D&D 5E Dark Sun, problematic content, and 5E…

[nevin]

And yet we have Ravenloft Where evil is permeating every pore of reality and everyone seems to be ok with it.

 

[Imaro]

And yet we have Ravenloft Where evil is permeating every pore of reality and everyone seems to be ok with it.

The type of horror you choose to run in Ravenloft is not pre-scribed by the setting. No one particular type of horror is intrinsic to Ravenloft as it stands in 5e, it's more a of a sourcebook to create your own. customized horror game of D&D. How does that compare with slavery in DS where, as many have voiced on these forums it's intrinsic to the setting?

 

[nevin]

forgotten realms has slave traders, Exandria has slave traders, Greyhawk has slave traders, Al Qadim has slave traders, I think every dnd setting i've ever seen has slave traders. I've never seen anything in any of those that make me think the authors were supporting slave trading. It's just part of human history. Happened on every continent and every race has had bad actors who participated in it. Makes for great enemies your players will hate.

 

[Micah Sweet]

The type of horror you choose to run in Ravenloft is not pre-scribed by the setting. No one particular type of horror is intrinsic to Ravenloft as it stands in 5e, it's more a of a sourcebook to create your own. customized horror game of D&D. How does that compare with slavery in DS where, as many have voiced on these forums it's intrinsic to the setting?

Except the horror of meaninglessness, since nothing you do makes any difference to the setting in VRGtR.

 

[Irlo]

No one who objects to depictions of slavery in DS believes that such depictions support slavery. That is so not the point.

 

[Umbran]

Stuff you put in the PH will  always feel more "opt-out" than stuff you put literally anywhere else.

Stuff that folks actually like will always feel more "opt out" than anything else.

 

[Mind of tempest]

People didn't care about people who were bothered by slavery back then. We've evolved.

I would like to believe that.

we do at least have conversations about it now.

 

[TheSword]

I’ve put no. Mainly because the way the title of the poll is worded specifically links the content to 5e. Now If the question said - is it acceptable for any publisher to release problematic content? Then of course they can. However WotC isn’t any old publisher. They are held to a higher standard.

“Hey look - we have this new game where we all pretend to be escaped slaves and kill the people who enslaved us. Doesn’t it sound fun!”

If WotC can’t say that with confidence to every single person that might want to play Dungeons and Dragons then they have no business releasing the product. Because WotC are the gateway to the hobby.

There is a huge difference between releasing the tools needed for someone else to play like that - and directly writing material/adventures that advocate playing that way. In short - give people rules for making their own backgrounds. Don’t create the escaped slave background.

Third parties can get away with it. Frankly they have very little to lose if it goes wrong and don’t have as much resting on their shoulders. They won’t face the same scrutiny - there publishing company can live or die on its own merits and fans.

 

[Micah Sweet]

I’ve put no. Mainly because the way the poll is worded specifically links the content to 5e. Now If the question said - is it acceptable for any publisher to release problematic content? Then of course they can. However WotC isn’t any old publisher. They are held to a higher standard.

“Hey look - we have this new game where we all pretend to be escaped slaves and kill the people who enslaved us. Doesn’t it sound fun!”

If WotC can’t say that with confidence to every single person that might want to play Dungeons and Dragons then they have no business releasing the product. Because WotC are the gateway to the hobby.

There is a huge difference between releasing the tools needed for someone else to play like that - and directly writing material/adventures that advocate playing that way. In short - give people rules for making their own backgrounds. Don’t create the escaped slave background.

Third parties can get away with it. Frankly they have very little to lose if it goes wrong and don’t have as much resting on their shoulders. They won’t face the same scrutiny - there publishing company can live or die on its own merits and fans.

WotC and 5e are not the same thing. One is a subset of the other.

 

[TheSword]

WotC and 5e are not the same thing. One is a subset of the other.

Semantics, that doesn’t change my points at all.