• Login
  • Register
The Daily Sceptic
No Result
View All Result
  • Articles
  • About
  • Archive
    • ARCHIVE
    • NEWS ROUND-UPS
  • Podcasts
  • Newsletter
  • Premium
  • Donate
  • Log In
The Daily Sceptic
No Result
View All Result

Is a Classic Fantasy Game About to be Consigned to the Dungeon of History?

by Jack Watson
3 January 2025 11:00 AM

The latest target of the woke thought inspectors is the iconic and classic fantasy board game Dungeons and Dragons (D&D). First created in 1973 by Tactical Studies Rules, D&D pioneered the modern roleplaying game industry and subsequently influenced countless video games. While digital versions are available, this tabletop board game, played by over 50 million fans worldwide, invites players to create characters and embark on collective storytelling adventures filled with danger, treasure and heroism. It has become such a cultural staple it featured in Stranger Things.

However, recent trigger warnings and changes introduced by Wizards of the Coast, owned by Hasbro, have fundamentally altered D&D’s essence in an attempt to promote inclusivity. For example, the term “race” has been replaced with “species” and traits associated with certain fantasy races, like the dexterity of elves, have been removed. These changes aim to make the game more inclusive and avoid associations with real-world discrimination. But this begs the question – how exactly can fictional plastic and imaginary characters like orcs or dwarves feel offended? They can’t.

These updates oversimplify the game, stripping away much of its strategy and challenge. Players can now fully customise their characters, even choosing ability score increases that were once tied to specific species. This detracts from the uniqueness of the characters and removes one of the complexities that made the game so engaging. The idea wasn’t to discriminate between species but to add depth and variation, giving players a more challenging experience.

The game’s new rulebook also includes provisions like allowing players to halt gameplay if they feel uncomfortable with certain content by making an “X” shape with their arms or raising a hand. While the intention may be to encourage new players, the assumption that players need this level of ‘safety’ is patronising. D&D has always welcomed players of all cultures and abilities and both genders – many of whom embraced the game without such protections being in place.

The issue came to a head with the release of the 50th anniversary book, The Making of Original D&D, which criticised the original game’s content for its ‘derogatory language’ and alleged associations with slavery and stereotypes. Instead of recognising this as part of the historical context that shaped the game, these criticisms have spurred unnecessary reforms that detract from D&D’s legacy.

Rather than rewriting history, we should accept that the themes portrayed in the game reflect the time when it was first designed. The refinements are completely unnecessary. Sanitising these elements erases original features and diminishes the game.

Like other woke missteps – such as the infamous Bud Light rebrand – these changes risk alienating loyal fans and diluting what made D&D special. If this continues, a once-beloved classic could find itself abandoned and neglected in the dungeon of irrelevance.

Jack Watson is a 16 year-old schoolboy in Year 11. You can read his Substack about following Hull City FC here.

Tags: Bud LightDungeons & DragonsGo woke go brokeHasbroStranger ThingsWoke Gobbledegook

Donate

We depend on your donations to keep this site going. Please give what you can.

Donate Today

Comment on this Article

You’ll need to set up an account to comment if you don’t already have one. We ask for a minimum donation of £5 if you'd like to make a comment or post in our Forums.

Sign Up
Previous Post

What’s Wrong With Fox Hunting?

Next Post

The Collapse of Green Finance Shows Net Zero is Dying

Subscribe
Login
Notify of
Please log in to comment

To join in with the discussion please make a donation to The Daily Sceptic.

Profanity and abuse will be removed and may lead to a permanent ban.

12 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
RW
RW
4 months ago

Given enough time, D&D will grow rules which dictate that player characters found in possession of edged weapons in the game public without a good excuse ought to be considered knife crime and the players punished accordingly. Crime starts, after all, with criminal thinking and if the former is to be prevented, the latter must be persecuted.

NB: This is not a joke.

3
0
hogsbreath
hogsbreath
4 months ago

When I was 11, never had the patience to sit down for hours and learn. As far as fantasy, I loved reading the L Sprague de Camp Conan books.

1
0
kev
kev
4 months ago

More proof, certain people and certain parts of society are going totally insane.

I have a very simple solution for anyone who plays D&D or AD&D and feels in any way offended by the Fantasy Role Playing format – stop doing it!

Or better still just F@@k Off and leave those that like it to play in peace!

Just leave things alone, and avoid doing anything that might offend you, and let others decide if they feel offended or not, with the same choice as above!

