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- May 5, 2018
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I stumbled across thses two articles here: https://www.belloflostsouls.net/2021/05/dd-wotc-adds-three-new-types-of-drow-retcons-drow-lore.html
"I hope that this is just the first step, and that the days of “all evil” races are gone. Orcs, as written now, are always evil savages, and that’s neither fun nor particularly satisfying writing. But with this move to a more broad, diverse perspective of drow, we’re getting an idea of what a more inclusive future of Dungeons & Dragons could be like, and honestly, it’s about time."
https://www.polygon.com/22585687/du...atore-drizzt-black-controversy-race-interview
"Savatore says this othering was always his intent. What he did not fully comprehend when he created the character, he said, was how Drizzt’s blackness would contribute to how that othering was perceived by his audience. Today, the black-as-other and related tropes are widely viewed as a problematic narrative devices."
"Since its inception in the 1970s, the game has codified racism, in the form of strict inequalities between its fantasy races, within its ruleset. As writer and game designer James Mendez Hodes wrote in 2019, “D&D, like Tolkien, makes race literally real in-game by applying immutable modifiers to character ability scores, skills, and other characteristics.”
"Later illustrators of D&D products, perhaps more aware of the optics, have made them a purple-black or dusky-grey-black. But let’s be real. They have black skin. If you can’t see the problems with this, I can’t help you."
"Making “races” like orcs and dark elves inherently evil does two things. First, it presents a world in which good and evil are so simplistic that an entire culture, race, or species can be inherently evil. If someone were to transpose that way of thinking onto cultures or races today, it could lead to the worst sort of prejudice."
End quotes.
I always thought it was pretty simple: some jungle elves with black skin get thrown out of polite elven society/trees and take refuge in the underdark. They're naturals at chess, break dancing, and have big tits (or cock if that's for you) and absorb all the mana from the surroundings that give them the abilities to wear headgear other than tinfoil hats, bling things up with faerie lights, and finally prove once and for all that all other races can't jump.
And their society makes them the type of characters that would stab their neighbour in the back at any opportunity to aquire free boots of speed.
And as far as orcs go, well we all agree that the greenskins must die. That's the emperors will.
I find this new approach highly problematic.
"I hope that this is just the first step, and that the days of “all evil” races are gone. Orcs, as written now, are always evil savages, and that’s neither fun nor particularly satisfying writing. But with this move to a more broad, diverse perspective of drow, we’re getting an idea of what a more inclusive future of Dungeons & Dragons could be like, and honestly, it’s about time."
https://www.polygon.com/22585687/du...atore-drizzt-black-controversy-race-interview
"Savatore says this othering was always his intent. What he did not fully comprehend when he created the character, he said, was how Drizzt’s blackness would contribute to how that othering was perceived by his audience. Today, the black-as-other and related tropes are widely viewed as a problematic narrative devices."
"Since its inception in the 1970s, the game has codified racism, in the form of strict inequalities between its fantasy races, within its ruleset. As writer and game designer James Mendez Hodes wrote in 2019, “D&D, like Tolkien, makes race literally real in-game by applying immutable modifiers to character ability scores, skills, and other characteristics.”
"Later illustrators of D&D products, perhaps more aware of the optics, have made them a purple-black or dusky-grey-black. But let’s be real. They have black skin. If you can’t see the problems with this, I can’t help you."
"Making “races” like orcs and dark elves inherently evil does two things. First, it presents a world in which good and evil are so simplistic that an entire culture, race, or species can be inherently evil. If someone were to transpose that way of thinking onto cultures or races today, it could lead to the worst sort of prejudice."
End quotes.
I always thought it was pretty simple: some jungle elves with black skin get thrown out of polite elven society/trees and take refuge in the underdark. They're naturals at chess, break dancing, and have big tits (or cock if that's for you) and absorb all the mana from the surroundings that give them the abilities to wear headgear other than tinfoil hats, bling things up with faerie lights, and finally prove once and for all that all other races can't jump.
And their society makes them the type of characters that would stab their neighbour in the back at any opportunity to aquire free boots of speed.
And as far as orcs go, well we all agree that the greenskins must die. That's the emperors will.
I find this new approach highly problematic.
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