Dungeons & Dragons might change the way it handles race in future editions, according to D&D rules overlord Jeremy Crawford.

The word “race” is a bit of a loaded term these days, and for good reason. Protests still grip much of the United States almost a month after the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minnesota Police, with that singular tragedy sparking a much larger movement against racism and state-sponsored violence against Blacks around the world.

But besides current events, race has always been a bit problematic in D&D. Previous editions of D&D had far more emphasis on a character’s alignment and also pointed out that certain races were inclined to a certain alignment. Which is a problem when you’re saying that every Tiefling is evil.

Fifth Edition largely downplays alignment and also merely suggests a race’s disposition, but it’s still uncomfortable to apply blanket terms like “evil” to an entire race. It’s also something that D&D’s designers are trying to move away from.

In a Twitter conversation sparked by ThinkDM.org, Jeremy Crawford revealed that the folks at Wizards of the Coast are moving even further away from alignment and might even abolish the term “race” altogether.

“The orcs of Eberron and Wildemount reflect where our hearts are and indicate where we’re heading,” Crawford said in response to ThinkDM.org, who noted that orcs no longer suffer the intelligence debuff or evil alignment in the Eberron setting. It’s a good first start, but there’s room for improvement. Other Twitter users noted that other races such as the Drow and Vistani, are also unfairly labeled as evil-inclined.

“Addressing these issues is vital to us,” Crawford added. “Eberron and Wildemount are the first of multiple books that will face these issues head-on and will do so from multiple angles.”

It should be noted that at no point did Crawford use the term “race” to describe a group in D&D, instead opting for a more neutral term “peoples.” Other Twitter users noted that the word has been entirely dropped in games like Pathfinder, and D&D could do well to follow suit.

Of course, with Fifth Edition selling as well as it is, it might be some time before Wizards of the Coast makes an announcement regarding a revised Sixth Edition. But when they do, expect to see some wide-ranging revisions with how the game handles race.

Source: Twitter, Reddit