RPG Evolution: Do We Still Need "Race" in D&D?

The term "race" is a staple of fantasy that is now out of sync with modern usage. With Pathfinder shifting from "race" to "ancestry" in its latest edition, it raises the question: should fantasy games still use it?

“Race” and Modern Parlance​

We previously discussed the challenges of representing real-life cultures in a fantasy world, with African and Asian countries being just two examples. The discussion becomes more complicated with fantasy "races"—historically, race was believed to be determined by the geographic arrangement of populations. Fantasy gaming, which has its roots in fantasy literature, still uses the term “race” this way.

Co-creator of D&D Gary Gygax cited R.E. Howard's Conan series as an influence on D&D, which combines Lovecraftian elements with sword and sorcery. Howard's perceptions may have been a sign of the times he lived in, but it seems likely they influenced his stories. Robert B. Marks explains just how these stereotypes manifested in Conan's world:

The young, vibrant civilizations of the Hyborian Age, like Aquilonia and Nemedia, are white - the equivalent of Medieval Europe. Around them are older Asiatic civilizations like Stygia and Vendhya, ancient, decrepit, and living on borrowed time. To the northwest and the south are the barbarian lands - but only Asgard and Vanaheim are in any way Viking. The Black Kingdoms are filled with tribesmen evoking the early 20th century vision of darkest Africa, and the Cimmerians and Picts are a strange cross between the ancient Celts and Native Americans - and it is very clear that the barbarians and savages, and not any of the civilized people or races, will be the last ones standing.

Which leads us to the other major fantasy influence, author J.R.R. Tolkien. David M. Perry explains in an interview with Helen Young:

In Middle Earth, unlike reality, race is objectively real rather than socially constructed. There are species (elves, men, dwarves, etc.), but within those species there are races that conform to 19th-century race theory, in that their physical attributes (hair color, etc.) are associated with non-physical attributes that are both personal and cultural. There is also an explicit racial hierarchy which is, again, real in the world of the story.

The Angry GM elaborates on why race and culture were blended in Tolkien's works:

The thing is, in the Tolkienverse, at least, in the Lord of the Rings version of the Tolkienverse (because I can’t speak for what happened in the Cinnabon or whatever that other book was called), the races were all very insular and isolated. They didn’t deal with one another. Race and culture went hand in hand. If you were a wood elf, you were raised by wood elves and lived a thoroughly wood elf lifestyle until that whole One Ring issue made you hang out with humans and dwarves and halflings. That isolation was constantly thrust into the spotlight. Hell, it was a major issue in The Hobbit.

Given the prominence of race in fantasy, it's not surprising that D&D has continued the trend. That trend now seems out of sync with modern parlance; in 1951, the United Nations officially declared that the differences among humans were "insignificant in relation to the anthropological sameness among the peoples who are the human race."

“Race” and Game Design​

Chris Van Dyke's essay on race back in 2008 explains how pervasive "race" is in D&D:

Anyone who has played D&D has spent a lot of time talking about race – “Racial Attributes,” “Racial Restrictions,” “Racial Bonuses.” Everyone knows that different races don’t get along – thanks to Tolkien, Dwarves and Elves tend to distrust each other, and even non-gamers know that Orcs and Goblins are, by their very nature, evil creatures. Race is one of the most important aspects of any fantasy role-playing game, and the belief that there are certain inherent genetic and social distinctions between different races is built into every level of most (if not all) Fantasy Role-Playing Games.

Racial characteristics in D&D have changed over time. Basic Dungeons & Dragons didn't distinguish between race and class for non-humans, such that one played a dwarf, elf, or halfling -- or a human fighter or cleric. The characteristics of race were so tightly intertwined that race and profession were considered one.

In Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, the changes became more nuanced, but not without some downsides on character advancement, particularly in allowing “demihumans” to multiclass but with level limits preventing them from exceeding humanity, who had unlimited potential (but could only dual-class).

With Fifth Edition, ability penalties and level caps have been removed, but racial bonuses and proficiencies still apply. The Angry GM explains why this is a problem:

In 5E, you choose a race and a class, but you also choose a background. And the background represents your formative education and socio-economic standing and all that other stuff that basically represents the environment in which you were raised. The racial abilities still haven’t changed even though there is now a really good place for “cultural racial abilities” to live. So, here’s where the oddity arises. An elf urchin will automatically be proficient with a longsword and longbow, two weapons that requires years of training to even become remotely talent with, but a human soldier does not get any automatic martial training. Obviously, in both cases, class will modify that. But in the life of your character, race happens first, then background, and only later on do you end up a member of a class. It’s very quirky.

Perhaps this is why Pathfinder decided to take a different approach to race by shifting to the term “ancestry”:

Beyond the narrative, there are many things that have changed, but mostly in the details of how the game works. You still pick a race, even though it is now called your ancestry. You still decide on your class—the rulebook includes all of the core classes from the First Edition Core Rulebook, plus the alchemist. You still select feats, but these now come from a greater variety of sources, such as your ancestry, your class, and your skills.

