
Assignment: Creating a D&D Character - danso
http://indistinguishablefrom.media.mit.edu/2015/03/11/assignment-creating-a-dd-character/
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jxcl
> Dwarves are good at building things not because of some essential genetic
> racial qualities, but because they are raised in a culture that values
> building and passes on a certain set of traditional practices around it.

Really? Let's say that the DM chose to run a game with mermaids in it. Would
anyone question the (theoretically) superior swimming ability of mermaids?
Let's see how a similar statement reads:

Mermaids are good at swimming not because of some essential genetic racial
qualities, but because they are raised in a culture that values swimming and
passes on a certain set of traditional practices around it.

It sounds ridiculous, doesn't it?

Edit: And if you're going to deride D&D for that, why not praise it for its
lack of sexism (I'm talking about the stats system, not the art here)? The
higher amount of testosterone in a man's body makes it much easier for him to
gain muscle, but the D&D stat system allows both male and female characters
"equal opportunity", so to speak, by not adding or subtracting stats based on
gender choice.

~~~
Steko
Congratulations you removed all the context and qualifiers ("if you approach
it from a very generous mindset,... You can soften the racism of deriving
personality traits directly from a character’s race") in his statement and
made an absurd analogy.

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bobcostas55
How does the context make it better?

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Steko
A mermaids ability to swim is not a personality trait. That's why context
matters.

~~~
jxcl
Neither is a dwarf's ability to build things. They're both abilities and not
personality traits.

~~~
guyzero
This being fiction and not reality, the dwarfish ability to build underground
structures is actually literally innate. Not genetic perhaps, but somehow
bound to dwarves racially. Remember this is the same game that prohibited
halflings from being magic-users (well, it used to. I haven't read 5th ed).
Whatever the reason, the game presents certain abilities as actually being
racially innate.

It's not reality. It's a fantasy world. Additionally, it's a literary fantasy
world. Real-world concepts of race don't apply.

If you think it's a terrible concept, by all means play a different game,
build your own world, whatever. But just because the author doesn't like D&D
doesn't mean it's wrong.

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guyzero
I'm not sure if the author of this page understands what "race" means in D&D
terms. It's basically species. Dwarves aren't just little people. They're
literally not inter-fertile with humans. Now, fair enough, much of the "race"
difference manifests itself as differences in cultural background - cultural
norms, language, etc. But it's not the same way people use the term "race" in
the real world.

~~~
chucksmash
Even if on the surface the in-universe beings are from another species, that
isn't necessarily a get out of jail free card. People can and will read
between the lines.

This happened in the context of sci-fi when The Phantom Menace came out. I
remember reading criticisms of both the Gungans[1] and the Trade Federation
aliens as weakly veiled racial stereotypes.

[1]:
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jar_Jar_Binks#Allegations_of_ra...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jar_Jar_Binks#Allegations_of_racial_caricature)

~~~
TillE
But the Phantom Menace stuff is terrible because it's very similar to real-
world racial stereotypes.

Except for the orc problem (ie, sentient beings we are free to kill), I don't
think there's anything inherently wrong with having fantasy races with very
broad physical and social similarities. Humans are distinctly weird in a lot
of ways if you step back and think about it.

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smtucker
>Next comes one of the worst and one of the best parts of D&D’s character
system. D&D’s Race system is, frankly, kind of gross. The idea that a person’s
race tells you something about their character is a sign of the racist
elements in the fantasy tradition before and around D&D.

...Really?

This type of thought coming from MIT makes me question my sanity.

~~~
Apocryphon
If one is examining D&D and fantasy tropes in the context of society's
attitudes towards race at large, as well as Tolkien's cultural milieu

> If you read Tolkein, it’s difficult to escape the conclusion that the tall
> pale people from the north are good and the dark ugly people from the south
> are bad. This reproduces the attitudes of the colonial era in which Tolkein
> came of age and its one of the worst aspects of his legacy (and that of many
> other contemporary and prior fantasy writers).

