Dungeons & Dragons Principal Rules Designer Jeremy Crawford Confirms Game’s Progressive Direction Towards Race Mechanics

Spencer Baculi |

Jun 16, 2020

In response to fan complaints about Dungeons & Dragons’ racial mechanics, Principle Rules Designer Jeremy Crawford has indicated that the game’s design team will be moving towards providing certain races with “more acceptable” narratives.

On June 12^th, referencing how a new edition of Dungeons & Dragons seems long overdue, popular D&D account ThinkDM tweeted a joke noting how the Orcs, Drows, and Vistanis would consider this lack of an update to be unsatisfactory, particularly due to their race statistics in 5E.

Sales Team: “We’re not ready for 6e, this edition is selling like hotcakes!”

Orcs: 😒

Drow: 🙄

Vistani: 🤨#dnd

— ThinkDM.org (@ThinkingDM) June 12, 2020

This prompted further discussion with a fan, in which ThinkDM pointed towards “the treatment orcs received in [the official settings of] Eberron and Exandria,” specifically citing how the design team “dropped the Intelligence debuff and the evil alignment” and gave the Orcs a “more acceptable narrative,” and opined that “there’s a fair argument for gutting the entire race system.”

I wonder if a new 5e book could revisit and address these problems and says “this supersedes the earlier lore.”

I don’t think a 6e would fix the problem. There will be a confederate of gamers complaining about disrespecting 45 years of history.

— Rob Reeve (@RobertGReeve) June 12, 2020

Look at the treatment orcs received in Eberron and Exandria. Dropped the Intelligence debuff and the evil alignment, with a more acceptable narrative.

It’s a start, but there’s a fair argument for gutting the entire race system.

Who cares what the confederates think?

— ThinkDM.org (@ThinkingDM) June 12, 2020

The thread was soon joined by Crawford, who responded to ThinkDM by asserting that “The orcs of Eberron and Wildemount reflect where our hearts are and indicate where we’re heading.”

The orcs of Eberron and Wildemount reflect where our hearts are and indicate where we’re heading.

— Jeremy Crawford (@JeremyECrawford) June 12, 2020

When asked by a fan about the “Drow, Vistani, and the other troublesome races and cultures in Forgotten Realms,” Crawford confirmed that “the drow, Vistani, and many other folk in the game are on our radar.”

I hate to be “that guy”, but what about Drow, Vistani, and the other troublesome races and cultures in Forgotten Realms (like the Gur, another Roma-inspired race)?

Things don’t change over night, but are these on the radar?

— Steve Fidler | Vorpal Dice Press #blacklivesmatter (@vorpaldicepress) June 12, 2020

The drow, Vistani, and many other folk in the game are on our radar. The same spirit that motivated our portrayal of orcs in Eberron is animating our work on all these peoples.

— Jeremy Crawford (@JeremyECrawford) June 12, 2020

Crawford also noted that the Gnolls, an anthropomorphic race of hyenas “known for their savage culture and warlike ways,” would also be receiving a similar treatment.

Perhaps the Gnolls and Minotaurs could get some of that love too. I kinda feel like Gnolls in particular were done dirty in 5e.

— DM-Tuz (@dm_tuz) June 12, 2020

I could see gnolls being treated differently in other worlds, particularly when they’re a playable race. The idea that they’re spawned hyenas who fed on demon-touched rotten meat feels like they’re in a different class than drow, orcs, goblins and the like. Same with minotaurs.

— SlyFlourish.com (@SlyFlourish) June 12, 2020

Crawford explained, “Internally, we feel that the gnolls in the MM are mistyped. Given their story, they should be fiends, not humanoids.”

He added, “In contrast, the gnolls of Eberron are humanoids, a people with moral and cultural expansiveness.”

Internally, we feel that the gnolls in the MM are mistyped. Given their story, they should be fiends, not humanoids.

In contrast, the gnolls of Eberron are humanoids, a people with moral and cultural expansiveness.

— Jeremy Crawford (@JeremyECrawford) June 12, 2020

This intended change to D&Ds race mechanics is the latest by Wizards of the Coast made in an effort to make their games more acceptable to wider audiences.

In April, activist and professional Magic the Gathering player Autumn Burchett was introduced as a character in the game’s official canon.

Last week, Wizards of the Coast announced that they would be removing several cards from the MtG database for being “racist of culturally offensive.”

At the beginning of the year, a “cultural representation workshop” was held at the Wizards of the Coast headquarters, hosted by game designer and “cultural consultant” James Mendez Hodes:

here’s where I am today! gonna run a cultural representation workshop at @Wizards_DnD @wizards_magic pic.twitter.com/ShFi1YJT7U

— James Mendez Hodes (@LulaVampiro) January 23, 2020