![]() ![]() ![]() A player should be allowed to build their character however they so choose – including willingly creating a character with these disabilities that might better reflect themselves, their world, or at least their character. This is less so for disabled players and characters. But the point of the matter is: the option for female and gay characters exists in D&D and is even, in 5e, encouraged by the game instructional materials. ![]() Henry argues, “games such as Dungeons & Dragons need inclusion not just because people with disabilities play those kind of games, but because without the presence of characters with disabilities we forget they exist in the worlds we create.” This is not to suggest that all disabled gamers will want to play a disabled character just as not all female gamers want to play a female character or all gay players want to play gay characters. But as Henry points out, “opening up the possibilities to what some might consider imperfections creates new avenues to new stories that haven’t been told before.” If D&D and other RPGs are ultimately about storytelling, why exclude this concept from our stories?īy denying a player the opportunity to create a character that reflects their own identity and reality, D&D and other RPGs with similar mechanics limit disabled gamers’ ability to witness and identify with their characters while simultaneously perpetuating a sense of ableism among non-disabled players. D&D is, of course, not the only RPG that promotes this kind of Darwinian framework: D&D-inspired games such as Lamentations of the Flame Princess, Dungeon Crawl Classics, and Torchbearer all exhibit this kind of extremity of fantasy that suggests only the strongest deserve to survive. Characters level up and continue to excel, growing ever stronger, faster, and “better”. So why not disability? The easy answer is that players are meant to play super-heroic characters, who are physically and mentally capable of defeating their enemies. While some may argue that D&D is meant to be escapist, fantastical fun that should not be realistic, it is important to consider that other realistic aspects of life (gender, race, sexuality, socio-economic status, etc.) have been incorporated into the game. Ultimately, there is a need for more positive portrayals of disabilities beyond stereotypes and mere narrative detail. ![]() Through a close reading of the D&D source books, however, I show how the texts subtly promote ableism through the game mechanics of Conditions and the Madness Table, the stereotypical treatment of disabled NPCs non-player characters in various modules, and the lack of visual representation in the Player’s Handbook (PHB) and Dungeon Master’s Guide (DMG). Disability scholars such as Elsa Henry often focus their discussions on addressing the physical accommodations of disabled players. Ableism assumes that everyone is able-bodied and constitutes an approach to the world (albeit a fantastical one) that rewards only those who are able-bodied. Although Wizards of the Coast, the parent company that produces D&D, has made efforts towards inclusivity, the game still suffers from an inherent sense of ableism. Yet D&D 5e appears less inclusive when it comes to its representation of disability. The latest version of D ungeons and Dragons, 5th edition (D&D 5e) has received much praise for its inclusivity of race, sexuality and gender. ![]()
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