D&D 5E WOTC Possibly Removing "Druids" for Religious/Cultural Sensitivity Reasons

[Mannahnin]

I'm curious, was there any particular reason they removed Magic User and Thief? I kind of get the negative connotation associated with Thief, but why get rid of Magic User?

Aesthetics, I think. It's just a clunky name which was originally chosen to be generic. Because in 1974 OD&D there were only three classes, and two of them were EXTREMELY broad archetypes, Fighting-Man and Magic-User, intended to each cover a wide range of concepts.

The Magic-User encompassed all wizards, warlocks, mages, sorcerers, witches, seers, wonder-workers, and any other user of magic not specifically granted by a deity. The Fighting Man covered soldiers, knights, mercenaries, duelists, swordsman thieves like the Grey Mouser, and literally every other kind of adventurer who DIDN'T cast magic spells.

 

[Tony Vargas]

I'm curious, was there any particular reason they removed Magic User and Thief? I kind of get the negative connotation associated with Thief, but why get rid of Magic User?

Thief was too specific, the class was also a sort of scout and opportunistic killer, in addition to the negative connotation, while Rogue encompasses all that and more, while having a positive-to-old-timey-edgy connotation. Things like 'lovable,' affable, and 'with a heart of gold' get appended to Rogue all the time. Besides, Warlock and Sorcerer are loaded with negative connotations, and that didn't stop them from being 1e level titles or 3.x classes.

Magic-User, like Fighter, OTOH, was too generic and didn't evoke genre the way Wizard, like Hero, would have. (ironically, in Arneson's original 'fantasy game' there were two classes - Hero & Wizard)

 

[LordEntrails]

Didn't you hear? JC said they might get rid of "Dungeon" in the name because of the negative and sexual connotations. The new rulebooks will be called "Places & Dragons".

 

[TwoSix]

I think this illustrates a problem in that no matter what word you choose you're likely stepping on someone's toes.

Which is precisely why I would generally advocate for using the terms that are most closely associated with fantasy game jargon overall.

 

[Reynard]

I don't have a problem with any but the bolded. Don't use the term "priest". It's a term used for a very narrow group of religious leaders (Orthodox and Catholics specifically). I think the goal is use terms more broad and not pulled from a specific religion.

Priest IS the broad, culturally agnostic term.

 

[Reynard]

Didn't you hear? JC said they might get rid of "Dungeon" in the name because of the negative and sexual connotations. The new rulebooks will be called "Places & Dragons".

I don't know. "Dragon" is culturally insensitive to, well, everyone. Maybe we should go with "Places and Things" just to be safe.

 

[Veltharis ap Rylix]

For the purposes of cultural sensitivity, Dungeons & Dragons will no longer be using words or grammar appropriated/derived from non-English languages.

Here is the 2024 ruleset in full, free for everyone to use:

 

[Sacrosanct]

Priest IS the broad, culturally agnostic term.

No, it's not. speaking as a Catholic here.

priest​

noun​

ˈprēst

pluralpriests
Synonyms of priest
: someone who is authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion especially as a mediatory agent between humans and God
specifically : an Anglican, Eastern Orthodox, or Roman Catholic clergyperson ranking below a bishop and above a deacon

edit and even ignoring that, do you really want to use a term with so much baggage? It would be a distraction from the game.

 

[TwoSix]

No, it's not. speaking as a Catholic here.

priest​

noun​

ˈprēst

pluralpriests
Synonyms of priest
: someone who is authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion especially as a mediatory agent between humans and God
specifically : an Anglican, Eastern Orthodox, or Roman Catholic clergyperson ranking below a bishop and above a deacon

Yea, gotta agree with @Sacrosanct here. The most agnostic English term would probably be "clergy"?

The most agnostic game term for the archetype would probably be "healer", "white mage", or "cleric".

 

[nevin]

Didn't you hear? JC said they might get rid of "Dungeon" in the name because of the negative and sexual connotations. The new rulebooks will be called "Places & Dragons".

sorry Dragons were celtic and Oriental gotta go with Druids.

The new title will be "Places and Stuff".