A less problematic Sri Raji

[DilisnyaRevenge]

Good day everyone! It’s been a long time since I’ve posted, but it’s good to see the community still going strong.

In a campaign I am running, I have a PC who originally hails from Sri Raji. We’ve never been there in campaign, but as part of the character’s journey I wanted to have her return home and adventure in Sri Raji. The problem is that after revisiting the domain 20+ years later, it hasn’t aged well. To put it gently, it is based on some fairly egregious racial and cultural stereotypes.

I was wondering if anyone had done a reboot of Sri Raji similar to the fabulous work that was done for Pharazia in the QtR netbooks? If not, does anyone know of any good resources where I could start working on making it a little more acceptable?

Thanks!

[Mistmaster]

What are the stereotypes?

[ewancummins]

Acceptable to whom?

Rakshashas?



But, seriously, if game references to gods worshiped today by Hindus are the thing you find objectionable (that's my best guess, as I can't think of anything else about the domain that might be controversial or objectionable), you could always swap out the names for fantasy names.
I would likely do this.

[DilisnyaRevenge]

Fair enough. Yes I was talking a bit about how it basically uses a version of the Hindu religion that feels like it belongs in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom... “This is Kali. Kali is evil. These evil people worship Kali. Kali makes them kill people. The end.”

Several of my players commented on not really being comfortable with the depiction as presented in the source material. In all fairness, I think they only had seen the Web of Illusion stuff. After your response I went back and dig out the Third Edition stuff and it’s definitely less overboard there.

I’ll probably just facelift it a bit (so it is more akin to Ezra’s relationship to Catholicism).

I appreciate the response. Thanks for the thoughts!

[ewancummins]

You are most welcome.

I imagine that the Vedic/Hindu material in Legends and Lore was not meant to insult or mock Hinduism, but by their nature the game constructs named after the deities tend toward caricature and oversimplification. It could potentially be very offensive to Hindus.

I'm pretty sure this is why we do not see Hindu gods in the Wizards game materials after 2E. And that seems like the right call to me.

The Olympians, Aesir and Vanir, Celtic deities, Egyptian gods, etc fall into a different category because the ancient religions associated with them are all extinct.
The Greek gods, in particular, have long since become literary figures.

[Wolfglide of the Fraternity]

The Greek gods, in particular, have long since become literary figures.

Heck, contemporary stories make the Greek gods look better. They seem so family friendly in Disney's Hercules or in Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson books. The original myths sure have the gods committing a lot of sex crimes.

In general, I don't like putting real-world pantheons in my D&D worlds---just as a matter of personal taste, I guess---but I seem to be OK with the names of a few Outer Planes and some of the archfiends being swiped from real sources. It's a bit of a double standard.

[ewancummins]

The Greek gods, in particular, have long since become literary figures.

Heck, contemporary stories make the Greek gods look better. They seem so family friendly in Disney's Hercules or in Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson books. The original myths sure have the gods committing a lot of sex crimes.

In general, I don't like putting real-world pantheons in my D&D worlds---just as a matter of personal taste, I guess---but I seem to be OK with the names of a few Outer Planes and some of the archfiends being swiped from real sources. It's a bit of a double standard.

Yep!

RE archfiends: I rather doubt you will meet any real-life cultists of Asmodeus who object to their infernal master's name being appended to a super-monster in an RPG.
And if you did, would you really care?

[Mistmaster]

Well, Kali is a feared goddess, even in the complex contest; she is an aspect of the mother-goddess, yes, but she is her dark reflection. Simplifying her as evil do not struck me as offensive.

[Wolfglide of the Fraternity]

RE archfiends: I rather doubt you will meet any real-life cultists of Asmodeus who object to their infernal master's name being appended to a super-monster in an RPG.
And if you did, would you really care?

As long as they can't actually send devils after me and they don't have me cornered in a dark alley (the more likely option of the two), I could probably live with their objections.

[Leliel]

Well, Kali is a feared goddess, even in the complex contest; she is an aspect of the mother-goddess, yes, but she is her dark reflection. Simplifying her as evil do not struck me as offensive.

Problem is, Kali is always portrayed as reckless rather than truly cruel when she manifests. She is called Kali Ma, the most compassionate goddess of them all, for a reason. She's really more CN than anything.

That doesn't mean we can't have Thuggee, just make them more like the real version; an organized crime syndicate that invokes her to assuage their superstitions. And here's a wonderful trick about Hinduism; auras, including rakshasas, can be devotees of the gods they are enemies of. It's simply their dharma.

So, idea; Arijani fundamentally wants his dharmic cake and to eat it too. He wants to experience life outside of being a rakshasa, as a creature that does not fundamentally need to engage in duplicity and cruelty to get ahead. At the same time, duplicity and cruelty is really profitable to engage in, so he goes right back to his dharma when piety and compassion isn't getting his way. His curse, then, forced him to put his money where his mouth is; if he wants people to like him, he has to demonstrate it by actions, not because he looks nice. He can't be loved and trusted unless he works at it, and that requires sacrifices he isn't willing to make.