Dungeons & Dragons' Racial Reckoning Is Long Overdue
Dungeons & Dragons' Racial Reckoning Is Long Overdue
Dungeons & Dragons' Racial Reckoning Is Long Overdue
By Matthew Gault
December 31, 2020
Summary
Ancestry & Culture: An Alternative to Race in 5e is a 70-page book of alternative rules written by D&D players that's meant to pull the game away from racial essentialism.
"The new supplemental rules in Tasha's are nice in that they encourage more player choice and freedom in the character-creation process. However, players and DMs have been encouraged to change rules as they see fit for a long time in D&D publications-it's the nature of the game," Kwan says.
According to Walker, racial essentialism is built into D&D's DNA, and its recent push for a racial reckoning is a long time coming.
Stranger Things aired in 2016, and Critical Role, a web show where voice actors play D&D, began in 2015.
"D&D fifth edition is a game about killing people," he says.
For people who love D&D but want it to change, promises to look at the alignment system and rework "Evil races" often feel like one step forward and two steps back.
"The space is incredibly vibrant right now. It's better than it's ever been. To its credit, part of that is that D&D is a great entryway into the hobby for many people. I just wish more people looked outside of it to see what the solutions for those problems were."
Reference
Gault, M. (2020, December 31). Dungeons & DRAGONS' RACIAL reckoning is long overdue. Retrieved February 23, 2021, from https://www.wired.com/story/dungeons-dragons-diversity/