From Newsgroup: rec.games.frp.dnd

Dungeons & Dragons has to confront its drow problem so it can finally reward the adventuring parties loyal to The Legend of Drizzt books with an adaptation, which has been overdue since 1988. Dark elf Drizzt Do'Urden was introduced in 1988 in R.A. Salvatore's The Crystal Shard, the first book in The Icewind Dale Trilogy. Drizzt is the center of a lot of D&D gameplay and
is also important to many who have never played a D&D game in their lives. Adapting Drizzt for the screen may be D&D's biggest commercial opportunity, but a drow controversy stands in its way.

Salvatore's books frequently appear on The New York Times bestseller lists
and have sold upwards of 30,000,000 copies. The powerful drow ranger Drizzt Do'Urden is a dark fantasy institution in his own right beyond D&D, and a movie or TV adaptation may be the awareness spike that D&D needs to finally break the mainstream in a meaningful way. Vox Machina is slaying dragons and competition on Amazon Prime Video's The Legend of Vox Machina, but D&D won't unlock the next level with all these skeletons in its closet. D&D must tackle its problematic drow before it can adapt Drizzt.

Dungeons & Dragons Has To Address Its Drow Controversy Once & For All
Dungeons & Dragons Has A Drow Problem

A live-action Legend of Drizzt adaptation would entail confronting the nature of drow and the color of their skin, which have been divisive in Dungeons & Dragons since 2020. However, the politically dubious nature of the drow started being discussed in the fandom long before 2020. Based on Norse folklore, drow were invented by D&D co-creator Gary Gygax and first
introduced in 1977's Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual as an evil, black-skinned race. Needless to say, D&D had to rethink that. In a 2020 blog post they have since removed, Hasbro finally addressed the mounting controversy over its drow problem:

Throughout the... history of D&D ... drow... have been characterized
as monstrous and evil, using descriptions that are painfully
reminiscent of how real-world ethnic groups have been and continue to
be denigrated. That's... not right... Despite our conscious efforts
to the contrary, we have allowed some of those old descriptions to
reappear in the game... If we make mistakes, our priority is to make
things right... We present... drow in a new light in two of our most
recent books... In those books... drow are just as morally and
culturally complex as other peoples. We will continue that approach
in future books...

A Drizzt Do'Urden TV adaptation would draw attention to this and could create more problems for D&D than sales. Cancel culture looms large. D&D publisher Wizards of the Coast LLC - bought by Hasbro in 1997 - didn't just make drow less evil, it also retreated from presenting drow as a race. D&D began using the word "species" instead of "race" for all its peoples to closer align with their real-world parallels and avoid uncomfortable comparisons. This is another skeleton that a Drizzt adaptation could free from the closet. But the flesh hasn't even rotted off the bones of the drow skin color scandal.

D&D hasn't yet tackled drow nature or skin color as openly as it should have, but it can do so through a Legend of Drizzt adaptation with a wry sense of humor. The Drizzt books are dark fantasy and an adaptation would wear gothic styling well. But D&D tried dark and gritty in its first three movies, which didn't have the depth to pull it off. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves and The Legend of Vox Machina prove satirical fantasy as D&D's style. Satire would allow a Drizzt adaptation to make fun of itself and expunge its dark past.

D&D can't hide its skeletons in a closet anymore.

D&D gradually shifted its depiction of drow skin color from black to purple and gray but never issued a clear, enduring declaration of what it actually is. A Legend of Drizzt TV show - which would probably work better than a
movie - should make drow varying shades of purple to avoid the complications of real-world parallels. Or, it can fully embrace its ebony-skinned drow and use a majority black or PoC cast, a la Black Panther, as a statement against whitewashing. Either way, it can make meta jokes with strong in-universe
logic that allude to the checkered past of the drow's appearance.

The Legend of Drizzt intended an anti-racist message, and an adaptation's script, in the hands of smart writers, would be strengthened by D&D's dark past, not weakened by it. Smart writers could tease out the liberating story that there is to tell here. Whether its drow are purple or black, a Drizzt adaptation has to stand against racism loudly. D&D can't hide its skeletons
in a closet anymore. If it wants to be an ally, it must own up to its
mistakes and compensate. In an awakening world, D&D may not reach its full potential unless it takes this vital step.

