very insecure person, to assume another man is gay just because they do their imitation of a woman's voice to act out something in dnd. Last Story: Yeah that DM there is a very problematic person. I don't want to play with a DM like that especially if they don't try to learn the rules.

[@OverstuffedDragon]

Yeah, historically, racism and its associated behaviors/cultural aspects were really messed up in the 20s. Regards to the way that played out in context of cosmic horror, the one season of Lovecraft Country is a good example. Otherwise, it's not particularly anything that has to be used in the worldbuilding of RPGs now. Problem player in the first story could certainly be faulted for derailing a minicampaign before it started for an inability to just let it go and insist it had to be there.

[@pizzalock1760]

best way to saw what a social contract is effectively saying you're willing to give up some things you enjoy for the group so everyone can share others things for the whole group which to me sounds like the dm tried to weaponize it against him saying that if he doesn't show up then the others in the group can't enjoy the game since he's constantly missing so he may have to end it due to a smaller group just because he's being an actual caring person for their family so yea that dm definitely and failed to manipulate the op

[@zeugenberg]

1. How do you not know, what the social contract is? 2. That's not, what the social contract is about.

[@reimannsum9077]

It's precisely *because* he's progressive that he cannot decouple the fiction from the realities of racism in the 1920s. Doing so would represent a toxic and offensive invalidation of the lived experiences of african americans from that era and problematically minimize and conceal the realities of the postbellum world. It would thus be racist and offensive to eliminate those aspects of the campaign. That would be my interpretation of a progressive's response to the situation.

[@axelwulf6220]

A Social Contract is either a Verbal or Nonverbal agreement between the two parties of the DM and PCs to fulfill the terms agreed upon by both parties The DM hosts and runs the game at either his or other's place of residence or other setting, and the Players make arrangements to arrive on the agreed scheduled meeting time with snacks and all materials required to play Failure to provide reasons for bailing is an example of violating the social contract

[@PsychotoasterProd]

The first dude is, strangely enough, 100% on brand for the wildly racist Lovecraft.

[@AlinNightwing]

I was at work when my mom called me the other day to tell me my step-dad was diagnosed with stage 4 bone cancer, I promptly told my work to kiss my ass and left to go see them cause she was having a breakdown. Mentally my mom tends to be a young teen half the time, very girly girl and emotional so this set her off pretty bad. My step-dad has no kids of his own and I'm my mother's only so guess who had to come running. My work was upset, but i promptly told them family comes first and I'd do the same for any D&D game. Hell I cancelled a session a few years ago when my cat died, what do you think imma do for a deteriorating parent?

[@AtelierGod]

Social contracts are basically what’s otherwise called unspoken rules, it’s rules you follow in society even if they aren’t written in any books.

[@Jesari_Igawa]

Social contracts are the generally unspoken "contract" of acceptable social norms/expected in a situation. Like with DnD its generally that you will show up at the agreed time and respect people's boundaries (no SA, No murder, etc. Its session 0 stuff)

[@ArcCaravan]

I've seen this exact same anime scene in another certain Table Horror Story channel's video thumbnail.

[@trainswithdragons]

I lost my dad about five years ago to a brain tumor. Hang in there doge. I feel for ya.

[@jeremyjbaker1]

Sorry about your dad. My dad is disabled after a fall 8 or 9 years ago. My advice is to make sure to make time for yourself. If you don't post in a while, I think everyone would understand.

[@zoroarkling]

Love to you, your kitties, and your dad going through an incredibly hard time

[@orchidofkhalida]

I agree that it was uncommon for a black man to be wealthy in 1920, however, he’s a Smuggler. Smuggler’s and Bootleggers were wealthy. To erase racism is to deny it. I can see both parties.

[@Trivial_Whim]

Social contract is just the norms of meeting expectations as per the culture you are a part of. In this case, being part of a group and meeting the schedule that group set out.

[@GarkKahn]

Story 3: As someone with a mom in similar circumstances i understand op and having "friends" turning into ex-friends due to acting like children when they are grown ass adults Also if a friendship ends due to stupid reasons then it wasn't real to begin with

[@RealSeanithan]

Regarding the first story: as a person who isn’t particularly racist, it's always interesting to me to see the different ways particularly racist individuals on the other side of the aisle from me act, as opposed to the particularly racist individuals on my side.

