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Pen & Paper Roleplaying Central => Pen and Paper Roleplaying Games (RPGs) Discussion => Topic started by: RPGPundit on July 02, 2020, 07:46:10 PM

Title: Oriental Adventures is Just as Stereotyped as Any Other D&D Setting
Post by: RPGPundit on July 02, 2020, 07:46:10 PM
Is Oriental Adventures Stereotypical of Asian culture?



Sure. Exactly like every other  D&D setting is Stereotypical.





[video=youtube_share;YgsOxM1go2U]https://youtu.be/YgsOxM1go2U[/youtube]
Title: Oriental Adventures is Just as Stereotyped as Any Other D&D Setting
Post by: JMiskimen on July 03, 2020, 09:04:39 AM
... True enough.

Seems to me that 5E has a REAL race problem, not with orcs or drow, but with half-breeds ... particularly exhibiting in the case of tiefling heritage and assumed behavior based on such traits. Aasimar seem to have personalities baked into them as well. I have never seen a timid half-orc scholar or a goliath/half-giant bard. Racism!!!

[Damn, I REALLY hate teiflings.]
Title: Oriental Adventures is Just as Stereotyped as Any Other D&D Setting
Post by: Shrieking Banshee on July 03, 2020, 10:08:22 AM
Sure. Archetypes are fun. Archetypical work is OK, good at time even.
Title: Oriental Adventures is Just as Stereotyped as Any Other D&D Setting
Post by: Tom Kalbfus on July 03, 2020, 11:39:11 AM
Quote from: JMiskimen;1137730... True enough.

Seems to me that 5E has a REAL race problem, not with orcs or drow, but with half-breeds ... particularly exhibiting in the case of tiefling heritage and assumed behavior based on such traits. Aasimar seem to have personalities baked into them as well. I have never seen a timid half-orc scholar or a goliath/half-giant bard. Racism!!!

[Damn, I REALLY hate teiflings.]

Just remember, they aren't real people, and they aren't real races. When you roll your dice and kill an orc, no one is really getting harmed. We don't need a social movement to bring justice and equal rights for orcs because orcs aren't real. I don't much like demons and devils because they seem to have no motivation other than to be evil. I think if a villain has realistic motivations for doing evil deeds, they are more realistic than if they just do bad stuff to be bad. A motivation such as wanting to have more power and using ends justifies the means rationalization for their evil acts makes the villain seem real. A villain that is evil because that is what his alignment says in his monster Manual entry is somewhat lacking. Some villains are just crazy and might not even realize they are doing evil.
Title: Oriental Adventures is Just as Stereotyped as Any Other D&D Setting
Post by: Innocent Smith on July 03, 2020, 05:42:07 PM
Quote from: JMiskimen;1137730... True enough.

Seems to me that 5E has a REAL race problem, not with orcs or drow, but with half-breeds ... particularly exhibiting in the case of tiefling heritage and assumed behavior based on such traits. Aasimar seem to have personalities baked into them as well. I have never seen a timid half-orc scholar or a goliath/half-giant bard. Racism!!!

[Damn, I REALLY hate teiflings.]

I think bigger problem with planetouched is how utterly mundane they've become. They aren't the product of rare events where one person's sin cursed a bloodline, making their children resentful outcasts, and so on. They're just random people who just happen to have demon genes. The fact people still adhere so strictly to archetype, I think, is because we all know this low-budget-Star Trek-alien treatment of races is really f-ing boring.
Title: Oriental Adventures is Just as Stereotyped as Any Other D&D Setting
Post by: JMiskimen on July 04, 2020, 09:26:42 AM
Quote from: Shrieking Banshee;1137738Sure. Archetypes are fun.
True, but like anything else, overuse is quickly tiring.

Quote from: Tom Kalbfus;1137747Just remember, they aren't real people, and they aren't real races.
Yeah, we get it ... WOTC seems to be the ones promoting reality problems.

Quote from: areallifetrex;1137795I think bigger problem with planetouched is how utterly mundane they've become.
Agreed. Meeting something as otherworldly as an Elf should be a bigger deal than is currently accepted. Even Samwise the Hobbit was infatuated with Elves ... and they weren't exactly extraplanar.