I really wonder what kind of schism this radical move towards wokeness will cause in the D&D player base, and ultimately future sales.
The ultimate irony is that this kind of divisive, hyperbolic, alarmist attitude is even more trendy in these modern times than any "wokeness" movement.
It's a slight change to character creation that absolutely does not prevent the "traditional" options and is far more realistic for any campaign where every race doesn't live in a rigid ethnostate. It's just not different enough on its own to justify a new edition and nothing else jumps out as a clear driver for an overhaul of the game.
Making changes to the the system to adjust to popular opinion and current climate is nothing new. From what i understand they made changes to the original systems to avoid issues from backlash for references to devils and demons .
I've literally just begun to play DnD (despite wanting to since i was a kid) but from what I'm led to believe from my crash course via YouTube and articles is that the rules are to be used as a guideline as the DM sees fit to maintain the fun for their group. If the group decides to use older character traits and options then they can. otherwise i would not be able to run or play a game as i only own the three core books (PHB.DMG.MM).
Claiming 'Wokeness' seems more of a lazy kneejerk reaction to having to make a personal effort to accommodate other people. The paradigm of racial heirachy is a tired presumption that leads to lazy character stereotypes.
For the record I'm a 42 year old, straight, white, British guy..so by current internet rhetoric i should be bemoaning the shift of cultural perspective more than most.
Making changes to the the system to adjust to popular opinion and current climate is nothing new. From what i understand they made changes to the original systems to avoid issues from backlash for references to devils and demons .
I've literally just begun to play DnD (despite wanting to since i was a kid) but from what I'm led to believe from my crash course via YouTube and articles is that the rules are to be used as a guideline as the DM sees fit to maintain the fun for their group. If the group decides to use older character traits and options then they can. otherwise i would not be able to run or play a game as i only own the three core books (PHB.DMG.MM).
Claiming 'Wokeness' seems more of a lazy kneejerk reaction to having to make a personal effort to accommodate other people. The paradigm of racial heirachy is a tired presumption that leads to lazy character stereotypes.
For the record I'm a 42 year old, straight, white, British guy..so by current internet rhetoric i should be bemoaning the shift of cultural perspective more than most.