D&D (2024) What new jargon do you want to replace "Race"?

[Scribe]

I think it will be the best outcome. A point-buy system of advantages (not something that is unheard of in the field of RPGs...) that the player can attribute to race, star conjunction at birth, species, magic or simply I trained hard to become able to breathe underwater. Well, maybe not in this particular example... It will fit how many players (at least, the one I've seen playing) plays their characters (because Xeno-thinking is incredibly hard to do, much more than roleplaying a member of a different sex, context of even social class) leading the "plastic ear" accusation, will empower players to play what they want (a common tendancy) and end the controversy. Potentially insensitive depiction will be part of the setting, not the rules.

Yeah, not for me, but it does seem to be where people are starting to lean if they realize it or not.

 

[Bill Zebub]

View attachment 269298

Clearly the sky is falling if the official description of Orcs doesn't sound like a Conquistador's description of native Americans.

 

[Bill Zebub]

To paraphrase, because orcs were created by a god, they are the toughest and most tenacious people around which makes each and every one of them excellent guardians and allies. This runs pretty close to the Noble Savage trope. I think the specifics about Gruumsh and Eberron are fine, but the generalizations about orcs -- not so much.

Except that description doesn't carry a whiff of "savage", so I think you are bringing into it your own preconceptions of orcs.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Clearly the sky is falling if the official description of Orcs doesn't sound like a Conquistador's description of native Americans.

So it's one or the other then?

 

[Scribe]

Clearly the sky is falling if the official description of Orcs doesn't sound like a Conquistador's description of native Americans.

What sky?

How to avoid causing additional issues with your descriptions of <beings formerly known as members of a race>?

Keep it generic. Keep it positive. Dont say too much.

MotM Orc description in a nutshell.

 

[Micah Sweet]

What sky?

How to avoid causing additional issues with your descriptions of <beings formerly known as members of a race>?

Keep it generic. Keep it positive. Dont say too much.

MotM Orc description in a nutshell.

Can't tell you how much fun that new PH will be to read with all the flavor ripped out. Worse in that respect than 4e was.

 

[codo]

I agree with these. But it should be made clear that players, on an increasing basis, do choose to be these. I mean, in second edition I had a player choose to be a githyanki. In 4e I had a player choose to be undead and another a gnoll. In all cases we made them the exception. The Drizzt style of play. In all cases, they had backstories that broke them from their "inherently evil" ways. Again, just an observation.

Lets not look at the Drizzt books as a positive example. The Drizzt books, and to a greater extent, the drow race itself, are just dripping with racism and fetishized misogamy.

Do you really think "All Drow are inherently evil and have no free will, and we kill them on sight, except for our buddy Drizzt, he's one of the good ones." is really a good look for D&D.

 

[Xamnam]

Forgive me if this was just public consensus, and not explicit text, but wasn't part of the goal of a book with multiverse in the title to not foreground setting specific detail, to make the entries more widely usable for DMs?

 

[Scribe]

Forgive me if this was just public consensus, and not explicit text, but wasn't part of the goal of a book with multiverse in the title to not foreground setting specific detail, to make the entries more widely usable for DMs?

I think so. Which makes sense to carry over to the PHB as well because that too (and the MM/DMG) should all be as generic as possible to fit into as many games as possible right?

Its like the Tiefling description from the packet.

Generic (granted with a Sigil assumption), positive, safe.

 

[Hriston]

Except that description doesn't carry a whiff of "savage", so I think you are bringing into it your own preconceptions of orcs.

It's light, but it's there in the qualities of the warrior-god resonating within them and "defenders of the natural order".