D&D 5E WotC On Tasha, Race, Alignment: A Several-Year Plan

WotC spoke to the site Dicebreaker about D&D race and alignment, and their plans for the future.

• On of the motivations of the changes [character customization] in Tasha's Cauldron was to decouple race from class.
• The 'tightrope' between honouring legacy and freedom of character choice has not been effectively walked.
• Alignment is turning into a roleplaying tool, and will not be used to describe entire cultures.
• This work will take several years to fully implement.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

(Emphasis mine)

Who the hell said ANYTHING about selling them as slaves? That is quite the leap you made there and shows me something about the assumptions you make. The reason they were being paid to bring them in alive was so the castle lord could get information from them (if any) about the upcoming invasion those races were part of. Jeez...

And if you read all of my posts on this issue you would know the player in question reflected on his choices, felt badly about them, and removed that PC from the game.

Hmmh...
... my point stands...

but probably not appropriate here.
I am sorry. I did not update the site and a lot of posts were missed.

 

[Oofta]

An NPC's motives are definitely needed. Although constantly exploring them can lead to the constant moral quandary. I mean, the drug dealer ruining lives of the children they sell to, but then sees one about to get run over by a carriage, so leaps to save them - because the kid is their best customer is always a thing. Still, gotta stop that dealer from selling these kids a drug made from troll poop and hemlock. (Or go out and collect troll poop and hemlock to sell to the dealer?)

Drugs in your campaign come from troll poop? Kind of gives new meaning to someone saying they have some of the really good naughty word.

 

[Scott Christian]

Drugs in your campaign come from troll poop? Kind of gives new meaning to someone saying they have some of the really good naughty word.

I don't know. I just made that up off the top of my head. I did have a drug that was made from distilled brass dragon urine. Made the imbiber giddy and see the world as though they were in the feywild. The dragon learned this and started selling it for a premium. One of our character was a brewmaster, so he had fun playing with the ingredient.

 

[DND_Reborn]

Hmmh...
... my point stands...

but probably not appropriate here.
I am sorry. I did not update the site and a lot of posts were missed.

Definitely not.

And no problem, this thread exploded and there is a lot to read.

And if you had been correct, your point would definitely stand!

 

[chaoshead87]

I can't help but think this is like tanar'ri in 2nd edition: a change to placate people who don't play the game or know anything about it.
D&D won't work without evil humanoids to fight. Moreover, popular culture depends on it. Look at Stormtroopers. Look at any of the faceless Marvel villain grunts. Evil creatures in evil hats have to exist in our media. You can't be a hero against shades of gray.

Wish I could upvote this more.

 

[Retreater]

And for me this is the crux of the argument, the default positioning of DnD, in people's homebrew whatever you want goes, however how does the vanilla DnD present itself?

What's done in Adventurer's League or Tasha's doesn't really concern me. But does it mean the 5.5 or 6e Monster Manual doesn't have stats for kobolds, orcs, or goblins? Does it mean that they stop producing adventures like Red Hand of Doom, Sunless Citadel, or others with evil humanoid opponents?
I guess this is ok with me. I am already moving more to the OSR side and use 3PP products.

 

[EzekielRaiden]

Does it mean that they stop producing adventures like Red Hand of Doom, Sunless Citadel, or others with evil humanoid opponents?

Is the only way to have "evil humanoid opponents" to have humanoids whose evil is inherent? I believe the answer to both questions will be the same.

 

[Umbran]

In what D&D game does this not happen?

If it is always happening, there would be no need for the label, and thus no need to argue over its removal.

Cool. Thread's done!

 

[DND_Reborn]

Cool. Thread's done!

LOL, time to lock it up then!

 

[Hurin70]

Sorry if I was unclear but you misunderstand.

I meant about the people who see the racist tropes in a game where the races are fantasy. It goes back to how some people see themselves in races that are alien to humans. While you might identify with another race, you aren't them and they aren't you--it is fantasy--they don't exist. It is why I explained how I've never seen racist tropes in D&D because I don't identify with an alien race like elf, dwarf, half-orc, etc.

I don't know if that makes any more sense or not, but that's the distinction I'm talking about.

Ok, I think I understand what you are asking now. But let me ask: Do you see any racism in the cover of Drums on Fire Mountain?