Problematic Orcs

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Break the shackles of "traditional D&D" and run Orcs the way YOU want to! No. I want to run them as mostly Evil monsters compelled by Gruumsh.

Orcs are a metaphor for black people so it's racist to fight them Orcs are a metaphor for toxic masculinity so we SHOULD fight them Orcs are f------ imgflip.com

NERFNOW.COM ORIGIN: SNOWFLAKE OLD PROBLEMATIC DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS NEW PLAYER FRIENDLY "ORIGINS" DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS

WWWKUKURUYO.COM - PATREONCOM/KUKURLUYO TRIGGERHAPPY AH, WHAT A FUN AND UNPROBLEMATIC HEY BRO, I'M FINNA GO GET SOME CHICKEN ADVENTURE THAT WAS! DON'T BE TELLIN ME DAT YOU'R NOT COMMIN

THE PARTY ENCOUNTERS A GANG OF OH MY GOD! AREN'T YOU OFFENDED BY THIS?! VIOLENT ORCS, DEMANDING WE HAND OVER ALL OUR MONEY. No. WELL, I'M OFFENDED ON YOUR BEHALF.

File: main-qimg-b6acd0bb666f0aa(..).jpg (151 KB, 602x499) Nothing is inherently evil if it grew up into its present state from infancy. Orc babies don't pop out into the world with an in-born desire for r--- and murder: it's all a matter of upbringing and religion and indoctrination, all of which is almost universally evil for orcs. If you adopt an orc baby and raise him by proper values, there's every chance that he'll turn out to be a decent person. But then they are no longer monsters. They're just green humans, a tribe of hardy and violent barbarians or what have you. There will be orcs living in the cities, orc migrants, perhaps humans living among orcs, and all the ensuing realistic - and therefore boring - issues. You might as well just make them human at that point. Therefore, the solution is this: orcs did not grow from infancy. Orcs are created, perhaps by dipping a human in a wizard's evil black cauldron. This will also make them the dark servants of one particular sorcerer, mostly hanging out in one corner of the world rather than swarming all over every place like bugs. They are very evil indeed: you'll need magic and miracles to genuinely redeem one, and should that happen, it will just turn back to human. O Anonymous 12/24/18(Mon)21:21:53 No.63687748 >>63694704 File: doctor says it like it is.jpg (39 KB, 442x536) >>63687597 If you can use humans for an encounter, use humans. It'll downplay fantastic elements and keep them being genuinely fantastic, rather than just another check on the fantasy board, AND there's better odds of player characters actually thinking about what they're doing when the enemy is of their own race. Šave orcs for the really bad s---. Save orcs for when there's something scary and otherworldly going on. And never show orc babies, because learning that they grow up the same way humans do instantly takes some of that mystique away: it's better to just imagine that they pop fully grown from the dark or some s---. O Anonymous 12/25/18(Tue)07:42:01 No.63692265 > >>63692295 >>63687508 >Orcs are created, perhaps by dipping a human in a wizard's evil black cauldron The artificial orc is the best orc. Made in vats with giant visceral, human semen, and pig fat, stewing in demonic ichor. A foul thing made for war.

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About

Problematic Orcs refers to a viral debate over whether the fictional humanoid orcs from the game Dungeons and Dragons could be viewed as problematic representations of racial bigotry.

Origin

On April 25th, 2020, Twitter user @MonkipiQuinn^[6] tweeted a picture of a description of "Roleplaying an Orc" in Dungeons and Dragons with the message "Cw blatant racism" (shown below). The account was subsequently placed on private.

Quinn W-W (Blasted by Time Ghos... Follow @MonkipiQuinn Cw blatant racism I'm in genuine awe that this s--- came out for THIS edition of D&D h-------- ROLEPLAYING AN ORC Most orcs have been indoctrinated into a life of destruc- tion and slaughter. But unlike creatures who by their very nature are evil, such as gnolls, it's possible that an orc, if raised outside its culture, could develop a limited capacity for empathy, love, and compassion. No matter how domesticated an orc might seem, its blood lust flows just beneath the surface. With its instinctive love of battle and its desire to prove its strength, an orc trying to live within the confines of civi- lization is faced with a difficult task. 4:55 PM - 25 Apr 2020 194 Retweets 1,217 Likes 1.4K t7 194 1.2K

"Most orcs have been indoctrinated into a life of destruction and slaughter. But unlike creatures who by their very Nature are evil, such as gnolls, it’s possible that an orc, if raised outside its culture, could develop a limited capacity for empathy, love, and compassion.

No matter how domesticated an orc might seem, its blood lust flows just beneath the surface. With its instinctive love of battle and its desire to prove its Strength, an orc trying to live within the confines of civilization is faced with a difficult task."