[@solosynapse]

Yea, at least with the "white hood brigade" and swastika simps, you know what to expect & see it coming from a mile away. Like, you know right away to not associate with them. I think I prefer it when racists are blatant about it, if I'm honest.

[@majinnbuu9363]

the 3rd story was the guy that took over "Sheldon Cooper" (Big Bang Theory) cause was sure acting like the character, plus getting to be the DM did he think that made him the dictator of the group, they should of probably just kicked him out, such a a$$ Hole.

[@SirusEinzla]

Story 2: Nope, sorry. Bullet dodged. No matter what OP played, that DM would have kept nerfing anything they wanted to play. Throw that trash away.

[@maceyshort2681]

Tulsa race roit was in the 20's... and it was burning down Black Wall Street. Wealthy, affluent people!

[@celuiquirevient]

Every time i see a story about a DM preventing a player from doing their thing, i cant help but think its macilious. You have control over the whole world, if challenge was the issue, you could simply strengthen the opposition.

[@fishface6807]

i think it wouldve been interesting if they did subtly acknowledge the racism aspect. After all the game is Coc and H.P Lovecraft himself was xenophobic. It might've created interesting parallels to how the racists folk saw the characters and how the characters saw the eldrich horrors. The story couldve forced everyone to realise man isnt so different from one another and reinforced the fear of true unknown (Eldrich Abominations). Though I understand a story like that is not for everybody.

[@lexonlexcrime]

Not parent, but grandparent. Lost him two years ago to heart issues, which resulted in complete organ failure. It was slow, but my mom made the decision nobody else wanted to. his sisters all wanted to keep him alive, but my mom knows how much he hates hospitals. how he would never want this, and she fought the entire family. at the end of the day, grandpa made her power of attorney so she had final say. she's made it very clear that she wanted us not to argue, to pull the plug. if something similar happens, she is dnr. Anyways i just can't imagine anyone getting jealous of someone playing with another dnd group, completely ignoring the terminal illness. i can understand the schedule conflicts, and how that causes unease. but ffs, it's their dying parent. that really wasn't much of a best friend if they stuck with their s/o, abandoning op. i wish your dad the best, doge

[@ByrdieFae]

As a black person...I have very, very, VERY mixed feelings on Story 1. And am probably not thinking the same thing as Doge and the OP. I'm having a moment similar to Captain Sisko about the lounge bar holodeck program EVERYONE was going to and was saying was so great.

[@ArcCaravan]

I think that one even mentions things weren't so unworkably racist. I also recall that brushing aside sexism, like a lot of stories using historical settings.

[@DespairDoctor]

I lost my dad in February of 2012 so I can understand the op and your situation.

[@axelwulf6220]

My father's dead too But he's not letting me grieve

[@Thedragonlover95]

Simba looks so content

[@user-yl8tk8zi1k]

That guy was too progressive for his own good. 😅 History and fantasy are not the same. Oh well, perhaps they will have fun next game.

[@ArcCaravan]

Depends if they had fun having their character die to the party.

[@xortel4725]

Why even play a "role playing game" if role playing is hard for you? Why set the game in a real world scenario if you hate the real world scenario? How much thought is supposed to be going into the game?

[@xortel4725]

I criticize others role playing wile in the comment section of a lol cute doggie in a witches hat vtuber reading reddit stories so maybe I'm actually the biggest loser

[@ArcCaravan]

Because plenty of classic stories romanticize historical places (Europe, Japan, etc) that were worse than portrayed, people demanding "realism" rarely do actual research while relying on stereotypes, and fantasy stories usually care more about the fantasy elements. Looked less like wanting to roleplay race and more like an excuse for a player to be bullied.

[@Omnywrench]

Hey now, I'm not racist; many of my best friends are elves

[@subgeta07]

Why am I not surprised that an HP Lovecraft fan doesn't like black characters. wow.

[@chancesmith2788]

Yeah it’s def rough when the dm wants to kill you but all the vet player had to say was did she use a legendary resistance

[@AmaryInkawult]

By the Gods, Ex sounded incredibly obnoxious at the table.