Does anybody know of any and could they point me in their direction? I've been on both drivethru and itch.io for a while and the vast majority of games are politically neutral from what I've seen. But also from what I've seen, EVERY time a game isn't politically neutral, it is anti-capitalist and anti-"fascist", which I put in quotation marks because it seems they define fascist as being "anybody who isn't a socialist."
Now I don't mind left wing games being out there at all. But it seems strange to me that with a nation that's almost evenly 50/50 right and left wing, 99% of games are left. Where are the small government people, the low taxes people, the 2nd amendment rights people? I'm hoping it's just a perception problem on my part, but I can't find anything these days like Price of Freedom or Freedom Fighters from the 80s.
Aren't any game designers familiar with gulags, Stalin's purges, with the cultural revolution, with the Cambodian Killing Fields, with the summary executions in Cuba, etc?
Why in the world would I ever want to fight FOR a socialist dictatorship? The few games I've looked thru don't even justify it. They just assume that everyone hates capitalism and wants a socialist nanny state. Where are the politically active RPGs for people who want small government and individual freedom?
And note, I'm not asking for a political debate here. I am asking about the seemingly lopsided amount of games out there.
Well, Twilight 2000, Recon, and The Price of Freedom probably all count.
My game (Ruins & Realms, pending) is more superversive than explicitly anti-communist, but superversive themes* are, by their nature, antithetical to communist values (for example, the realm creation rules would drop any sort of socialist realm into the hostile category).
The primary heroic realms of the default setting are The Free Cities (think America c. 1790 in terms of government and values and won its independence from a tyrant about a dozen years earlier) and the Toria Tribes (in D&D terms, think Chaotic Good Barbarians whose religion is basically 1st Century Christianity with the names filed off).
Another is basically a Robin Hood inspired (rob from the rich give to the poor is a lefty corruption... he took back from the government what had been unjustly stolen from the people) alliance of hidden refugee villages in a struggle to overthrow a corrupt government that is a puppet of kleptocratic oligarchs who hold their people in perpetual debt slavery while indulging in their every depraved desire.
So not literally anti-communist, but fully embracing the larger strokes of man's continual war with tyrants who wish to control them.
* heroes are heroic, people are basically good, courage, honor and virtue matter, true love and beauty are eternal, hope is real and, even though it may struggle and stumble, good will always triumph in the end... also that heroic virtues are faith, hope, love, courage, temperance, diligence, justice and wisdom.
Quote from: Chris24601 on January 10, 2021, 12:08:30 AM
My game (Ruins & Realms, pending) is more superversive than explicitly anti-communist, but superversive themes* are, by their nature, antithetical to communist values (for example, the realm creation rules would drop any sort of socialist realm into the hostile category).
The primary heroic realms of the default setting are The Free Cities (think America c. 1790 in terms of government and values and won its independence from a tyrant about a dozen years earlier) and the Toria Tribes (in D&D terms, think Chaotic Good Barbarians whose religion is basically 1st Century Christianity with the names filed off).
Another is basically a Robin Hood inspired (rob from the rich give to the poor is a lefty corruption... he took back from the government what had been unjustly stolen from the people) alliance of hidden refugee villages in a struggle to overthrow a corrupt government that is a puppet of kleptocratic oligarchs who hold their people in perpetual debt slavery while indulging in their every depraved desire.
So not literally anti-communist, but fully embracing the larger strokes of man's continual war with tyrants who wish to control them.
* heroes are heroic, people are basically good, courage, honor and virtue matter, true love and beauty are eternal, hope is real and, even though it may struggle and stumble, good will always triumph in the end... also that heroic virtues are faith, hope, love, courage, temperance, diligence, justice and wisdom.
Greetings!
Goddamn, Chris! ;D Your perspectives and sentiments embraced in your own game are very much similar to my own in Thandor. Awesome, and very nice, Chris. Get some! I think more writers and designers and DM's in general everywhere should do the same kind of thing.
Semper Fidelis,
SHARK
Quote from: Chris24601 on January 10, 2021, 12:08:30 AM
My game (Ruins & Realms, pending) is more superversive than explicitly anti-communist, but superversive themes* are, by their nature, antithetical to communist values (for example, the realm creation rules would drop any sort of socialist realm into the hostile category).
