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Okay, so some people are wondering why there's so much noise ranging from frustration to outrage coming from the larger POC community reference #TCE, the latest book from the team at #DnD. And to get into that, we have to go back in time a bit. https://pocgamer.com/2020/11/20/tashas-cauldron-of-no-change/
When #DnD5e dropped in 2014, things were optimistic. POC representation in art was through the roof, and while there was still some problematic #DnD baggage following the new edition, it was what most would consider "a good start". https://pocgamer.com/2014/11/09/dungeons-and-dragons-5e-first-impressions/
The problem was that the effort sputtered there. #SCAG was released in 2015 and aside from making Gold Dwarves definitively Black again and maintaining the art representation, didn't offer significant coverage of even the POC coded areas near the area. https://pocgamer.com/2015/12/14/the-sword-coast-adventurers-guide-review/
But, many of us were still positive. Two steps forward and one step back is still a net foot forward. Then, in 2017, Wizards dropped #ToA, the first, and to date only, #DnD5e adventure set in a non-European coded area. It was a mess. Fallout came fast. https://pocgamer.com/2017/10/13/tomb-of-annihilation-review-part-1-chult-in-5e/
In a broad interview, the issues were laid bare. In deeper investigation, it was revealed that not only were there no Black or other POC involved in the writing and creating of ToA, but that detailing the region's history, culture, and so on was deemed unimportant.
Fast forward to 2020. In the three years since #ToA, and especially in the first half of 2020, the team at #DnD had been making moves that seemed to be in step with correcting the course of the game to be more inclusive and less reliant on stereotypes and problematic narratives.
This culminated with Jeremy Crawford discussing the topic on Twitter, promising that they would be addressing it in a supplement to be released this year. At this point, many were cautiously optimistic. https://news.wbfo.org/post/dungeons-dragons-tries-banish-racist-stereotypes
The key word being "cautiously". #DnD had made some moves, but it had also taken three years to have some of the problematic language removed from ToA. Then, a bomb was dropped, and this "future supplement" became a prove it point.
https://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1sra9pq
https://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1sra9pq
So skip forward to now. Tasha's Cauldron of Everything has been released, and the section that was supposed to get it all going was a damp squib. Not just that, but a near slap in the face to people who continue holding out hope that #DnD can address its problems.
The implication from earlier in the year was a significant movement was going to be happening. That while it was likely to be "optional" rules, it would at least be substantive in nature. Instead, there was a simplistic homebrewing guide that did little to address anything.
So that's why there's noise. That's why there's fury. It's not a flash in the pan or surprise. It's the culmination of years of promises, implied and explicit, that once again have come up short on delivery. And more than previous missteps, it has left people with the profound...
...feeling that #DnD does not care to seriously address its issues. https://pocgamer.com/2020/11/20/tashas-cauldron-of-no-change/
