The recent release of Spelljammer: Adventures in Space contained highly problematic descriptions and art of the flying monkey race, the Hadozee. WotC has publicly apologised for this material -- ""We wanted to acknowledge and own the inclusion of offensive material within our recent Spelljammer: Adventures in Space content".
The Hadozee were first introduced in AD&D 2nd Edition, back in the 1980s, but the lore in question is new. The recent depiction of the race included references to slavery and images which imitated existing racist artwork. This week, WotC removed that material from the D&D Beyond version of the book.
When Strixhaven: Curriculum of Chaos was released, WotC apologised for not including a credit for Tanya DePass, the cultural consultant for the book. The current Spelljammer release contains no diversity consultant credit either, although it's not clear whether that's another crediting omission or whether no such consultant was contracted. The company also faced backlash to its negative depiction of the Romani people in 2016's Curse of Strahd, and revised that content. They talked about their ongoing diversity policies in a 2020 blog post.
We wanted to acknowledge and own the inclusion of offensive material within our recent Spelljammer: Adventures in Space content. We failed you, our players and our fans, and we are truly sorry.
The campaign includes a people called Hadozee which first appeared in 1982. Regrettably, not all portions of the content relating to the Hadozee were properly vetted before appearing in our most recent release. As we continue to learn and grow through every situation, we recognize that to live our values, we have to do better.
Throughout the 50-year history of Dungeons & Dragons, some of the characters in the game have been monstrous and evil, using descriptions that are painfully reminiscent of how real-world groups have been and continue to be denigrated. We understand the urgency of changing how we work to better ensure a more inclusive game.
Effective immediately, we will remove the offensive content about Hadozee in our digital versions – and these will no longer be included in future reprints of the book. Our priority is to make things right when we make mistakes. In addition, we’ve initiated a thorough internal review of the situation and will take the necessary actions as a result of that review.
We are eternally grateful for the ongoing dialog with the D&D community, and we look forward to introducing new, engaging and inclusive content to D&D for generations to come. D&D teaches that diversity is strength, for only a diverse group of adventurers can overcome the many challenges a D&D story presents. In that spirit, we are committed to making D&D as welcome and inclusive as possible. This part of our work will never end.
(Note, this article is not open for comments for obvious reasons).
The Hadozee were first introduced in AD&D 2nd Edition, back in the 1980s, but the lore in question is new. The recent depiction of the race included references to slavery and images which imitated existing racist artwork. This week, WotC removed that material from the D&D Beyond version of the book.
When Strixhaven: Curriculum of Chaos was released, WotC apologised for not including a credit for Tanya DePass, the cultural consultant for the book. The current Spelljammer release contains no diversity consultant credit either, although it's not clear whether that's another crediting omission or whether no such consultant was contracted. The company also faced backlash to its negative depiction of the Romani people in 2016's Curse of Strahd, and revised that content. They talked about their ongoing diversity policies in a 2020 blog post.
We wanted to acknowledge and own the inclusion of offensive material within our recent Spelljammer: Adventures in Space content. We failed you, our players and our fans, and we are truly sorry.
The campaign includes a people called Hadozee which first appeared in 1982. Regrettably, not all portions of the content relating to the Hadozee were properly vetted before appearing in our most recent release. As we continue to learn and grow through every situation, we recognize that to live our values, we have to do better.
Throughout the 50-year history of Dungeons & Dragons, some of the characters in the game have been monstrous and evil, using descriptions that are painfully reminiscent of how real-world groups have been and continue to be denigrated. We understand the urgency of changing how we work to better ensure a more inclusive game.
Effective immediately, we will remove the offensive content about Hadozee in our digital versions – and these will no longer be included in future reprints of the book. Our priority is to make things right when we make mistakes. In addition, we’ve initiated a thorough internal review of the situation and will take the necessary actions as a result of that review.
We are eternally grateful for the ongoing dialog with the D&D community, and we look forward to introducing new, engaging and inclusive content to D&D for generations to come. D&D teaches that diversity is strength, for only a diverse group of adventurers can overcome the many challenges a D&D story presents. In that spirit, we are committed to making D&D as welcome and inclusive as possible. This part of our work will never end.
(Note, this article is not open for comments for obvious reasons).
