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Mar 23, 2021 • 8 tweets • 5 min read
There is a controversy happening in the #DnD twitterers currently.
I’m seeing a lot of (older, white) TTRPG creators today saying, “If you agree to do freelance work, you get what you signed up for. Don’t complain.”
We disagree. Here’s why.
1/? #DnD5e#CandlekeepMysteries
It's perfectly reasonable to want to enter an industry that historically has treated people poorly but want to be treated better.
Imagine someone saying 'don't complain' to a union activist trying to fight for workers’ rights!
They want to retain the game's legacy. Here's why that's a problem:
1/9 #DnD5e#TTRPG#TTRPGs wired.com/story/dungeons…
A core element of #DnD5e is retained from #DnD's earliest days: fantasy races have significant inborn differences that include ability and morality. So, elves are smart, agile, & good, while orcs are strong, dumb, & evil -- they’re biologically savage & menacing.
2/9
Jul 20, 2020 • 5 tweets • 6 min read
#Race in #DnD:
Racial Essentialism is the view that talents, behaviors, and&personalities can be generalized across groups of people simply in virtue of their 'racial' category. It's the core of real world racism.
So why is it an central part of #DnD5e? #ttrpg@wizards_DnD
1/4
I know, orcs & elves aren’t real. But folks who have suffered racist harm often recognize racial essentialism when they see it, & seeing it when they are trying to make their PCs for #DnD can ruin their fun and alienate them.
#Race in #DnD5e is essentialist. That’s what’s wrong with it. That means it ascribes things like ability, alignment, language, & skills to race, when those are clearly cultural/learned.
CHANGING THE NAME TO “SPECIES” DOESN’T FIX IT.
1/?
Now is biological essentialism always bad? No! If you play Pugmire, your PC just is a doggie by birth and that’s the point.
Indeed, it’s not by itself racist or bad to play D&D as written. You aren’t a bad person and those who created it aren’t either. But!!
