Dace wrote:
But that does beg the question on how non whites are treated in the setting. Sure race as we know it isn't a thing but it is still something that I think matters and is important. I wonder how they are treated in Europe for instance, likely not as bad as in America (after all Ethiopia was sending emissaries to the courts of France).
I still wonder though, how are such characters treated. I think it's something worth a side bar in an upcoming book. I know it's a sticky thing but it's likely best not ignored. For instance, does a black Witch Hunter in Boston need to worry about proving he's not a slave.
A sidebar? See, this is when I wish Witch Hunter had something of a dedicated zine, because I think the topic deserves a full article.
Would an African witch hunter in Boston have to worry about proving his legal status? I would think that would depend on so many different variables that it would be best left to the GM's discretion. Has she made any enemies among people of status? Is the constable or watch captain a raging bigot? Does someone of influence covet what she possesses? I would be an idiot to say she wouldn't suffer some extra hurdles in life. But WH is a game about kicking evil monsters in the ass, not about exploring complex social issues UNLESS that exploration involves, or results in, kicking evil monsters in the ass.
And don't even get me started on what the addition of real sorcery thrown into the mix does. It sure didn't work out to well for the Spanish.
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Something else to keep in mind is that witch hunters are concerned with issues outside the din of most common folk.
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See I thought about this. But then R&R indicates that there is at least some form of racism (or at least mistrust) directed at Jewish Witch Hunters. So to some extent I think that just being a Witch Hunter isn't enough in some cases.
So it makes me wonder at times if they would behave better or if they would fall prey to the same foibles that non Witch Hunters fall prey to.
Well I would argue there is a difference between mistrust and prejudice and outright enslavement. Granted, the history of anti-semitism in Europe has a lot in common with America's stain of racism. It's been interesting doing research on Frankfurt and Strasbourg to see the lot of Jews in the Holy Roman Empire. For example, in Frankfurt (and many other places in Germany, Jewish "citizens" were not permitted out of their neighborhoods after dark, under penalty of jail and confiscation of property and wealth. While they might have enjoyed the status of citizenship, it did not convey voting rights and a lot of other privileges that Christian citizens received. These sorts of laws led to their ultimate conclusion during the second world war.
The Orders of Solomon have other concerns than the ugliness of mankind. Not every instance of hatred is born of the Adversary. American slavery began as a pragmatic solution to simple labor issues (to put it mildly), but festered into something far more corrosive and ugly. So individual witch hunters (and orders) might support slavery (and even indentured servitude) on a personal basis. But I do think they would draw the line as a group when one of their own (regardless of ethnicity or religion) was enslaved. This is a matter of simple pragmatism: the forces of the Adversary far outnumber acting Witch Hunters in any local, so to have one of their own benched puts the entire operation in jeopardy.