Lucius said:
And bringing the topic back onto track...
Who will be buying the pocket guide?
For those of you who wish to read more on how the Conan borders are "shocking", search for a thread with "nudity" in it's title. It was around several months ago. Lets not hijack this thread instead. :wink:
Ah, the dynamics of online discussions! You can never tell where they will go, and you can't really control them without killing them.
I won't be buying the pocket version: I bought a copy of the old edition (on Ebay, thinking I was getting a deal) before I realized the corrected version (AE) was available, which I felt compelled to buy. Having spent now $87 on the same rulebook (entirely my choice, mind you), I don't plan on shelling out more for another version of it. But, the fact that I shelled out for the AE I think says a lot about the quality of the game, Mongoose's _serious_ editing and QC problems notwithstanding.
As to the art: :twisted:
I, too, think the image of a naked woman isn't inherently harmful for children -- I think images of violence are far worse. But, 1) I say this entirely aware of my position as a childless man, and 2) the image of the naked woman in the rulebook, associated as it is with the REH Conan stories, isn't exactly innocent or neutral or nonviolent. That women depicted is supposed to be a slave girl, an object, something less-than-human. Let's face it.
Women in REH stories were largely trophies, spoils of war. The Conan stories are the Conan stories, but this kind of representation of women is not something I would want my child exposed to at a young age: I'll have enough trouble trying to get them to think outside of that sort of crud that the rest of the (American) culture transmits.
Many of my favorite books (or films based on books) are racist or sexist. But I am able to look at Tolkien or REH critically; both were products of their social context. I understand that -- young children (probably) cannot.
I'm thinking here of a seven year old I met at a gaming shop who spoke animately about Gimli's axe in an Uruk-hai's skull and how funny that was -- I found the encounter sort of sad and a little creepy.
I am not saying that kids should be denied great books like those of Tolkien or REH, but parents definitely need to frame the stories for them. Violence too easily becomes a game to children.
Of course, RPGs are about violence as a game

, but they're also about social interaction, narrative, heroics, imagination, etc. We should emphasize this.
And Lucius: it's all relevant, dude. :wink:
Brian