D&D is replacing the word ‘race’ in character creation: ‘we do not intend to return to that term’

Dungeons & Dragons is currently going through some changes. A public playtest of new rules called One D&D began in August, and several tonal shifts to its depiction of fantasy have been introduced in recent years. That’s included attempts to move away from racial stereotypes by changing things like the depiction of the Romani-esque people called the Vistani in the Ravenloft books. It hasn’t all gone smoothly, and after criticism of the way Spelljammer’s flying monkey-people called hadozee resembled racist stereotypes, Wizards of the Coast first apologized and then changed its review process to include cultural consultants for all D&D books.

The next step, as explained in a blog post published on D&D Beyond (opens in new tab) today, is to move on from using the word “race” to describe elves, dwarves, and the various other options players can choose from when making their characters. Which has honestly always seemed inappropriate, even ignoring the fact it’s been used to describe options as disparate as humanoid dragons, talking plants, and basically robots.