Sapience RPG

Speciesism is a bit of a difficult ethical dilemma to investigate in detail, isn't it? All kinds of sci-fi settings, with its abundant inhuman (though often humanoid) intelligent life, come up with various ways of dealing with it. Plenty of parallels with racism, of course, though it's not always accurate or even close to being accurate and sometimes can be outright dangerous or hurtful to go in this direction - consent check might be required before the theme gets tackled this way. 

My approach tends to be that humans in 2199 treat cetes as actual Star Trek aliens. Everybody knows that nearly all cetes participate in human civilisation, some of them very successfully. It's known that cetes have fundamentally different views and approach to just about anything humans as a group can think about, so it's oh so easy to stereotype them. Are they different? Oh yes, very. Are they "people"? I run my campaigns and write my stories with the resounding - "yes", just as Klingons and Vulkans are people. Are there humans holding prejudices or subconsciously presuming that they're "better than those animals"? Definitely, and likely lots and lots. :/ 

In terms of universal human rights though, I'm 100% certain all cetes have full "people" status. Of course their legal protections and constraints may be different in many ways (I don't see dolphins paying alimony after a divorce).

Hugo though... That's just a really successful imitation of personality, isn't it (OR IS IT?)? A reason to be proud, if you're a LavOrg programmer, but other than that just a consumer product. I don't imagine Hugo can become a "person" in the public eye anytime soon. Of course, once it's emergent self-consciousness and sapience becomes a well known fact, things may change.

Hi guys, I'm Brian, I wrote Sapience.

I just wanted to say I'm super stoked to see someone taking about it :-).

The game isn't about slavery as such, but that does factor in. It's really about privilege and discrimination, but yes in a "planet of the apes in space opera" setting. If you're interested, here's a little spiel I wrote in the books introduction about it:

"All great science fiction and fantasy holds up a mirror to our own world, and lets us examine the issues of our time. By exploring the struggles and trials of the inhabitants of fictional worlds, we can work through difficult subjects cradled safely in a thick layer of allegory. 

Star Wars was famously written to protest the United States’ involvement in Vietnam. Godzilla was a metaphor for the atomic bomb.  Planet of the Apes explores how easy it is for societies to use science and religion to enforce and justify inequality. Terminator 2 had a cop as the villain because as director James Cameron put it “Cops think of all non-cops as less than they are; stupid, weak and evil. They dehumanize the people they are sworn to protect…” That film came out the same year as the Rodney King assault, and almost 30 years before the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor and the start of the Black Lives Matter movement.  

The inequalities and injustices of this world aren’t new, but thanks to mass social movements they’re becoming more visible to the average person than they’ve ever been before. These injustices aren’t the result of a few bad actors but rather come from systems of oppression that operate on a massive scale, invisible to most of the people who benefit from them. While more and more people become aware of the ways in which the marginalized are pushed down and silenced, there has risen also a proudly bigoted reactionary backlash that needs to be fought by every available means. 

Science fiction that interrogates and questions the bigotry and oppression present in our world has never been more relevant than in the 21st century. Done well it can open eyes and minds, and give people the opportunity to deal with subjects that would be too painful to face directly. I hope that my game is a worthy successor to the stories that have come before it, and that it helps at least a few people imagine worlds where bigotry and injustice can be defeated."

Anyway, thanks for your interest! I just finished my notes for the final layout in the last couple of days, so it's very nearly ready for publication! If anyone is interested in updates, you can sign up for them at my webpage www.sapiencerpg.com.

Cheers, Brian.

Thanks man, I really appreciate that! I really can't wait to get it out there, it's been a labor of love and a source of stress for a couple of years now! :-)

I'll update this post when it's available for any who are interested.

Cheers, Brian.

Hi all,



As promised, this is just a quick update to let you know that Sapience has now been released on Drivethrurpg (just yesterday, in fact). I'm happy to answer any questions anyone might have.



If you want to check it out, you can get it through this link: www.drivethrurpg.com/product/381039?affiliate_id=78474



And there's more info (as well as a ton of resources) on my webpage at www.sapiencerpg.com



Cheers,

Brian.