i have so many diaspora thoughts about the unbelievably powerful and kind way the orcs are depicted in cr4 but i think it goes without saying that the multilayered ethnic experiences being brought to the table really come alive in a way that is really the beating heart of the themes of araman. brennan is bringing a lot of irish diaspora thoughts to the table (the entire wake sequence was extremely irish) and i think in equal measure aabria is bringing a lot of black diaspora angles as well (aabria has talked about how hal and thaisha's conflict over the theater is VERY analogous to modern discussions about surviving plantations and other monuments to black suffering which is very VERY necessary subtext for analysis), and as we see more of orc culture i am very excited to see how both of those perspectives continue to interconnect and branch out.
i think the reason that a lot of diaspora minoritized folk like myself are drawn to orcs in general is because the orc as the social construct is the greatest macrocosm of how barbarism justifies violence against minorities. the orc in fantasy is something inherently evil, uncivilized, tribal, warlike and stupid, and the mechanics of fantasy ttrpgs encode this racial messaging into hard mechanics and make racist ideology mechanical and biological reality. And something that I think that a lot of progressive game masters have always struggled with, even in critical role's first campaign setting, is trying to reconcile the inherent racist text of what orcs represent while also toeing around that inherently unfair mechanical reality that's been enforced over decades of orc tribes being racist shorthand for fodder your good-aligned party is allowed to kill.
and if you're an ethnic minority anywhere, you know this narrative very intimately, because it's the same textbook being used to justify your suffering, day in and day out. and if you're a brown person at a dnd table, especially surrounded by white people, you feel it constantly. if you don't have friends that are willing to listen to you, you have to sit there with the constant reminder that while they accept you, and while they might accept the half-orc you play, the full orcs and the goblins and the kobolds are allowed to get killed without question. because they're savages, and it wasn't like they were up to any good anyways, right? it's escapist fantasy for all the white people at the table, and the only way you can escape with them is to leave your identity, the way you were raised, and the people you love at the door, and pretend you're nothing like them.
i think a lot of misguided attempts to humanize orcs make them goofy and noble, ultimately reinforcing that implied reality that orcs are still ultimately tribal and stupid compared to other fantasy species, just not worthy of death because of it. to the white liberal writer and audience, this is generally enough, and i think is where we get stuff in the vein of "humans are space orcs" and such. but, the underlying subtext is still that orcs are the best at being brutes, lovably stupid, best in slot to become a barbarian and probably not worth dedicating the stats to pursuing magic. they are still simpler and lesser than their peers.
but I think what REALLY gives araman's depiction of orcs a lot of teeth is that they don't just stop at making orcs noble, or just like humans, and don't try to paint over the narrative that has haunted what orcs represent to the average tabletop player's fantasy of justified, senseless violence against a mindless foe. instead of trying to soften this reality, araman's worldbuilding really interrogates it. it takes the oldest story that justifies why the orcs are mindless savages that are safe to kill, the tale of the evil god-king who forces them to mindlessly do their bidding, and then asks why you accept the reality that god presented, then asks who benefits from that reality, then answers with why they had to lead the path to saving themselves and those around them. and in doing so, orcs arrive in the present with an extremely rich and complicated culture that arises out of this kind of survival, a survival that is not useful to new powers that be like the candescent creed.
i really like that not a single player character is a barbarian in this context, but ESPECIALLY our two orc main characters. hal is a well educated bard and playwright. thaisha is a potent and formidable druid, in a world where the cycle of life and death is a study and not the fancy of noble savages. and more crucially, they're not conditionally allowed into the party as half orcs, they are driving forces of their communities as extremely intelligent (and messy!) full orcs, and look it says a lot about how low the bar is in dnd spaces for that to feel like a big deal but it is!
the way orcs are being handled here is very nuanced and very delicate in a way that is so, SO important, and i really really hope it starts a trend in these tabletop spaces to fully interrogate where their subtext is coming from and create richer, more interesting worlds that are actually inclusive to players of color.