It seems rather par for the course. And it makes sense. In both fantasy and
sci-fi, inhuman species are often caricatured by their "race" and usually
don't get enough time to flesh out three-dimensional characters. Because it's
hard to imagine completely alien societies with personalities that span as
full as range as humanity's.

~~~
jeffwass
Clearly y'all have not heard the fine alternative audio commentary for
Fellowship of the Ring by Howard Zinn and Noam Chomsky :
[http://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/unused-audio-
commentary-b...](http://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/unused-audio-commentary-
by-howard-zinn-and-noam-chomsky-recorded-summer-2002-for-the-fellowship-of-
the-ring-platinum-series-extended-edition-dvd-part-one)

It's really a joke, but hysterically brilliant.

(Edit - including a snippet of the 'commentary' below):

ZINN: You’ve spoken to me before about Mordor’s lack of access to the mineral
wealth that the Dwarves control.

CHOMSKY: If we’re going to get into the socio-economic reasons why certain
structures develop in certain cultures… it’s mainly geographical. We have Orcs
in Mordor — trapped, with no mineral resources — hemmed in by the Ash
Mountains, where the “free peoples” of Middle Earth can put a city, like
Osgiliath, and effectively keep the border closed.

ZINN: Don’t forget the Black Gate. The Black Gate, which, as Tolkien points
out, was built by Gondor. And now we jump to the Orcs chopping down the trees
in Isengard.

CHOMSKY: A terrible thing the Orcs do here, isn’t it? They destroy nature. But
again, what have we seen, time and time again?

ZINN: The Orcs have no resources. They’re desperate.

CHOMSKY: Desperate people driven to do desperate things.

ZINN: Desperate to compete with the economic powerhouses of Rohan and Gondor.

~~~
rbf_
Haha!

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guyzero
Also, on skimming through this again... I think this author would have enjoyed
making the students create a GURPS character much more.

~~~
neikos
That's what I have been thinking the whole time.

I think it's a shame GURPS is relatively less known in the world!

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cmaggard
Providing a scanned copy of the most recent Player's Handbook probably isn't
the best idea for something like this. Any of the System Reference Documents
from the 3rd Edition era could stand in its place without many material
changes.

~~~
herbig
Basic 5th Edition rules are provided for free online by Wizards of the Coast.
Providing anything else would likely be a copyright violation.

~~~
ruffin
Link for convenience:
[http://dnd.wizards.com/articles/features/basicrules](http://dnd.wizards.com/articles/features/basicrules)

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vacri
_Where D &D’s race system is somewhat yucky, its alignment system is awesome.
Once you learn it you’ll find yourself applying to real people. The alignment
system consists of two axes: one ethical and one moral._

This author is, frankly, an idiot. To suggest that ethics and morals are
orthogonal, or that each is well-described by a three-point linear system...
is utterly absurd. It's such a ridiculously bad roleplaying mechanic that
those roleplaying games that are more about roleplaying a character than
incrementing a number have no such mechanism.

Given that the author seems to value not straitjacketing a character and
celebrating individuality, it's very, very odd that the alignment system
should be lauded.

~~~
rbf_
I find the alignment system interesting and conducive to working on your role
playing. But if you don't want to be role playing in a straight jacket I would
pick chaotic neutral :)

~~~
vacri
heh :)

Seriously though, few role-playing games have an alignment system, especially
the ones that promote themselves as being more about roleplay than levelling.

I remember one story about a guy whose group played 'evil' D&D characters, and
one of them pointed out that what their characters were doing was 'naughty',
but not actually 'evil'. So they tried out playing actual 'evil' characters. I
can't remember all the examples he gave, but one of their plots was the
kidnapping and raping of a princess. He said that campaign didn't last very
long and his group found it pretty disturbing. I guess the point of this
anecdote is that a lot of evil characters get played that aren't really 'evil'
or close to it.

Alignment systems might help roleplaying neophytes, but if you've been around
the block once or twice, they really are quite limiting. Is that noble warrior
'good' because he works tirelessly and selflessly to promote the cause of his
kindred? Is he 'evil' because he knowingly and tirelessly oppresses others to
do so? Is he 'neutral' because he can't be placed unequivocably in either
camp? Why not just let him be a complex character on his own?

