D&D (2024) One D&D Permanently Removes The Term 'Race'

In line with many other tabletop roleplaying games, such as Pathfinder or Level Up, One D&D is removing the term 'race'. Where Pathfinder uses 'Ancestry' and Level Up uses 'Heritage', One D&D will be using 'Species'.

Moving On From 'Race' in the 2024 Core Rulebooks

We understand "race" is a problematic term that has had prejudiced links between real world people and the fantasy peoples of D&D worlds.

www.dndbeyond.com

In a blog post, WotC announced that "We have made the decision to move on from using the term "race" everywhere in One D&D, and we do not intend to return to that term."

 

[Cadence]

The MMotM PC entry is one of the blandest things I've ever read in a D&D book. If that's the best they can do, I'm happy I've largely decided to leave WotC behind.

I'm guessing they could give paragraph entries to several distinct versions of them.

How much of the page-plus in the MM description actually impacts play more than the (iirc) shorter B/X or 1e descriptions?

 

[Jahydin]

You can call it what every demeaning term you want. I want a game I can give to my 13 year old nephew to play with his friends without havening to worry the books are full of racist crap.

You wouldn't let your kids play 5E as as it was released originally cause of how racist it is?

 

[Micah Sweet]

I'm guessing they could give paragraph entries to several distinct versions of them.

How much of the page-plus in the MM description actually impacts play more than the (iirc) shorter B/X or 1e descriptions?

I like lore. That entry intentionally eschews it to avoid potentially offending anyone. I feel there's a way to thread the needle on this one.

 

[Cadence]

From what I'm hearing here, you are unfortunately wrong. Fictional settings apparently  cannot contain bigotry, even as an evil to be fought.

It feels to me like fighting bad folks will always be in D&D's wheel house. Sometimes raiders, sometimes oppressors based on religion or race or greed, sometimes monstrous killers, and sometimes maybe kidnappers and enslavers. Which gets the most spotlight will probably be related to marketing.

 

[codo]

From what I'm hearing here, you are unfortunately wrong. Fictional settings apparently  cannot contain bigotry, even as an evil to be fought.

A wandering forum discussion is a horrible place to discuss complicated topics, writing can be sloppy and confusing. I think you may be reading to much into what people are saying here. I know that's not what I was trying to say, and I don't think that is what anyone else has been saying. If you though I meant that, I am sorry I didn't explain myself better.

There is a big difference between having your Villain be a evil racist who wants to murder all elves and the world itself being racist. It can be cathartic and a lot of fun to pretend to beat up bigots and defeat their evil plans. Your PC having to constantly deal with hatred and distrust because of their "race" and having racial slurs thrown at them, not so fun, and should not be in the game.

 

[Cadence]

I like lore. That entry intentionally eschews it to avoid potentially offending anyone. I feel there's a way to thread the needle on this one.

So, giving space to a few different flavors in the MM and then giving more in a particular setting book doesn't help?

There are few things I dislike more organizationally than the core books being too deep into one particular setting.

 

[Yaarel]

Is that a yes? Because it reads like a yes to me, even if you don't want to say it straight out.

You seem to imply that fantasy fiction is the same thing as racist fiction. As if, without racism, there would be no fantasy to write about.

LOL!

Fantasy fiction is about thought experiments, to deal with reallife challenges.

Fantasy writers have been engaging very many different societal challenges.

Todays fantasy writers will find our challenges interesting.

Some of the challenges from previous centuries are no longer challenging and no longer interesting.

Racism is uninteresting.

 

[Jahydin]

All this talk makes me very curious what One D&D's Appendix N would look like...

 

[Cadence]

Racism is uninteresting.

It feels like dealing with racism and sexism still show up in lots of popular movies, TV shows, and books and so might still be interesting to quite a few people? Or was Black Panther, for example, just touching on colonialism without racism being a thing? (As was noted above by @codo , how they're interestingly used seems to have changed.)

 

[Yaarel]

I like lore. That entry intentionally eschews it to avoid potentially offending anyone. I feel there's a way to thread the needle on this one.

Lore belongs in a Setting Guide.