The role-playing game replaced “race” with “species” and divorced several character traits from biological identity. Some longtime players are upset (as is Elon Musk).
They didn’t just “come across” as racist. Racial traits were racist in previous editions, by definition, because it was about the differences between races. Tying differences to race is always racist, that’s literally what racism is. I like the change to “species.”
But if they’re different species, I don’t really think those differences are racist anymore? I don’t really see how “elves have more magic than mountain dwarves” is still racist when they’re entirely different species. I guess it can be problematic for there to be one species that specializes in Int, Wis, and Cha since they’d just be inherently smarter and more beautiful? There’s probably no way to make that work. But why shouldn’t the elvish species be greater spellcasters? It’s just an odd choice.
They didn’t just “come across” as racist. Racial traits were racist in previous editions, by definition, because it was about the differences between races. Tying differences to race is always racist, that’s literally what racism is. I like the change to “species.”
But if they’re different species, I don’t really think those differences are racist anymore? I don’t really see how “elves have more magic than mountain dwarves” is still racist when they’re entirely different species. I guess it can be problematic for there to be one species that specializes in Int, Wis, and Cha since they’d just be inherently smarter and more beautiful? There’s probably no way to make that work. But why shouldn’t the elvish species be greater spellcasters? It’s just an odd choice.