The primary heroic realms of the default setting are The Free Cities (think America c. 1790 in terms of government and values and won its independence from a tyrant about a dozen years earlier) and the Toria Tribes (in D&D terms, think Chaotic Good Barbarians whose religion is basically 1st Century Christianity with the names filed off).
Another is basically a Robin Hood inspired (rob from the rich give to the poor is a lefty corruption... he took back from the government what had been unjustly stolen from the people) alliance of hidden refugee villages in a struggle to overthrow a corrupt government that is a puppet of kleptocratic oligarchs who hold their people in perpetual debt slavery while indulging in their every depraved desire.
So not literally anti-communist, but fully embracing the larger strokes of man's continual war with tyrants who wish to control them.
* heroes are heroic, people are basically good, courage, honor and virtue matter, true love and beauty are eternal, hope is real and, even though it may struggle and stumble, good will always triumph in the end... also that heroic virtues are faith, hope, love, courage, temperance, diligence, justice and wisdom.
Now this is a game that sounds like it's right up my alley! I wish it was released and not pending!
Quote from: kidkaos2 on January 10, 2021, 09:40:57 AM
Now this is a game that sounds like it's right up my alley! I wish it was released and not pending!
I'm writing the final sections of the final chapter presently (I'd hoped for the end of last year, but my day job conspired to make that impossible... still no more than two weeks to writing completion).
If you don't mind giving feedback (especially what doesn't work; that's been the most help overall) after looking it over, shoot me a private message and I'll get you a link to the playtest document so you don't have to wait (the remaining section is basically how to build regions, realms, settlements, ruins and set up background campaign events... stuff experienced GMs can do themselves, but new ones might need help with... so it's complete as a playable system for a non-newbie GM.
Quote from: SHARK on January 10, 2021, 03:58:54 AM
Goddamn, Chris! ;D Your perspectives and sentiments embraced in your own game are very much similar to my own in Thandor. Awesome, and very nice, Chris. Get some! I think more writers and designers and DM's in general everywhere should do the same kind of thing.
It's easy to be pessimistic/nihilistic and try to subvert the subversive or use naked caricatures of real people to basically turn your work into propaganda. But subversion just sinks you into the same mud as what you oppose and such caricatures come off as shallow and are quickly dated and therefore can be dismissed as irrelevant to the present day. Better to inspire and try and raise people experiencing the medium through your work up to something greater... to look at those tropes related to classic heroes and instead of subverting them, play them straight because these days that's almost more shocking (but in a good way).
Most of these struggles, despite some new paint, are the same ones man has been having since civilization began. Who has the power and what will they do to keep it? Who wants the power and what are they willing to do to get it? And what does everyone do when someone comes along and overturns the foundations of power by actually giving voice to those who just want to be left in peace to raise their families and worship as their ancestors did?
Puppet leaders controlled by corrupt oligarchs? That's as old as trade. Leaders demanding moral adherence to virtues they flout behind closed doors? For as long as there's been leaders. Enslaving others using force and/or debt? Probably while we were still hunter-gatherers. Silencing opposition? Since the first voice rose against a leader. Declaring some thoughts taboo? Same.
Draw inspiration from the real world, but, unless you're writing a documentary, you're better served using themes because history has a way of repeating itself.
As an example...
A puppet leader of diminished mental capacity, ostensibly elected by the people but actually installed by crony oligarchs. A government that uses laws to enrich its members while trapping the common folk in debt slavery. A resistance leader with growing support of the common folk that the government is desperately seeking to destroy.
Am I describing Star Wars as described in the first novelization (where the Emperor was implied to be but a puppet)? Robin Hood? Modern politics? or a realm in my world called The Riverhold Republic?
That's the value of broad strokes... it makes the story timeless because people are people regardless the year. For all the guff the prequels got, and the author's original intent for the line c. 2005, "So this is how democracy dies; to thunderous applause" is as apt today as it was then.
In looking for an anti-Communist game, what you really need to find is one that embraces man's struggles vs. tyranny because that's all "communist" really is; a hat put on by certain tyrants to justify their injustices as "for the greater good of mankind/progress" rather than the power lust that always lies at the true heart of their actions.
