Harlem Unbound: Horror in Harlem
Racism
It shouldn’t need to be said that no one in the game, in any circumstance, may use the n-word, but I’m saying it loud and clear. That will get you immediately and irrevocably banned from the game.
There is a host of other pejorative terms that will also not be tolerated. I expect everyone knows what those are. Acceptable designations will be Negro, African, and colored. If you have any question about other terms, ask me in private before you commit yourself.
NPCs under my control may use certain pejoratives to emphasize their prejudice. If ever this offends you, drop me a private message and I will amend the post and any future posts.
As for racism in the setting, the author provides a tiered system of “reality.” We will use the Harlemites level in the book, using the Racial Tension Modifier described below and add a couple of backdrop features listed above in addition to the ones here.
Being black means living with a presumption of guilt.
Being black means living under the unspoken assumption you are not as smart as a white person.
Wealth and class do not protect a black investigator (at any social level) from racism.
The normal police response is to threaten or use violence against black investigators.
The Racial Tension Modifier reflects the mistrust between the different groups to add a level of play and complexity for Keeper and players. When an investigator and a non-player character (NPC) are of different races or cultures, increase the difficulty of the roll (such as social skills) by one level (Regular becomes Hard, Hard becomes Extreme). At the Keeper’s discretion, an additional penalty die may be applied for particularly challenging encounters.