What’s your “red flag” setting, the one that you know just won’t work for you?
Mike asked this on Twitter and it reminded me of all the plots I just feel repelled by.
See if you feel any raise red flags for you:
Pirates - I just can't get into Pirates. They sail the seas murdering people for their property, and fighting each other, and that is before we get into other problematic areas not fit for play in the 21st century.
Highwaymen - Again, killing innocent people for their gear doesn't interest me.
Cowboy westerns - Any setting where a whole race of people are automatically fair game for murder, despite them being the victims of an invader race, doesn't sit well with me. And the stereotypes ... plus I live in Alberta, Canada, where people idolise a rose-tinted version of the situation which just makes it worse. I can't understand people yearning for a time where women were treated like crap and there was no medical care to speak of, but lots of shooting. Oh, and again with the stealing each other's stuff.
Vietnam - Where to begin? PTSD the Adventure Game? Play a role where everyone is basically the bad guy? Slaughter innocents for glory/profit? If I wanted grimdark I would use a fantasy setting, not real life.
anything colonial British - I am British by way of my parents, but I don't look fondly at the history of the British Empire. Horror after horror in the Queen's name. People were murdered because someone thousands of miles away who happened to have the lucky DNA to be deified needed more gold.
USA civil war - As a kid I LOVED the North & South computer game but when I learned the history of what it was based on, I stopped liking it. Note the game also includes stereotypes that were pretty shitty even for the time the game was made. I've never understood people wanting to re-enact that war, especially play on the side of the slavers. Well, both sides had slaves, but one side more so.
Anything set in the Deep South - See above plus anything with a "rebel flag" just shouts white supremacist - including repeats of Jukes of Hazard
Tarzan/stereotype “jungle” - More stereotypes, more "white savior" nazi crap, and more British colonialism.
Glittery 200-year-old vampires dating teenagers - I mean it's sick enough when an adult lusts after young girls, but when they are old enough to be their great-great-great-great-great grandfather. Pretty sick. And the whole "bite me plz" aspect is a bit Stockholm Syndrome?
Stuff where you get points regardless of who or what you murder or how - murdering innocents again. You shouldn't get XP and loot for killing an innocent shopkeeper.
Anything just plain WRONG - Rape, pillaging, racism, bigotry, scenarios where Nazis/KKK are anything but the bad guys, same for Stalin, etc. My fantasy life doesn't involve trying to empathize with psychopaths kthx.
Over to you
What plots or settings do you say NOPE to automatically?