You also need a system that encourages you to play heroic figures who oppose tyranny and not play the Stormtroopers or evil overlords. This could be through something like Dark Side Points in WEG Star Wars or by restricting access to species or classes that promote wickedness. For example; my system includes Diabolists (demon-magic) and Necromancers (undead) only in the NPC section of the GM's Guide because, in the default setting, both are objectively evil acts that enslave the user's free will... fine for NPC villains, but not for PC heroes (they're balanced for PCs because someone will assuredly make their own world where demons and undead are not irredeemably evil and allow those to players... so making them NOT stupidly overpowered just because they're intended for villains makes sense... you want a tougher Diabolist? Build them at a higher level).
Quote from: kidkaos2 on January 09, 2021, 09:26:45 PMWhere are the politically active RPGs for people who want small government and individual freedom?
Well, it's the old gag, isn't it? The people who want small government and individual freedom are too busy to have much time for games, and when they get time for games they want games that
don't remind them of politics because they see politics as an obligation rather than a vocation. ;D
That said, definitely put me down as another
Ruins & Realms customer when it sees print. :)
Superhero RPGs set in the 20th century could pretty easily have an anti-commie theme to them, as could any retro-futuristic setting where you need to rocket into space to save Mars from those dirty reds. There are also some military special ops RPGs floating around here and there that would easily be adapted to that theme.
Quote from: Valatar on January 10, 2021, 05:09:51 PM
Superhero RPGs set in the 20th century could pretty easily have an anti-commie theme to them, as could any retro-futuristic setting where you need to rocket into space to save Mars from those dirty reds. There are also some military special ops RPGs floating around here and there that would easily be adapted to that theme.
It could be done with almost any game, but I think the OP wants a game where that's explicitly the aim of the game.
Quote from: Chris24601 on January 10, 2021, 10:07:17 AM
Quote from: kidkaos2 on January 10, 2021, 09:40:57 AM
Now this is a game that sounds like it's right up my alley! I wish it was released and not pending!
I'm writing the final sections of the final chapter presently (I'd hoped for the end of last year, but my day job conspired to make that impossible... still no more than two weeks to writing completion).
If you don't mind giving feedback (especially what doesn't work; that's been the most help overall) after looking it over, shoot me a private message and I'll get you a link to the playtest document so you don't have to wait (the remaining section is basically how to build regions, realms, settlements, ruins and set up background campaign events... stuff experienced GMs can do themselves, but new ones might need help with... so it's complete as a playable system for a non-newbie GM.
Quote from: SHARK on January 10, 2021, 03:58:54 AM
Goddamn, Chris! ;D Your perspectives and sentiments embraced in your own game are very much similar to my own in Thandor. Awesome, and very nice, Chris. Get some! I think more writers and designers and DM's in general everywhere should do the same kind of thing.
It's easy to be pessimistic/nihilistic and try to subvert the subversive or use naked caricatures of real people to basically turn your work into propaganda. But subversion just sinks you into the same mud as what you oppose and such caricatures come off as shallow and are quickly dated and therefore can be dismissed as irrelevant to the present day. Better to inspire and try and raise people experiencing the medium through your work up to something greater... to look at those tropes related to classic heroes and instead of subverting them, play them straight because these days that's almost more shocking (but in a good way).
Most of these struggles, despite some new paint, are the same ones man has been having since civilization began. Who has the power and what will they do to keep it? Who wants the power and what are they willing to do to get it? And what does everyone do when someone comes along and overturns the foundations of power by actually giving voice to those who just want to be left in peace to raise their families and worship as their ancestors did?
Puppet leaders controlled by corrupt oligarchs? That's as old as trade. Leaders demanding moral adherence to virtues they flout behind closed doors? For as long as there's been leaders. Enslaving others using force and/or debt? Probably while we were still hunter-gatherers. Silencing opposition? Since the first voice rose against a leader. Declaring some thoughts taboo? Same.
Draw inspiration from the real world, but, unless you're writing a documentary, you're better served using themes because history has a way of repeating itself.
As an example...
A puppet leader of diminished mental capacity, ostensibly elected by the people but actually installed by crony oligarchs. A government that uses laws to enrich its members while trapping the common folk in debt slavery. A resistance leader with growing support of the common folk that the government is desperately seeking to destroy.
