The latest edition of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game is causing controversy. Here’s what you need to know about some changes in the new books, which are due out next month.
Dungeons & Dragons has released an update on their recent book updates. The company explains the changes and how they were made after a large online furor.
Is it true that Dungeons & Dragons cleanse their books of “difficult” lore? Of course not, but Wizards of the Coast had to explain why it made a few small adjustments to its rulebooks. Wizards of the Coast issued multiple errata sheets this week, making various changes to previously published books, and the online Dungeons & Dragons forums erupted. Some of the adjustments were purely technical, while others included the removal of accidentally insensitive content from previous works (such as suggesting that villains should be given a stutter as a defining characteristic). Some players were disappointed to hear that parts of Volo’s Guide to Creatures, a book that gave in-depth studies at famous monsters like beholders, mind flayers, and yuan-ti, had been cut from the game.
Roleplaying hints that particular species acted consistently in a specific manner were deleted from the books, such as mentioning that “Gnolls exhibit little diversity in attitude and viewpoint” or that “a kobold accepts its helplessness in the face of a harsh environment.” While many people understood that these alterations were designed to avoid dealing with absolutes, other fans claimed that D&D was “purging” or “sanitizing” its mythology of anything objectionable. Some players felt that the elimination of racial alignment in the errata was an effort to homogenize the game or wash down features of the game so as not to offend.
The true reason, however, has less to do with eliminating “problematic” stuff and more to do with acknowledging that D&D’s canon lives in an universe with a diversity of civilizations. Yesterday, D&D Studio head Ray Winninger posted an update on their website describing some of the modifications made to different D&D rulebooks. Winninger commented, “I’ve already mentioned that new setting goods are a primary area of attention for the Studio coming ahead.” “Our reminders that D&D supports a variety of worlds, not simply The Forgotten Realms, are becoming increasingly obvious as part of this endeavor. We’re being especially cautious about making authoritative comments about such things without giving sufficient context since the nature of species and civilizations differs from one country to the next.” Winninger pointed out that orcs from Greyhawk differ greatly from orcs from Eberron, and orcs from the Forgotten Realms vary greatly depending on the society they hail from.
The roleplaying elements of the novels were also omitted, according to Winninger, since they indicated a universality to specific sorts of animals. Winninger commented, “We also eliminated a few passages stating that all mind flayers or all beholders (for example) have a single, stock personality.” “We’ve long taught DMs that populating adventures and campaigns with distinctive and intriguing people is one way to make them more memorable. These paragraphs were in direct opposition to such advise. We didn’t change anything about these species’ basic natures or how they fit into our environments.” Mind flayers still consume humanoids’ brains, according to Winninger, implying that they are wicked.
With the most errata, no real lore changes were made, but the documentation did help to align the books with the design team’s current mindset. If the current “controversy” has shown anything, it’s that the D&D team needs to disclose more lore to meet their claimed aims of depicting a diverse range of cultures, personalities, and behaviors. It’s great to argue that all orcs aren’t the same, but it’s much better to demonstrate this by giving varied cultures and backgrounds found across D&D’s numerous realms. By presenting multiple cultures, D&D’s many races (which just got new rules that eliminated mechanical bonuses connected to universal cultural assumptions) would seem more distinct. Meanwhile, Dungeons & Dragons enthusiasts may rest easy knowing that mind flayers still want to consume the brains of their characters.
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Dungeons & Dragons has released a statement explaining recent updates to their online rules after an online furor. The update includes the elimination of alignment, spellcasting classes, and more. Reference: dungeons and dragons how to play.
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