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."

 

[Hex08]

From a French perspective, "species" aren't any better than "races", it's even worse.

Can you elaborate on that?

 

[Marandahir]

Can you elaborate on that?

Not going to speak for them, but there is an issue of where racists have considered some people of different appearances or origins to be entirely different species, or subspecies, from them, in order to put those people down. Speciesist is also a proxy for racism in Star Wars and other sci-fi genres, and I can see it becoming as such in D&D if we go this direction.

I don't think there's many good options here, but species could be an issue due to extant historical usages.

 

[Gammadoodler]

Getting rid of 'race' = good.

'Species' feels like the option you take because the cool kids took the better ones.

It should take a lot of the steam out of the "xyz 'species' is just human with abc differences" arguments though.

"Bro, they aren't even the same species"

 

[wingsandsword]

Not sure how long it will take to stop using the word race though.

Probably never will go away, not in our lifetimes at least.

They stopped calling it spell memorization 22 years ago in 3e and replaced it with "preparation", I still hear plenty of people call it "spell memorization".

People tend to use the terms and language from when they learned the hobby, especially for core concepts like character race.

 

[Yaarel]

For sure. My biology is like..grade 10 level but I was thinking on this.

Human - Elf -> Half Elf - Sure, easy.
Half Elf - Half Elf -> Human, Elf, or Half Elf?

How does that work? (its a rhetorical I dont want the answer).

This is why I just drop the races species anyway. Its a lot of hassle.

Just making a 'choose your parentage' option makes more sense to me personally, but I know there are other views on it.

I dont mind if instead of "Race",

the new technical jargon is "Parentage".

 

[Kobold Avenger]

I remember having to give an awkward explanation that "race" in D&D was not anything like Asian (which I am) or White or Black, but things like Elves, Dwarves, Humans and so on. So I'm glad that's going away.

As for whether it would be Species, or Ancestry or whatever, I actually don't really care too much which one they pick.

 

[Raduin711]

Yes this was my point about the term being too loaded and not suitable for the game

I don't recall seeing this. Care to elaborate?

 

[darjr]

Species is fine.

I guess

 

[Raduin711]

Fan of dropping race, not a fan of species. Any of: Origin, Ancestry, or Lineage would have been a superior choice, IMO. Species makes a few options feel weird, like any transformation origin, like Reborn or Hexblood. Constructs like Autognome or Warforged. This isn't a dealbreaker, but I will probably use one of my preferences.

I never gave it a second thought to call a Warforged a "race." I expect "species" will fade into the background similarly.

 

[Osgood]

I'm all for dropping the term "race" but I don't love the term "species." It sounds too modern. It'll suffice, but hopefully they can come up with something better over the course of the play test. What about "Kind?" As in humankind, elfkind? Clunky, but it feels more in keeping medievalish fantasy lingo.