9
0
transmissionofflame
transmissionofflame
4 months ago
Reply to  kev

Some of them are insane but I feel for a lot of them it’s about the power, not the issues. Otherwise they would “live and let live” – but all of this is just an excuse to push other people around.

2
0
Gezza England
Gezza England
4 months ago

Go Woke – Go Broke. Copyright and licensing make it impossible no doubt for somebody to continue to produce the original D&D but it should do wonders for the second hand market. Funny how progress makes old things much more valuable and in demand.

7
0
kev
kev
4 months ago
Reply to  Gezza England

I was thinking the same.

I sold all my not insignificant amount of AD&D stuff about 10 years ago, assuming it would never see the light of day again, now I regret that decision!

All the 2nd edition AD&D books, figures, entire series of quests, loads of stuff.

0
0
Jack the dog
Jack the dog
4 months ago

Funny that, there was me thinking diversity is our strength, and all of a sudden it’s not and there are no differences at all ever.

Except when there are.

Maybe I’m just too old for this stuff.

4
0
RW
RW
4 months ago
Reply to  Jack the dog

Excellent point! How can diversity by our strength when inequality is an evil which has to be eliminated?

Last edited 4 months ago by RW
3
0
huxleypiggles
huxleypiggles
4 months ago
Reply to  RW

“Diversity” is code for watering down the pure.

2
-1
huxleypiggles
huxleypiggles
4 months ago
Reply to  Jack the dog

Diversity is their strength. Not ours.

2
-1
kev
kev
4 months ago
Reply to  huxleypiggles

Diversity is 1 in 7 people (about 14%) are non-white in the UK. Any more than that is over representation!

1
0
Simon MacPhisto
Simon MacPhisto
4 months ago

Well done Jack. Another great article. “Both” genders – love it 🙂

0
0

NEWSLETTER

View today’s newsletter

To receive our latest news in the form of a daily email, enter your details here:

DONATE

PODCAST

Episode 36 of the Sceptic: Karl Williams on Starmer’s Phoney Immigration Crackdown, Dan Hitchens on the Assisted Suicide Bill and Tom Jones on Reform’s Local Council Challenge

by Richard Eldred
16 May 2025
0

LISTED ARTICLES

  • Most Read
  • Most Commented
  • Editor’s Picks

Chinese ‘Kill Switches’ Found in US Solar Farms

15 May 2025
by Will Jones

News Round-Up

16 May 2025
by Richard Eldred

Spy Agency Report on the Alleged “Extremism” of AfD Turns Out to Be So Stupid That it Destroys all Momentum for Banning the Party

16 May 2025
by Eugyppius

The Folly of Solar – a Dot on the Horizon Versus a Blight on the Land

16 May 2025
by Ben Pile

Civil Servants Threaten to Strike Over Trans Ban in Women’s Lavatories

16 May 2025
by Will Jones

The Folly of Solar – a Dot on the Horizon Versus a Blight on the Land

29

Civil Servants Threaten to Strike Over Trans Ban in Women’s Lavatories

25

Spy Agency Report on the Alleged “Extremism” of AfD Turns Out to Be So Stupid That it Destroys all Momentum for Banning the Party

19

News Round-Up

18

Chinese ‘Kill Switches’ Found in US Solar Farms

27

Trump’s Lesson in Remedial Education

16 May 2025
by Dr James Allan

Spy Agency Report on the Alleged “Extremism” of AfD Turns Out to Be So Stupid That it Destroys all Momentum for Banning the Party

16 May 2025
by Eugyppius

The Folly of Solar – a Dot on the Horizon Versus a Blight on the Land

16 May 2025
by Ben Pile

Renaud Camus on the Destruction of Western Education

15 May 2025
by Dr Nicholas Tate

‘Why Can’t We Talk About This?’

15 May 2025
by Richard Eldred

POSTS BY DATE

January 2025
M T W T F S S
 12345
6789101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
2728293031  
« Dec   Feb »

SOCIAL LINKS

Free Speech Union
  • Home
  • About us
  • Donate
  • Privacy Policy

Facebook

  • X

Instagram

RSS

Subscribe to our newsletter

© Skeptics Ltd.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Articles
  • About
  • Archive
    • ARCHIVE
    • NEWS ROUND-UPS
  • Podcasts
  • Newsletter
  • Premium
  • Donate
  • Log In

© Skeptics Ltd.

wpDiscuz
You are going to send email to

Move Comment
Perfecty
Do you wish to receive notifications of new articles?
Notifications preferences