I'm fairly certain the idea that rape being the cause of half races being a very real and obvious possibility (particularly with some combinations) "traumatizes" every blue-hair who insists that that one time a man glanced at her is exactly the same as if he'd violently forced himself on her, and we therefore must eliminate that reminder of rape. Which is stupid as all get-out, but does remind me of something from another entertainment medium.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit female main character Olivia Benson was a detective and the result of a rape (her mother decided not to terminate her). Back in the early aughts, Mariska Hargitay, the actress who played Olivia Benson, really got into the support community for both women who had been raped and children of rape because she apparently got so many people, especially young women, thanking her for her portrayal of the character. Under this not new but very woke push to ignore everything that makes the precious little SJW snowflakes even marginally uncomfortable, her character should be written out of television history and ignored. Which would be a shame for all of those people who find the character inspiring.

I've definitely been sensitive about stupid shit before, but the absolute weakness that is now inherent in current first-world society has even me wanting to slap the shit out of people who break down when a word is merely implied, let alone actually used. Rape is bad. So is child death. And yet one of the tropiest tropes in just about any genre of any entertainment medium is the backstory of the vengeful character spurred to action by the death of their family, which almost always includes small children. I have yet to see a reasonably well-adjusted parent who has lost a child completely lose their shit and break down into a blubbering mess at the mere mention of a character like The Punisher.

So while I'm sure other reasons are given for the removal of half races, I am willing to bet the whole "product of rape" thing has also played into it.

Very good. Now that the last problem with D&D has been solved, there are no remaining complaints left... right?

Quote from: Melan on April 05, 2023, 03:03:32 PM
Very good. Now that the last problem with D&D has been solved, there are no remaining complaints left... right?

No because there are still spiders and snakes in the Monster Manual. ;-)

Quote from: DocJones on April 05, 2023, 03:08:13 PM

Quote from: Melan on April 05, 2023, 03:03:32 PM
Very good. Now that the last problem with D&D has been solved, there are no remaining complaints left... right?

No because there are still spiders and snakes in the Monster Manual. ;-)

I'm going to have to break out the X-card at the mention of spiders. How dare you! I'm terrified of spiders. So terrified that the word spiders sends me into a panic attack. I'm hyperventilating at having typed out the word spiders four times now!

(Please note that I'm being sarcastic and making fun of whiny weak SJWs.)

Quote from: Wasteland Sniper on April 05, 2023, 02:46:53 PM
I'm fairly certain the idea that rape being the cause of half races being a very real and obvious possibility (particularly with some combinations) "traumatizes" every blue-hair who insists that that one time a man glanced at her is exactly the same as if he'd violently forced himself on her, and we therefore must eliminate that reminder of rape. Which is stupid as all get-out, but does remind me of something from another entertainment medium.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit female main character Olivia Benson was a detective and the result of a rape (her mother decided not to terminate her). Back in the early aughts, Mariska Hargitay, the actress who played Olivia Benson, really got into the support community for both women who had been raped and children of rape because she apparently got so many people, especially young women, thanking her for her portrayal of the character. Under this not new but very woke push to ignore everything that makes the precious little SJW snowflakes even marginally uncomfortable, her character should be written out of television history and ignored. Which would be a shame for all of those people who find the character inspiring.

I've definitely been sensitive about stupid shit before, but the absolute weakness that is now inherent in current first-world society has even me wanting to slap the shit out of people who break down when a word is merely implied, let alone actually used. Rape is bad. So is child death. And yet one of the tropiest tropes in just about any genre of any entertainment medium is the backstory of the vengeful character spurred to action by the death of their family, which almost always includes small children. I have yet to see a reasonably well-adjusted parent who has lost a child completely lose their shit and break down into a blubbering mess at the mere mention of a character like The Punisher.

So while I'm sure other reasons are given for the removal of half races, I am willing to bet the whole "product of rape" thing has also played into it.

