WotC WotC's Chris Perkins On D&D's Inclusivity Processes Going Forward

Over on D&D Beyond, WotC's Chris Perkins has written a blog entry about how the company's processes have been changed to improve the way the D&D studio deals with harmful content and inclusivity. This follows recent issues with racist content in Spelljammer: Adventures in Space, and involves working with external cultural consultants.

The studio’s new process mandates that every word, illustration, and map must be reviewed by multiple outside cultural consultants prior to publication.

Leveling Up Our Creative Process: Learnings From Spelljammer

In this blog post, I'll talk about how we in the D&D Studio are changing our review process following the problematic content that appeared in Spell...

www.dndbeyond.com

 

[Blue Orange]

Yeah, it does seem like they keep dinging themselves with that. I think a huge part of it is that D&D has decades of history steeped in problematic tropes. Slavery has been used to depict evil cultures and races for a long time. Just look at the traditional depictions of the baddies of the Forgotten Realms - Zhentarim, Red Wizards, Drow. All have had enslaving cultures in the past.

It takes time to untangle all that. A lot of the people making D&D now grew up with the worldbuilding of the generations before, which in turn creates blindspots. Which in turn is why sensitivity readers are so important.

Ironically it probably is due to a background awareness of America's history that it became the go-to way to show bad guys are bad guys. (That or racism, as in the Scarlet Brotherhood or to a lesser extent the Silvanesti.) "What's always evil?"

We don't seem to see the same obsession with Games Workshop, for instance. (But plenty of imperialism and tyrannical monarchies...)

 

[darjr]

They have changed things. For example look at the old AD&D 2e deck plans for the nautiloid vs the new 5e.

 

[Micah Sweet]

I did not acquire it - as I'm not ready to Spelljam our campaign just yet (we are getting there). The last book I purchased was Descent into Avernus and although I have not done an in-depth look at the book, I'm not sure how I feel about it having skimmed it once. According to this site its 8th on the list (out of 15) - and I quite enjoyed some others which they have marked much higher, so I dunno.
Having never done Spelljammer before I was really looking forward to the 5e book, but considering its poor reception from what I have seen - I might opt to get the older edition material and convert.

That is the thing to do. Wildjammer on Reddit is a fantastic fan-made 5e conversion, easy to find and free. I did buy the monsters in the book from DDB, but fortunately I copied them offline prior to the wave of errata. I don't like content I own being changed without my consent.

 

[Umbran]

I don't like content I own being changed without my consent.

This is a thing we have yet to internalize. We don't "own content" on online systems. We lease access to content.

 

[JEB]

This is a thing we have yet to internalize. We don't "own content" on online systems. We lease access to content.

Which is something to keep in mind with every digital purchase or subscription one makes.

 

[overgeeked]

This is a thing we have yet to internalize. We don't "own content" on online systems. We lease access to content.

Exactly. Which is why it's becoming physical or nothing for me again.

 

[Rabulias]

and to this day one of the few ethnics that still get a 'pass' on being insulted... the stereotype of a dumb polish person is one of the jokes that still can be said on American tv

Maybe I am watching the wrong TV shows (or the right TV shows in this context), but it has literally been decades since I have heard something like this on TV. And I think today no show would allow such a "joke" to be aired.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

This is a thing we have yet to internalize. We don't "own content" on online systems. We lease access to content.

Exactly. Which is why it's becoming physical or nothing for me again.

Which is something to keep in mind with every digital purchase or subscription one makes.

yeah this is one of the down sides of digital purchases

 

[GMforPowergamers]

Maybe I am watching the wrong TV shows (or the right TV shows in this context), but it has literally been decades since I have heard something like this on TV. And I think today no show would allow such a "joke" to be aired.

the ones brought to my attention have been Scorpion (a few years old) Intelligence (Newer then that but still 2ish years out) Big Bang theory and Orville and Family guy all being about as old as scorpion... I can ask on Saturday I know the guys have a list of 'never watch again' shows.

 

[Faolyn]

Wait did VOY have sensitivity readers? Surely not? It has some of the most repeated racist and weird racial stereotyping (of humans, particularly but not limited to Chakotay). Paris straight-up racists Chakotay in like the second episode. I know because I watched it a couple of years ago and I was like "Paris what the hell did you just say?!". Also let's not even get started on Neelix and his underage girlfriend because goodamn that should have caused arrests and ransacking of computers (not of the actors, but whatever writer came up with all that) lol not just sensitivity stuff.

Heck, I remember being surprised when Paris said that line because, like, I realize the Native Americans went to found their own planet and everything but did that mean that nobody on Earth knew anything beyond 20th-century stereotypes?

As for Kes... yeah. I realize they wanted to show someone who was alien and they already had numerous long-lived alien species, but having her be literally per-pubescent was just weird. Even using speculative biology here to make things more sensible doesn't help because it's never really addressed in the show.