Don’t force it on your players, base it on their (and your) comfort and boundary levels.

But even if it’s only a mouse and not an elephant in the room, I’ll reiterate that politics matter. And it should have a place in your games.

That DM puts the issues more up front and spotlight, and we love it. My style is more background optional, my players love that.

But it’s always bloody there. Because life is politics. And DnD is about a life in a fantastical game world.

As OP said, games should include politics.

In the game I’m playing in, the DM has some Cthulhu elements, elvish bias, and of course an empire of rising fascism we’re fighting.

It’s amazing. But that group is different dynamics, and it’s basically all bad things all the time trying to survive.

(Spoiler: some of our charas haven’t)

In one game they addressed indentured servitude and took direct action to try and change it. In another, they’re not engaging in or discouraging the species bias they encounter.

I know some of them have low spoons and are just there for some stress relief and relaxation.

And that’s ok.

The worlds I build have all of this in the background, because that exists even in an idealized world (hello DS9). It’s hinted at, or part of a society’s history, or even a moral quandary being addressed by NPCs in overheard conversations.

I let the players decide how much they want to engage.

It influenced quite a bit of game lore. The governor never had to scream Dorothy Gaaaaaaale!

But she *did* have a weee bit of a tiff with the Emperor of the Emerald Empire and his mechanical (warforged) soldiers.

The governor of a magic town never wore the same face twice. Coincidentally, she had this *lovely* statue garden of headless maidens.

The players learned to never visit the garden without the governor. Occasionally the statues moved when you weren't looking at them. In new haunting poses.

Meanwhile in the Spelljammer campaign, my players haven't discovered this, but there's a reason spelljamming speeds aren't simply 100 million miles a day, something happened on Sigil that changed the multiverse, and the Phlosten? Well, it's there...somewhere...waiting to be discovered.

The players in the campaign just discovered those trying to destroy him are doing so because part of his protection...prevents any new people learning high level spells (i.e., no levels greater than level 5) and want to bring that power *back* to the world.

Even if it may end it.

I've got *so* many in the multiple games. In my Thurs game, there's a Dragon Beyond the World that appeared on the moon and acts as a guardian against planar incursions. He just appeared one day in the Age of Heroes. And the people of the world just...accepted it.

Hah! I had something similar happen. The dwarven elders, to defeat a great evil, were willing to sacrifice all the underground peoples to seal her power.

They succeeded, but fortunately at the behest of the (dying) Dwarven pantheon, a greater god avoided their utter extinction. Barely.

Thanks for the space @lanternlightexp.bsky.social this Sat. I'm sure a lot of new campaigns are starting up in the new year, along with many new players.

If you're just starting out with PHB'24, I've got some custom species feats just for you! Check it out!

www.dmsguild.com/en/product/5...

Thanks for the space @lizardscast.bsky.social this flash-freeze Sat. I'm sure a lot of new campaigns are starting up in the new year, along with many new players.

If you're just starting out with PHB'24 I've got some custom species feats just for you! Check it out!

www.dmsguild.com/en/product/5...