Is everyone in Eberron white?

[Pielorinho]

The Shadow Marches people probably tend towards grey-green skin tones

Talk about not having it easy!
Daniel

 

[diaglo]

well supposedly you can bring other races directly from the MM into Eberron.

with that in mind.... the 1edADnD Monster Manual (1977) had goblins with different color skin tones. not all of them were red. some were shades of yellow.

none of course were green.

 

[RangerWickett]

I only asked because I like seeing different types of people presented in fantasy. From reading Eberron, I got the sense that all the humans were from the same stock, which I see as giving up a potential chance for giving a setting a unique flavor.

I'm not saying the book is racist. I'm just saying it doesn't seem to consider the fact that there probably oughta be different groups of people. If folks can critique the population density of the continent, then it also seems fair to critique the lack of racial diversity.

 

[reveal]

I don't see how you couldn't have an Eberron of many different ethnic races. For example, the Talenta Plains has tribes of nomads wandering about. Part of the Plains is made up of deserts. IRL, the nomads of desert climates typically, after generations at least, have different skin tones, different hair, etc. than "whites."

The same could definitely be said of the people of Eberron.

 

[Mystery Man]

well supposedly you can bring other races directly from the MM into Eberron.

with that in mind.... the 1edADnD Monster Manual (1977) had goblins with different color skin tones. not all of them were red. some were shades of yellow.

none of course were green.

There's only one green goblin.

 

[Nightchilde-2]

Two green goblins if you count Harry Osborne.

Then there's the Hobgoblin, but that's a whole other kettle of fish.

 

[Nightchilde-2]

Okay, more serious reply.

I suspect this will at least be touched on in the Races of Eberron book.

 

[The Sigil]

I only asked because I like seeing different types of people presented in fantasy. From reading Eberron, I got the sense that all the humans were from the same stock, which I see as giving up a potential chance for giving a setting a unique flavor.

I'm not saying the book is racist. I'm just saying it doesn't seem to consider the fact that there probably oughta be different groups of people. If folks can critique the population density of the continent, then it also seems fair to critique the lack of racial diversity.

I don't have the book, so I'll ask simply:

Is Eberron silent on the color of humans' skin?

If it is, why is the default assumption that they must be WHITE humans?

Seems to me that if the book is silent, and the assumption is made by a reader that they're white, that speaks more to the thoughts and prejudices of the READER than the WRITER.

If Eberron is silent on the color of human skin, it could just as easily be asked,

"is every human on Eberron black/yellow/brown/red/purple/green/{insert favorite color}?"

I'm not trying to wax political here, I'm genuinely curious. If Eberron is silent, this is to me an utter non-issue, as calling it "racist" comes from assumptions made by the READER.

--The Sigil

 

[Chondu]

In picture at the bottom of page 11 in the Eberron Campaign Setting the humans appear to have quite a range of skin tones.

 

[aurance]

I don't have the book, so I'll ask simply:

Is Eberron silent on the color of humans' skin?

--The Sigil

The text is silent, yes.

The art suggests most humans depicted have typically North European facial features.

It's not just a matter of skin tone. I'm of Asian descent. If I were next to a person of European descent next to one of Native American descent, and we were all photographed in gray-scale, we'd still look quite distinct despite the fact that we all have gray skin.

Having said this, the art doesn't really bother me, except that it breaks reality a little bit. There probably should be some additional morphological distinctions in the art simply because of geographical diversity. But putting that into a campaign world is a lot of work, and quite simply is not an easy task. If it can be done, great. If not, no biggie. Fiction and art are always centered at least in some respects to what you are and what you know, and that includes appearance identity. This should not be taken automatically as an indicator of deliberate misrepresentation - although sometimes it could be.

And maybe we shouldn't be making judgments on others' *supposed* prejudices either way.