Hi everyone, and welcome back to the Finder’s Archives.
Today we take a break from the normal lands of Magic to discuss something a bit different. Now, this blog post will likely come out a few weeks after the information and incident itself, so first, a bit of information.
Within D&D, two books released within the last couple of months. The first was Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, and the second was the announced (but not yet released) Candlekeep Mysteries. Both of these books caused quite a stir for their own reasons, but I believe that they highlighted an issue that I think it’s worth talking about.
First: Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything.
This book released with an option for customizing your own ability scores and creating your lineage. In effect, you could now change your character around so that it fits your mental image of what you want to make. As an example, a half-orc is typically depicted as strong, but a bit dumb. Now you no longer have to, now they could be any combination of things you want.
So why did this cause a stir? Well, on the surface it seems a bit ridiculous because it’s been a number of years since D&D routinely included negative modifiers to character creation. It’s been mostly (not all though) positive during 5th Edition, but two sides of “gaming” argued incessantly about this: One saying that it allows for inclusion and customization, the other saying that it doesn’t work like that in real life.
Both sides – realistically – have a point. If you’re born into a certain SPECIES (not race! SPECIES!) you have a certain genetic makeup. Humans as an example have 2 legs, but a crocodile has 4. So even if the crocodile was every bit as intelligent as a human, they’d still have that limitation/ability. But within each RACE (yes, changing it back now), you always have unique individuals who go beyond the norm (as an example, the tallest living man in the world is Sultan Kösen from Turkey, who stands at just around 8 ft. 3 inches (a little shorter, but close enough), but the average height in Turkey for a man is only 5 ft. 7 inches (a little more again, but close enough). That has always been the case, and if anything, adventurers are exceptional individuals.
What is funnier though, is that while this caused a stir in D&D circles, most of the Pathfinder circles went, “What?” – because, for them, it was already built into the PF2 system, and had been a possibility since the release of the Advanced Race Guide in 2016. Though even back then, it didn’t elicit that response at all.
Second: Candlekeep Mysteries
As of this writing Candlekeep Mysteries was revealed less than a week ago, and it caused as much of a ruckus, because one of the previewed dungeons had ramps and elevators – according to the author, to provide accessibility. (Before this was a whole slew of people having issues with or approving of the combat wheelchair, but let’s not get into that one). Again, this caused people on both sides to either say that it allowed for inclusion or accessibility OR that it wasn’t realistic that a) a disabled person would go adventuring in a wheelchair in a dungeon, or b) why would a dungeon overlord build it to be more accessible?
Here though, I believe that they’re BOTH coming at it from a wrong angle. Yes, a dungeon overlord wouldn’t build something to be more accessible, and yes, it does allow for people in wheelchairs to more easily access the dungeon.
But that’s all beside the point. First, both ramps and lifts have a history of appearing in D&D and have since the times of Gary Gygax – it was included in some of the random dungeon generators as both corridors sliding up and down, and rooms with doors that closed automatically and deposited adventurers on a random level of a dungeon. So, there is a clear history there.
Secondly, the DUNGEON HAS TO BE BUILT. It is not exactly easy dragging a 20-ton boulder down a 5 ft. wide stairwell – rolling it down a ramp works a lot better – and that ramp would remain behind when the builders were done. (Smart Dungeon Overlords would get rid of the builders, nice ones would let them leave without their memories), but wide corridors and ramps make sense, for the purposes of creating the dungeon, even if not for defending it. Furthermore, certain creatures used to defend a dungeon might find it easier to navigate a ramp instead of a set of stairs (such as a gelatinous cube, used to keep the dungeon clean).
Again though, this should not come as a surprise to anyone that it’s there. And it is true that there are instances where a Dungeon Overlord would not include these, but in those cases, the creator of the dungeon wouldn’t allow that for anyone who didn’t have some very specific physical attributes. Is the dungeon created by snake people? Great, they now use rounded tunnels to go up and down, along with firemen’s poles. Is it created by a beholder? Cool, there is now not a single stair or ramp in sight, instead, there are levitation tunnels that it uses to lower or raise itself through the floor and ceiling. Is the dungeon a naturally occurring phenomenon? OK, then there are likely pebbles and sharp spikes that act like caltrops everywhere, ones that hinder both those walking and those using a wheelchair.
Conclusion:
I suppose what I’m trying to say here is that people should look beyond their own noses, and instead of looking at it from a particular viewpoint, one set in the cultural zeitgeist, and instead see what exciting possibilities it can have for a GM and their players, rather than what it hinders and enables.
And let us all be honest here: If it allows even a single player somewhere in the world to feel more comfortable at their gaming table, especially when it doesn’t take away from the comfort of anyone else, should we not applaud the effort?
Kim Frandsen
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