D&D General The New York Times on D&D

[Hussar]

That a term isn’t right all of the time is just par for the course. Species is a reduction of an incredibly complex concept so of course it won’t always be perfect.

But that’s true of nearly any word. That’s just how languages work.

 

[mamba]

Ancestry fails the warforged test. So does heritage and lineage.

and so does species, because all terms we ever came up with do not account for mechanical ‘life’

 

[billd91]

and so does species, because all terms we ever came up with do not account for mechanical ‘life’

Kindred would have been a reasonable choice. Doesn’t need to be strictly biological nor strict and rigorous in a scientific sense.

 

[MGibster]

Kindred would have been a reasonable choice. Doesn’t need to be strictly biological nor strict and rigorous in a scientific sense.

Do you want to get beat up by Vampire LARPers? Because this is how you get beat up by Vampire LARPers.

 

[billd91]

Do you want to get beat up by Vampire LARPers? Because this is how you get beat up by Vampire LARPers.

Honestly, not that worried about that. It’s a lot less popular around here than it used to be.

 

[MGibster]

Honestly, not that worried about that. It’s a lot less popular around here than it used to be.

I hear the game sucks. (Mwa ha ha ha ha ha ha!)

 

[Lakesidefantasy]

I think we are being willfully blind if we don't recognize that using the term species to describe people will not rise up and haunt us someday.

 

[Remathilis]

I think we are being willfully blind if we don't recognize that using the term species to describe people will not rise up and haunt us someday.

Then the onus will be on future generations to find or invent a better word. That does not excuse us from getting rid of a much worse word now. Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good.

 

[Bedrockgames]

I think we are being willfully blind if we don't recognize that using the term species to describe people will not rise up and haunt us someday.

Species has a history of being used to promote racism (scientific racism was based on the idea that humans could be grouped into different species or subspecies, and they used race to essentially mean subspecies if I recall correctly). Lineage, ancestry, bloodlines have all been similarly used. I doubt there is a term that can be used to draw distinction between groups that doesn’t have some king of history to it.

That said, and as much as I think changing from race to species is a bad idea for D&D, it isn’t a problem in D&D for the same reason race wasn’t: humans are treated as belonging to the same species. I think it was better to have all humans be the same race. Worrying about fictional races or species seems pretty pointless to me

 

[TiQuinn]

I think we are being willfully blind if we don't recognize that using the term species to describe people will not rise up and haunt us someday.

I’m not sure what haunting your envisioning but the answer is “we didn’t know or consider those things then but we do now and are changing this term as a result.”