From: David Cake (davidc@cs.uwa.edu.au)
Date: Wed 07 Aug 1996 - 17:43:11 EEST
>You also counter your own argument here. I note how grossed out many people
>have been on this subject. Why? BECAUSE I have been so graphic, NOT vague.
You've missed my point completely. Your ideas on the Blue Vadeli
sound exactly like the ideas of someone TRYING to gross people out.
And my point was, if it creates that impression, then it destroys
my ability to believe or play them, because they are no longer a culture
but a demonstration of grossness. Whereas to understand that they do
horrible things, but for reasons deeply connected to Vadeli culture and
magic, which we can partly explain but not fully, makes them interesting
enigmas (that the GM can experiment with) rather than an exercise in how to
appall people.
And as for your implications that the squeamish should just get lost
> If you can't handle a bit of detail then I suggest
>you go and lock yourself in a box because the RW is WAY worse.
There is a world of difference between realistically confronting
real world horror, and setting out to disgust everybody. The Blue Vadeli as
you have described them are disgusting and unpleasant - but essentially
they are a moral vacuum - they do these disgusting things because it is the
only way for their race to survive, because they have been created to be
disgusting. So their grossness serves no purpose other than to demonstrate
your ability to be gross.
Gloranthan roleplaying has such a following largely because it is
adult. To realistically confront moral horror such as war or rape or
torture is something that is part of adult roleplaying. To see how gross
you can be is adolescent.
David
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