Orcs are people too?

In case you didn't see it.
Earlier this week, WoTC announced that they would be changing their depiction of two classic races in the D&D lineup. According to WoTC's official announcement., Orcs and Drow need a rework because of ' descriptions that are painfully reminiscent of how real-world ethnic groups have been and continue to be denigrated'.

Essentially, they wish to portray Orcs and Drow as people too, because they have been 'unfairly' portrayed in the past.

As someone who strives to have inclusion in their game and at the table, I have always been drawn to settings that are more Swords & Sorcery related. I prefer a globe spanning setting, capable of acknowledging any number of cultures and people.

Is there any basis?
So in looking to our roots, I am greatly disappointed that I find the work of Robert E Howard to be tinged with his own style of racism. A man with such an imagination, the father of Swords and Sorcery, had difficulty seeing people as they are.  If you disagree, I suggest you read 'Shadows in Zamboula', 'The Vale of Lost Women', or 'The Horror From the Mound', and decide for yourself.

Given all that, many of us strive to advance the Swords and Sorcery genre to be the inclusive genre it should be. 

D&D however, has its own roots in classic modern fantasy. Tolkien himself, coined the word 'orc'. In his Silmarillion, he explains how the dark god Morgoth stole away some of the first elves and tortured and corrupted them. He broke their bodies, will, and souls to create the orcs. The orcs being a purely evil race and the embodiment of corruption.

So it is that the inventor of the orc, states plainly that this fictitious race was essentially born out of hell, implying that there was no redemption in them.

This tends to follow suit in early editions of D&D which places their alignment squarely as lawful evil. They were for most campaigns, a fictitious monster for which PCs would have no guilt in slaying and looting.

Ironically, Tolkien himself is sometimes accused of racism through his depiction of orcs and his heavily euro centric setting. First, Tolkien was fascinated by his Germanic heritage and there really should be no conflict between appreciation of one's own culture and the respect and appreciation for another. 

Tolkien was in fact deeply offended by the racist ideologies which took hold in Germany during the early 20th century. This is well documented and anyone researching should find ample evidence of his disapproval of using his work for racist agendas.

The drow, were more an invention of Gygax' own. Although wikipedia implies that they were inspired by a much earlier book on fairy lore. 


So definitely evil and entirely fictitious.
That both races have been depicted as evil is fairly cannon for most D&D settings. There are some notable exceptions (Drizzt Duorden). This also is common in gaming, players and characters aren't bound to be the 'same'. Each character can have a convincing reason for going against the grain and these things are often encouraged in home and public games alike.

To change the overall depiction of Orcs and Drow into a 'friendly' race, goes against nearly 50 years of D&D cannon.

Despite all this, I'm fine if WoTC wishes to change this to create something new or more interesting.  That is up to them, afterall, they legally own the IP now. It is also still a free country and we can be creative and express ourselves as we wish.


This bloggers opinion.
Up to this point, I have never been openly critical of Wizards. That ends today.

What I'm not ok with, is their statement of justification. To suggest that Orcs and Drow have been fictionally mistreated and that this somehow relates to 'real world ethnic groups', simply looks like a branding ploy.  It comes across as disingenuous to me. Frankly, I find it offensive as it makes a mockery of real people who have endured real trials and challenges.

In all honesty, it leaves me wondering what is next. Once they have attacked all substance of content, what will be left of art, games and storytelling?  All while extolling that this is for some sense of justice which to me, they seem not to actually believe in at all.

The Mystara Player's Book, First Impressions

Glen Welch and I regularly meet to discuss TTRPG topics. Though the conversations are often at a very high level, it would seem that we often share similar opinions. At other times we are able to have friendly differing opinions.

Glen has been working diligently on a Mystara Player's Handbook project for some time now. I have been fortunate enough to get an early peak at his work. The book presently sits at a beefy 224 pages. It is filled with history, maps and many other useful bits of information about the fantasy setting, 'Mystara'. I am told that we are simply waiting for Wizards of the Coast to green light this project to see it published on the Dungeon Master's Guild.

I'm not a professional, but hold my coffee while I do this thing.

I don't want to call this a proper review, the following is really better qualified as 'first impressions'. I realise that I am perhaps not the best writer for this task. I would, however, like to share a few words about the book.

