Calibans, Mongrelfolk and diability awareness

[Tonguez]

So Calibans and Mongrelfolk are DnD lineages that occur in Ravenloft and I'm currently considering a game in which they show up - including a friendly Caliban character based on Quasimodo (Acolyte, Bellringer (Bard)).

But then I got to thinking about the issue of his 'misshapen' hunchback being linked to a curse. I also got to thinking about the Igor character of DIscworld, who can stitch bodyparts and an optional lithp - How do you think such things should be handled?

 

[Theory of Games]

As if it were FANTASY.

I'm certain you can do better than "Quasimodo the Hunchback". Didn't Disney do that?

 

[TiQuinn]

So Calibans and Mongrelfolk are DnD lineages that occur in Ravenloft and I'm currently considering a game in which they show up - including a friendly Caliban character based on Quasimodo (Acolyte, Bellringer (Bard)).

But then I got to thinking about the issue of his 'misshapen' hunchback being linked to a curse. I also got to thinking about the Igor character of DIscworld, who can stitch bodyparts and an optional lithp - How do you think such things should be handled?

In a session zero. You can simply ask your players if that kind of character would bother them.

 

[BookTenTiger]

I think it's an interesting issue!

A lot of fantasy tropes are based on othering, and D&D is very entrenched in this. Elves are different than humans because of X, orcs are different than humans because of Y. Mongrelfolk are defined by their differences from humans, and traditionally it makes them weird, scary, etc. In Ravenloft, this perception is expected to be shared by both the people in the world and the players at the table.

One way to approach this would be to clarify that most villagers in Ravenloft may find mongrelfolk to be frightening, but Mongrelfolk don't. Attitudes towards Mongrelfolk are based on xenophobia and fear (maybe even promoted by those in power), rather than reality or even cosmology.

 

[John Dallman]

But then I got to thinking about the issue of his 'misshapen' hunchback being linked to a curse. I also got to thinking about the Igor character of DIscworld, who can stitch bodyparts and an optional lithp - How do you think such things should be handled?

When I played an Igor in a Discworld game, he regarded himself as a superior being, who adopted the hunchback and the lithp to seem less threatening to ordinary people. The optional nature of the lithp in the stories supports this reading, as does the trope-inversion.

 

[Tonguez]

As if it were FANTASY.

I'm certain you can do better than "Quasimodo the Hunchback". Didn't Disney do that?

heh, I like the classics and the Hunchback of Notredame is a classic 'horror' character.

your comment though does raise the point oif what is the 'Quasimodo' FANTASY? - Quasimodo the rejected outcast with a heart? who despite being reviled by society overcomes his physical limitations to become a hero?

Thinking on other disabled characters in fiction you have both Nemo and Dory from Finding Nemo, Tiny Tim from a Christmas Story, even Piglet in Winnie the Pooh. Then there is Edward Scissorhands and the various Igors. All of whom are secondary characters who though they do have their own heroic arcs only do so with the assistance of more 'able/normal' protagonist (eg Marlin) - which I suppose isnt necessarily a bad thing, Help action is cool!

 

[Jadeite]

heh, I like the classics and the Hunchback of Notredame is a classic 'horror' character.

your comment though does raise the point oif what is the 'Quasimodo' FANTASY? - Quasimodo the rejected outcast with a heart? who despite being reviled by society overcomes his physical limitations to become a hero?

Thinking on other disabled characters in fiction you have both Nemo and Dory from Finding Nemo, Tiny Tim from a Christmas Story, even Piglet in Winnie the Pooh. Then there is Edward Scissorhands and the various Igors. All of whom are secondary characters who though they do have their own heroic arcs only do so with the assistance of more 'able/normal' protagonist (eg Marlin) - which I suppose isnt necessarily a bad thing, Help action is cool!

That's the Disney version, Hugo's Quasimodo is not a positive character (but most of the characters of Notre Dame de Paris aren't).
You also have Shakespeare's Caliban from The Tempest and Richard III (Shakespeare's version is pretty fictional). And if you go into mythology, you have the likes of Hephaistos, Völund and Höðr.

 

[Theory of Games]

A disabled character overcoming their limitation is a great way to inspire children and those suffering from self-victimization. Look at Mister Frodo: he's a little tiny fella but he managed to save the whole realm (with some help from his friends along the way)

 

[Bedrockgames]

So Calibans and Mongrelfolk are DnD lineages that occur in Ravenloft and I'm currently considering a game in which they show up - including a friendly Caliban character based on Quasimodo (Acolyte, Bellringer (Bard)).

But then I got to thinking about the issue of his 'misshapen' hunchback being linked to a curse. I also got to thinking about the Igor character of DIscworld, who can stitch bodyparts and an optional lithp - How do you think such things should be handled?

'I think you lose something when you file the edges off characters like this. Phantom of the opera is another one that sort of requires leaning into the negative aspects of being disfigured. I find the stories don't work as well emotionally when you are being stretched by this other concern

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

In LegalKimchi’s video “On Being and Playing Mixed Race,” he tearfully and eloquently explains how as a mixed race person that has been called “M*ngrel” before he refused to buy the Curse of Strahd Revamped box set because WotC did not remove M*ngrelfolk. Though the monster changed in 5e from its previous iteration as a result of race mixing into the experiments of a mad angel, the word “m*ngrel” is a slur and an unacceptable inclusion in a game product.