Racially diverse artwork in D&D...does it influence you?

[Imaro]

Most D&D games are beer-and-pretzel games, especially the kind you joke about in a comic strip, and their lack of verisimilitude is legendary. I wouldn't read high-minded social goals into a D&D game where everything seems like modern America in medieval drag.

And I wouldn't so readily dismiss humor as a platform to make comentaries... it's been that for years.

 

[Celebrim]

Now I'm someone who is slightly interested in anthropology, and I do find many of these cultural distinctions such as dress, architecture, history and myths to be fascinating. So it'll probably be reflected in settings I run where there's a large variety of nations who are culturally distinct and resemble particular human cultures.

Now that sounds great. And I note that avoids the implicit assumption of most of this thread which is, "The way to get diversity is show someone with black skin and african features." That assumption to me really only demonstrates the lack of diversity of cultural viewpoints occuring in this thread.

Anyways I do get slightly annoyed when people assume I'm Japanese rather than Chinese. They should figure out that it's more likely I'm Chinese when there's about 1.3 billion Chinese and only about 130 million Japanese. Which is why I don't assume other peoples nationalities, until I know more about them.

That, and Japanese and Chinese people are about as distinctly different in appearance as Swedes and Italians. There is some overlap in both groups, but 'all Asians look alike' is a product more of ignorance than anything else. And heck, speaking of ignorance, how many ethnic groups of Chinese are there? I couldn't tell you.

But on the subject of non-European racism, I remember being in discussion with several other computer programmers, about how it was good to be in America because in India, the Kashimiri Brahman wouldn't even be able to talk to his lower caste colleague, and the Pakistani born programmer said that it was a good think that they were in America, because back in India they'd have to kill each other.

I also knew a case where a Korean and Japanese couple married in America, but neither of them could return home because in doing so they were outcasts in both of thier families.

Countries like India, Liberia and Brazil are interesting studies in whether the American model of what 'diversity' means is in any way applicable to reality, or for that matter whether American notion of fighting racism with racism is actually worth the positive good it can do.

 

[SPoD]

Most D&D games are beer-and-pretzel games, especially the kind you joke about in a comic strip, and their lack of verisimilitude is legendary. I wouldn't read high-minded social goals into a D&D game where everything seems like modern America in medieval drag.

You're missing my point. "High-minded" has nothing to do with it. I'm not suggesting the author is on a crusade to change the world.

I'm saying that the fact that the strip has become as popular as it has without the hero's race being a factor will change perceptions among D&D players over time even if the author has no intent for it to do so. According to the author, half a million people read OOTS every time it updates, and all those people are being exposed, day in and day out, to the notion that it's no big deal for a black guy to be in a fantasy world and be the hero.

Change comes as a result of people becoming comfortable with an idea, and seeing Roy swinging his sword around in a comedy story creates a level of comfort.

 

[SPoD]

And I wouldn't so readily dismiss humor as a platform to make comentaries... it's been that for years.

Exactly. "All in the Family" was just a sitcom.

 

[el-remmen]

the notion that it's no big deal for a black guy to be in a fantasy world and be the hero.

And while it succumbs to the old cliche from movies that "the black guy always dies" - at least in this setting he can be brought back to life - just like that other famous story starting a Black guy. . . Jesus!

 

[The Little Raven]

And I wouldn't so readily dismiss humor as a platform to make comentaries... it's been that for years.

Humor is one of the best ways to deal with terrible things.

 

[Imaro]

Humor is one of the best ways to deal with terrible things.

OMG! I agree with Mourn...I...I just need some time to accept this.

 

[The Little Raven]

OMG! I agree with Mourn...I...I just need some time to accept this.

You and Ruin Explorer should form a support group.

 

[Mercule]

Check out the 4e writeups for races. With the exception of dragonborn, every single non-human player character race is described as coming in the same range of skin colors as humans are.

I wasn't saying that it was ever the "official" intent to narrow the variety within any of the demihuman races. I was referring to a personal... erm... viewpoint -- right, wrong, or neither.

Personally, I kinda like the idea that humans are the most diverse people. Make all elves pasty white, all dwarves deep ebony, halflings as Native American, or whatever. The problem there is that the races would run the risk of becoming caricatures of racial stereotypes, rather than just having a narrow band of skin colors. On the other hand, one of the cool things about Shadowrun was having the race/race choices, should you care.

Without deleting my train-of-thought musings, I guess I could get used to just about anything, here. It's probably best for the default text to be "any human skin tone" to imply the greatest range. I'll still miss elves with silver hair and violet eyes.

 

[Seonaid]

I think we vastly overemphasis the role of skin color in 'diversity'.

The problem is that, in the United States, skin color plays a huge part in our history and society. Africans and descendants of Africans were enslaved by Europeans and European descendants. (East) Asians were put into concentration camps by whites. Middle Easterners have been detained without cause. Racial profiling happens. In all of these cases, it didn't/doesn't matter what "flavor" of African/Asian/non-white the people were. Just because diversity does not equal multiple skin colors does not mean we can separate the two.

Anyways I do get slightly annoyed when people assume I'm Japanese rather than Chinese. They should figure out that it's more likely I'm Chinese when there's about 1.3 billion Chinese and only about 130 million Japanese.

Really? You do? Of course it's MORE LIKELY that, given a random sampling, they will run into a Chinese person more frequently than a Japanese one, but they are dealing with YOU, who are not Chinese.