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<blockquote data-quote="Irlo" data-source="post: 8507256" data-attributes="member: 7028372">Now that I'm done being distracted by comments that are contrary to the spirit of this thread:1) Generally, IMO, the D&amp;D representations of borrowed monsters are already stripped of meaningful cultural context. I'm comfortable placing those monsters in adventures. That's not universal. I'm sure I could find examples that would make me uncomfortable. And of course when I hear from informed people that particular placements are cringey or inappropriate, I will listen and adapt my games. 2) No, if I were being consistently thoughtful and living up to my own expectations, I would try not to use those creatures in the first place in a way that set them up as stand-ins for a real-world culture. But DO use them in a way that doesn't set them up superficially as stand-ins. That means you can take the djinni out of the turbans and pantaloons and throw away the falchion. Those props if used lazily are short-hand cultural signifiers that can be dropped from any DM's campaign without worry. 3) I'm still formulating my thoughts on the third point. I think the main point is that if monsters in the fantasy world have a culture based on a real-world one, I'd establish a fantasy-world human analog also. Otherwise, give the monsters a fantasy culture divorced from real-world counterparts.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Irlo, post: 8507256, member: 7028372"] Now that I'm done being distracted by comments that are contrary to the spirit of this thread: 1) Generally, IMO, the D&D representations of borrowed monsters are already stripped of meaningful cultural context. I'm comfortable placing those monsters in adventures. That's not universal. I'm sure I could find examples that would make me uncomfortable. And of course when I hear from informed people that particular placements are cringey or inappropriate, I will listen and adapt my games. 2) No, if I were being consistently thoughtful and living up to my own expectations, I would try not to use those creatures in the first place in a way that set them up as stand-ins for a real-world culture. But DO use them in a way that doesn't set them up superficially as stand-ins. That means you can take the djinni out of the turbans and pantaloons and throw away the falchion. Those props if used lazily are short-hand cultural signifiers that can be dropped from any DM's campaign without worry. 3) I'm still formulating my thoughts on the third point. I think the main point is that if monsters in the fantasy world have a culture based on a real-world one, I'd establish a fantasy-world human analog also. Otherwise, give the monsters a fantasy culture divorced from real-world counterparts. [/QUOTE]

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