is going through a re-examining of the concept of race in the game. The discussion began when Twitter users pointed out the wording of the orc race in D&D, and the similarities it has to historically racist depictions. This evolved into a discussion of the broader race system in general, and how it reflects biological determinism, a building-block of racism that has real-ꦆworld consequences even am🅘ong races that are not rooted in racial stereotypes.
Wizards of the Coast is addressing some of these concerns. The company is revamping some races like the Vistani – a race of Romani caricatures – in addition to adding more interiority to playable “monster” races and removing ability score penalties. While this does address some issues, the problem with biological determinism remains. High elves are naturally more intelligent than orcs, orcs a🍃re naturally🧸 stronger than halflings, and so on.
Author, designer, and professor in the philosophy of games Eugene Marshall provides another option in Ancestry & Culture: An Alternative to Race in 5e. Although Ancestry & Culture is technically a supplement to D&D, never before has a supplementꦑ provided such a rigorous sociological justification for its own existence. It addresses the role biological determinism has in racism.
See, in D&D, race is written into the cosmology of the universe. There are deities for elves and gods for dwarves. In the real world, race is not “real” in the same way that it is in D&D. It greatly affects many people, but it is not a definite thing like the gene expression for eye color, Marshall explains. Race is determined by the relations between different groups of people. An ancient Roman and an ancient♏ Norseman would not consider themselves both white – the concept woulꦡd be foreign to them – but a High Elf and a Wood Elf would both consider themselves elves. Indeed, the concept is baked into the creation of the world.
Marshall instead divides race into two different concepts – biological ancestry and cultural heritage. Instead of choosing a race, players choose the biological ancestry of their parents and the type෴ of culture they grew up in. Inherited traits, such as height or lifespan, are determined by ance𒁏stry. Fantastical abilities are also determined by ancestry; obviously a dragonborn’s ability to breathe acid or a tiefling’s natural spellcasting are not culturally determined.
As part of the more realistic ancestry system, the supplement also supports mixed ancestry, more than half-elves and half-orcs. Marshall points out t𓆉hat in many societies, no people would have exclusively one ancestry, but the rules allow for a dominant ancestry or two primary ancestries that are represented mechanically by a combination of the two.
Culture, on the other hand, governs stat bonuses. Rather than Intelligence being biologically determined – for instance, a Githzerai having naturally high Intelligence – it is determined by culture – a Githzerai’s home putting a high value on study. This eliminates the specter of biological determinism from D&D, and places a value on nurture in addition to nature. Characters also get a bonus for growing up in mixed culture communities as well, using a tool called Diverse Cultural Traits that gives a Charꦬisma bonus for a past in interacting with different types of people, among ⛦other things.
While it does look like D&D will be improving some aspects of race, those who view the potential changes hopefully should check out Marshall’s work. Ancestry & Culture is for $9.95, and an expansion, 61 Custom Ancestries & Cultures as well.
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