Am I describing Star Wars as described in the first novelization (where the Emperor was implied to be but a puppet)? Robin Hood? Modern politics? or a realm in my world called The Riverhold Republic?
That's the value of broad strokes... it makes the story timeless because people are people regardless the year. For all the guff the prequels got, and the author's original intent for the line c. 2005, "So this is how democracy dies; to thunderous applause" is as apt today as it was then.
In looking for an anti-Communist game, what you really need to find is one that embraces man's struggles vs. tyranny because that's all "communist" really is; a hat put on by certain tyrants to justify their injustices as "for the greater good of mankind/progress" rather than the power lust that always lies at the true heart of their actions.
You also need a system that encourages you to play heroic figures who oppose tyranny and not play the Stormtroopers or evil overlords. This could be through something like Dark Side Points in WEG Star Wars or by restricting access to species or classes that promote wickedness. For example; my system includes Diabolists (demon-magic) and Necromancers (undead) only in the NPC section of the GM's Guide because, in the default setting, both are objectively evil acts that enslave the user's free will... fine for NPC villains, but not for PC heroes (they're balanced for PCs because someone will assuredly make their own world where demons and undead are not irredeemably evil and allow those to players... so making them NOT stupidly overpowered just because they're intended for villains makes sense... you want a tougher Diabolist? Build them at a higher level).
Lots of wisdom in this post...
There needs to be a Fuck Yeah! line of games. America Fuck Yeah! Rohan Fuck Yeah! (Middle-earth) Aglarond Fuck Yeah! (Forgotten Realms) The Yeomanry Fuck Yeah! (Greyhawk) The Rebellion Fuck Yeah! (Star Wars), and so on.
Ken Hite's The Day After Ragnarok is ripe for fighting Russian (or Iowegan) Soviet villains, including giants and man-apes.
Quote from: Armchair Gamer on January 10, 2021, 07:48:17 PM
Ken Hite's The Day After Ragnarok is ripe for fighting Russian (or Iowegan) Soviet villains, including giants and man-apes.
Didn't he write one of those safety tools that say all play should immediately stop without any explanation is anybody raises their hand for any reason? Now that isn't related to anti- or pro-communism directly, but it does indicate a lack of commitment to individual responsibility that generally goes with being anti-communist.
Quote from: kidkaos2 on January 11, 2021, 01:57:38 AM
Quote from: Armchair Gamer on January 10, 2021, 07:48:17 PM
Ken Hite's The Day After Ragnarok is ripe for fighting Russian (or Iowegan) Soviet villains, including giants and man-apes.
Didn't he write one of those safety tools that say all play should immediately stop without any explanation is anybody raises their hand for any reason? Now that isn't related to anti- or pro-communism directly, but it does indicate a lack of commitment to individual responsibility that generally goes with being anti-communist.
I think you're confusing him with another author. As far as I know, he hasn't published anything like that. Here's his RPG publication list:
https://index.rpg.net/display-search.phtml?key=contributor&value=Kenneth+Hite
Hallo, Commisar https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/214025/Hallo-Commissar (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/214025/Hallo-Commissar)
Freedom Fighters https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/888/Freedom-Fighters?cPath=112 (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/888/Freedom-Fighters?cPath=112)
Not sure about this
Party First https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/293118/Party-First (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/293118/Party-First)
Not in pdf
Price of Freedom, https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/40634/price-freedom (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/40634/price-freedom)
Kill The Commie Bastards https://boardgamegeek.com/rpgitem/172210/kill-commie-bastards-1st2nd-ed (http://bastards%20https://boardgamegeek.com/rpgitem/172210/kill-commie-bastards-1st2nd-ed)
Palladium's SYSTEMS FAILURE is allegorically anti-communist.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_Failure (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_Failure)
America is brought down by bugs moving through our electrical grid and now Patriots have blast the bugs who use things like computers to enslave humans....kinda prescient in light of our current reality.
Very fun game too.
Plus take a look at the Bureau of Tactical Management in Feng Shui. Minus the cyber demons this is a world ruled by Biden/ANTIFA/BLM/The Great Reset.
Not sure how subtle you want this to be.
