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Message: <blockquote data-quote="loseth" data-source="post: 4163739" data-attributes="member: 54535">For those I've talked to who feel strongly about race in D&D (and fantasy fiction in general), the issue is the uncomfortable parallels between fiction and Victorian (or, say, modern-day BNP) perceptions of reality. For example, I love Howard and his Conan stories, but when I read passages containing Howard's ape men, I admit that I feel mildly uncomfortable. Of course I know that the ape men are a fictional race, but I feel pretty certain that the author feels there are parallels with 'reality.' Now, part of that is because I've actually read Howard's views on evolution and race, and can see the fit with his fiction, but even if I hadn't read his views on the matter, I think I'd still feel a little uncomfortable about his ape men.Now, with halflings, admittedly, I can't imagine anyone being offended. But half-orcs... The munchkin in me says, 'Oooh, big Strength bonus--I want a half-orc fighter!' But I admit that there's a little nagging voice in the back of my head that says, 'Can I really be sure that this fictional race is not--at least to a small degree and on a subconscious level--influenced by real-world prejudices?'Don't get me wrong--I don't want to come across as some politically correct Nazi. As I said, I'm fine with 'racial' modifiers existing in D&D, even if I would probably not use them to establish flavour if I were designing the game myself. I was just curious about the relatively greater concern with gender, and so wanted to get folks' opinions on why gender seems to be more of an issue.</blockquote>

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