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<blockquote data-quote="Blackbird71" data-source="post: 6600900" data-attributes="member: 6794081">You are correct of course; this is what happens when I try drawing on my rusty memory.&nbsp; And yes, his dwarves in particular (as well as others) most definitely drew on Norse mythologies.&nbsp; The point remains though that Tolkien's tales were intended as the stories of a people from a very specific region of the world.&nbsp; As such it should be no surprise that the characters of those tales primarily or even almost exclusively represent the ethnicity of that region.&nbsp; I don't think anyone would look at the legends of India or Japan for example and claim that they &quot;need more white people&quot;.I fully understand that, and my comment was not intended to directly address yours in that manner, but instead was merely meant to clarify the implied setting of Tolkien's works (which as Aloïsius pointed out, I was only partially correct in doing).&nbsp; Still, it is probably worth considering that much of fantasy gaming has been centered on the works of Tolkien and others like him, as well as some medieval European mythology.&nbsp; If that has translated to earlier versions of these games prominently featuring characters ethnically native to the settings of those stories, then I can hardly condemn those games as racist for simply being true to their roots and origins (I'm not claiming that anyone else here has).&nbsp; Over time of course fantasy gaming has expanded culturally, not just by adding ethnically diverse characters but by including legends, tales, and myths from many other parts of the world.&nbsp; This is a good thing, as in addition to sharing pieces of these various cultures, it expands the horizons of the imagination and the possibilities for adventure.&nbsp; I just wish that when we look back on the history of fantasy gaming and it is pointed out that it is &quot;full of white men,&quot;&nbsp; that we would remember the origins of the stories that inspired these games and the effect of those origins on the early games, instead of being so quick to assume some offensive motive for their racially monochromatic beginnings.&nbsp; Again, I'm not claiming that anyone here has done this in particular, I'm mainly thinking of past conversations on the topic which I have observed.So, about that art...</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Blackbird71, post: 6600900, member: 6794081"] You are correct of course; this is what happens when I try drawing on my rusty memory. And yes, his dwarves in particular (as well as others) most definitely drew on Norse mythologies. The point remains though that Tolkien's tales were intended as the stories of a people from a very specific region of the world. As such it should be no surprise that the characters of those tales primarily or even almost exclusively represent the ethnicity of that region. I don't think anyone would look at the legends of India or Japan for example and claim that they "need more white people". I fully understand that, and my comment was not intended to directly address yours in that manner, but instead was merely meant to clarify the implied setting of Tolkien's works (which as Aloïsius pointed out, I was only partially correct in doing). Still, it is probably worth considering that much of fantasy gaming has been centered on the works of Tolkien and others like him, as well as some medieval European mythology. If that has translated to earlier versions of these games prominently featuring characters ethnically native to the settings of those stories, then I can hardly condemn those games as racist for simply being true to their roots and origins (I'm not claiming that anyone else here has). Over time of course fantasy gaming has expanded culturally, not just by adding ethnically diverse characters but by including legends, tales, and myths from many other parts of the world. This is a good thing, as in addition to sharing pieces of these various cultures, it expands the horizons of the imagination and the possibilities for adventure. I just wish that when we look back on the history of fantasy gaming and it is pointed out that it is "full of white men," that we would remember the origins of the stories that inspired these games and the effect of those origins on the early games, instead of being so quick to assume some offensive motive for their racially monochromatic beginnings. Again, I'm not claiming that anyone here has done this in particular, I'm mainly thinking of past conversations on the topic which I have observed. So, about that art... [/QUOTE]

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