Smug, aren't you, sitting there with your 20th Century values and
mind set. You can role play any of those Wild West people, then smile
at their quaint historical irrelevancy. Of course all the nasty
things that happened back then couldn't happen now. We live in an age
of reason and intelligence.
Genera switch. Modern Cops. You became an inner city paramedic to
help people and make a difference, but now there are wounded people
lying everywhere, and you would have some tough decisions to make if
you could just stop crying... Persona swap. Your camera crew has
wonderful footage, blood everywhere, and are you going to scoop the
other channels tonight! Persona swap. You are an innocent bystander,
you just live across the hall, but the Pigs are cuffing and beating
every black male in the building... Persona swap. Your partner is
dead, and tonight you are not in any mood to read anyone their
Miranda rights... Persona swap. Yes you must comfort the dying, and
perform rites for the dead, but if someone doesn't get a lid on the
living, your whole parish might burn...
Racism. Sexism within the force. Prostitution and other 'victimless'
crimes. Gangs. Drugs. Arson. The Mafia. Metal detectors in elementary
schools. Need I go on?
The NPC still must only respond to crisis in terms of how he or she
has perceived previous crisis. They should only abandon old concepts
and values after a major emotional crises shows the tried and true
ways have crashed and burned. The NPC still has loyalties to peer and
family. He still is too ready to see an opposing peer group as the
enemy. He can still justify his actions if he is inclined to do
so.
But if the 1800s were a Black and White century, welcome to the Age
of Grey. Some of those people who love and defend their family and
friends, would murder a stranger for pocket change. A 'good' cop is
one who does what he can while looking out for number one. Very few
would understand why in the 19th Century people capitalized words
like Law, Justice, Liberty and Equality. For sure, in the 20th
Century, the practice of capitalizing virtues is long dead. Have the
virtues died too?
Not in fantasy role playing games at least. I'm a shades of grey
player. But still, as a GM, I believe my players must believe they
are doing the right thing. Most of my scenarios will involve the
possibility of violence to liven things up. I prefer Hero Systems as
a not too deadly combat system, where players don't have death guilt
to worry about all that often. People get knocked silly before they
die, mostly. So after the dust settles, the PCs can feel smug about
having done the 'right' thing, and have defeated some scum who
deserved to get defeated.
But still, the defeated NPCs are alive under the skin, or they should
be. They have a past. Their response to the environment (or the PCs)
must reflect that past. That past also gives them values, which are
just abstractions of previous problems solved. If you are
(fill_in_the_blank), everything else will take care of itself. Chose
one value to live by, and a few back ups: Brave/ diligent/ clever/
loyal/ polite/ educated/ rich/ patriotic/ beautiful.
What then of Good and Evil? Do they exist, other than to make players
feel good about beating up NPCs? Is that particular Great Question
now irrelevant? Should I too stop capitalizing virtues?
I don't think so. Good and Evil are still an ancient part of our
culture. In the section on instinct, I could apply Good to one who
constuctirvly applied ancient drives to the modern environment. Evil
was where a drive became too strong or weak, resulting in disharmony
and no benefit to the individual, his family, or his peers.
In the section on cultures, a Good man might be one who knows how his
father lived, how his father approached problems, and defends and
continues The Way. An Evil man threatens another's way of life, and
might perhaps force Change.
In the section on Man's ability to rationalize his actions, I
proposed that most men can defend their lives and actions as Good,
and can project those who oppose them as Evil.
Naturally, having developed these conflicting interpretations of
'Good', I can't leave them alone. I am compelled to confuse things by
mushing them together to form some useful whole. Can one resolve the
Great Question of Human Nature without solving Good and Evil too?
The instincts evolved. They are still evolving, though very slowly.
Gene pools cannot adopt anywhere near as fast as cultures. Cultures
evolve too. What works for one people, at one place, at one time,
might easily fall apart a generation or two down the road.
If both instinct and culture change to adopt to new situations, can
change be viewed as Evil? From within a culture, especially for the
old, any force for change might be easily mistaken for Evil. That's
just wrong. In these times, with technology inducing rapid changes,
flexibility has got to be a virtue, and rigidity a high risk low
probability of reward proposition.
There was another element I mentioned briefly, then discarded. What
was it? Ah, yes. Intelligence and reason. Man supposedly has the
ability to look at problems, without emotion, without prejudice, and
without clinging to old and perhaps dated perspectives. Love not just
the family and your peer bonded friends. Love everybody equally.
Defend not just your own resources. Defend the Earth. Respect all
cultures as the equal of your own. Grow flowers. Slash the defense
budget. Ignore the impulse to scream at the fundamentalist Christian
trying to give the moral choices of his obscure cult the backing of
Law.
Dream on.
Finally, I must apologise that my example was not Politically
Correct. The Wild West was a time of sexism unbridled. My examples
thus got male oriented, and ignored the minor matter of the Conflict
between the Sexes. I can only claim that that's another Great
Question. My limit is two Great Questions per article. Besides, no
Woman would give up her advantage by explaining Her Nature, and if a
Man correctly stated Women's Nature, She would Change.
(Naturally.)
Maybe next time. Meanwhile, consider a so called Hunter Gatherer
culture where the males are hunters and defenders of territory, and
the females are gatherers and caretakers for the young. Specialize
the instincts by gender for these different roles. Drop the distant
descendents of these hunter-gatherers into a high tech environment
where many of both sets of instincts are obsolete. Mix well. Dive for
cover.
Maybe next time...