~~~
rbf_
Well that's why I suggested chaotic neutral as an alignment for your
requirement. I think this would work well for your goals. It can be fun &
challenging to play other alignments too however. Like an alignment that least
resembles yourself or your natural personal tendencies.

Have a look.

A Chaotic Neutral character is an individualist who follows his or her own
heart, and generally shirks rules and traditions.[citation needed] Although
Chaotic Neutral characters promote the ideals of freedom, it is their own
freedom that comes first; good and evil come second to their need to be free.
Chaotic Neutrals are free-spirited and do not enjoy the unnecessary suffering
of others. A Chaotic Neutral character does not have to be an aimless
wanderer; it may have a specific goal in mind, but its methods of achieving
that goal are often disorganized, unorthodox, or entirely
unpredictable.[citation needed] If a Chaotic Neutral joins a team, it is
because that team's goals happen to coincide with its own at the moment, but
it invariably resents taking orders and can be very selfish in its pursuit of
personal goals.

A subset of Chaotic Neutral is: "strongly Chaotic Neutral", describing a
character who behaves chaotically to the point of appearing insane. Characters
of this type may regularly change their appearance and attitudes for the sake
of change, and intentionally disrupt organizations for the sole reason of
disrupting a lawful institution.[citation needed] This includes the Xaositects
from the Planescape setting, and Hennet from the third edition Player's
Handbook. In Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, Chaotic Neutral was mistakenly
assumed to refer to this subset.

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kelukelugames
Before people get too worked up about its implications please realize this
course is taught by two researchers. The syllabus quotes Arthur C. Clarke,
Rowling, and Tom Waits. I wouldn't interpret this as MIT being overtaken by
pseudo, feel-good social science.

[http://indistinguishablefrom.media.mit.edu/syllabus/](http://indistinguishablefrom.media.mit.edu/syllabus/)

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kephra
Unfortunate they use D&D with its simple and rigid class system.

A classless system like Runequest is much better to express the wide range of
possible fantasy trope characters (trope=young boy knows nothing, explorers
the world, becomes famous, has powerful enemies, and saves the world by
defeating them)

Even more interesting would be a career based system like Traveller, with the
restriction of maximum homeworld techlevel 8. So you could start promising
with good education and social standing, go to a medical school, but decide to
become criminal after school, go into jail to learn even more skills, and
start your role playing at career at best age of 29 or 33. Or you can even
continue pre game careers, and start as an old wise man, who knows a lot, but
where age already took its toll to strength, constitution and agility.

Some games offer much wider ranges of tropes for characters then D&D.

~~~
guyzero
Traveller's system had the odd effect of making the best characters (those
with the most skills) also really old. It was odd as a teenager roleplaying a
48 year-old military veteran. My main thought was always "why am I out
adventuring instead of just getting some rest?"

~~~
walshemj
I always assumed that this is the far future and life spans are longer so 40
is relatively young

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guyzero
Wait, did you ask for a huge lecture on the canonical background universe for
Traveller? No? Darn.

Anyway, Traveller is the least futuristic science fiction setting ever
(maybe). In game mechanic terms you have to start rolling for age-related
characteristic effects starting at age 34 - you could lose strength, dexterity
or endurance. At older ages you could lose intelligence too. But overall it
assumes human lifespans more or less like they are today.

~~~
walshemj
It was my second ever rpg purchase after the 3 brown 1st ed dnd books :-)

I think at imperial tech level's life extending drugs where not uncommon for
the well off - depends on how you build the traveller universe.

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allannienhuis
Rolling new D&D characters was one of the first non-trivial programs I ever
wrote. It was on a VAX-VMS in basic, but hey that still counts as programming,
no?

~~~
rbf_
I wrote one for my TI-99/4a long ago and had most of my characters backed up
on cassette decks :)

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jnem
Great, another reason I wish I had gone to MIT.

