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<blockquote data-quote="Bedrockgames" data-source="post: 8847060" data-attributes="member: 85555"><p>Species I think captures the meaning of race in D&amp;D most. I still think it sounds a little odd in a fantasy setting to me, but stuff life ancestry and bloodlines, that seems to get just as bad as the problems people have with race (personally I think the word race is being used differently in D&amp;D so it doesn't bother me, but I understand where the discomfort around it comes from: I just think if race bothers you other stuff that has been used by racists and racialist science should also be a potential issue for you). Something like bloodline gets very much into the idea of human breeding for example (reminds me of the racist character in the Great Gatsby). But to me the bigger issue than the term is what the term signifies. I have always felt it indicated something more like the different between humans and neanderthals, so having mechanics to back up that difference makes sense and keeps the world interesting. But things seem to be moving it more towards a meaning like culture, where there isn't any kind of real physiological differences that are expressed in a mechanical way, just differences that are more close to cultural differences and vary more from individual groups of elves, dwarves, etc. I don't play 5E so I might be misunderstanding the direction things have gone in the latest announcements. I am sort of looking at this from the outside. But for me, whatever they call it, I prefer it to remain mechanically the way it was before where being a halfling gave you certain modifiers and abilities, being an elf gave you certain modifiers and abilities, etc. Some kind of mechanical distinction that keeps choosing your race and your class as these simple but meaningful choices at character creation.</p></blockquote><p></p>

[QUOTE="Bedrockgames, post: 8847060, member: 85555"] Species I think captures the meaning of race in D&D most. I still think it sounds a little odd in a fantasy setting to me, but stuff life ancestry and bloodlines, that seems to get just as bad as the problems people have with race (personally I think the word race is being used differently in D&D so it doesn't bother me, but I understand where the discomfort around it comes from: I just think if race bothers you other stuff that has been used by racists and racialist science should also be a potential issue for you). Something like bloodline gets very much into the idea of human breeding for example (reminds me of the racist character in the Great Gatsby). But to me the bigger issue than the term is what the term signifies. I have always felt it indicated something more like the different between humans and neanderthals, so having mechanics to back up that difference makes sense and keeps the world interesting. But things seem to be moving it more towards a meaning like culture, where there isn't any kind of real physiological differences that are expressed in a mechanical way, just differences that are more close to cultural differences and vary more from individual groups of elves, dwarves, etc. I don't play 5E so I might be misunderstanding the direction things have gone in the latest announcements. I am sort of looking at this from the outside. But for me, whatever they call it, I prefer it to remain mechanically the way it was before where being a halfling gave you certain modifiers and abilities, being an elf gave you certain modifiers and abilities, etc. Some kind of mechanical distinction that keeps choosing your race and your class as these simple but meaningful choices at character creation. [/QUOTE]

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