D&D is replacing the word ‘race’ in character creation: ‘we do not intend to return to that term’
From now on player-characters will choose a “species” instead.
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Dungeons & Dragons is currently going through some changes. A public playtest of new rules calledOne D&Dbegan in August, and several tonal shifts to its depiction of fantasy have been introduced in recent years. That’s included attempts tomove away from racial stereotypesby changing things like the depiction of the Romani-esque people called the Vistani in the Ravenloft books. It hasn’t all gone smoothly, and after criticism of the way Spelljammer’s flying monkey-people called hadozeeresembled racist stereotypes, Wizards of the Coast first apologized and thenchanged its review processto include cultural consultants for all D&D books.
The next step, as explained in ablog post published on D&D Beyondtoday, is to move on from using the word “race” to describe elves, dwarves, and the various other options players can choose from when making their characters. Which has honestly always seemed inappropriate, even ignoring the fact it’s been used to describe options as disparate as humanoid dragons, talking plants, and basically robots.
“Dungeons & Dragons has a history of evolving to meet the needs of our players and foster an inviting space for everyone”, the blog post explains. “With that in mind, we understand ‘race’ is a problematic term that has had prejudiced links between real world people and the fantasy peoples of D&D worlds. The usage of the term across D&D and other popular IP has evolved over time. Now it’s time for the next evolution.”
Thelatest set of playtest rules for One D&Dreflect this, using the word “species” instead. “We have made the decision to move on from using the term ‘race’ everywhere in One D&D, and we do not intend to return to that term”, Wizards of the Coast says. “The term ‘species’ was chosen in close coordination with multiple outside cultural consultants.”
Other popular fantasy RPGs have taken similar steps in recent years. Pathfinder’s second edition, released in 2019, used the word “ancestry” instead, while Warhammer switched to “species” beginning with Warhammer Fantasy Role-Play’s fourth edition in 2018.
Each new playtest packet for One D&D is followed by a survey, and the next will begin on December 21, during which “players will be able to give feedback on the term ‘species’ along with everything else present in the playtest materials.”
The blog post ends by saying, “We welcome your constructive feedback on this evolution and the many more evolutions to One D&D that make this game exciting, open, and accessible to everyone. Dragons and elves belong in our world, and so do you.”
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Jody’s first computer was a Commodore 64, so he remembers having to use a code wheel to play Pool of Radiance. A former music journalist who interviewed everyone from Giorgio Moroder to Trent Reznor, Jody also co-hosted Australia’s first radio show about videogames,Zed Games. He’s written forRock Paper Shotgun, The Big Issue,GamesRadar,Zam,Glixel,Five Out of Ten Magazine, andPlayboy.com, whose cheques with the bunny logo made for fun conversations at the bank. Jody’s first article for PC Gamer was about theaudio of Alien Isolation, published in 2015, and since then he’s written aboutwhy Silent Hill belongs on PC,why Recettear: An Item Shop’s Tale is the best fantasy shopkeeper tycoon game, andhow weird Lost Ark can get. Jody edited PC Gamer Indie from 2017 to 2018, and he eventually lived up to his promise to play every Warhammer videogame.
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