#elf week

I was asked a similar question about Orcs during Orc Week, so rather than rehash the same answer, I’ll elaborate on what my problem is with D&D ‘races’ and what that means for the game I’m writing, Project TOF.

The way it typically goes in D&D is like this: Species (elves) were made by their Species God (Corellon) who values These Things (archery, music, poetry, magic, nature, the woods) and so All Of Them (elves) value Those Things and live in This Place (the woods).

It’s so boring. Humans are the only ones allowed to be diverse, while everyone else is a stereotype. This is especially a problem when you realize how many fantasy races species are based on real-world stereotypes of actual people, typically minorities in the places where those myths come from. (And I don’t just mean in modern interpretations, I mean the original myths these creatures are directly or indirectly inspired by too. I argued in my college thesis that the reason we even refer to things like elves and orcs as “races” instead of “species” is an artifact of this fact.)

I wanna smash that mentality into little pieces. A fantasy species should be defined by their biological, physical, natural traits; not have cultural baggage glued to them. I’ll follow along if you tell me an elf is a typically lithe creature with pointed ears and sharp senses; but Do Not tell me what my elf has to think and feel, or how they were raised. That’s what background, class, and a player’s own imagination are for.

You can read more about my thoughts on diversity in fantasy species here.

Elf Week. Day 7; anything you want