The Role-players Guild of Kansas City was created to bring people together in a shared environment where we all can be heard, be creative, and have fun. There is no space at our table or in our guild for descrimination of any kind. While I cannot speak for everyone, I do speak for the guild leadership when I say racial discrimination and brutality have got to stop.
We have felt the call to action and we support initiatives to combat racism, bigotry and injustice. After inward reflection and reviewing our bylaws, we realized that the guild has long overlooked creating rules of conduct for our members. We will be taking action at our next guild meeting to vote and amend our bylaws with a member code of conduct. This code of conduct will extend to any events and shared spaces hosted by RPGKC along with our existing anti-harassment policy.
We play games for many reasons but I feel, at the core, we play to make a connection with others, to create new experiences and to feel like our actions can have an impact. Those things are also very real and possible in our own world right now. The guild leadership and I encourage you all to read, research, lend a helping hand, donate, and most importantly listen. Listen to the voices of those who have been silenced and pushed aside for far to long. Our actions, collectively, can change this world, our world, for everyone. We can be better and we must be better.
This means we can no longer be passive in our actions and interactions. It will likely involve uncomfortable conversations with our tablemates, friends and family members. It will surely involve taking time to reflect on and improve on our own actions and biases. We may need to rethink elements of our games, narratively and structurally, and whether they are reinforcing outdated stereotypes, tropes, and bigoted ideas. We have to be more aware of how our words and actions, in and out of character, can impact our fellow players and those around us. To this end, we ask that you keep this concept in mind “No one should ever be made to feel unsafe, unseen, or unheard.”
As stated before, we want to keep RPGKC out of politics as much as possible. However, we feel racism, discrimination, and injustice are not political issues but important social issues that affect everyone. We felt it was important to make our thoughts and our future actions known. This will likely lead to discussions and debates. We just ask that everyone please be respectful and civil with each other. That’s really what it all boils down to in the end. Happy rolls, folks.
—Stephanie Hurd, Guildmaster of RPGKC