The RPG Room: The Thunder Plains Controversy




G*M*S Magazine Podcast  Channel show

Summary: Apologies for the initial problem with the sound. Using new editing software and found about this too late.Recently a massive outrage exploded onto the Internet on the back, of Bruce Cordel’s game The Strange and a recursion within the game that treats with the culture of Native American people. A petition was started that demanded the immediate removal of the Thunder Plains from the book and that Monte Cook Games never publish anything similar in the future again. Of course the person who created the petition also demanded an apology. I know Bruce Cordell, Monte Cook and Shannah Germain, three people involved in the company and the game in question and I know for a fact they are as far from being racists as anyone can get. They have moved into inclusivity and made efforts to be socially aware that most companies should learn from. So what went wrong? In this podcast episode we discuss the issue of bringing minorities and other cultures into your games and how to approach it to make sure the chances of problems is minimised and you do the right thing from the very beginning. A thorny subject, but one that has to be spoken about. Hope you enjoy the show.