Year of the Phoenix https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/900/Year-of-the-Phoenix (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/900/Year-of-the-Phoenix)
Any "apolitical" game is anti-communist. Conservative politics aren't considered political.
Quote from: kidkaos2 on January 09, 2021, 09:26:45 PM
Does anybody know of any and could they point me in their direction? I've been on both drivethru and itch.io for a while and the vast majority of games are politically neutral from what I've seen. But also from what I've seen, EVERY time a game isn't politically neutral, it is anti-capitalist and anti-"fascist", which I put in quotation marks because it seems they define fascist as being "anybody who isn't a socialist."
Now I don't mind left wing games being out there at all. But it seems strange to me that with a nation that's almost evenly 50/50 right and left wing, 99% of games are left. Where are the small government people, the low taxes people, the 2nd amendment rights people? I'm hoping it's just a perception problem on my part, but I can't find anything these days like Price of Freedom or Freedom Fighters from the 80s.
Aren't any game designers familiar with gulags, Stalin's purges, with the cultural revolution, with the Cambodian Killing Fields, with the summary executions in Cuba, etc?
Why in the world would I ever want to fight FOR a socialist dictatorship? The few games I've looked thru don't even justify it. They just assume that everyone hates capitalism and wants a socialist nanny state. Where are the politically active RPGs for people who want small government and individual freedom?
And note, I'm not asking for a political debate here. I am asking about the seemingly lopsided amount of games out there.
What's even weirder is that most of the game players agree with the game designers. GURPS will be your best bet. The source books for it read as self-aware.
Paranoïa, any Palladium books since Kevin Siembieda is such a capitalist entrepreneur.
QuoteDidn't he write one of those safety tools that say all play should immediately stop without any explanation is anybody raises their hand for any reason? Now that isn't related to anti- or pro-communism directly, but it does indicate a lack of commitment to individual responsibility that generally goes with being anti-communist.
Just because you're anti-communist does not mean you're procapitalist libertarian.
I for instance am neofeudalist distributist and I want to see both ideologies formerly mentioned destroyed by fire :3
Quote from: yabaziou on January 11, 2021, 04:12:27 PM
Paranoïa, any Palladium books since Kevin Siembieda is such a capitalist entrepreneur.
Paranoia is actually a parody of anti-communism, I would say - not actually anti-communist. Yes, the PCs are assigned to go fight "commie mutant traitors", but those orders are from an insane tyrannical Computer. The parody is particularly explicit in The People's Glorious Revolutionary Adventure.
(https://cf.geekdo-images.com/hBYXNRqYYigr2fhZ1seKAg__imagepage/img/YxC-K3CB7pz-JI185fOR-w1n5U0=/fit-in/900x600/filters:no_upscale():strip_icc()/pic529958.jpg)
Quote from: jhkim on January 11, 2021, 06:28:44 PM
Quote from: yabaziou on January 11, 2021, 04:12:27 PM
Paranoïa, any Palladium books since Kevin Siembieda is such a capitalist entrepreneur.
Paranoia is actually a parody of anti-communism, I would say - not actually anti-communist. Yes, the PCs are assigned to go fight "commie mutant traitors", but those orders are from an insane tyrannical Computer. The parody is particularly explicit in The People's Glorious Revolutionary Adventure.
(https://cf.geekdo-images.com/hBYXNRqYYigr2fhZ1seKAg__imagepage/img/YxC-K3CB7pz-JI185fOR-w1n5U0=/fit-in/900x600/filters:no_upscale():strip_icc()/pic529958.jpg)
You are, of course, absolutely right but if the players and the referee play it straight (but are still it is only a game), they could have the most anti-communist exchange and experience a RPG could offer !
Quote from: Chris24601 on January 10, 2021, 10:07:17 AM
Quote from: kidkaos2 on January 10, 2021, 09:40:57 AM
Now this is a game that sounds like it's right up my alley! I wish it was released and not pending!
I'm writing the final sections of the final chapter presently (I'd hoped for the end of last year, but my day job conspired to make that impossible... still no more than two weeks to writing completion).
