D&D General “‘Scantily Clad and Well Proportioned’: Sexism and Gender Stereotyping in the Gaming Worlds of TSR and Dungeons & Dragons.”

[Frozen_Heart]

If one were to model being trans as a background (and I agree that’s probably not the best way to do it, at least not the way 5e 2024 handles backgrounds), I definitely agree with Wis and Cha; self-awareness and communication are skills I think the vast majority of us end up developing. Con… is a stretch, but it works better than Str, Dex, or Int IMO. Throw in a background Feat about being able to disguise your voice and that’d resonate as well as a 2024 background could be expected to for me. Though, there’s some baggage around the idea of “disguising,” so maybe frame it in terms of imitating voices.

Yeah the idea of 'trans' being a background is a bit yikes imo. Replace 'trans' with 'gay' and it makes it pretty clear.

Anyone of any background can be trans.

 

[Steampunkette]

Yeah the idea of 'trans' being a background is a bit yikes imo. Replace 'trans' with 'gay' and it makes it pretty clear.

Anyone of any background can be trans.

As previously noted, I threw it out there as a joking sarcastic comment to highlight the weirdness of trying to use background to map being trans.

Or, more generally, the idea of being trapped between two worlds (whether as a trans allegory, general outcasting, being part of a minority heritage in a given culture, or whatever other narrative one desires to apply).

 

[Charlaquin]

Didn't they do precisely that to a couple of characters in the recent Phandelver "remake" or whatever you want to call it?

Which certainly seems like a warning shot, though I doubt they'd dare do it to a really famous character.

I don’t think so. They spectrum-slid* a few characters, but I don’t recall any of them changing species, and I don’t recall original LMoP having any half-elves or half-orcs in the first place. They also changed Neznar’s epithet from “The Black Spider” to just “The Spider” and softened some of the language describing the goblinoid and orc enemies.

*my preferred nonbinary-inclusive alternative term for “gender-swap”

 

[abirdcall]

I think it's a bit unhelpful and reductive to call "between two worlds" a "tragic backstory".

I said no such thing.

We were talking about how all the species art has them being happy and that is pushing out the tragic backstory.

And that just isn't true.

 

[Vaalingrade]

I've said this before, but I really think tieflings should remain as the "mistrusted outsiders" choice. That's like the big part of their appeal, and if you cannot play that trope as a literal devil spawn, then I feel things have gone a bit wrong.

I'd rather not give the DM license to harass me for my species choice, thank you.

Let people who want to play outsiders play outsiders instead of encouraging people to treat certain basic character choices as outsiders against the players' will.

 

[Gradine]

Re: Trans Woman as background

I'd definitely agree with +CHA, +WIS, +CON (to say nothing else, hair removal is not for the thin-skinned!) For skills, Insight seems clear; I'd add Persuasion for all the damn hoops we have to jump through just to get the care we need.

I'd go with the Alert feat, personally.

 

[Vaalingrade]

I think it's a bit unhelpful and reductive to call "between two worlds" a "tragic backstory".

Knowing that the racist trope it springs from is literally called the 'Mulatto Tragedy' and is all about how I should know my place and be sad... I'm going to use that terminology.

 

[Thomas Shey]

I think it's a bit unhelpful and reductive to call "between two worlds" a "tragic backstory".

Yeah. About a year ago I was playing a halfelf Gunslinger in a PF2e game, and while she had some dark elements in her backstory, I wouldn't call it "tragic", and her relationship with her parents (even though they were at different times) certainly weren't. Or we have the Spock thing where he had some issues with Vulcan culture growing up, but was still supported by his parents and isn't normally seen as a tragic figure.

 

[Charlaquin]

Yeah the idea of 'trans' being a background is a bit yikes imo. Replace 'trans' with 'gay' and it makes it pretty clear.

Anyone of any background can be trans.

Yeah, it would definitely be weird, which I think was the point @Steampunkette was illustrating. But, I can’t resist a good thought experiment.

Also, I’m a huge Dragon Age fan, and the latest game in the series just recently came out. It has its ups and downs, but for me one HUGE up was that it gives you the option to not only choose your character’s body type, voice, and pronouns all independently of each other, but also gives you the ability to confirm in dialogue that your character is trans or nonbinary, and doing so unlocks further gender-specific dialogue. Up until I saw that option, I had never really considered roleplaying specifically as a trans woman in a game. I’m already that in real life, if I’m roleplaying I’d rather play as a cis woman. But let me tell you, I had no idea how much it would mean to me until the game directly confronted me with it. To not only be able roleplay a trans woman, but to have the game directly acknowledge and respond to me making that choice? To have voiced dialogue in the game where my character could express her feelings about being a woman, and discuss it with other characters? Literally brought me to tears, and I’m not someone who gets that emotional over video games most of the time.

So, in light of that, I’ve been a bit more conscious lately of how a game not only saying “you can roleplay anything you want,” but actually making those roleplaying choices have a meaningful impact on the gameplay experience can be really valuable - sometimes much more valuable than the player might realize until they’ve experienced it. So, while a background might not be the best way to express being trans in D&D, I am receptive to the idea that having some kind of mechanical responsiveness to such a character choice could be worthwhile, if handled appropriately.

 

[abirdcall]

I mean, that’s a huge part of where the stereotype of LGBTQ folks loving Tieflings comes from. Rainbow-colored people who get shunned and persecuted as “children of the devil” because of factors they were born with and have no control over? It’s like they were engineered in a lab to appeal to queer gamers.

Correct me if I'm wrong but my understanding is that this is being questioned because there is a picture of a bunch of tieflings having a great time together.

I can assure everyone that when queer folks get together we have a great time.