Personal Preference (P)for PHB Pronouns?

[The_Universe]

For me it doesn't matter one bit. As long as I can understand who the writer is referring to when there are multiple characters involved they can use whatever pronoun the want. I think this issue has been much ado about nothing in previous editions.

Olaf the Stout

I don't care. I'm a "he" so I'm fine with that. I'm also OK with alternating, since I correct for who I'm reading to or for anyway. Using names, and then continuing as appropriate would also be cool. This is not a majorly emotional issue for me.

 

[Thunderfoot]

Voted He but would prefer He/She . I'm surprised by the number of people that voted They ; did you fail English? (Assuming its your primary language, of course.) That is a completely inappropriate use of they; they can ONLY be used when describing a group, not a choice between two objects. (Though I have heard it used the other way, it grates my garbanzos every time.) :\

 

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

I'm surprised by the number of people that voted They ; did you fail English? (Assuming its your primary language, of course.) That is a completely inappropriate use of they; they can ONLY be used when describing a group,

Welcome to the English-Speaking World where, unlike such Ivory Tower Elitist Languages like French*, we're allowed to modify the usage of our language on our own. It's very liberating - you should try it!

*No, seriously - there's a building in Paris called La Tour d'Ivoire where they write down how everyone else is allowed to use French.

 

[drothgery]

Voted He but would prefer He/She . I'm surprised by the number of people that voted They ; did you fail English? (Assuming its your primary language, of course.) That is a completely inappropriate use of they; they can ONLY be used when describing a group, not a choice between two objects. (Though I have heard it used the other way, it grates my garbanzos every time.) :\

AFAIK, they has been used informally for a single person of indeterminite gender roughly since ye fell out of use. In 19th/20th century formal use, it's not, but that convention seems unlikely to last; between force of habbit on one-hand and avoiding charges of sexism on the other, I expect singular they to be acceptable to your English teacher any day now.

 

[Mishihari Lord]

I voted "he." I only read "he" as male when I know the topic is discussing a specific male person, and others always as the generic neuter. "she" is always a specific female to me. If I see "she" used when no specific female is being discussed, I find it distracting.

Me too exactly, which is why I HATE the way it was done in 3E.

 

[babomb]

Singular they is bad.

 

[Plane Sailing]

I always like to read 'You' in a book. It feels more like it is talking to me personally (or my character personally) and it leaves gender in my head.

 

[The_Universe]

I always like to read 'You' in a book. It feels more like it is talking to me personally (or my character personally) and it leaves gender in my head.

I can dig that, as well. The only time it ever becomes a problem is when I'm reading the PHB for a specific player, anyway, to adjudicate a rule or a spell or something. "You" neatly takes care of all the gender problems, and also implies that the players reading and using the book are supposed to be keeping track of this stuff, rather than the non-personal he or she.

 

[RFisher]

D&D is immediately one small step further away from its old boy's club reputation.

I think the reputation is a myth. (That's not "'D&D is an old boy's club' is a myth", but that "'D&D has a reputation as an old boy's club' is a myth".) Even in 1984 a friend & I tried to start up a D&D group & had as much interest from girls as boys.

So why not?

Because if you're writing a role-playing game, you should be concentrating on the product; not wasting time twisting the language. But if you are worried about offending people, you're less likely to do it if you just follow general practice. Plus it means you're less likely to confuse anyone.

If you do care, you'll notice, and it'll piss you off if it isn't "politically correct" as you put it (which imho, is a kind of rude attempt to marginalise/undermine it, but whatever).

In my experience, "politically correct" language annoys far more people than its lack.

I'm surprised by the number of people that voted They ; did you fail English?

If it was good enough for Chaucer, Shakespeare, the KJV Bible, Austen, Twain, & George Bernard Shaw; it's good enough for me.

I can't fathom why people feel the need to twist the language--whether it's the generic "he" or any of the PC alternatives--rather than just use what developed naturally.

 

[Thunderfoot]

Welcome to the English-Speaking World where, unlike such Ivory Tower Elitist Languages like French*, we're allowed to modify the usage of our language on our own. It's very liberating - you should try it!<SNIP>

Actually, it isn't because of literary liberation, but illiteracy running rampant at an alarming rate in English speaking schools. BTW I also noticed the little wink at the end so I am sure that most of your post is at least jesting in tone, however, I feel there IS a real problem with English being spoken incorrectly, especially in America. Particularly at a time where the debate over an official American language (particularly Spanish) frightens the Habeous Corpus out of me.

AFAIK, they has been used informally for a single person of indeterminite gender roughly since ye fell out of use. In 19th/20th century formal use, it's not, but that convention seems unlikely to last; between force of habbit on one-hand and avoiding charges of sexism on the other, I expect singular they to be acceptable to your English teacher any day now.

One more reason to bring back 'old' Modern English (ye, yeah, thou, etc are actually Modern English, not Ollde Englush for those of you that are not linguistics students. Don't believe me, read Beowulf in the original format, I had to in High School as a Freshman and nearly broke my brain.)
But casual usage should not necessarily dictate English rules, for if that were such a case then: idear (New England), warsh(Mid-Atlantic/Midwest), acrost(Midwest Plains) and various other bastardizations would be fair game and that scares me beyond colloquialism.