Free things in life are as predictable as Dungeons & Dragons drama. It feels like we’re barely on the other side of the 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:OGL controversy, and Wizards is already pisssing off the community again. This time around, fans are up in armꦬs over the recent decisions to remove Half-races from the game. Half-Orcs and Half-Elves have been playable races in D&D since the very first edition, but according to D&D lead rules designer Jeremy Crawford, that’s about to change:
“Frankly, we are not comfortable, and haven’t been for years with any of the options that start wi🐲th ‘half’,” Crawford said. “The half construction is inherently racist so𝐆 we simply aren’t going to include it in the new Player’s Handbook.”
, a reactionary, comicsgate-adjacent outlet known for writing provocative and often misleading headlines, reported this story last week. The headline - which is based entirely on Crawford’s quote I just shared - says ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ To Remove Half-Species From ༺Player’s Handbook, Claims The Entire Idea Is “Inherently Racist”. The opening paragraph reads ‘In their latest step forward on their long march to lost profits, Wizards of the Coast has revealed that they will be removing the concept of Half- species from the Dungeons & Dragons Player’s Handbook on the grounds that they are “not comfortable” including an “inherently racist” concept in the game’. If it sounds to you like this outlet is doing a🧸 bit of deceptive editorializing here, you’re right.
Crawford never said D&D is removing the concept of Half-races because, as it turns out, it isn’t. As points out in its coverage of the controversy, what Bounding Into Comics (and others, which we’ll come back to) reported as news isn’t actually news at all. We’ve known that Half-Orcs and Half-Elves are getting removed as character creation options since last year, but that doesn’t mean mixed race characters are going away. In fact, it’s the exact opposite. Soon, players will be able to create characters with parents of any two races, no longer bound by being Half-Human. You can be Half-Orc and Half-Elf if you want, or Half-Dragonborn and Half-Hobgoblin. Heck, you could even be Half-Centaur and Half-Gnome. I don’t know how that works, but if ♍there’s a will, there’s a way.
When Crawford calls the half construction inherently racist, he’s talking about the term itself, and the way it's historically been used in D&D. When we refer to someone as a Half-Elf, we don’t say what the other half is, because we know it's a Human. It positions Humans as the default race in the world, which is an inherently racist world view. A Half-Orc is only half Orc, the other half is normal. You see the problem.
It’s not just the term itself that makes Half-races problematic though. Separating Half-Orcs into their own distinct race has an othering effect too. They’re not both Orc and Human, they're neither. Half-Orcs are a secret, third thing. Biracial people, whether they’re half-Black and half-white or half-Orc and half-Human, still share the culture, history, and biology of the people they came from. They’re not some kind of new, separate race of people. As Den of Geek points out, player’s often choose Half-Orc because they get the physical benefits of playing an Orc without the social ramifications, since they’re able to pass as Human. It’s good that Wizards is removing a reference to a harmful stereotype from the game.
This version of Half-species is going away, and Wizards is replacing it with an expanded ruleset for mixed race characters that includes all possible playable races. If you read any of the headlines on the subject though, you’d get the exact opposite impression. I know why Bounding into Comics framed this issue the way it did (hint: they’re losers🌊) but I’m having a hard time understanding why so many other sites jumped on the bandwagon here.
Plenty of reported the news the , leading with the removal of Half-races, rather than a more accurate acknowledgement that the system for mixed race characters is simply evolving. Some of these sites are intentionally being provocateurs, using rage-bait headlines to attract attention from people that won’t read the article anyway. Others are just regurgitating headlines and articles without do𝓰ing their🧸 due diligence to vet the story and figure out what’s really happening.
I understand that Crawford’s statement was somewhat open to interpretation, but far too many sources have💎 intentionally framed his words to tell a story that isn&rsquo𝓰;t true. Instead of digging into the facts of the matter to give their audiences accurate information, they’re instead fanning the flames by covering the player backlash online - much of which they themselves created with deceptive reporting.
Even the outlets that were trying to correct the narrative have done a poor job of communicating the issue. I don’t feel like calling them out directly for trying to do the right thing the wrong way, but it's fair to say that everyone covering this issue has failed to relay clear, truthful information to their audience. I know we want to see Wizards as the villains right now, but this change gives players more options than before, not less, and is a positive step towards inclusivity. Anyone that has a problem with it, or Crawford’s comments, has a particular agenda, and you probably shouldn’t get your news from them.