OK so I'm not sure what hasbro plans to do to de-racism D&D, but they've got their fucking work cut out, because the game is fundamentally built on justifying the use of violence against a demonised other, and it's a bit fucking fashy.

Here's how it breaks down:
1) the game is fundamentally *about* violence. The vast majority of the mechanics are about different, very specific ways to do violence. The game is centred around violence and needs it to happen repeatedly.

2) the game does not want to force its audience to actually *think* about the use of violence seriously. It wants to be happy fun escapist power-fantasy time, and that means never having to confront any moral issues around the constant use of lethal violence.

3) to achieve this, the game creates a class of acceptable victims for violence. These are what we call 'monsters'. They're presented as evil, incapable of compromise, undeserving of mercy or even life. They're presented as being totally deserving of the violence done to them.

The necessity of violence, and the creation of a victim class to deserve and recieve that violence mirrors a lot of colonialist or even fascist rhetoric.
It is necessary that we fight these people, so we will present them in such a way as to justify whatever abuse we heap on them

So monsters are deliberately presented as not deserving of mercy or redemption. We're given a world where it is necessary to murder this /other/, and a game where violence against this /other/ is the primary activity of play.

We are given a world where reconciliation is impossible, because (eg) mind flayers must eat the brains of 'real people' to survive and cannot change; either you kill them or they kill you. Where conflict is inevitable and constant.

And these otherised victims are then relegated to the fringes of the world. They aren't integrated into the societies PCs come from. They exist in their own little ghettos (the dungeon) or - at best - hide among 'real people' to prey on them.

They are a distinct class, lacking real power in the world (notice that the dominant powers always tend to be elves/humans/dwarves). Simultaneously so strong that they MUST be fought and killed, but so weak that when PCs encounter them, they die with little real resistance.

Because that's the thing: fights in D&D are one-sided. The PCs almost always win, and usually by totally wiping out their opposition. The asymmetry is striking.

So, yes. D&D fundamentally takes those who exist outside of mainstream society with little power, and presents them as an existential threat that must be exterminated, despite the fact that when the conflict actually HAPPENS in the game, they get totally crushed.

That's, uh... that's how fascists talk about us. Simultaneously weak and strong, deserving no mercy, incapable of compromise, necessitating constant violence.

The way D&D frames monsters is how fascists frame minorities.

The whole thing is fucked. Throw it out and start again.

OH SHIT I DIDN'T EVEN MENTION ALIGNMENT! ALIGNMENT IS FUCKED TOO!

Anyway this has blown up far more than I expected and Imma mute it for my sanity.

If you like RPGs and my thoughts on them, I have a blog!
https://cavegirlgames.blogspot.com/2020/03/dungeon-bitches.html

Also, black lives matter, trans rights are human rights, and the system is rotten and must be destroyed.