Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
White Dwarf Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Nest
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
EN Publishing
Twitter
BlueSky
Facebook
Instagram
EN World
BlueSky
YouTube
Facebook
Twitter
Twitch
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Problematic issues with TSR era D&D from a modern lens
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Sacrosanct" data-source="post: 8038374" data-attributes="member: 15700"><p>Several of the recent threads about OSR products and reactions, problem favs, etc has given me some thought.</p><p></p><p><strong>Note: I do not want this thread to be an argument of what's really offensive and what's not., or if the writers back then were bad people. I want participation about what things <em>you </em>find/found troublesome in prior TSR era D&D that would turn you away from the game if presented it now, not from a rules/mechanics standpoint, but from a presentation perspective.</strong></p><p></p><p>Let's start with some assumptions I think most of us can agree on:</p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">D&D back then was primarily written by white cis men for a white cis male demographic</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">chainmail bikinis with nipples, strength caps for women, and harlot tables are <em>almost </em>universally frowned upon by the current gaming culture.</li> </ul><p></p><p></p><p>What are other main issues you have seen? And how would you address it if you were in charge to go back and rewrite those games?</p><p></p><p>I think mature content is ok, if done in an inclusive and mature manner. I.e., constant illustrations of dominant men over naked helpless women, or depictions where women are the overwhelming victim of violence rather than the instigators of violence is something I would consider problematic. Older D&D did have nudity, but the problem was that it was almost exclusively female nudity, and presented in submissive manners. I think you could have a mature themed piece of art with female, male, and gender neutral representations in that art and still adhere to a sword and sorcery theme while also not reinforcing those old sexist tropes. </p><p></p><p>D&D was full of stereotypes, and while I think someone who is white can write a game about Asian, African, or other cultures can be done, it should be done with consultation from members of whatever culture you're writing about. Diversity writers do exist, and are growing. Those old stereotypes should be removed. </p><p></p><p>Gender pronouns. Most of the text, when talking about an individual, referenced "he". I think this should move to "they". Years ago in my own writing I thought I was inclusive by alternating between he and she, only to realize later I was excluding an entire group of people. </p><p></p><p>Other thoughts? As a cis white male myself, I am positive I'm missing a lot and I want to expand my knowledge of areas that others are impacted much more than I am. I acknowledge my privilege in this, so outside feedback is greatly appreciated and listened to.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Sacrosanct, post: 8038374, member: 15700"] Several of the recent threads about OSR products and reactions, problem favs, etc has given me some thought. [B]Note: I do not want this thread to be an argument of what's really offensive and what's not., or if the writers back then were bad people. I want participation about what things [I]you [/I]find/found troublesome in prior TSR era D&D that would turn you away from the game if presented it now, not from a rules/mechanics standpoint, but from a presentation perspective.[/B] Let's start with some assumptions I think most of us can agree on: [LIST] [*]D&D back then was primarily written by white cis men for a white cis male demographic [*]chainmail bikinis with nipples, strength caps for women, and harlot tables are [I]almost [/I]universally frowned upon by the current gaming culture. [/LIST] What are other main issues you have seen? And how would you address it if you were in charge to go back and rewrite those games? I think mature content is ok, if done in an inclusive and mature manner. I.e., constant illustrations of dominant men over naked helpless women, or depictions where women are the overwhelming victim of violence rather than the instigators of violence is something I would consider problematic. Older D&D did have nudity, but the problem was that it was almost exclusively female nudity, and presented in submissive manners. I think you could have a mature themed piece of art with female, male, and gender neutral representations in that art and still adhere to a sword and sorcery theme while also not reinforcing those old sexist tropes. D&D was full of stereotypes, and while I think someone who is white can write a game about Asian, African, or other cultures can be done, it should be done with consultation from members of whatever culture you're writing about. Diversity writers do exist, and are growing. Those old stereotypes should be removed. Gender pronouns. Most of the text, when talking about an individual, referenced "he". I think this should move to "they". Years ago in my own writing I thought I was inclusive by alternating between he and she, only to realize later I was excluding an entire group of people. Other thoughts? As a cis white male myself, I am positive I'm missing a lot and I want to expand my knowledge of areas that others are impacted much more than I am. I acknowledge my privilege in this, so outside feedback is greatly appreciated and listened to. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Problematic issues with TSR era D&D from a modern lens
Top