Precursor

Orcs have been read and debated as a racist trope for decades, particularly in regards to J.R.R. Tolkein's The Lord of the Rings book series. For example, some argue that descriptions given by characters in The Lord of the Rings for the creation of Orcs could amount to fear of race mixing and eugenics. In Lord of the Rings the character Treebeard says, "It is a mark of evil things that came in the Great Darkness that they cannot abide the Sun; but Saruman's Orcs can endure it, even if they hate it. I wonder what he has done? Are they Men he has ruined, or has he blended the races of Orcs and Men? That would be a black evil!" In the article, "From the Shire to Charlottesville: How Hobbits Helped Rebuild the Dark Tower for Scientific Racism," writer Andrew Stewart says":^[7]^[8]

In each of these selections, we find clear manifestations of mid-twentieth century scientific racism. The final, which alarmingly spells out the notion of ‘race mixing’ as a great sin, would easily be at home in the mouth of a Klansman were ‘Orcs’ and ‘Men’ turned to ‘Blacks’ and ‘whites.’

In private letters, Lord of the Rings-author J.R.R. Tolkein wrote, "squat, broad, flat-nosed, sallow-skinned, with wide mouths and slant eyes: in fact degraded and repulsive versions of the (to Europeans) least lovely Mongol-types."

The debate continued through Peter Jackson's film adaptation of The Lord of the Rings. Some accused Jackson's depiciton of the Orcs as being similar to "the worst depictions of the Japanese drawn by American and British illustrators during World War II."

However, because of the era that the character were created, some do not see this as an allegation of racism or bigotry toward Tolkein but rather a product of the era in which he lived. Still, others have pushed back against these arguments. In another letter, Tolkien wrote:

Yes, I think the orcs as real a creation as anything in 'realistic' fiction … only in real life they are on both sides, of course. For 'romance' has grown out of 'allegory', and its wars are still derived from the 'inner war' of allegory in which good is on one side and various modes of badness on the other. In real (exterior) life men are on both sides: which means a motley alliance of orcs, beasts, demons, plain naturally honest men, and angels.

Spread

On April 26th, 2020, Twitter^[5] user @videodante tweeted "the ideology of 'this group of sentient beings is unable to overcome the inherent animal nature of their bloodline' is the same as irl racism" (shown below).

dante @videodante the problem with D&D Orc racial classification is not that orcs were necessarily designed to resemble black and/or poc cultures, but that the ideology of "this group of sentient beings is unable to overcome the inherent animal nature of their bloodline" is the same as irl racism 2:24 PM · Apr 26, 2020 · Twitter for Android

Meanwhile, Redditor RecoveringH20Addict posted a Lord of the Rings meme about the debate, in which Gandalf is shown saying "Be silent. Keep your forked tongue behind your teeth," in reaction to Twitter users accusing Tolkien of racism. Within 24 hours, the post gathered upwards of 29,800 points (98% upvoted) on /r/HistoryMemes.^[2]

Twitter users: JRR Tolkien wrote orcs to resemble black people because he was a racist Tolkien, who wrote a letter to the Nazis telling them their racism and bigotry made him ashamed of being a German: Be silent. Keep your forked tongue behind your teeth.

That day, Carl Benjamin, a member of the right-wing UK Independence Party, uploaded a video about the controversy to the Akkad Daily YouTube channel titled "'Orcs' Trends on Twitter" (shown below, left). Also on April 26th, YouTuber Hero Hei uploaded a video titled "'Orcs are trending, because woke Twitter is calling them 'racist'" (shown below, right).

[This video has been removed]

Twitter user @ammourazz published a list of resources for explaining this criticism of orcs. They wrote, "Hey so if you’re stumbling into the D&D orc discourse and are one of the handful of people here with an open-mind and a genuine desire to understand what’s going on, welcome! This thread is gonna be for you; a master list of resources that explain the problem if you’re willing." The post received more than 7,200 likes and 2,700 retweets in less than three days (shown below).

Amr Ammourazz @ammourazz · Apr 26 Hey so if you're stumbling into the D&D orc discourse and are one of the handful of people here with an open-mind and a genuine desire to understand what's going on, welcome! This thread is gonna be for you; a master list of resources that explain the problem if you're willing. 149 t7 2.7K 7.2K Amr Ammourazz @ammourazz · Apr 26 Step 1: The historical context. This article explains a lot of the historical roots and issues with Orks. Including the letters in which Tolkien describes them as "least lovely mongol types" amongst other context and issues. Orcs, Britons, and the Martial Race Myth, Part I: A . This is the first installment of a two-article series Beat back the about the racist origins, nature, and ramifications .. with S jamesmendezhodes.com LIBERTY t7 74 1.1K Amr Ammourazz @ammourazz · Apr 26 Step 2: The modern continuation This article bridges the historical basis with the modern issues and contexts and helps explain why it continues to be a problem and grew past its initial route. Orcs, Britons, and the Martial Race Myth, Part II: T. This is the complement to my previous article, "Orcs, Britons, and the Martial Race Myth, Part I: . P jamesmendezhodes.com 27 58 987 Amr Ammourazz @ammourazz · Apr 26 Step 3: Language You have to understand that language that minimises the humanity of another is one of the most common tools of bigots who seek to justify their actions by treating the oppressed group as "less than." This is a fact of our racist/ sexist/ homophobic world. 17 51 1K <]

