D&D 5E Don't play "stupid" characters. It is ableist.

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

Don’t play a character with any stats or distinguishing characteristics as it will offend someone

It's worse than that. You can't actually play any character, because doing so will be found to be offensive by people out in the real world.

Strawman. Like, literally the biggest strawman I've ever seen. No. Just plain no. Absolute, plain nonsense. This is the worst failure of making use of "reductio ad absurdum" that I've ever heard.

If you want your position to appear to hold water, attack an argument that someone actually made. Saying "no one can play any characters ever if we shouldn't play stereotypical stupid characters!" is such an absurd of a rebuttal that I literally can't come up with anything to compare it too. Maybe "If I don't get to put feces on your pizza, you're not allowing anyone to have pizza!"

Attack a real stance, please. Not make up this kind of BS.

 

[Umbran]

It's worse than that. You can't actually play any character, because doing so will be found to be offensive by people out in the real world.

Mod note:
While it may express how you feel, this isn't constructive. If the best point you can make is reductio ad absurdum, it is probably time to simple leave the discussion.

 

[Charlaquin]

I disagree. Normalization isn't the issue. If I roleplayed a character similar to my friend, we have trained for almost a decade together, the personal offense would be the issue.

I'm not going to run around town pretending to be 'slow' or unable to grasp new concepts.

I wouldn't do it, because people could be hurt by what would rightly be seen as making a show out of attributes or behaviour which they cannot change.

I mean, personal offense would be a pretty serious issue if you roleplayed that character in front of them, yes. But if you roleplayed the same character while your friend wasn’t around, and they didn’t know it, I would argue that’s still an issue, even though they would not be there to be personally offended by it. Ergo, personal offense must not be the only issue. Unless you want to argue that anything that could potentially be offensive to someone, and I don’t know about you but that’s not a route I personally want to go down.

 

[Faolyn]

Don’t play a character with any stats or distinguishing characteristics as it will offend someone

Or, don't play those stats in a way that makes fun of people, especially if those people can't help having those characteristics.

 

[Scribe]

I mean, personal offense would be a pretty serious issue if you roleplayed that character in front of them, yes. But if you roleplayed the same character while your friend wasn’t around, and they didn’t know it, I would argue that’s still an issue, even though they would not be there to be personally offended by it. Ergo, personal offense must not be the only issue. Unless you want to argue that anything that could potentially be offensive to someone, and I don’t know about you but that’s not a route I personally want to go down.

Them being there or not, doesn't mean it's offensive or not.

It would remain so.

Again, the normalization isn't the issue. It's an offensive act to me, to portray an issue which someone can do nothing about, in this regard.

 

[Charlaquin]

Is racist, homophobic, etc., behavior OK if it doesn't hurt someone?

I mean, I'm not going to be thought police and say you're not allowed to say bigoted things in the comfort of your own home and with like-minded people. But I'm also not going that it's OK either. Bigotry is bad even if nobody who hears it is hurt or upset by it.

Yup, what you think in your own head or say in your own home doesn’t harm others. But it is in the best interest of the broader society to insure that people who think and say bigoted things don’t feel safe doing so outside their own heads and their own homes.

 

[Charlaquin]

Them being there or not, doesn't mean it's offensive or not.

It would remain so.

Again, the normalization isn't the issue. It's an offensive act to me, to portray an issue which someone can do nothing about, in this regard.

Alright. I disagree, I think that’s the very argument Maxperson’s strawman was making. But you’re welcome to your own opinion.

 

[Scribe]

Unless I read it wrong, Max is saying it's not an issue. I believe it is an issue...

 

[Enevhar Aldarion]

Is racist, homophobic, etc., behavior OK if it doesn't hurt someone?

I mean, I'm not going to be thought police and say you're not allowed to say bigoted things in the comfort of your own home and with like-minded people. But I'm also not going that it's OK either. Bigotry is bad even if nobody who hears it is hurt or upset by it.

I would not care how non-racist a person may actually be in real life, if they choose to play a racist character, I will be very not cool with that and likely not continue in that game. Even if it is with non-human races. The old tropes of the elf-hating dwarf and dwarf-hating elf got really old 30-40 years ago and there is no room for that beyond the obvious meta-jokes making fun of those old tropes. And with the reforming of various evil non-human species, it is probably time for the old tropes of the orc-hating dwarf, etc to be retired.

 

[Enevhar Aldarion]

You can, but you can’t see any posts of theirs (apart from the opening post of the thread) and vice versa.

You know what I discovered though? You can log out of your account and then read everything on the forums, including posts by anyone who has blocked you. No need for an alt account or anything, as I do not plan on replying to any of them.

For example, I see some person names Scribe, who I have no clue about, and don't remember ever interacting with, has me blocked for an unknown reason, as they have several posts in this thread.