An Experiment in (Lefty) Roleplaying?

“Sadly, for past the 40 years, this yearning for an impossible yet fantastical other is one that has become increasingly shared by those on the Left.”

The year is 2259. The company Amazon is omnipresent, controlling the interstellar economy through a monopoly on the manufacturing of spaceships and their computers. Soothsayers and philosophers agree: It is easier to imagine an end to the entire universe than an end to capitalism.

Aboard The Beagle, an intergalactic exploratory vessel that has recently fallen out of hyperspace, the distressed crew struggles to maintain a united front in face of their turmoil. As the team debates their next move, a cantankerous space marine by the name of Paxon Dickson bawls at his co-workers: “We don’t have time for DePaladin’s games; he’s just an Amazon cog!” In joyful recognition of the much-revered corporation’s name, the ship’s mascot, Rover Boy, performs a swift right arm salute: “Hail Bezos!” The rest of the crew promptly parrots the loyal android’s sentiment, each one slightly more ironically than the last, before the party bursts into a chorus of laughter, shattering the fourth wall…

Since the start of November, Zer0 Books has engaged in a serial experiment in “lefty roleplaying” called Zer0 Quest: Working Class RPG. In this notable departure from Zer0 Books’ usual self-promotional shorts, publishing manager Douglas Lain has joined forces with university lecturer and self-professed wargamer Djene Rhys Bajalan to produce a YouTube series exploring the relationship between roleplaying games (RPGs) and left-wing politics. Powered by the mechanics of the artisanal horror sci-fi platform Mothership, Zer0 Quest sees Bajalan assume the role of game master as Lain and his two sons, Simon and Noah, indulge in a theatre of the mind—charting strange unknown worlds and trying to survive in the most inhospitable environment of outer space.