Witness
First Post
I am an African American male in my early 20s. When I was a kid, when I first got into D&D, all the characters I created were white, regardless of their "race." When I created characters for other games however, like GURPS or Champions, I created characters with a wide range of ethnic origins. This is because, as others have said, the default setting of D&D is based on European myth and history, and it would have seemed inappropriate to have a character with an unusual ethnic background in that setting, regardless of the fact that the people I was gaming with at the time were all black as well. In a game set in modern times, or the future, ethnicity is less of a factor, and I had no problem creating characters who look like me.
Now that I'm older, my D&D characters have more varied ethnic origins. I have no problems playing characters who are, black, or asian, or whatever... As long as their human. This is because, as portrayed in the official books, demihumans don't have the same range of ethnic diversity as human beings. I feel that if I tried to create an elf character with brown skin, that either I'd be told that I couldn't, or he'd be mistaken for a drow all the time. Ironically, the ethincity of the characters in the game has never even come up; I assume that my fellow players picture their characters as white (as the players are), and I'd be surprised if any of them knew that my character is black. Implicit in the visual representations of the non-human races is the idea that all members of that race look a certain way. By having the pictures in the official books showing all-white elves, and all-white dwarves, and all-white halflings, it is implied that it is against the rules to have a non-white elf, or dwarf, or halfling.
Again, I acknowledge that D&D is largely drawn from western Europeon myth. But then you look at something like the Monk class; obviously drawn from Eastern ideas, and the iconic Monk character is a black woman. I could probably find additional examples, but none more compelling. The point is that D&D incorporates ideas from a wide variety of sources, and readily acknowledges the ethnic and gender diversity of the real world. Likewise, the above example illustrates that D&D is not wholly or exlusively rooted in European history and myth.
Now certainly, one cannot and should not make endless concessions to political correctness. However, as portrayed, the ethnic representations of non-human characters is implicitly exlusive and may turn people off from playing D&D. Their is no reason why this cannot and should not be changed.
Now that I'm older, my D&D characters have more varied ethnic origins. I have no problems playing characters who are, black, or asian, or whatever... As long as their human. This is because, as portrayed in the official books, demihumans don't have the same range of ethnic diversity as human beings. I feel that if I tried to create an elf character with brown skin, that either I'd be told that I couldn't, or he'd be mistaken for a drow all the time. Ironically, the ethincity of the characters in the game has never even come up; I assume that my fellow players picture their characters as white (as the players are), and I'd be surprised if any of them knew that my character is black. Implicit in the visual representations of the non-human races is the idea that all members of that race look a certain way. By having the pictures in the official books showing all-white elves, and all-white dwarves, and all-white halflings, it is implied that it is against the rules to have a non-white elf, or dwarf, or halfling.
Again, I acknowledge that D&D is largely drawn from western Europeon myth. But then you look at something like the Monk class; obviously drawn from Eastern ideas, and the iconic Monk character is a black woman. I could probably find additional examples, but none more compelling. The point is that D&D incorporates ideas from a wide variety of sources, and readily acknowledges the ethnic and gender diversity of the real world. Likewise, the above example illustrates that D&D is not wholly or exlusively rooted in European history and myth.
Now certainly, one cannot and should not make endless concessions to political correctness. However, as portrayed, the ethnic representations of non-human characters is implicitly exlusive and may turn people off from playing D&D. Their is no reason why this cannot and should not be changed.
), thereby ignoring the description. The human iconic characters are somewhat raceless (I can't really decide what kind of race Regdar might be, Ember might be African, Alhandra Hispanic). The two elves are hard to put. To me, Soveliss and Mialee look a bit Hispanic, but maybe that's just me 
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