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<blockquote data-quote="Yaarel" data-source="post: 9221703" data-attributes="member: 58172">The complexity of the old school Orc is the problem. The Greyhawk Orc is too human to be killed on sight.It is impossible to ignore the racism in the various Orc descriptions. To kill a &quot;primitive&quot; &quot;tribe&quot; on sight? To unconsciously associate Indigenous &quot;tribal&quot; peoples with Evil who deserve to be killed?1e AD&amp;D Monster Manual: &quot;Orcs appear particular disgusting because their coloration − brown − highlights their pinkish ears.&quot;Seriously, brown skin with pink areas is &quot;disgusting&quot;?Since when are animal features a problem? A &quot;snout&quot; can be cute.And later editions just get worse from there, when players learn how to massmurder Asian &quot;shamans&quot;. Or African &quot;witch doctors&quot;.In case any readers didnt notice the racist innuendos, an official D&amp;D supplement, Orcs of Thar, for the Mystara setting, spells them out. The &quot;red&quot; Orcs are American Indians whose &quot;tribal&quot; chiefs include &quot;Chief Sitting Drool&quot;. The &quot;yellow&quot; Orcs are Mongolians.Whether subtle in passing or blatant for &quot;humor&quot;, this racist flavoring seems indefensible.Anyway. I think we can all agree. This subject matter about D&amp;D racism has been heavily hashed out.I am deeply grateful. When 5e 2024 comes, this racist stuff will be gone forever.For D&amp;D 5e today, there is no room for both &quot;yes they are just like humans&quot; and &quot;yes Good characters can murder them on sight&quot;.An inhuman Orc such as a Fiend or Shadow to kill on sight, is defensible, but that ship has sailed.A Humanoid Orc is humanlike and requires a cautious rethink.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Yaarel, post: 9221703, member: 58172"] The complexity of the old school Orc is the problem. The Greyhawk Orc is too human to be killed on sight. It is impossible to ignore the racism in the various Orc descriptions. To kill a "primitive" "tribe" on sight? To unconsciously associate Indigenous "tribal" peoples with Evil who deserve to be killed? 1e AD&D Monster Manual: "Orcs appear particular disgusting because their coloration − brown − highlights their pinkish ears." Seriously, brown skin with pink areas is "disgusting"? Since when are animal features a problem? A "snout" can be cute. And later editions just get worse from there, when players learn how to massmurder Asian "shamans". Or African "witch doctors". In case any readers didnt notice the racist innuendos, an official D&D supplement, Orcs of Thar, for the Mystara setting, spells them out. The "red" Orcs are American Indians whose "tribal" chiefs include "Chief Sitting Drool". The "yellow" Orcs are Mongolians. Whether subtle in passing or blatant for "humor", this racist flavoring seems indefensible. Anyway. I think we can all agree. This subject matter about D&D racism has been heavily hashed out. I am deeply grateful. When 5e 2024 comes, this racist stuff will be gone forever. For D&D 5e today, there is no room for both "yes they are just like humans" and "yes Good characters can murder them on sight". An inhuman Orc such as a Fiend or Shadow to kill on sight, is defensible, but that ship has sailed. A Humanoid Orc is humanlike and requires a cautious rethink. [/QUOTE]

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