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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Haldrik" data-source="post: 8033632" data-attributes="member: 6694221">I believe the optimal solution is the balance and interactivity of two opposing force.• Respect and accuracy for reallife cultures• Creative inventivenessThe thing is, in D&D, these forces have been way out of balance.Thank goodness, the pioneers of D&D Gygax and Arneson, seem to be decent people. They seem less racist than many other people during their era, for example. They seem to genuinely like East Asian esthetic and military culture.The problem is ignorance. I can almost here them say something like, "The natives are restless". In other words, they are completely clueless about the cultures that they are exploring/appropriating/misrepresenting/exploiting/invading/colonizing.To be fair. They lived in a world, when the rest of the world was far away. And to exhibit intellectual curiosity is exoticism. And it seemed impossible to even to relate to an other culture, unless it was a white person who mastered the other culture, like a white American samurai, or maybe like Tarzan.Gygax and Arneson had lots of• Creative inventivenessHowever, the opposing force was actually difficult to acquire• Respect and accuracy for reallife culturesWe have today, what Gygax and Arneson lacked in their era.We have African American D&D players. We have Chinese American D&D players. And so on. We have women D&D players. We have transsexual D&D players. We have gay D&D players. And so on.And D&D designers among them!So, when we hunger for exotic adventure in East Asia, we dont need to do a tone-deaf gonzo pastiche that is totally clueless. For example, we can ask Chinese designers who enjoy D&D to integrate Chinese tropes into the game in ways that are grounded, meaningful, and playful.These authentic living Chinese traditions within D&D become part of our shared D&D experience. It happens in a healthy, organic, way that includes mutual respect and enjoyment. And yes, informed accuracy about the other culture.Often, friends who are intimate with that identity group are literally at our table gaming with us.Our resources for D&D are awesome now.</blockquote>

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