Thanks to these screengrabs, many DnD players are realizing today that the man who created all of it was a misogynist.

So how do we keep enjoying DnD with all of this? https://twitter.com/caderaspindrift/status/1298022089039982594

First up, your answer might be – how about we don’t enjoy it anymore at all?

That’s totally fair. Don’t fight a fight if it’s not your fight.

It’s probably my favourite game in the world. I’d rather reclaim DnD than leave it to this mentality.

It’s no secret that the TTRPG community hasn’t been happy with WotC and its practices and they made their voices loud and clear. And whilst I think we can all agree that WotC is still very far from what we want it to be – that’s just the nature of corporations.

They are old, stodgy and slow to change. But I think unlike corporations that entirely ignore the community voice, we’re starting to see change.

Yesterday’s announcement of Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything included a mention of Lineages – a new rules system that lets you ignore race stat bonuses and craft your character based on their backstory rather than DnD’s idea of race.

Let’s talk about why this is such an important change. First of all, quick trip to etymology of race as seen in DnD. It’s derived from Tolkien’s work, as in “race of men,” “race of elves,” etc. I urge you here, if you have interest in this topic to do your own research on Tolkien

There’s a lot written about this. The short of it: Tolkien was very likely not racist but there was latent racism and Eurocentric views in his work.

Some of this latent racism can be extrapolated from his use of the word race, whereas what he’s actually talking about is different species. Of course, Gary Gygax ripping things whole cloth from LotR also adopts this nomenclature for different species.

Where this becomes VERY problematic is when a hobby that’s predominantly white and predominantly male started to use this term allegorically (including Gygax himself, obvs).

This only reinforced writers to pull cultural distinctions from our world using cultural divergence of humans as an example, rather treating them as actual different species as DnD continued to grow and develop.

The result of this is that now DnD’s approach to fantasy seems like a narrow-minded allegory for race, and it seems like that because it is.

Side-note (1/2): But why can’t we use DnD as allegory for race relations? Surely, story-telling can be a powerful tool for the positive? Surely WotC should hire more diverse creators to translate DnD into a tool for socially conscious storytelling?

Side-note (2/2): Yes! I share your enthusiasm. But imagine a community demographically leaning heavy on "white dudes" role-playing an allegory on race.

To see a game so entrenched in what it think it owes to its roots and legacy (class/race/ability scores/etc) allow such a fundamental and welcome change is a big step forward.

Of course, with the announcement, also came the inevitable revelation that even the name Tasha is tainted with Gygax’s misogynistic prism.

I will not fault you for thinking this is one small step forward and one big step back.

But let’s circle back to the original question. How do we reclaim DnD?

Well, look. Say what you want, but I think this new system on lineages is WotC’s response to community outcry. YOU made this happen. You, being vocal, being loud. You, who want this game to be better.

I’m glad that more information about Gygax and who he was is circulating. I’m glad that the community is more aware, more outspoken than it ever was and it’s forcing change.

My answer is keep pushing. Revelations about DnD’s creator is never a step back. It’s a big step forward and the more we march, the more DnD is ours. Be loud.