So one of the final straws for me to leave TBP was a thread talking about the possibility of Dragonlance for 5e (before DL was a thing for 5e). And one poster said Tanis Half-elven's background was problematic. I asked was it because of how he was conceived? And I was told yes. So I left it at that and didn't read the thread anymore. But do these people want to tell every author that a main character can't be a product of rape?

Let us not forget they are also banning "savage" and "dim-witted" because it offends Trans people:

Quote
What is Wizards core value at a high level? With queer, trans, etc. players more visible than possible, which has dangers. What is your core audience? What is your plan for race?
More, not fewer. We're trying to widen the play space. We're always making steps in those direction. I think today's audience is bigger than it has ever been, but I also think it's a fraction of what it could be so we need to be more inclusive. We need to look at what content is not welcome in our spaces because it reflects hate. We need to walk our convictions and ideologies of inclusivity to make it clear hate is not welcome. We're going to publish content guidelines so you'll be able to review it and comment on it. We're making changes on an ongoing basis. For example, "savage" is gone. "Dim-witted" is gone.

Quote from: Thorn Drumheller on April 05, 2023, 03:14:53 PM
So one of the final straws for me to leave TBP was a thread talking about the possibility of Dragonlance for 5e (before DL was a thing for 5e). And one poster said Tanis Half-elven's background was problematic. I asked was it because of how he was conceived? And I was told yes. So I left it at that and didn't read the thread anymore. But do these people want to tell every author that a main character can't be a product of rape?

I'd put money on yes. Especially if the main character is female. You can't have a female character of any stripe face actual hardship (as opposed to the bullshit misogyny nonsense "hardship" that amounts to just being cat-called and for which she is considered stunning and brave for telling the male character off). Every female character must be a Mary Sue.

If they want to remove all the half's what don't they remove themselves from the company since the WOTC execs are a bunch of half wits

Quote from: THE_Leopold on April 05, 2023, 03:19:31 PM
Let us not forget they are also banning "savage" and "dim-witted" because it offends Trans people:

Quote
What is Wizards core value at a high level? With queer, trans, etc. players more visible than possible, which has dangers. What is your core audience? What is your plan for race?
More, not fewer. We're trying to widen the play space. We're always making steps in those direction. I think today's audience is bigger than it has ever been, but I also think it's a fraction of what it could be so we need to be more inclusive. We need to look at what content is not welcome in our spaces because it reflects hate. We need to walk our convictions and ideologies of inclusivity to make it clear hate is not welcome. We're going to publish content guidelines so you'll be able to review it and comment on it. We're making changes on an ongoing basis. For example, "savage" is gone. "Dim-witted" is gone.

Set your washing machine to "purity spiral" and cleanse, cleanse cleanse!

Can I still say "cleanse"? I'm concerned it might offend filthy savages.

Quote from: DocJones on April 05, 2023, 03:08:13 PM

Quote from: Melan on April 05, 2023, 03:03:32 PM
Very good. Now that the last problem with D&D has been solved, there are no remaining complaints left... right?

No because there are still spiders and snakes in the Monster Manual. ;-)

You say it in jest, but I fairly recently had a player in a campaign I was in literally go nearly catatonic (until their anti-anxiety meds kicked in) at the mention of the word "spider," because it reminded them of... I kid you not... sexual assault.

Until all PCs are blue spheres who overcome red spheres by turning them green and then collect their gold spheres there will be those who are too traumatized by the setting  to feel safe playing rpgs.

Quote from: Chris24601 on April 05, 2023, 03:28:13 PM

Quote from: DocJones on April 05, 2023, 03:08:13 PM

Quote from: Melan on April 05, 2023, 03:03:32 PM
Very good. Now that the last problem with D&D has been solved, there are no remaining complaints left... right?

No because there are still spiders and snakes in the Monster Manual. ;-)

You say it in jest, but I fairly recently had a player in a campaign I was in literally go nearly catatonic (until their anti-anxiety meds kicked in) at the mention of the word "spider," because it reminded them of... I kid you not... sexual assault.

