Dungeons And Dragons is swapping the word 'race', calls it 'problematic term'

The word 'race' is being removed from Dungeons And Dragons as part of the game's substantial new One D&D overhaul.

Announced in a new D&D Beyond blog post, the change will be rolled out as part of a playtest scheduled for December 21 alongside a slew of new rules and changes. The word 'race' will be permanently replaced with 'species' after working in "close coordination with multiple outside cultural consultants".

For those who don't follow D&D, the word 'race' is typically used to describe the various playable species (dwarves, orcs, humans, etc). It's a convention that various fantasy RPGs have adopted over the years, however it's gradually been abandoned in favour of words like 'species'.

This is because the team behind D&D have acknowledged 'race' is a "problematic term that has had prejudiced links between real world people and the fantasy peoples of D&D worlds."

"The usage of the term across D&D and other popular IP has evolved over time. Now it’s time for the next evolution," the team writes.

"Since the release of the fifth edition of D&D in 2014, we have made the conscious decision to reduce usage of the term 'race' to only apply to the game mechanic. One D&D (the codename for the next generation of D&D) gives us an opportunity to go deeper into every component of Dungeons & Dragons. The immense interest and level of feedback across the first few playtest material releases shows us the value in having an open dialogue with our community about everything related to the game."

It's worth noting that 'species' may not be the final term that One D&D ultimately settles on. The blog post stresses that it will take constructive feedback (note the italics I put in there for added emphasis) to ensure the game is "exciting, open, and accessible to everyone". But to be clear, 'race' is gone regardless of anything else.

Topics: Dungeons & Dragons