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<blockquote data-quote="I'm A Banana" data-source="post: 6310383" data-attributes="member: 2067"><p>It's iffy to hard-code them into character creation in a similar way to how it's iffy to hard-code possible gender differences into character creation. It's one thing to have differences and biases in your game, especially among fantastic creatures that never existed, it's quite another to say, "Oh, humans in this fantasy world are basically like humans here in the real world, and if you're not from a city, you CANNOT be as intelligent as someone who is," because that isn't how human beings or intelligence actually works. There's quite a bit of literature and conversation if you want to dig into it, especially in the land of video games, since it interfaces with things like avatar creation, self-identity, and the influence of Japanese culture on game development coupled with the fact that the Japanese experience of race is a <em>lot</em> different from the American one, but even if you don't dig in, it is enough to note that it flirts with elements of racism, classism, and cultural egocentrism. </p><p></p><p>There are probably ways to work around it and be OK, so it's not an absolute, but it invites trouble and it's easy to get it wrong. Typically, it's just easier -- cleaner -- to say "my fantasy humans are all like X." </p><p></p><p>Half-elves and half-orcs, being fantastic creatures that never existed, don't invite those same problems, or at least do so in a less blatantly problematic way (arguably, the very concept of fantasy race is problematic from the get-go, but that's a rabbit-hole I don't expect D&D to dive down any time soon). It's easier to say "all half-orcs are less intelligent than other humans," because, sure, half-orcs are imaginary beings in the first place, so if you say so, they might as well be.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>The PHB is just gonna explode variety all over the place. I'm glad it's all optional, modular stuff, too! <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="I'm A Banana, post: 6310383, member: 2067"] It's iffy to hard-code them into character creation in a similar way to how it's iffy to hard-code possible gender differences into character creation. It's one thing to have differences and biases in your game, especially among fantastic creatures that never existed, it's quite another to say, "Oh, humans in this fantasy world are basically like humans here in the real world, and if you're not from a city, you CANNOT be as intelligent as someone who is," because that isn't how human beings or intelligence actually works. There's quite a bit of literature and conversation if you want to dig into it, especially in the land of video games, since it interfaces with things like avatar creation, self-identity, and the influence of Japanese culture on game development coupled with the fact that the Japanese experience of race is a [I]lot[/I] different from the American one, but even if you don't dig in, it is enough to note that it flirts with elements of racism, classism, and cultural egocentrism. There are probably ways to work around it and be OK, so it's not an absolute, but it invites trouble and it's easy to get it wrong. Typically, it's just easier -- cleaner -- to say "my fantasy humans are all like X." Half-elves and half-orcs, being fantastic creatures that never existed, don't invite those same problems, or at least do so in a less blatantly problematic way (arguably, the very concept of fantasy race is problematic from the get-go, but that's a rabbit-hole I don't expect D&D to dive down any time soon). It's easier to say "all half-orcs are less intelligent than other humans," because, sure, half-orcs are imaginary beings in the first place, so if you say so, they might as well be. The PHB is just gonna explode variety all over the place. I'm glad it's all optional, modular stuff, too! :) [/QUOTE]
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