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this cuts to the crux of the current discourse newtly, i hope: orcs are racist as hell, but they’re a symptom of a game whose foundation is violence needing acceptable targets for our “heroes” to slaughter in droves, and we should talk more about that than we do. https://twitter.com/cali_keftiu/status/1254506742349611008
the average D&D character has a serial killer’s bodycount by level 3 and a war criminal’s bodycount by level 10. these games are fundamentally built on a power fantasy of murder, publishing thousands of pages of detail on different peoples that exist to die on your sword.
like, fuck, y’all. critical role’s “how do you want to do this?” catchphrase is a gleeful celebration of how D&D exists to let us feel like cool killers. maybe we should address that.
“I’ve killed someone” is an absolutely massive, defining statement about a person.
“I’ve killed a few dozen people” is the default for any D&D character who’s been in a few sessions. That’s... worth remarking on, right? Like, picture your character saying that.
“I’ve killed a few dozen people” is the default for any D&D character who’s been in a few sessions. That’s... worth remarking on, right? Like, picture your character saying that.
coming back to Critical Role’s example (not because i think it’s especially heinous, but because it illustrates the norm): Jester is an adorable scamp who likes dick jokes and unicorns. she’s also killed more people than most military squads ever will.
and like, that dissonance is in every D&D character! it’s fucking wild that we just all brush it off! all of our adorable, quirky weirdos are murderers to an absurd degree and none of it ever matters
