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

 

[GMforPowergamers]

From the viewpoint of the growing indigenous TTRPG industries outside the US, disinterest in sanitised, idealised Americanised products is a good thing. Unless they also want to sell to the US market, in which case they'll have to abandon local preferences for the bigger spenders overseas. Applies equally to the Chinese market, of course.

As I said the world's not American and there's different cultural norms here. It's not uobto you to impose your views on the rest of the world.

I'm not saying a book like that is a great idea or commercially viable. But a Maori author could turn out something like that and it would tick all the boxes in terms of cultural authentication.

well this is the first I have ever heard of an 'idealised sanitided americanised' I am used to us have worse stuff then germany or Brittan (except sex for some reason we do go regressive there) so I guess if you have an audience go for it...

I linked two different videos of work by Polynesian artists. One was a descendent of a slave the heavy metal video was about the Muskat Wars.

Reason slavery gets used in entertainment is because it's a source of conflict and depending on when/where you set your story eg ancient Greece or Rome it was very common.

okay, but we don't want it in our games, and we can be vocal about it

 

[AnotherGuy]

If you did a fantasy Aotearoa/NZ you could find someone signing off on themes involving slavery, cannibalism and genocide. For me it would depend on how they did it it's not universal across Polynesia.

Hmmm, this makes me want to redesign or rather expand on the Makai people in The Ierendi Isles.

 

[darjr]

I'd think a book on Mythic Polynesia would not focus on things like slavery or cannibalism, they would rather be background elements that exist. They'd focus on belief systems, skills specific to the setting, vessels, equipment and weapons, fighting styles, names, monsters and threats, trade, environmental hazards, architecture, class system if any...etc

And the unique myths of the cultures. Make them come to life for the table.

 

[Zardnaar]

well this is the first I have ever heard of an 'idealised sanitided americanised' I am used to us have worse stuff then germany or Brittan (except sex for some reason we do go regressive there) so I guess if you have an audience go for it...

okay, but we don't want it in our games, and we can be vocal about it

Context NZs about 30-50 years ahead of America in some ways. Maori renaissance started in 70's, laws were changed 80's, compensation 90's it's an on going process. One of my players is Maori he is from the richest tribe and has been involved in gaming material.

Stuff that's a big deal in America now been there done that in the 90's. We had positive portrayals on LGBTQ and PoC back then on our TVs, if you go through our school system you learn about Maori culture and go visit a Marae. Hell I got sent to a Kohanga Reo (Maori culture school) in 1989.

Moana was a great movie was popular here but it's still a Disney saccharine production.

I'm not familiar with the Polynesian book people are upset about. The how it's depicted here would be more important than what's depicted. Eg it would depend on what island they're depicting, how they're depicting it etc.

Maori, Fiji, Tonga and Samoa were quite warlike.

Tongan Empire

Tuʻi Tonga Empire - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

Genocide

Chatham Islands | NZHistory, New Zealand history online

nzhistory.govt.nz

Anyway there is a book in the works not sure exactly what's the in it but it's got the walking statues of Rapa Nui in it.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

We could bet Lovecraft would be very happy and proud with the action-live horror series "Lovecraft Country".

Lovecraft Country

This article is about the TV series. You may be looking for the real world novel that inspired the series, or the in-universe novel of the same name. Lovecraft Country is a drama horror television series based on Matt Ruff's novel of the same name. It premiered on HBO on August 16, 2020. On...

lovecraftcountry.fandom.com

My opinion is we shouldn't reject fantasy worlds based in other cultures, because these could be used to introduce those real civilitations. If I respect the Chinese culture is thanks when I was a child I watched the teleserie "Kung-Fu" whose main character, the "little grasshopper" was played by David Guaradine. (The sequel was a true "jumping the shark"). Speculative fiction could be used to open doors and help to promote curiosity about other cultures.

Let's use this example. An anime used a Spanish city, Cuenca, as "source of inspiration". And do you know what did the city? To use that anime as a hook for Japanese tourists.

Far-East Asian nations shouldn't reject fantasy works published by Western companies based in folklore from other cultures, but these could be useful as "icebreaker" to introduce their own titles in the Western market. This would help to increase their "soft-power". Some Western teenages started to learn Japanese language because they love manganime.

How explain it with other example? Agraba, from Disney's Aladdin, is a fictional place, of course, but little children enjoying the TV cartoon show of Aladdin get used to the Middle Orient cultures, and this may be very good against the islamophobia. Of course if WotC wanted to publish again "al-Qadim", this would be following different rules.

We should be openminded.

 

[AnotherGuy]

Man, I've never been exposed to or thought I'd be interested in that part of our world's history but this thread...

 

[Vaalingrade]

That is not a strawman

No, it's whataboutism.

 

[Jfdlsjfd]

As I said the world's not American and there's different cultural norms here. It's not up to you to impose your views on the rest of the world.

yeah, so they have to decide if being authentic is worth loseing money. I mean it's simple really. The more you want to sell the more you have to respect the cultural change of norms.

Or each product could target different audiences with different expectations, set of values and cultural associations to things depicted.

One person will look at a boomerang and see a children's toy, another a hunting implement.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

Or each product could target different audiences with different expectations, set of values and cultural associations to things depicted.

One person will look at a boomerang and see a children's toy, another a hunting implement.

except selling 1 will spread, and plenty of people will just refuse to do business' with you, some because you are being too much this or that and other because your other book is 'kowtowing'

 

[Faolyn]

I get what you are saying here and in general I agree, but you example mythic European setting would not bother me as someone European, whose ancestors have from been oppressed at home for about 100 years (though I might draw the line at liederhosen ) I can very well imagine that other people who are experiencing discrimination due to their background/ancestry might not agree with me.

And you (or they) would have every right to complain and have those complaints addressed and for the books to be changed. Of course, if it gets changed probably depends on whether the complaint is "Vikings didn't historically wear horned helmets!" or "you're using gross stereotypes about these people who have and are suffered because of those stereotypes!" I don't think Norwegians have been harmed by by depictions of horned helmet-wearing Vikings (if I'm wrong, correct me) but (for example), Romani have been harmed by stereotypes about them.

This strikes me as one of those things that sounds good in the abstract, but has the proverbial rubber hit the road when it comes time to quantify "terrible," "mishmash," "effort," and "sensible."

For instance, how would you indicate in a clear manner and unambiguous manner which elements of the setting are presented as being dissimilar to real-world cultures on purpose so as to indicate their difference from historical Earth, as opposed to out of ignorance for the culture(s) being presented as pastiche?

I honestly don't know. I suppose it would depend on how much of the serial numbers have been filed off and how it's used in-setting.

TSR's Oriental Adventures setting of Kara-Tur was a 'fantasy place whose flavor was taken from real places'.

And OA has been panned for exactly the same reasons Mythic Polynesia is now being raked through the coals.

Has it not been established that “it’s just fantasy” is not an acceptable argument or excuse?

This is very true. Although as I said elsewhere, Mythic Polynesia is supposed to be the real world (but with magic) and the writer chose to treat all the Polynesian peoples as being the exact same thing, presumably to make it easier to write a book about them.

Which is why a modern "Oriental Adventures" would need to be held to a much higher standard than the original one was, assuming that a new OA was ever created (which I doubt).