Thac0 with Advantage 86. The Benefits of Good Representation

Welcome to THAC0 . . . with Advantage! We’re two friends that have been playing D&D a long time. While we both love lots of other RPGs, D&D gives us puppy dog eyes from our bookshelves if we don’t pick it up and play it once in a while.

In the past we’ve looked at the history of D&D and how it has interacted with diversity and representation, as well as why its important to be mindful of this topic. This time, we’re revisiting the topic, but from a slightly different angle. We want to talk about why its not just the right thing to do, its the smart thing to do when it comes to running a better game. We’re going to look at the benefits of good representation in your fantasy campaigns.

From the Bardic College

The art of Dungeons & Dragons has been foundational to capturing the imagination of many of its fans, but the art of art direction hasn’t always been one of D&D strongpoints. In the Greyhawk setting, the Baklunish people were referred to as having golden-hued skin, and Chondathans in the Forgotten Realms, who make up a significant portion of the population of the Heartlands of the Forgotten Realms, are described as having olive skin. Early D&D described mountain dwarves as having deep brown skin, and the Turami people of the Vilhon Reach, a major trade hub of Faerun, are described as having dark skin and tight, curly hair. But if you look at the artwork of early D&D, elves, dwarves, gnomes, halflings, and adventuring humans were almost always fair skinned, with most people of color in artwork representing native people of exotic lands that the adventurers go to from their homes. This wasn’t a specific failure of the art department, it was a failure of the 80s and 90s to realize that your default artwork can’t assume that everyone in a fantasy setting has traditionally white features. D&D 3rd edition may have been a bit of a turning point. Regdar, the iconic fighter, was meant to be a person of color, but management wanted him to be unambiguously white. So the design team and the art department constantly conspired to make Regdar the character that was setting off traps, getting blown up, poisoned, and generally on the edge of death.