Re: What Drow Thread(s) Taught Me
Posted: Tue Aug 17, 2021 7:58 am
About racism in general, at the current point in time discrimination and racism are lumped together in the western society.
With D&D I make a distinction between using negative stereotypes, discrimination and racism in my RP for some of my pc's.
The essence of racism is that the other race is not seen as an equal , no racist character would want to be treated equally to that race they consider inferior.
Just an example racism vs discrimination.
Comment from PC 1: Watch the halflings, one blink of an eye and they have their grubby hands in your pockets.
It's a comment a racist can make, though if anything this is stereotyping half lings in a discriminating manner.
A good aligned character may say this based on experience,the place he/she is from or simply because of a reputation.
An evil one might do this to take their advantage of something and a CN dwarf just does it because he wants a bar brawl.
Comment 2 Calen: Ey Watch the pikin hins, like all little critters 'hey steal.
In this case the racism is targeted at the fact that they are 'little',Calen also makes it clear he sees smaller humanoids as 'critters' thus inferior because of how they look.
The difference between the two is that A may be reasoned with, a view like doesn't easily shift but it is possible.
Some of these reputations are well earned , think of Thay or amn up to a lesser extend.
This can still lead towards hostile actions or characters not liking each other, though exceptions on the rule are possible.
For A it is possible to judge an individual differently or even shift his view , depending of the origin of this sort of thinking.
With B however it is a lot more difficult as this type of racism defies reasoning and logic.
By it's core the racist does not view you as an equal and does not want to , he does not need to justify it.
You look different thus you are lesser than me, your skin,ears,nose disgust me and this gives me/us the right to exploit you.
This type of racism can lead to laws being changed,enslaving or in the worst case a purge.Given this is not by default evil , think of elves or countries where there is indoctrination.Your character might view something as lesser and find it appropriate that the law is not equal ,but he is against seeing them suffer.
Hating evil creatures such as orcs,devils,drow because of their evil nature is not racism by itself.
Evil and good are objective in D&D and well known forces, which helps simplifying the game.
Thus a character attacking an orc or drow for them being what they are is nor evil nor racism by default, just as running away etc.
It's if anything it's a completely sane action to take in a D&D setting, much more than trying to speak to it.
Tieflings fall in between as some of them have an aura around them or just straight up look like the embodiment of evil.
When you look at the guidebook they are classified as LE.NE.CE and have lots of variety in terms of heritage, good tieflings are not unheard of either.
It's just that most fall into extremes and more often than not end up evil. They basically have to deal with all three forms of approach ranging from petty discrimination, a believe that they are evil by nature or just a random pc that finds them inferior based on heritage and appearance.
By it's core D&D is filled with violence,racism,xenophobia and a constant battle between good and evil.
When looking at this server people rather tune this down a bit and like to take liberties, which can often lead to some disagreements.Though in the end it's just a disagreement over a game and not a personal attack or slander how some one enjoys the game. I don't particularly find good drow trying to redeem their race, nice tieflings seeking acceptance or a NG grey orc druid bad RP or a boring characters. It's just the same as with drizzt to me, when there is too much of that it feels less like D&D.
How I see it is that the DM team makes the rules and as community we can discuss them and speak our mind, whenever the rules set will do the server good or not is in the end their responsibility and decision to make.
With D&D I make a distinction between using negative stereotypes, discrimination and racism in my RP for some of my pc's.
The essence of racism is that the other race is not seen as an equal , no racist character would want to be treated equally to that race they consider inferior.
Just an example racism vs discrimination.
Comment from PC 1: Watch the halflings, one blink of an eye and they have their grubby hands in your pockets.
It's a comment a racist can make, though if anything this is stereotyping half lings in a discriminating manner.
A good aligned character may say this based on experience,the place he/she is from or simply because of a reputation.
An evil one might do this to take their advantage of something and a CN dwarf just does it because he wants a bar brawl.
Comment 2 Calen: Ey Watch the pikin hins, like all little critters 'hey steal.
In this case the racism is targeted at the fact that they are 'little',Calen also makes it clear he sees smaller humanoids as 'critters' thus inferior because of how they look.
The difference between the two is that A may be reasoned with, a view like doesn't easily shift but it is possible.
Some of these reputations are well earned , think of Thay or amn up to a lesser extend.
This can still lead towards hostile actions or characters not liking each other, though exceptions on the rule are possible.
For A it is possible to judge an individual differently or even shift his view , depending of the origin of this sort of thinking.
With B however it is a lot more difficult as this type of racism defies reasoning and logic.
By it's core the racist does not view you as an equal and does not want to , he does not need to justify it.
You look different thus you are lesser than me, your skin,ears,nose disgust me and this gives me/us the right to exploit you.
This type of racism can lead to laws being changed,enslaving or in the worst case a purge.Given this is not by default evil , think of elves or countries where there is indoctrination.Your character might view something as lesser and find it appropriate that the law is not equal ,but he is against seeing them suffer.
Hating evil creatures such as orcs,devils,drow because of their evil nature is not racism by itself.
Evil and good are objective in D&D and well known forces, which helps simplifying the game.
Thus a character attacking an orc or drow for them being what they are is nor evil nor racism by default, just as running away etc.
It's if anything it's a completely sane action to take in a D&D setting, much more than trying to speak to it.
Tieflings fall in between as some of them have an aura around them or just straight up look like the embodiment of evil.
When you look at the guidebook they are classified as LE.NE.CE and have lots of variety in terms of heritage, good tieflings are not unheard of either.
It's just that most fall into extremes and more often than not end up evil. They basically have to deal with all three forms of approach ranging from petty discrimination, a believe that they are evil by nature or just a random pc that finds them inferior based on heritage and appearance.
By it's core D&D is filled with violence,racism,xenophobia and a constant battle between good and evil.
When looking at this server people rather tune this down a bit and like to take liberties, which can often lead to some disagreements.Though in the end it's just a disagreement over a game and not a personal attack or slander how some one enjoys the game. I don't particularly find good drow trying to redeem their race, nice tieflings seeking acceptance or a NG grey orc druid bad RP or a boring characters. It's just the same as with drizzt to me, when there is too much of that it feels less like D&D.
How I see it is that the DM team makes the rules and as community we can discuss them and speak our mind, whenever the rules set will do the server good or not is in the end their responsibility and decision to make.