"Ancestry" is not just a replacement for the word “race.” It’s a fluid term that requires the player to make choices at character creation and as the character advances. This gives an opportunity to express human ethnicities in game terms, including half-elves and half-orcs, without forcing the “subrace” construct.

The Last Race​

It seems likely that, from both a modern parlance and game design perspective, “race” as it is used today will fall out of favor in fantasy games. It’s just going to take time. Indigo Boock sums up the challenge:

Fantasy is a doubled edged sword. Every human culture has some form of fantasy, we all have some sort of immortal ethereal realm where our elven creatures dwell. There’s always this realm that transcends culture. Tolkien said, distinct from science fiction (which looks to the future), fantasy is to feel like one with the entire universe. Fantasy is real, deep human yearning. We look to it as escapism, whether we play D&D, or Skyrim, or you are like myself and write fantasy. There are unfortunately some old cultural tropes that need to be discarded, and it can be frustratingly slow to see those things phased out.

Here's hoping other role-playing games will follow Pathfinder's lead in how treats its fantasy people in future editions.

 

[marcoasalazarm]

I am a man that prefers "race" because that's what's written in the dozen-plus RPG books he's got on the shelf. I don't know if "ancestry" or "species" sound better or worse as an industry-wide modification, although I guess that maybe it depends on the game's individual application -- a sci-fi RPG could use "species" better because when the enemy is killer robots the things that are regularly argumentative with the use of that term don't matter, it's pretty clear they want to Kill All Humans.

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

The term "race" doesn't bother me when used to separate human characters from elves or dwarves...

I don't think "ancestry" or "heritage" are an improvement, to me they are more confusing terms.

An improvement for me would be to replace race with "creature" and subrace with "people" (if intelligent, for cultural variants) or "variety" (for biological variants).

Yeah to me in D&D terms ancestry or heritage would be if a human is Suel or Oeridian. Not is a character an elf or a dwarf.

 

[Shadow Demon]

Funny thing... the race vs ethnicity debate is old.

Here's a scan from my Sociology textbook, copyright 2000:
View attachment 95953

This book pre-dates Twitter by 6 years and Facebook by 4.
Looking at the citations in the book, this question and issue in a modern sense easily goes back to the mid-90s (and has much, much older origins).

This is not a social media issue. This is a long term cultural issue and problem with language. Dismissing it as a "social media problem" trivialises the issue. It's a fallacious way (ad hominem btw) of attacking the issue without having to address the substance and veracity of the issue itself.

There is nothing here that I disagree with in reality. What I saying is social media has both accelerated and amplified the problem. Surely, you can’t think that social media has been a net postive.

The above doesn’t matter in this context because this debate isn’t about the real world use of race. Instead, it is about excuse to convince others that we should feel empathy for the offended while playing a fantasy game. Even if they exist and wish to bring their personal baggage to the game, I am just not feeling it.

 

[ShinHakkaider]

I acknowledged that in my first post, there are exceptions to every rule. Racism, sexism, anything negative doesn't ever have a place at my table nor any of the other tables I've been at. Is it predominantly white? Yes it used to be. Dungeons and Dragons and RPGs have become more mainstream in the recent years. Before hand it was a game for outcasts and nerds, the downtrodden. I have met few gamers that have ever participated in such stupidity, the only one that comes to mind was banned from my group for being an . We, the geeks and nerds who have played these games for generations, were all different, we were all stomped on, we know what it feels like. Bringing real-world politics, biased racial views, or anything negative to the table is self-serving and has no place in a gaming world. It's a place we go to get away from all that crap.

I've been doing this a long time, 25 years as a matter of fact. I speak from experience.

Okay, well I've ALSO been doing this for a long time. I think that I might have 10 more years of experience on you and also have dealt with the same people you might be claiming to be a minority in the gaming community. They are not a minority. Alot of these same geeks that you say know what it's like to feel like an outcast? Treat others THE SAME EXACT way. Alot of them lack empathy for anyone or anything that dont look or act like them or who dont share a similar background. That's been my expericence.

I've met and game with good people, which is what I'm concerned about FIRST. You can teach people to be good gamers.

I dont put gamers up on a pedestal. I know better. I've SEEN how vile gamers can be. Theyre just PEOPLE. For better or for worst. The best any of us can do is find good ones to spend the time with.

And D&D "used to be" mostly white? It's become more mainstream? Sure. But it's STILL mostly a white hobby. By a long stretch. If youre denying that? Then I'm afraid that we cant continue this discussion in good faith at all..

 

[Jester David]

There is nothing here that I disagree with in reality. What I saying is social media has both accelerated and amplified the problem. Surely, you can’t think that social media has been a net postive.

I was on Twitter but quit and have not looked back. It is a festering mass on the internet. But that's more on how people are using it than the medium itself. And just because Twitter is a rotting hole doesn't mean it's always wrong.

The above doesn’t matter in this context because this debate isn’t about the real world use of race. Instead, it is about excuse to convince others that we should feel empathy for the offended while playing a fantasy game. Even if they exist and wish to bring their personal baggage to the game, I am just not feeling it.

