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D&D Looks To Cut Down On Racial Differences Going Forward
Races and classes have been the central aspects of character creation since the beginning of Dungeons & Dragons – well, not quite the beginning, since Elf used to be a class in original D&D. However, based on a twitter thread by D&D's Jeremy Crawford, it looks like Wizards of the Coast will be moving toward less drastic racial mechanics, especially in regard to races traditionally considered "monster races."
Crawford pointed out the differences between the orcs found in Volo's Guide to Monsters and those found in the Exandria and Eberron settings, saying that the latter reflects the direction that the D&D team is headed in regard to monsters. The Exandria and Eberron orcs lack the -2 penalty to Intelligence and the required evil alignment. This reflects the fact that in these settings orcs are mostly considered another type of people – with all the varieties in personality and temperament that come with that – rather than fodder for player characters to fight.
[...] It is worth noting that this comes on the heels of a Twitter discussion on the racist history of orcs, initially spawned by a screenshot of the description of orcs in Volo's Guide to Monsters. Tolkien initially portrayed orcs as caricatures of Mongolians, and orcs have been racial stereotypes of other races over and over (see World of Warcraft or Bright). Dungeons & Dragons is not immune to this – even outside of the orc issue, races like the Vistani appear as Romani stereotypes.
Diversity and Dungeons & Dragons
Throughout the 50-year history of D&D, some of the peoples in the game—orcs and drow being two of the prime examples—have been characterized as monstrous and evil, using descriptions that are painfully reminiscent of how real-world ethnic groups have been and continue to be denigrated. That's just not right, and it's not something we believe in. Despite our conscious efforts to the contrary, we have allowed some of those old descriptions to reappear in the game. We recognize that to live our values, we have to do an even better job in handling these issues. If we make mistakes, our priority is to make things right.
See also: Dungeons & Dragons Designers Clarify How Gnolls Differ From Other D&D Creatures
Related: Gender and Appearance Stereotypes Travel to World of Warcraft
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Pino P on Sunday June 21 2020, @04:11AM (1 child)
A group of merpeople who live around a sporadically active volcanic island, I'm guessing. Some occasionally have to leave their homes in the river delta and trek up near the vent to take measurements. It's not easy to move about on land with a tail that amounts to a pair of fused legs, let alone climb a mountain. But eventually they figured out how to alternate moving one hand and the fluke forward with pushing the pelvis forward, leaving the other hand free to carry things.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by RandomFactor on Sunday June 21 2020, @03:32PM
In the midst of their observations of the volcano, the merfolk stumble upon the murky lair of Cerisia, an adolescent red dragon. It is, strangely, a giant pile of ash and charred plant matter, rather than gold and gems, the dragon resides upon. Her red skin has enough soot coverage that she will likely be initially mistaken as an acid breathing aquatically capable black dragon by the party (which would make more sense in the island environment.)
Cerisia has forsaken the sturdy glitter and glam type possessions usually sought by her kind and instead seeks beauty in nature - e.g. flowers, butterflies and trees.
The dragon is engaged in study of ways to interact with nature that don't involve lighting it aflame, but is routinely disappointed as her body heat and breath routinely destroy any greenery, flowers and critters in her vicinity. Her activities in the volcano cause periodic instability and result in it threatening the Mermen's nearby underwater cities.
As a hatchling Cerisia played with a traveling wizard for some years who cast farsight for her allowing her to virtually enjoy the beautiful gardens and parks of a nearby kingdom, which she fell in love with, and eventually visited and unwittingly destroyed some decades later. Destroying what she had always loved caused her deep long-lasting psychological trauma, as well as a spate of toasted hors d'heroes for a few years thereafter. If the players are able to discern the dragon's desire and enable it in some fashion (she may generate a related quest) she will react favorably and possibly even leave the volcano or stop her investigations thereby sparing the merfolk.
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