#amorphusgreydragon

I want to make an amputee character in my dnd campaign in the future. What are the biggest things you'd want to see from an npc/ a character like that? Anything specific for me to look out for while making them? Sorry if you're not familiar with the game, but I thought I might ask regardless

Hey there! Apologies for not answering this sooner, I was on vacation with my partner when this came in and haven't had a chance!

I just want to preface this by saying I am not an amputee or prosthetic user myself - my father has been a single above knee amputee since I was 5 years old and I have lived with him my whole life, which is where my knowledge and emotional attachment to seeing good depictions of amputees and prosthetics users comes from. As such I am not the be all end all and am never going to know as much nor my opinions be as valuable as those from actual amputees - I am simply someone who has some second hand familiarity with an amputee and who gets excited to introduce cool amputee characters to my dad, haha.

Honestly my biggest piece of advice is to decide on what kind of amputee you want to depict (whether it's above or below the joint, and of what limb(s)) and then research into the current adaptive devices available and used by people with that specific limb difference, especially looking into personal writings about the experience if possible (forums are great for this!). You can then go crazy dnd-ifying them!

The most important thing in my opinion is to not go with the "it's just an entirely magic device that functions exactly the same as the limb would" route - it takes the disability out of the disability. You see this more often with futuristic settings (Luke Skywalker is probably the most famous example) with advanced robotic prosthesis but at best it reduces amputation to a solely aesthetic aspect of character design, at worst it's a solely aesthetic aspect of character design that grants them special powers in some way. By all means magic is not totally off the table (my dad recently relearned to walk yet again with a new knee which is microprocessor controlled, for example, and if I were to dnd-ify that I'd probably explain it's a bunch of specifically enchanted mechanical parts) but the shortcut of "it's magic so it works exactly the same as a real limb" is kind of weird and alienating.

One aspect of this is that there are limitations to what can be done with a prosthetic - back when my dad had a simple mechanical knee, gravel and similar uneven surfaces were a nightmare to walk on, and sand/loose dry dirt is still a no go even computerised. Someone with an arm prosthetic with a hook is going to have a different way of picking up and interacting with objects with their hook, and may have some things they can't do. Once again it all comes down to research - people's accounts of their lived experiences are always such a powerful thing within disability research!

There's also that a lot of amputees don't have prosthetics at all! They are extremely expensive, other health conditions or disabilities can make it hard if not impossible to actually use a prosthetic, hell maybe they just don't want one - there's plenty of reasons why a character may be an amputee with no prosthetic. This would be kind of hype honestly - I can't actually think of a fictional amputee who isn't a prosthetic user!

Even people with prosthetics don't use them all the time - they're not the most comfortable things and can be very physically tiring. If you do decide to depict your character with a prosthetic, it could be nice to have them appear without it whilst relaxing or otherwise "off duty" - maybe they chill in the tavern in the evening without it. Look into what exactly is used in these situations too - for example, my dad will use crutches to get around the house/shorter range outside trips, or an active wheelchair for longer days out.

TL;DR decide on what kind of amputee you're looking to depict, do a bunch of research into the accessibility devices they might use, and then get as creative as you want! Forums and subreddits are probably going to be your best friend - I unfortunately don't know any off the top of my head as my dad does his questioning and answering in Facebook groups (he's 66, he's not the best at social media and the internet lol) but due to the wide range of needs, circumstances, and accessibility devices available even amongst groups with one specific limb difference online discussion tends to be lively and extremely illuminating as to a variety of actual lived experiences!

Absolutely don't be afraid of giving it a shot, overall - as with depicting any disability in media you want to do your research, and if possible run it past someone with that disability for both sense and sensitivity checking, but even if it's not perfect it still matters. When I introduced my dad to Hephaestus from Hades 2 he corrected me on one point (the wheelchair doesn't actually look too much like an active wheelchair - the back is too high!) but despite this he was hype to see a SAK (single above knee) amputee character who he shared a lot of characteristics with, haha.