Highlighting last year’s Eberron: Rising from the Last War and Explorer's Guide to Wildemount, this year’s D&D 5E sourcebook based on popular web series Critical Role, as examples of its efforts to “present orcs and drow in a new light just as morally and culturally complex as other peoples”, Wizards of the Coast said that future books would portray all of D&D’s races in similarly “relatable ways” to eliminate problematic aspects. The publisher called out the oft-criticised depictions of orcs and drow as “prime examples” of D&D races that “have been characterized as monstrous and evil” using descriptions “painfully reminiscent” of real-world discrimination.
In a blog post, Wizards of the Coast acknowledged that some elements of the roleplaying game’s fantasy races have drawn from the treatment of “real-world ethnic groups have been and continue to be denigrated”. Dungeons & Dragons maker Wizards of the Coast has announced that it will address and remove problematic aspects of the tabletop RPG in future releases, including “racially insensitive” depictions and stereotypes present in the game’s character races.