True... but the exact same sentiment could be voiced about making one human group in the game mechanically superior to another.
It's just a game. The Thayans and Cormyrians are not real ethnic groups. Having one be innately smarter than the other has no impact on real world racism.
But that would be a problem. Such a problem. Because it's taking something that causes real world pain and injected it into our escapist fantasy. That we're using fantasy ethnicity is irrelevant because it's causing real world emotions.

The word "race" is problematic. It does not matter if we're talking about elves and dwarves or Africans and Asians, we're still using a contentious term.

As I voiced in another post, imagine if we swapped "race" for "breed". You pick human or dwarf or elf as your breed. That sounds worse, right. But to many people, saying "race" feels just as dehumanizing as saying "breed".

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

Okay, well I've ALSO been doing this for a long time. I think that I might have 10 more years of experience on you and also have dealt with the same people you might be claiming to be a minority in the gaming community. They are not a minority. Alot of these same geeks that you say know what it's like to feel like an outcast? Treat others THE SAME EXACT way. Alot of them lack empathy for anyone or anything that dont look or act like them or who dont share a similar background. That's been my expericence.

I've met and game with good people, which is what I'm concerned about FIRST. You can teach people to be good gamers.

I dont put gamers up on a pedestal. I know better. I've SEEN how vile gamers can be. Theyre just PEOPLE. For better or for worst. The best any of us can do is find good ones to spend the time with.

And D&D "used to be" mostly white? It's become more mainstream? Sure. But it's STILL mostly a white hobby. By a long stretch. If youre denying that? Then I'm afraid that we cant continue this discussion in good faith at all..

Is it mostly white due to what though? Racism of white people? European mythology and cultural trappings appealing mostly to white nerds? Some other reason?

 

[LordNightwinter]

Okay, well I've ALSO been doing this for a long time. I think that I might have 10 more years of experience on you and also have dealt with the same people you might be claiming to be a minority in the gaming community. They are not a minority. Alot of these same geeks that you say know what it's like to feel like an outcast? Treat others THE SAME EXACT way. Alot of them lack empathy for anyone or anything that dont look or act like them or who dont share a similar background. That's been my expericence.

I've met and game with good people, which is what I'm concerned about FIRST. You can teach people to be good gamers.

I dont put gamers up on a pedestal. I know better. I've SEEN how vile gamers can be. Theyre just PEOPLE. For better or for worst. The best any of us can do is find good ones to spend the time with.

And D&D "used to be" mostly white? It's become more mainstream? Sure. But it's STILL mostly a white hobby. By a long stretch. If youre denying that? Then I'm afraid that we cant continue this discussion in good faith at all..

Alright dude. You sound like you might have a little bit of bias, dare I say racism, toward white people from all of your arguments and negative commentary. I will not be drawn in to a debate that I can't win because I'm the token white geek. I'm going to take the high ground and bow out. Good luck with your arguments. I wish you good luck and good fortune on all of your ventures. May the gamers you meet be better to you than the supposed ones you've met so far. For my part, if you have seen that side of things and only that side of things, I'm sorry. You're missing out on the better side of gamers. Good day to you sir.

 

[ShinHakkaider]

Is it mostly white due to what though? Racism of white people? European mythology and cultural trappings appealing mostly to white nerds? Some other reason?

D00d. STOP.

There is at no point in anything that I've said where I've even insinuated that it was becasue of Racism of White People.

 

[Tranquilis]

That's pretty sad if they actually censor people for using the term political correctness. I know it's a term of the right and I largely disagree with the people who use it but still, it's a thing. The term is a legitimate expression of opinion. Heavy-handed censorship of legitimate poltical discourse is unfortunate. Your solution that these people should "stay out of those threads" is another kind of censorship. Political censorship is anti-1st amendment and anti-American in my opinion.

It is a stacked discussion, to be sure. I honestly thought that, for example, “SJW”was an actual term used by social activists and not a pejorative.

To throw out biased “articles” like these, and then control the responses of those opposed isn’t “fair”, and it is disingenuous if one is opening up the comments section for replies and responses. The quality of these posts (disguised as articles or news) is very suspect and biased. I wouldn’t open myself up to the liability of attaching my name (or that of a site’s) to them. This I can tell you.

The sad thing is, if we all met in person, we’d probably get along splendidly. Sure, we’d have differences in opinion, but we’d agree to disagree civilly, I’d wager.

 

[Morrus]

It is a stacked discussion, to be sure. I honestly thought that, for example, “SJW”was an actual term used by social activists and not a pejorative.

To throw out biased “articles” like these, and then control the responses of those opposed isn’t “fair”, and it is disingenuous if one is opening up the comments section for replies and responses. The quality of these posts (disguised as articles or news) is very suspect and biased. I wouldn’t open myself up to the liability of attaching my name (or that of a site’s) to them. This I can tell you.

The sad thing is, if we all met in person, we’d probably get along splendidly. Sure, we’d have differences in opinion, but we’d agree to disagree civilly, I’d wager.

I literally just said that Meta is the the place to take your opinions on my moderation. You ignored me and decided to slur my integrity in my own house. Don’t post in this thread again.