If you don't mind giving feedback (especially what doesn't work; that's been the most help overall) after looking it over, shoot me a private message and I'll get you a link to the playtest document so you don't have to wait (the remaining section is basically how to build regions, realms, settlements, ruins and set up background campaign events... stuff experienced GMs can do themselves, but new ones might need help with... so it's complete as a playable system for a non-newbie GM.
I have no idea how to send private messages. Never had the need to try before!
I think Chris has hit the nail on the head.
Creating works which directly reference current events can easily lead to a work becoming dated. This is a big reason why the original Star Wars trilogy will remain timeless while the Prequels and Sequels already feel dated. Audiences in general are likely to be hypersensitized to even the appearance of being preached at, so painting with broad strokes can be wonderfully inclusive. Instead of alienating your audience by getting on a soap box, a story which focuses on themes like the struggle between freedom and tyranny invites the reader to read their own pet causes into the text and invites audience participation instead of shutting down different readings in favor of bludgeoning the audience over the head with a one-sided message.
I would like to add that whatever you are writing, you should try to keep the themes and values humanist. Most people in any era have basic empathy. Themes like "slavery is wrong," "it's wrong to harshly judge others based on their immutable characteristics or something their ancestors did" etc.
Mark me down as quite interested in Ruins and Realms. In particular, I love the Robin Hood bits. I feel like I'm the only Yank who's watched Robin of Sherwood and come away a huge fan.
Quote from: kidkaos2 on January 12, 2021, 04:53:22 AM
I have no idea how to send private messages. Never had the need to try before!
Up top on the page there should be an option that says "My Messages." I sent the link to you so there should be a little "1" next to that indicating that you have a new message.
Quote from: Torque2100 on January 12, 2021, 10:06:12 AM
Mark me down as quite interested in Ruins and Realms. In particular, I love the Robin Hood bits. I feel like I'm the only Yank who's watched Robin of Sherwood and come away a huge fan.
I'm familiar with that... the idea of Robin Hood as a title that gets passed from one champion to another is something really cool to play with. Hell, you could even revisit that with a modern/superhero setting where the role of The Hooded Man passes to a present-day champion (think "Arrow" with a bit of magic, or, more to my thinking, "Robin Hood through the lens of West Side Story"... i.e. Robert Loxley becomes a vigilante in the city of Sherwood who fights the corrupt Mayor John Prince and his lackey Sheriff Nottingham).
Anyway, the Robin Hood part specifically will be dealt with in a future world book as there's only so much room in the core books (all the rules will be in the two core books, everything else will be setting/adventure books... there may be new monsters, traps, afflictions and vehicles specific to an area, but those will be built using the rules in the core books so the value of the later books is more in saving the GM time designing things themselves than needing additional books just to have all the rules needed).
The idea behind each world book is to present a different style of campaign. Core is classic "Western with Fantasy Overlay" that you see in BECMI and similar. Riverhold Republic is a Robin Hood/Rebels vs. Empire type setup. Ironhold is Noble Households maneuvering against each other (with the option for PCs to play as essentially House Stark if the setting were classic fantasy instead of a crapsack world). Adventures in the Endless Archipelago would be Star Trek-ish exploration themed and really play to using the realm creation rules to create an "island of the week" for PCs to interact with. Etc.
Honestly, I started a thread over in design and development when the process was not as far along. Now that's nearly done maybe I should go put up an "AMA: Ruins & Realms" thread?
RECON and Twilight 2000 have already been mentioned.
I've honestly thought about doing some "profaning the sacred cows" and running an explicitly anti-communist game of D&D or World of Darkness as well, preferably using older material.
Slavery was considered OK in quite a few time periods and places...ancient Greece and Rome come to mind as the most familiar, but let's not forget Africa (a lot of American slaves were bought from African warlords), Arabic slave traders, Ottoman janissaries, and so on.
A few games, largely out of print from what I can see, with explicitly anticommunist themes have been mentioned. I think there were explicit attempts to make Christian RPGs but none of them have become popular. Dragonlance actually had some Christian themes--the Hickmans are Mormons. A lot of Mormons have mastered the art of producing Christian-influenced stuff that isn't explicitly preachy, from what I can see.
It's not really anticommunist, but the d20 setting Midnight had a large oppressive evil empire that tries to wipe out clerics. The idea is basically 'Lord of the Rings if Sauron won'. It's pretty dark though, as you might expect.
