# The Uses and Applications of Slavery in Unsafe Play tags: #thoughts/moment-of-inspiration Okay, so it is the hot button topic of the day, but — I'm not chasing the dragon here. This is legitimately going to be an *RPG Moment of Inspiration*.  Every civilization on Earth has used slavery as a means of garnering capital. Usually, it was simply called just that in the local parlance. If you have a big supply of them, you'll probably even refer to that population pool as “Slaves” or Slavs if you're modernist. Your RPG settings, fantasy or science fiction, should very likely have some social equivalents. After all, there are some pretty good arguments in favor of slavery, especially if you have a small population governing from elsewhere or other complications. Figure out what it looks like. Figure out how it works. Figure out how the host society justifies it, or if they bother justifying it at all. They may not see it as necessitating justification at all, but instead simply a fact of life. They may be completely right. Don't be afraid of portraying things that you don't believe in the course of an RPG. This applies to GMs, obviously, but also players. It's a game, it's not reality. You don't have to just play mirrors of yourself; it's better if you don't. Yes, this may mean that you deal with ideas that you find uncomfortable or even dangerous. Good, it's a game. It's a place where you can play with uncomfortable and dangerous ideas and have a good time when you do it. ## Post Scriptum Frankly, this particular thought deserves a better, more extensive write-up, given that banger of a title. One day I'm going to have to write a full article on “Unsafe Play” and how nothing worthwhile in the world has ever been accomplished by people being safe. Still, good thought!