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<blockquote data-quote="Charlaquin" data-source="post: 8425732" data-attributes="member: 6779196">There’s a mix of things going on here. First off, the Strength/Dex split in D&amp;D doesn’t make a ton of sense to begin with. It would work if Dexterity actually just represented hand-eye coordination, or even proprioception more generally, but since has come to also encompass speed and reflexes and basically everything a “nimble” character is expected to do, the fact that it isn’t directly correlated with strength has become one of those D&amp;D oddities you just kind of have to accept.Now, given the weirdness of the strength/dex split, it does make sense within that framework that some characters would rely on dex over strength. The frail waif who can actually kick your ass because they’re small and quick and skilled is a common fantasy trope, and one that I think deserves a place in D&amp;D. Where the potentially racist undertones come in is when all the classes in the game are designed to encompass a variety of cultural influences, but one is pretty specifically East Asian-coded, and that one conspicuously racialized class is inherently linked to martial arts, and also shoehorned into that nimble waif form of fighting, with no built-in way to make them strong, tough fighters.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Charlaquin, post: 8425732, member: 6779196"] There’s a mix of things going on here. First off, the Strength/Dex split in D&D doesn’t make a ton of sense to begin with. It would work if Dexterity actually just represented hand-eye coordination, or even proprioception more generally, but since has come to also encompass speed and reflexes and basically everything a “nimble” character is expected to do, the fact that it isn’t directly correlated with strength has become one of those D&D oddities you just kind of have to accept. Now, given the weirdness of the strength/dex split, it does make sense within that framework that some characters would rely on dex over strength. The frail waif who can actually kick your ass because they’re small and quick and skilled is a common fantasy trope, and one that I think deserves a place in D&D. Where the potentially racist undertones come in is when all the classes in the game are designed to encompass a variety of cultural influences, but one is pretty specifically East Asian-coded, and that one conspicuously racialized class is inherently linked to martial arts, and also shoehorned into that nimble waif form of fighting, with no built-in way to make them strong, tough fighters. [/QUOTE]

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