This is a third-party Kickstarter project unrelated to the "Monster Manual", a trademarked and official D&D book. Anyone can do this, especially since the CC-BY relicensing.
The original title starts with "This", which makes the disctinction slightly clearer. A suppose that it was probably cut off by the HN submission system.
Yes, because leading "This" is such a classic flamebait trope. I've reworded it to avoid that and be a little bit clearer. Thanks to both of you!
If someone suggests a better title (more accurate and neutral, preferably using representative language from the article itself), we can change it again.
How about "A bestiary for 5th Edition D&D that ..." etc?
"Bestiary" is used in the article and it should be recognisable by people who play D&D or not. The "for" makes it clear it's not by the publishers of D&D.
According to the law of unintended consequences, DnD players will chase endangered species to extinction whenever they want them included in their future campaigns.
Oh yeah, these species are going to be hunted to extinction over and over again in D&D campaigns. Maybe some players will then resurrect them all to have the pleasure of hunting them to extinction again. D&D players do horrible things in fantasy land.
> “We believe that if human behaviour caused these extinctions, then our behaviour
> can safeguard the future for other species,” the book’s creators said.
It's not just human behavior, it's the sheer pervasiveness of humankind in every part of the planet. Unless remediating that is that's part of the plan, asking every human to change behavior isn't going to be a reality.
Japan, Norway and Iceland still allow the hunting and eating of whales. China is big into shark-fins, and their oligarchs like to eat tigers. The US is still in a salmon rights battle with native americans (fortunately few of our endangered species are foodstuffs for humans). I get it, it is culturally significant to them, and who am I as a progressive paleface American to tell them not to. But it is culture vs. culture and I don't think that's a winnable battle. Sounds defeatist, I know. Hopefully someone can change my mind?
Culture continually changes with education. It used to be culturally acceptable to burn people at the stake for being witches. It used to be culturally acceptable to enslave people based on their skin color. You can go on and on with this list. There are many horrible things that humans have done that we no longer do, I think, because our empathy grows and our knowledge grows. In my opinion, a defeatist attitude enables these bad behaviors because defeatism ultimately means acceptance of the wicked.
What about this is political? The book is fact checked for accuracy. The animals listed as extinct are extinct. There's no commentary on the factors that led to the extinctions of these species (though they're not unknown).
The only thing political about this is that some people would rather not think about the consequences of human actions. It's intensely political to say that we shouldn't care about or raise awareness of human-caused extinction.
Nope, good authors can make perfectly separate fantasy world politics despise their own views.
This isn't even politics per se, just feel good activism, the "I'm helping", while doing absolutely nothing that helps in the topic). Equivalent to thoughts and prayers.
What is the part of this product that you have an issue with?
"...dividing its pages between offering background on the real-life animals - and the reasons for their disappearance - and providing versions playable in D&D 5E and other RPGs."
Is learning why animals are no longer around controversial? This book seems like it does in fact teach facts and isn't doing absolutely nothing as you put it.
> What is the part of this product that you have an issue with?
What part of any of this effort improves either the gameplay of backers or the state of conservation?
There is no need in any edition of the game for another book of 100 monsters. I already have hundreds of CR <1 small birds and mammals, and similar numbers of herd animals and apex predators. Even with "reimagined powers" it takes about 30 seconds to throw an extra power on a monster even in extra crunchy editions of the game.
My major question with any gaming product is what fun does this bring to my gaming table? And I don't see any fun that it'll add, at least not to my game. Most of what I see is some decent swag and some indulgences someone could buy for their feelings of guilt at conspicuous consumption in the hobby.
You aren't forced to buy it. Folks who find this interesting and educational can buy it. Producing this doesn't take anything away from you. And the proceeds are donated to the Center for Biological Diversity, which feels like a pretty not terrible way for the money to be spent.
What fantasy works are you referring to? Whatever you have in mind, I can guarantee you it has more real-world political inspiration than you think. You can ignore it (and maybe even the author denies it like Tolkien) but our physical world and experiences is what defines the fantasy we write. It shapes our understanding of power and character, which is why fantastical stories vary so wildly in different contexts.
This doesn't even strike me as activism, unless you're uncomfortable with looking at a Dodo illustration in your D&D campaign. This is a book with extra monster ideas, some of which are inspired by animals you will never see. Even devoid of empathetic value towards those dead animals, you gotta admit it's pretty metal to fight an animal that doesn't exist... anymore.
Honestly, I think this is great. The personal politicking of how D&D should/shouldn't be played is annoying, but this isn't really any of that. It's a deconstructive fantasy manual using the real world as inspiration for mildly thought-provoking world development.
> The personal politicking of how D&D should/shouldn't be played is annoying
And deeply stupid. Don't like a change? Ignore it. Don't like something that's included in RAW or official sourcebooks? Ignore it. There are no Correctness Police at your table, you can do WTFever you (and your players) want. Want obsidian-black always-evil Drow? Go nuts, nobody cares. Think that's horribly racist? Make them purple and not alignment-locked. Hell, make them albino. No one will stop you. Most of the politics-related changes have been really, really easy to just house-rule out of existence, and most of the things that bothered people about older editions or settings are similarly easy to modify without having to extensively change other parts of the system. It's just a bunch of noise that barely matters at all.
Don't like this extinct creatures manual? Just... don't buy it or use it as a source for your games then? It's so easy.
And yeah, dinosaurs and mammoths and shit have been in D&D basically forever. Some of its major influences were "lost world" fiction and Conan-style prehistorical fantasy, so of course those are in it. D&D doesn't draw primarily from e.g. Tolkien-style high fantasy where dinosaurs and such might seem out-of-place. A source book for extinct animals for D&D falls solidly within the spectrum of "totally normal D&D stuff".
Agreed. It's entirely caused by two parties fighting one another:
- The authoritarian Wizards/Hasbro ownership that wants to commercialize and streamline the image of D&D
and
- The ass-wack community of people playing who have no intention of changing the way they play
Neither of these parties are particularly wrong, but they'd be better off without each other. Hasbro should focus less on appeasing older wargamers and let their streamlined product serve as an introduction for younger players, and community shouldn't worship WotC for repeatedly failing them.
At the end of the day, the best solution is like you say - dust off your favorite edition rulebook and write everything from there. It's all just fantasy, you can mix-and-match whatever you want. However, the best fantasy isn't passive or ambient writing. It's thought-provoking stuff that uses powerful analogies to tell a powerful story. Shying away from real-world inspiration or conflict is the equivalent to failing as a fantasy author (in my book).
Politics is the affairs and events associated with governments.
Too many people conflate "worldview" and "politics."
By this comment, I assume you mean the authors are pushing a specifically political agenda, intended to change government or influence government policy.
I'd love to hear you explain how that is the case.
This is a 3rd party product... exactly the kinda of place you would find a niche product that might appeal to "personal politics".
You used to not be able to use the word D&D when promoting your 3rd party product, only the term 5E. I wonder if this has changed due to the recent SRD change. I thought I would like that, but this initially confused me as I thought this was an official D&D product.