If you don't know what Mystara is, it is one of the earliest published D&D settings, meant for use with the D&D Basic and Expert rules. The setting first makes its printed appearance in the Expert Rules. The 'Isle of Dread' adventure included in Expert Rules takes place in the Mystara setting.    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mystara 

Before I proceed, I would say that I was only peripherally familiar with the Mystara setting from playing Isle of Dread. I had also owned two Gazetteer issues on Ylaruam and Karameikos during the time I played Basic. These 'Gazetteers' were supplements for the setting, intending to give more detailed information regarding specific nations of Mystara. In honesty, I found the gazetteers to be dry reading in my teenage days and they found little use. It is fair to say that I was not particularly enthused about the setting.

Glen, however, IS enthused about this setting.

It shows, and what Glen has put together is something that was fundamentally missing from the lineup.

History is Prologue...

The book begins with a timeline. This timeline is a brief history of accounts of the setting. If you are like me, you skipped right past this. It is a useful tool, but it doesn't get me into the heart of the setting. I have little point of reference for it at this point in the book if I don't already know something. The timeline is good to have, and I know where to find it later.

The next section delves right into the Nations of Mystara. This section includes over 50 pages devoted to 17 of the nation/states of Mystara. I found this to be of great value, as I don't know of any other readily available supplements that condenses this information in one document. The information is also condensed to about three pages for each nation. This includes maps, description, government information, languages, capitals and other relevant details.

Glen then dovetails this nicely into other details about geography, including major cities and locations of interest across Mystara. We get a nice briefing on all of the nuances of living in mystara, what races are included, what coins, calendars, what crime and punishment look like.

Less is More, especially when you have a lot already.

In Glen's own words, "What you leave out is as important as what you put in". One example is that all of Mystara's exotic lore races are included. Drow, however, are intentionally absent from the lineup. There should be plenty of exotics to keep your interest though with races like the Phanaton and Tortles.

Another way in which Glen takes the 'less is more' approach that works very nicely is that the book is not overly wordy. If I need to know something, I can look at the table of contents and get the information in brief. In my opinion, this is well executed. Mainly because there is so much material that could be included in a setting book like this.

Basically, you could stop reading here, and you would have enough to get you started. However, the second half of the book contains many other details including how various PC classes fit into the world, as well as some new feats and subclasses for players to try.

I also did not see anything that suggests it would not be compatible with various editions, and this is important. It gives newer edition players an opportunity to explore something new. Also, OSR players have so many flavors of their favorite system!

One of the only things that I felt inclined to be critical of was the cohesion of the art styles. Some of the artwork is very good, and some of the artwork doesn't feel like it 'fits' with the style. Keep in mind, I'm looking at an early pre-release, and Glen has indicated that he is aware and working on this.

Conclusions: Who should be interested?

Anyone wanting to try a fully fleshed out fantasy setting who is tired of Eberron and Forgotten Realms lore. This is material that was never really compiled by itself (to my knowledge), and in many ways it is 'new' and fresh. The best historic compilation is probably the D&D rules Cyclopedia which includes Mystara content but is also much more specific to D&D Basic.

If you plan to play in the Mystara setting, this could make a great go to book for most of the important stuff. I personally don't like having piles of books to rifle through at the game table, and I think this eliminates (or at least reduces) the need for multiple setting books.

If you are new to Mystara, this is the book that was missing back in 1983ish or so (my history here is fuzzy). Here, you have a book that tells you what your setting is and where things are.  I would recommend this book before investing in a Gazeteer for Karameikos or something similar.

I know this wasn't a formal review, but these are my thoughts on a book that I hope to see available on the DMs Guild soon!

LRI is Course Correcting

So it turns out that having a following of backers might be important to a crowd funding project.

If you are following us, thank you!

The reality is, the few people that we have managed to engage at a convention level is not driving a great deal of traffic or support our way.

To correct this, we're adjusting priorities for 2020.

Crowd funded release is on hold
This is very disappointing for us, however it makes no sense to plan a large party for a handful of your friends. This really means adjusting expectations and getting to work on other things. With the core content of the books complete, we can focus on new things!

We're continuing to work with artists
So we're still getting artwork for the books, which means that they will be that much more impressive when we do release the finals. This is bitter sweet because we're paying for all of our art and map commissions out of pocket.

QuickStart Guide Incoming!
This is a no brainer for us. SSoS is one of the easiest TTRPGs to jump in and play as a newby (at least that is my opinion). 

While this may be less exciting for anyone following right now, the QuickStart should not take as much time to produce and distribute as the core rulebooks. The aim is of course to lower the bar of entry so that we can introduce the game to newcomers. It will include an adventure that some of you may have already played at conventions.

Short Comic
Yes, I did say that we're still working with artists. Juan Ochoa will be working with us to storyboard and produce a short comic strip that will be released monthly as a teaser!  Stay tuned.

Regards,
Brian