I believe Steve Jackson is a libertarian and GURPS books often seemed to have a little bit of that in them, though it's subtle.
Espionage-themed modern games could easily focus on the Cold War.
Cold War sci-fi often analogized the Communists to a hive mind (they all think the same and are willing to die for the hive), so any battle against an insect enemy could have anticommunist themes. Formians in particular were lawful neutral and were depicted in 3rd edition as invading places and trying to compel the locals into labor.
Major anticommunist themes included the uniformity and antireligiosity of Communist regimes, so typical monsters might be golems, hobgoblins (militaristic and organized), fire giants (same), or devils (which are lawful evil and probably masters at propaganda).
The drow are pretty organized and sneaky, but with all the infighting are closer to ruthless capitalists--Moscow held a pretty tight rein on Eastern Europe most of the time. (The matriarchal society could be great for SJW jokes, though.)
(Ironically, the left-wing and quite SJW Sigmata actually has a few right-wing player options--you can be rural libertarians or corporate capitalist types trying to overthrow the fascist government.)
Quote
I would like to add that whatever you are writing, you should try to keep the themes and values humanist. Most people in any era have basic empathy. Themes like "slavery is wrong," "it's wrong to harshly judge others based on their immutable characteristics or something their ancestors did" etc.
Humanist themes are not universal, not eternal, and they are basically result of socialisation within borders of liberal democracies or their strong cultural influence.
In history of mankind - belief in generational fault or lawfulness of slavery is common. Way more common than humanism in history.
QuoteA few games, largely out of print from what I can see, with explicitly anticommunist themes have been mentioned. I think there were explicit attempts to make Christian RPGs but none of them have become popular. Dragonlance actually had some Christian themes--the Hickmans are Mormons. A lot of Mormons have mastered the art of producing Christian-influenced stuff that isn't explicitly preachy, from what I can see.
Yes, but as LDS have some really weird believes compared to all the rest of abrahamic religions - their books usually also delve in them, which sort of weakeness common theme - as there are more gnostic / promethean aspects.
Quote(Ironically, the left-wing and quite SJW Sigmata actually has a few right-wing player options--you can be rural libertarians or corporate capitalist types trying to overthrow the fascist government.)
Also religious extremists as well IIRC.
That's because while SJW this book was quite smart, and people have not get it at all - Dull Fascism of USA in Sigmata was meant to be direct parallel of Syrian Civil War.
Fascism was of course Ashaad regime. So his enemies were both ISIS, Al-Quada, liberals, democrats, Curdish communists and so on.
So I'll give author this - he was honest. He took his pattern, and he adjusted it to USA honestly without washing factions he did not liked. And did it subtle enough for most people to miss it.
Invasion U.S.! (1984)
https://rpggeek.com/rpgitem/125462/invasion-us (https://rpggeek.com/rpgitem/125462/invasion-us)
Binge-watching "The Americans" can give you many ideas, exp. about some of the realities of the era as seen by the Soviets. The show is about two Soviet spies "embedded" in the American society, but the creator - an ex CIA agent - mumbled about the the US doing the same in Soviet Union. It would be an interesting setting, with stress, paranoia and the risk to be discovered - maybe because someone else screwed up.
Quote from: Rhedyn on January 11, 2021, 01:13:06 PM
Any "apolitical" game is anti-communist. Conservative politics aren't considered political.
I haven't laughed so hard in fucking decades.
As has been said Paranoia seems like the obvious fit. Not only are you literally trying to uncover commie mutants, but from a meta point of view the game also highlights the hypocrisy of Communism. Principally through Alpha Complex very obviously being run as a Communist State.
People sometimes say Paranoia is a send up of totalitarianism in general but personally I've never seen it like that. Sure there's a bit of a scatter gun approach to its political gags but overall it seems Communism is the principle butt of the joke.
Or a Wh40K game, either Dark Heresy or Deathwatch where you're fighting the Tau. Deathwatch in particular talks about how the Tau's "glorious" Greater Good ideology is achieved through disappearing populations and "reeducation". They are also completely ignorant of the realities of the Universe (Chaos etc).
That said the Imperium aren't exactly the good guys but you can't have everything.