#kikhanga

Ki Khanga: The Sword and Soul RPG and Fighting Racism in Tabletop Gaming

Today I would like to draw attention to a wonderful Kickstarter RPG, not only because of its refreshing African-inspired fantasy world, but also because it is doing wonders to bring awareness about the need to reflect on prejudices present within the gaming community. This project, titled Ki Khanga: Sword and Soul RPG, is written by Milton Davis and Balogun Ojetade, two men who look to break the traditional fantasy narrative by introducing a tabletop RPG with roots in African culture and myth. Their Kickstarter is active until 10/30/16.

Initially my love affair with fantasy and science fiction was cliche: I was a bored, socially awkward suburban kid, who sought escape to wondrous lands where anyone could become a hero.  As I have grown older, these stories have offered me much more through their ability to reframe relevant social and political issues. Authors like Tolkien and Rowling developed my ability to view my own environment through different perspectives, simply by showing me new worlds through their stories. Orwell and Dick taught me to reflect upon social constructs and question authority. Star Trek taught me the difficulties of cooperation and diplomacy. In their own ways, these narratives made learning and abstract thought accessible to me, and helped shaped my world-view today. An invaluable prize that continues to encourage my consumption of such materials.

Lately however I have become uneasy as I sift through modern fantasy/sci-fi art and media, which are often poisoned by prejudice and stereotype in a way pervasive in older iterations of these genres. It is no surprise to find misogyny and racism in the works of Verne or Lovecraft. But their faults, explained, but not excused, by the standards of their own societies, remain implanted in modern fantasy. This directly opposes the progressive potential of modern speculative fiction, and leaves me pessimistic as to the progressive nature of these genres in the realm of current pop culture.

Particularly I’ve found issue in tabletop gaming trends, as I spend much of my time involved in playing, and reading, about board games and RPGs. In these I see a complete stagnation in attempts for racial inclusion, as well as the use of racist iconography. I understand that much of the thematic content popular in tabletop games is born of the American pulp tradition, but why racism has not completely been eradicated from these aesthetics in 2016 is beyond me.

Take Zimby Mojo for example. This game was designed by Jim Felli, the creator of Shadows of Malice, a spectacular co-op fantasy board game with an unbelievably unique design. I really enjoy Shadows of Malice, and was excited to get my hands on Felli’s next game. But when I saw the game box cover I became immediately apprehensive. I cannot comprehend how no one thought to question how ridiculously offensive it is to use a glistening native with animalistic features standing over a bloodied victim as the main art for this game. Excuses like “it is supposed to be a game of cannibalistic mayhem,” ring hollow. It is inexcusable to perpetuate dangerous and backwards stereotypes by making the cannibals look as if they were plucked out of a colonial narrative at the turn of the 20th century. To me, this use of iconography is reminiscent of a “white man’s burden” mentality, and is not only part of a toxic narrative, but also completely unnecessary for a board game to retain roots in fantasy. I think the gaming community deserves better than this.

One might argue that this is not an actual issue, because Zimby Mojo “is just a board game.” That it is merely meant for amusement, and thus is supposed to be lighthearted and fun. People may even get defensive and say that my opinion is overly sensitive. Yet that is exactly the problem. It is our responsibility, especially if you are a privileged white male like myself, to recognize and stand against the presence of racial stereotypes in all forms, especially in games which are enjoyed under the guise of leisure activities. Art like that on the box of Zimby Mojo subtly reinforces these stereotypes in the minds of younger generations, and indicates a level of internalization among the populace which is honestly disheartening. It is no wonder the hobby has become so racially exclusive in light of this.

As a white American male with disposable income, I am within the majority of those who are seriously involved in the tabletop gaming hobby. Why is this the case? There doesn’t seem anything inherently exclusive about playing games. People have been enjoying them for millennia, with the Egyptian game Senet dating to before 3000 BCE.  We need to ask ourselves why this skewed demographic persists in the present, and what we can do as a community to be more inclusive. Which brings me back to why I think Milton Davis and Balogun Ojetade, creators of the African mythos influenced Ki Khanga: Sword and Soul RPG, can shed some light on the problem we are faced with, and what we can do to support creators who are not afraid to challenge the exclusive narratives seen in the board game community today.

Their insight can be gleaned just by reading about Ki Khanga, which in itself breaks the mold by existing within the genre of sword and soul. Sword and soul is a brand of fantasy reminiscent of sword and sorcery, but has been renamed to reflect its roots in African culture, in addition to its rejection of the racist stereotypes common in its namesake. These authors’ feelings towards racism in classic fantasy/science fiction permeate much of the discussion on their blogs, as well as inspires their efforts to redefine these genres. On Davis' blog, he discusses the Dieselfunk anthology which he helped orchestrate in order to provide a missing black perspective in speculative fiction. Likewise Ojetade writes of his own exclusionary experience with tabletop gaming as a lifelong RPG player. These discussions highlight the attitude each author has taken as a fan of fantasy/scifi. Instead of abandoning these genres and their prejudices, they have reclaimed them and asserted a self-determination within their writing which fuses the black experience and culture with speculative fiction. Now, after experiencing success with their African-inspired stories, Davis and Ojetade seek to impart the world of tabletop RPGs with the same progressive approach.

Their efforts to diversify cultural perspective in RPGs have culminated in the creation of a refreshing world worth experiencing. This is not a Kickstarter to miss. While I avidly follow new projects on the site, I rarely back them. I have a fairly tight gaming budget, and tend to purchase completed games to minimize risk in quality. But Ki Khanga does not only deserve funding for its quality and unique setting. Games of this nature, which break stereotypes long present in pulp/fantasy/science fiction, should be embraced by the community in order to encourage reflection by gamers on the products that they consume. The simple success of Ki Khanga will in small part contribute to the disillusionment of gamers as to the prejudices which are rampant in the games which they love, and simultaneously express a demand from game publishers for more games which reject those prejudices. At the very least you should head over to the Kickstarter page and check the game out. I also recommend reading these authors’ blogs, which do a great job of discussing some of the issues I’ve touched on, and provide a window into the minds of both Davis and Ojetade.

Ki Khanga: Sword and Soul RPG Kickstarter

Milton Davis’ Blog