Amr Ammourazz @ammourazz · Apr 26 The language used here is that language. Orcs, sentient beings, can be "domesticated." They have an underlying, inherent rage and blood lust that's just part of their biology. This is harmful because of the real world parallels to a ton of racist tropes. ROLEPLAYING AN ORC Most orcs have been indoctrinated into a life of destruc- tion and slaughter. But unlike creatures who by their very nature are evil, such as gnolls, it's possible that an ore, if raised outside its culture, could develop a limited capacity for empathy, love, and compassion. No matter how domesticated an orc might seem, its blood lust flows just beneath the surface. With its instinctive love of battle and its desire to prove its strength, an orc trying to live within the confines of civi- lization is faced with a difficult task. 54 23 81 1.2K Amr Ammourazz @ammourazz · Apr 26 Step 4: An illustration of the limitations of this trope Ajey's thread expertly breaks down both mechanically and narratively how this lessens your gameplay experience AND why it perpetuates harmful racial stereotypes. A simple light read if you can't dive into full articles. Darth Play-By-Post (Ajey - He/Him) @AjeyPandey · Apr 26 Hi folks. Orc discourse is happening. Let's talk orcs. Let's talk about a specific orc character pitch: Y'Gria Khaskia, Level 3 Orc Wizard (Divination)! ST: 8 DX: 10 CN: 12 IN: 16 WS: 14 CH: 14 Show this thread 17 65 1.1K

Amr Ammourazz @ammourazz · Apr 26 Step 5: Addressing the problem (and proof it isn't made up) This problem is common enough that here are 3 resources to adress it. The first by Gabe is a beautifully thought out system in a well put together PDF you can get for FREE. A literal steal. Gabe e @GabeJamesGames · Apr 2 EXCITED to share the first four classes for my CMM. A #dnd system to use narrative w/ class to determine ability increases rather than racial modifiers. The PDF IS FREE & currently has the Barbarian, Bard, Monk, & Warlock Ft @Tallinier 's AMAZING ART gabejamesgames.itch.io/cmm Show this thread BanBARIAN BARD ti 91 1.2K Amr Ammourazz @ammourazz · Apr 26 But if you've made it this far and you're still thinking this is a bunch of Poc making a fuss over nothing, here are well established white people in the dnd space writing articles about it that actively cite this issue.5 BEYOND Reimagining Racial Ability Scores How do you improve D&D's races? Here's one way for you to try at home: cut out the restrictive ability score modifiers and put them . P dndbeyond.com 27 74 O 1.1K 15 Amr Ammourazz @ammourazz · Apr 26 This second article recognizes its enough of a racial issue to have hired a PoC consultant to help on it. Overall I would recommend Gabe's one the most because you should prioritize Poc voices on topics like these (and its just real freakin good). worldbuilderblog.me/2020/04/18/cus. ti 47 894

Amr Ammourazz @ammourazz · Apr 26 Replying to @ammourazz This second article recognizes its enough of a racial issue to have hired a PoC consultant to help on it. Overall I would recommend Gabe's one the most because you should prioritize PoC voices on topics like these (and its just real freakin good). worldbuilderblog.me/2020/04/18/cus.. 27 47 894 Amr Ammourazz @ammourazz · Apr 26 I link these two other articles primarily as proof that this is an issue that extends far enough to make it onto D&D beyond and to be addressed by major white creators and for one of them to hire a PoC cultural consultant to assist. t7 18 O 702 3 Amr Ammourazz @ammourazz · Apr 26 Anyways it's Ramdan so if you're coming here looking for a fight or someone to piss off that's not gonna happen. In the spirit of this month I've extended an olive branch and if you genuinely want to learn more l'm glad to teach, but I won't engage in bad faith. t2 17 987 Amr Ammourazz @ammourazz · Apr 26 P.S. remember this all started because someone posted the very lukewarm "this language is racist" tweet and everyone dog-piling them said "you're racist for saying that about black people," which they didn't. If you're gonna troll at least keep reality straight. O 14 t7 35 959 Amr Ammourazz @ammourazz · Apr 26 P.P.S. @DeeEmSteve linked another wonderful resource in my comments breaking down the issue of bioessentialism in fantasy races more generically, which is a great thread by Kienna. Here it is for folks: Kienna Sunrise @Kiennas · Aug 14, 2019 Because l'm in a "breakdown some stuff" kind of mood, let's have a quick chat about bioessentialism and how it's perpetuated by the current structure of race in D&D, and therefore why we should move away from attributing so much stuff to race (as seen in Joey's article) Show this thread 13 22 20 493

On April 27th, the news site ComicBook.com^[1] published an article titled "Why Orcs Are Problematic in Dungeons & Dragons." That day, journalist Gita Jackson tweeted^[4] a thread about her exhaustion with the debate, saying "we have been talking about this for a hundred years tho and I don't care anymore."