Assignment: Creating a D&D Character
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Assignment: Creating a D&D Character
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Re: Assignment: Creating a D&D Character
#2Providing a scanned copy of the most recent Player's Handbook probably isn't the best idea for something like this. Any of the System Reference Documents from the 3rd Edition era could stand in its place without many material changes.
Re: Assignment: Creating a D&D Character
#3Great, another reason I wish I had gone to MIT.
Re: Assignment: Creating a D&D Character
#4>Next comes one of the worst and one of the best parts of D&D’s character system. D&D’s Race system is, frankly, kind of gross. The idea that a person’s race tells you something about their character is a sign of the racist elements in the fantasy tradition before and around D&D.
...Really?
This type of thought coming from MIT makes me question my sanity.
Re: Assignment: Creating a D&D Character
#5Providing a scanned copy of the most recent Player's Handbook probably isn't the best idea for something like this. Any of the System Reference Documents from the 3rd Edition era could stand in its place without many material changes.
Basic 5th Edition rules are provided for free online by Wizards of the Coast. Providing anything else would likely be a copyright violation.
Re: Assignment: Creating a D&D Character
#6>Next comes one of the worst and one of the best parts of D&D’s character system. D&D’s Race system is, frankly, kind of gross. The idea that a person’s race tells you something about their character is a sign of the racist elements in the fantasy tradition before and around D&D. ...Really? This type of thought coming from MIT makes me question my sanity.
If one is examining D&D and fantasy tropes in the context of society's attitudes towards race at large, as well as Tolkien's cultural milieu
> If you read Tolkein, it’s difficult to escape the conclusion that the tall pale people from the north are good and the dark ugly people from the south are bad. This reproduces the attitudes of the colonial era in which Tolkein came of age and its one of the worst aspects of his legacy (and that of many other contemporary and prior fantasy writers).
It seems rather par for the course. And it makes sense. In both fantasy and sci-fi, inhuman species are often caricatured by their "race" and usually don't get enough time to flesh out three-dimensional characters. Because it's hard to imagine completely alien societies with personalities that span as full as range as humanity's.
Re: Assignment: Creating a D&D Character
#7I'm not sure if the author of this page understands what "race" means in D&D terms. It's basically species. Dwarves aren't just little people. They're literally not inter-fertile with humans. Now, fair enough, much of the "race" difference manifests itself as differences in cultural background - cultural norms, language, etc. But it's not the same way people use the term "race" in the real world.
Re: Assignment: Creating a D&D Character
#8>Next comes one of the worst and one of the best parts of D&D’s character system. D&D’s Race system is, frankly, kind of gross. The idea that a person’s race tells you something about their character is a sign of the racist elements in the fantasy tradition before and around D&D. ...Really? This type of thought coming from MIT makes me question my sanity.
Why?
It's a fairly common criticism of fantasy—that entire races and ethnic groups are pretty commonly stereotyped.
Re: Assignment: Creating a D&D Character
#9>Next comes one of the worst and one of the best parts of D&D’s character system. D&D’s Race system is, frankly, kind of gross. The idea that a person’s race tells you something about their character is a sign of the racist elements in the fantasy tradition before and around D&D. ...Really? This type of thought coming from MIT makes me question my sanity.
which part?
that racist elements exist in a game that characterizes and increases/decrease stats depending on race
or that different races in D&D simply don't operate well together?
these all seem true to me these all seem racist to me these all seem reasonable given the fantasy aspect of D&D and what I am used to from stories
Re: Assignment: Creating a D&D Character
#10Also, on skimming through this again... I think this author would have enjoyed making the students create a GURPS character much more.