D&D General Nolzur creates inclusive miniatures, people can't handle it.

[the Jester]

And giants wouldn’t be able to support their own body weight. We excuse all kinds of unrealistic things in the name of fantasy, it’s worth critically examining why this particular unrealistic thing is a sticking point.

That's fair. But giants don't generally break the sense of immersion; they feel like they belong in a typical fantasy setting. I have no problem with wheel chairs in a fantasy setting, or even magical ones; but I do have a problem with mundane ones functioning in ways they just can't. A wheel chair easily climbing stairs? Or navigating terrain that is seriously uneven and broken? That does break my sense of immersion.

There is room for wheel chair bound adventurers. But just as someone bound to a wheel chair the the real world must sometimes acknowledge that not all locations and activities are suited to them, so must a wheel chair bound adventurer. If the first part of an adventure is climbing down a mile-high shaft into the Underdark, I have a hard time seeing how a wheel chair isn't a serious impediment. And hand waving it just isn't satisfying to me.

 

[Reynard]

All it takes is a little imagination to make a wheelchair work in whatever environment you can imagine. This is a fantasy game. Why not direct a bit of the fantasy and a bit of imagination into making the wheelchair work instead of coming up with reasons why it can't?

Or just don't overly worry about it. Assume the dungeon corridors are ADA compliant and get on with the killing and looting.

 

[Oofta]

You can find a little more body diversity in minis made by individual artists on places like etsy than you can from the bigger brands, but it’s still very slim pickings.

Unless you're sculpting minis personally, I'm not sure how. There are sites like heroforge where you can customize someone to be a bit overweight, but that's about it. I was going to say you couldn't do much because the last time I tried (admittedly when they were fairly new) I couldn't even get this heavy.

An example from heroforge

 

[ersatzphil]

Some players with real-world disabilities would rather not play out those disabilities in their characters. Others very much would love to do so, as a form of representation and being seen.

This was what struck me during the kerfuffle awhile back when someone posted their homebrew rules on Twitter for a combat wheelchair - some people were very happy to see themselves represented in the game, and some people explicitly made comments along the lines of, “…dude, I use a wheelchair in real life. I don’t play this game to still have to use a wheelchair.”

Groups of real-life people aren’t monolithic.

 

[Alzrius]

You can find a little more body diversity in minis made by individual artists on places like etsy than you can from the bigger brands, but it’s still very slim pickings.

Phrasing.

 

[overgeeked]

Or just don't overly worry about it. Assume the dungeon corridors are ADA compliant and get on with the killing and looting.

Sure. I'd rather keep things like difficult terrain, water-filled corridors, etc. So rather than making the whole world ADA compliant, which would be immersion-breaking for me, my focus is on making sure the wheelchair can function at least equivalent to everyone else.

 

[Warpiglet-7]

That's fair. But giants don't generally break the sense of immersion; they feel like they belong in a typical fantasy setting. I have no problem with wheel chairs in a fantasy setting, or even magical ones; but I do have a problem with mundane ones functioning in ways they just can't. A wheel chair easily climbing stairs? Or navigating terrain that is seriously uneven and broken? That does break my sense of immersion.

There is room for wheel chair bound adventurers. But just as someone bound to a wheel chair the the real world must sometimes acknowledge that not all locations and activities are suited to them, so must a wheel chair bound adventurer. If the first part of an adventure is climbing down a mile-high shaft into the Underdark, I have a hard time seeing how a wheel chair isn't a serious impediment. And hand waving it just isn't satisfying to me.

I agree and don’t prefer that every other picture feature wheelchairs or people wearing glasses. I like a different aesthetic in my focus on medieval look. One here or there? Whatever.

But those realities are for the dm and party to deal with. This could lead to some novel uses of magic and make logistical issues an issue.

In short, if it comes up and I am DMing, we will deal with it. Likewise the players are usually good at solving problems. Levitate works for people with equipment, right? Better save one for the way up too.

But all of this is about one thing. It’s about cultural expectations and people pushing one way or the other. The people griping about this are mad some assumptions annd norms are changing.

I personally walk past things I don’t want to buy. If they were making wheelchairs to the exclusion of minis travelling on foot, I would have a problem with it. Until then shrug where is my fat priest?

I feel the same way about art. Put in everyone, just don’t make it so I cannot find what I like too. Which CAN be a thing but it’s not here.

 

[Charlaquin]

In my experience, most people don't seem to examine that possibility.

In my experience, a lot of people do, but people tend to get defensive when others suggest they may have unconscious biases and assume they are being accused of active bigotry.

I agree with the general spirit of what you're saying here, but I think that hits closer to home than you realize, insofar as there seems to be some assumptions being made with the nature of objections with regard to verisimilitude.

Oh, I’m well aware that it hits very close to home. That’s exactly why people get so defensive about it. It’s an unfortunate result of our tendency to essentialize these things.

 

[Warpiglet-7]

Sure. I'd rather keep things like difficult terrain, water-filled corridors, etc. So rather than making the whole world ADA compliant, which would be immersion-breaking for me, my focus is on making sure the wheelchair can function at least equivalent to everyone else.

Or Make the party figure it out. Give some tools and let them struggle. Characters make rafts all the time. An addition or modification to the chair is fine too.

Swap the wheels for something that floats. We got gnomes and artificers in a lot of campaigns afterall

 

[Oofta]

Back on subject, I have no problem with the wheelchair mini but I agree that I have an issue with it being limited to a mundane wheelchair while still traversing all terrain. Being inclusive, IMHO, does not have to include ignoring limitations. I'd rather have work-arounds for those limitations. Perhaps the wheelchair can hover, or sprout legs, maybe the wheels can transform into super pliable monster truck tires. Something.

While it's not the same, I have glasses. I accept that if I don't have glasses then I'm pretty SOL for seeing anything long distance. I don't want to play a game where my PC is short sighted but can still identify someone 50 yards away without corrective eyewear.

My father lost his right arm from the elbow down when he was in his late teens and there were times when I tended to kind of forget it. He was just "Dad", and as capable as anyone if not more so in my eyes. But I also know I could never really see things from his perspective or the little things that he couldn't do. Little things like that he had to wear boots because he couldn't tie shoe laces.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that the people who should really be answering this are people that require the use of a wheelchair because I simply don't know how I would react if I were in their position.