Mar 30, 2022·edited Mar 30, 2022Liked by Brian Scott Pauls
Yeah, like I always appreciated the depth of the setting and that the author was clear and vocal about not just wanting to replicate modern sensibilities or, standard, European and medieval cultural tropes in the setting, but it still felt weird to me, (and this was way back in the late 90s/early 00s, before the same apologists jump on me to say I'm just jumping on the 'politically correct' bandwagon in gaming in the past few years.)
Honestly you don't need to change much, just have a bit of mindfulness, particularly with this new knowledge about the authors personal views.
Mar 29, 2022·edited Mar 29, 2022Liked by Brian Scott Pauls
I still love the Tekumel setting, but the insistence of the 'alternative morality' (fairly heirarchical, with people 'born to rule,' species outside of the humans seen as essential outsiders and with some tacit gender determinism) of the Empire of the Petal Throne never sat very well with me and I adopted a looser interpretation.
It can be salvaged, but there are some changes that need to be made to make it palatable. I am disappointed but not surprised that the author turned out to be an utter nazi. In a way it's refreshing, shows that, by comparison, Tolkien was never as bad as some folk make out! 😅
It is extraordinary that Barker managed to conceal these sympathies for decades while employed as a tenured academic. I have no belief whatsoever that this was some kind of elaborate troll or deception; you kind of have to wonder if this level of effort can even be trolling and, not, well, being the thing you're supposedly trolling. But, as someone deeply familiar with the way academia works (and especially humanities academia), I'm surprised someone didn't notice earlier.
It looks like Barker's department was shut down, always a bitter experience for any academic, and maybe this emboldened him to start work on the denier journal--something which certainly would have been commented on, and not favorably, by his colleagues and institution. He didn't seem to be very productive after he started at U Minn, but he *was* departmental chair, normally a position with some scrutiny attached. Not as much as people think, sometimes, but still. He also seems to have roleplayed with students and others for decades. Have any of these people come forward? Were there any signs, is what I'm wondering.
It's just a remarkably strange case. That Barker was a devout Muslim from his twenties only makes it stranger.
Updated to correct the intended article for this week, which was supposed to be a post about "The King of the Swords" by Michael Moorcock, rather than an essay about what qualifies as B/X Dungeons & Dragons today.
Updated to clarify that it "seems" the Tékumel Foundation "may" have waited a decade to reveal this information, as I am not able at this time to confirm the linked post was written by the foundation's archivist.
Yeah, like I always appreciated the depth of the setting and that the author was clear and vocal about not just wanting to replicate modern sensibilities or, standard, European and medieval cultural tropes in the setting, but it still felt weird to me, (and this was way back in the late 90s/early 00s, before the same apologists jump on me to say I'm just jumping on the 'politically correct' bandwagon in gaming in the past few years.)
Honestly you don't need to change much, just have a bit of mindfulness, particularly with this new knowledge about the authors personal views.
I still love the Tekumel setting, but the insistence of the 'alternative morality' (fairly heirarchical, with people 'born to rule,' species outside of the humans seen as essential outsiders and with some tacit gender determinism) of the Empire of the Petal Throne never sat very well with me and I adopted a looser interpretation.
It can be salvaged, but there are some changes that need to be made to make it palatable. I am disappointed but not surprised that the author turned out to be an utter nazi. In a way it's refreshing, shows that, by comparison, Tolkien was never as bad as some folk make out! 😅
It is extraordinary that Barker managed to conceal these sympathies for decades while employed as a tenured academic. I have no belief whatsoever that this was some kind of elaborate troll or deception; you kind of have to wonder if this level of effort can even be trolling and, not, well, being the thing you're supposedly trolling. But, as someone deeply familiar with the way academia works (and especially humanities academia), I'm surprised someone didn't notice earlier.
It looks like Barker's department was shut down, always a bitter experience for any academic, and maybe this emboldened him to start work on the denier journal--something which certainly would have been commented on, and not favorably, by his colleagues and institution. He didn't seem to be very productive after he started at U Minn, but he *was* departmental chair, normally a position with some scrutiny attached. Not as much as people think, sometimes, but still. He also seems to have roleplayed with students and others for decades. Have any of these people come forward? Were there any signs, is what I'm wondering.
It's just a remarkably strange case. That Barker was a devout Muslim from his twenties only makes it stranger.
Updated to correct the intended article for this week, which was supposed to be a post about "The King of the Swords" by Michael Moorcock, rather than an essay about what qualifies as B/X Dungeons & Dragons today.
Updated to clarify that it "seems" the Tékumel Foundation "may" have waited a decade to reveal this information, as I am not able at this time to confirm the linked post was written by the foundation's archivist.