This orientalist view of North Africans originated in the medieval Spanish depictions of the Moors, who were seen as a corrupting influence on Spanish ‘purity’, religion and society. Described in the game’s 20th Anniversary Edition as being “mostly Egyptian or North African in origin”, the Followers of Set were a clan of devious drug dealers with a secretive cult religion and a compulsion to corrupt the innocent.
The Followers of Set represented another crude racial stereotype. Many fans over the years have noted the similarity with negative stereotypes of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller (GRT) communities that persist to this day.Įditions prior to V5 stated that the skin of a Banu Haqim got darker as they became more evil - a metaphor that perpetuated harmful ideas of anti-Blackness in the community. Vampire: The Dark Ages’ 20th anniversary edition describes the Ravnos as “often mistrusted on sight and treated like criminals before they can do anything wrong” and stresses their nomadic culture. The Ravnos curse was a unique vice, with common examples being thievery or gambling. Earlier editions of the RPG described the clan as charlatans who use their powers of illusion to take advantage of others. Needless to say, some of the original designs of these clans make for difficult reading today. Each of these clans has a history, access to different vampiric disciplines and a unique clan curse. Rather than ‘races’, Vampire: The Masquerade characters belong to a clan.
It too had its share of racial stereotypes in earlier editions. Vampire: The Masquerade, like D&D, is currently in its fifth edition. Of course, Dungeons & Dragons is not the only roleplaying game with a problematic history. The concept that players should bend the rules to maximise their enjoyment has long been dubbed ‘Rule Zero’ of RPGs, and restating this makes for a weak, piecemeal approach that ignores a more systemic problem. Rather than creating a new system for customising player characters, it merely suggested that players could ignore racial stat bonuses. Unfortunately, the release of the book left many fans feeling disappointed. The publisher announced that a new sourcebook, Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, would dedicate a chapter to addressing the problem directly. When Dungeons & Dragons creator Wizards of the Coast announced its intention last summer to address the game’s problematic approach to race, many fans were excited to see how this would play out.
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