D&D 5E Thoughts on this article about Black Culture & the D&D team dropping the ball?

[lkj]

Has anyone here ever used the Nyambe campaign setting (OGL-- 3rd edition)? I really enjoyed reading that campaign book but never had an opportunity to use it. I never really considered whether it was a positive representation of African or black culture. I'm sort of curious where that effort falls in this discussion.

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[DeJoker]

I don't understand this - eg who is "he" the "original author"?

And folks are accusing me of not paying attention -- go back in posts until you find the one where I complain about the individual not providing a link to the post they were directing me to and you will have your answer. I am not interesting in doing it for you.

But anyway, your proposal seems to be that the solution to exclusion from popular culture is to create one's own popular culture. But a well-known alternative to what you propose is to agitate for change to the existing culture. Which is what is going on in the article (and some of the blogs that it references).

(The fact that you characterise agitation as passive complaint is another point against your post.)

Hmm yes that sounds like why proponents of negativity state why their is a need for such a purely negative approach to things -- let us work at tearing down (or killing) what we do not like -- rather than -- let us build up (and make better) that which we do like. I will always stand against purely negative oriented change and stand with folks like Ghandi or Martin Luther King and opt for positive oriented change.

 

[DeJoker]

Somehow, I doubt anyone complaining about the dearth of African themed minis or how the gods of Egypt looked like Western Europeans offered solutions- the solutions are implicit within the complaints themselves.

Ah the rare case -- because it is so simplistic -- where the solution suggested is implied in the criticism but then again -- they could have put words to action and made those minis but then they would have had to risk their own money and it would have required effort -- oh so much easier to just complain about something and hope that someone else puts action to words.

 

[DeJoker]

Has anyone here ever used the Nyambe campaign setting (OGL-- 3rd edition)? I really enjoyed reading that campaign book but never had an opportunity to use it. I never really considered whether it was a positive representation of African or black culture. I'm sort of curious where that effort falls in this discussion.

Yes I would be most interested in this as well -- I have actually never even heard about the Nyambe campaign setting -- did the article promote this campaign setting or any other campaign setting of this nature? Serious question because if it did I would go back and try to root out that useful information.

 

[Alexemplar]

Okay ?? And you wrote the article this thread is about ?? If not then I am not understanding purpose of this comment.

You're dismissing the very real sentiments expressed in the article as empty condemnation because you don't think the person writing it is contributing to actual change. Well I'm also complaining and so is Leslie Light. We've both contributed to possible solutions. The article is actually contributing to the conversation by actually pointing out how such suggestions have gone largely ignored- as seems evident with how Chult turned out in 5e.

No, it's not empty complaining from people who nothing but complain.

 

[pemerton]

Hmm yes that sounds like why proponents of negativity state why their is a need for such a purely negative approach to things -- let us work at tearing down (or killing) what we do not like -- rather than -- let us build up (and make better) that which we do like. I will always stand against purely negative oriented change and stand with folks like Ghandi or Martin Luther King and opt for positive oriented change.

And now we've got all the tropes out - because everyone knows that Dr King never advocated for inclusion of black people in existing institutional and cultural frameworks!

 

[lkj]

Yes I would be most interested in this as well -- I have actually never even heard about the Nyambe campaign setting -- did the article promote this campaign setting or any other campaign setting of this nature? Serious question because if it did I would go back and try to root out that useful information.

Well, in fairness, it was a third party supplement, and it's over a decade old. Not sure how well known it was. I really liked it. Had a really different feel than traditional settings, and I thought they were creative in incorporating what I presume was actual African lore (but who the heck knows. I was just assuming).

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[Alexemplar]

Has anyone here ever used the Nyambe campaign setting (OGL-- 3rd edition)? I really enjoyed reading that campaign book but never had an opportunity to use it. I never really considered whether it was a positive representation of African or black culture. I'm sort of curious where that effort falls in this discussion.

I've mentioned it several times in this thread. Aside from being the only D&D supplement I know of that's been really explored a psuedo-African setting, it's also pretty well done. It's positive in that it's actually rather neutral in how it approaches an African fantasy setting, somewhat similar to how D&D approaches European fantasy. Nyambe is a land with a variety of religions (not just a layman's understanding of vodun), variety of ethnic groups (not all Yoruba/Zuluu/Masai hybrid), variety of terrain (not all jungle/savannah), variety of languages (not generic mock whatever), a variety of cultures and societies. It's not an idealistic natural paradise or a dark and unexplored disease ridden land of savage danger. It's a land of fantasy adventure that just happens to draw on Africa as opposed to Europe or Asia for inspiration- and still draws from other cultures.

I also highly recommend Spears of the Dawn, although it's OSR rather than d20. It's a smaller setting -mostly influenced by west African and nearby regions- but has some cool ideas.

 

[Alexemplar]

Yes I would be most interested in this as well -- I have actually never even heard about the Nyambe campaign setting -- did the article promote this campaign setting or any other campaign setting of this nature? Serious question because if it did I would go back and try to root out that useful information.

The article did not reference Nyambe, but it did provide a couple ideas for possible alternatives. One was described as an "African Atlantis", a "bleeding-edge technologist culture that architects magical machinery, who are black, or an ethnography of the cloud-dwelling black merchant princes who deliver their wares via airships."

 

[lkj]

I've mentioned it several times in this thread. Aside from being the only D&D supplement I know of that's been really explored a psuedo-African setting, it's also pretty well done. It's positive in that it's actually rather neutral in how it approaches an African fantasy setting, somewhat similar to how D&D approaches European fantasy. Nyambe is a land with a variety of religions (not just a layman's understanding of vodun), variety of ethnic groups (not all Yoruba/Zuluu/Masai hybrid), variety of terrain (not all jungle/savannah), variety of languages (not generic mock whatever), a variety of cultures and societies. It's not an idealistic natural paradise or a dark and unexplored disease ridden land of savage danger. It's a land of fantasy adventure that just happens to draw on Africa as opposed to Europe or Asia for inspiration- and still draws from other cultures.

I also highly recommend Spears of the Dawn, although it's OSR rather than d20. It's a smaller setting -mostly influenced by west African and nearby regions- but has some cool ideas.

Thank you very much for the input. Very informative. My apologies for not catching your earlier references in the thread. I'm usually pretty good about reading through threads, but at 22 pages, I'll admit I just jumped in the pool instead of going through all the discussion. My bad.

Cheers,
AD