Until all PCs are blue spheres who overcome red spheres by turning them green and then collect their gold spheres there will be those who are too traumatized by the setting  to feel safe playing rpgs.

jesus christ find a new group.

Quote from: Chris24601 on April 05, 2023, 03:28:13 PM
Until all PCs are blue spheres who overcome red spheres by turning them green and then collect their gold spheres there will be those who are too traumatized by the setting  to feel safe playing rpgs.

What the fuck man? Spheres?! Trigger warning and spoiler tags please!

Quote from: Chris24601 on April 05, 2023, 03:28:13 PM

Quote from: DocJones on April 05, 2023, 03:08:13 PM

Quote from: Melan on April 05, 2023, 03:03:32 PM
Very good. Now that the last problem with D&D has been solved, there are no remaining complaints left... right?

No because there are still spiders and snakes in the Monster Manual. ;-)

You say it in jest, but I fairly recently had a player in a campaign I was in literally go nearly catatonic (until their anti-anxiety meds kicked in) at the mention of the word "spider," because it reminded them of... I kid you not... sexual assault.

Until all PCs are blue spheres who overcome red spheres by turning them green and then collect their gold spheres there will be those who are too traumatized by the setting  to feel safe playing rpgs.

I can't imagine what would have happened if they had heard the word "octopus".

Quote from: SHARK on April 05, 2023, 02:33:32 PM

Quote from: jhkim on April 05, 2023, 02:15:32 PM
Sorry if this wasn't clear. The big inter-racial relation question posed by half-elf and half-orc is:

Why are human/elf and human/orc the only two combinations allowed?

For example, in AD&D1, the best relations are mostly among demihumans like gnomes, elves, and halflings. Those have the most "G" relations in the Racial Preferences chart. So why aren't gnome/elf or halfling/dwarf possible character types?

I forgot in what thread we were discussing races in the campaign, but it came up. There is a certain point where mechanically speaking, such "Half Races" or other combinations can just become ridiculous, and more trouble than they are worth. Then, of course, there is also the idea that because some races can interbreed, doesn't mean  races can. Beyond that, while theoretically some races *could* interbreed, like dwarves and Halflings or Gnomes and Halflings--mechanically speaking, what would be the point? I can see a strong argument that many racial crossbreeds are not mechanically distinctive, and therefore not interesting or meaningful to create or detail.

The thread was the one I started on half-races just a week and a half ago. Here's the link:

https://www.therpgsite.com/pen-paper-roleplaying-games-rpgs-discussion/half-races-and-tolkien/

I understand that there is a mechanical issue of complexity, but that just reframes the question. From the mechanical point of view, I don't see how human/elf is any more interesting than gnome/elf. Mechanically, half-elf isn't interesting - it just mixes human and elf traits. So we're back to: why are human/elf and human/orc the only choices?

At that point, it might be better to just go with a trait system where players can pick and choose among possible racial traits to represent different mixes.

Quote from: Wasteland Sniper on April 05, 2023, 03:31:30 PM

Quote from: Chris24601 on April 05, 2023, 03:28:13 PM

Quote from: DocJones on April 05, 2023, 03:08:13 PM

Quote from: Melan on April 05, 2023, 03:03:32 PM
Very good. Now that the last problem with D&D has been solved, there are no remaining complaints left... right?

No because there are still spiders and snakes in the Monster Manual. ;-)

You say it in jest, but I fairly recently had a player in a campaign I was in literally go nearly catatonic (until their anti-anxiety meds kicked in) at the mention of the word "spider," because it reminded them of... I kid you not... sexual assault.

Until all PCs are blue spheres who overcome red spheres by turning them green and then collect their gold spheres there will be those who are too traumatized by the setting  to feel safe playing rpgs.

I can't imagine what would have happened if they had heard the word "octopus".

Or the film "Octopussy"