Toril is a wide world, and it holds space for stories just as liberating as the drow are problematic. Despite its dark past, D&D has become a beloved space for many uniting through a shared interest, becoming whoever they
choose to be. D&D's drow problem notwithstanding, R.A. Salvatore's story is about someone facing racial prejudice and trying to break free from it. Honor Among Thieves was going to include Drizzt but backed out due to its drow controversy, and he became Xenk instead. This was a mistake. A bold
showrunner would make this the empowerment story that D&D needs.

D&D's 2020 overhaul included changes to D&D 5e that allowed more flexible Player Characters and the introduction of good drow cultures like the Aevendrow and Lorendrow, but this was a faltering start to correcting its errors. R.A. Salvatore addressed his part in the drow problem by adding Aevendrow to The Legend of Drizzt in Starlight Enclave in 2021, confirming that "if the drow are being portrayed as evil, thatAs a trope that has to go away" (Polygon). But the 5e changes didn't nip D&D's systemic racial stereotyping in the bud, they just allowed players to make exceptions to the rule.

A truly self-aware Drizzt adaptation would demonstrate that all
drow are complex from the start.

Meanwhile, Aevendrow and Lorendrow diluted the logic of former stories somewhat. D&D could have amplified its complex drow goddess Eilistraee in
some other way, but this would have been difficult without huge retcons. Aevendrow and Eilistraee are both vital in The Legend of Drizzt and must be included in any adaptation along with Drizzt and his Artemis rivalry and the Companions of the Hall. But a truly self-aware Drizzt adaptation would demonstrate that all drow are complex from the start. With sensitive writing, a goth-tinged aesthetic, and a heart of gold, this adaptation could be just what Dungeons & Dragons needs.

--
Not a joke! Don't jump!

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From Newsgroup: rec.games.frp.dnd

On Tue, 03 Dec 2024 13:25:56 -0500, Ubiquitous <weberm@polaris.net>
wrote:

Dungeons & Dragons has to confront its drow problem so it can finally reward >the adventuring parties loyal to The Legend of Drizzt books with an >adaptation, which has been overdue since 1988. Dark elf Drizzt Do'Urden was >introduced in 1988 in R.A. Salvatore's The Crystal Shard, the first book in >The Icewind Dale Trilogy. Drizzt is the center of a lot of D&D gameplay and >is also important to many who have never played a D&D game in their lives. >Adapting Drizzt for the screen may be D&D's biggest commercial opportunity, >but a drow controversy stands in its way.

This seems a solution in search of a problem.

I get there is a concern, but I don't think it's necessarily a problem
with D&D. Undoubtedly D&D -especially in its earliest years- had
issues with sensitivity to race issues. No surprise; it was a game
aimed squarely at middle-American white males. But the DROW hardly
seem representative of that problem.

Despite their black skin, the drow have never been representative of
black people. Other than their skin tone, NOTHING about them suggests
a black person; their body shape, their hair, their culture. They have
always been an 'evil faery' race. Their skin tone is indicative of
humanity's innate (being a diurnal species) association with darkness
being something to be feared. It was not an association with
black-skinned people. All the more so since the skin tone of Drow
would put even the blackest of black people to shame, and in more
recent depictions their skin tone has taken unnatural grey or even
muave hues.

There are many other areas where D&D can be faulted for its depiction
of people of color. Some of the old supplemental material can be very
cringey to a modern reader! But unless we want to condem every use of
the color black equating to evil, I don't think the drow should
qualify.

That said, any TV series using drow might have difficulties the game
might not. Presumably a live-action show would use a real actor, and
--whether naturally dark skinned or enhanced using CGI 'black-face'--
this depiction /would/ be problematic because it would show a dark
skinned HUMAN as being intrinsically evil.

But in the game, Drow are very visibly not human. They are shaped
differently, typically with much lither and longer body shapes than we
see in homo sapiens, not to mention secondary features such as red
eyes, white hair and long pointed ears. Drow - and elves in general-
often appear more catlike than anything. But unless you go for a
completely CGI character, the obvious humanity of the actor will lead
to mixed messaging.

TL;DR: it's not D&D Drow that have a 'controversial problem', its any live-action depictions that have to be careful


IMHO, YMMV.

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From Newsgroup: rec.games.frp.dnd

On Wed, 04 Dec 2024 14:43:21 -0500, Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:

Despite their black skin, the drow have never been representative of
black people. Other than their skin tone,

Drow skin tone is *literally* black. As in Crayola black. The only
objection I could respect is with the word "black." I would accept
suggestions as to what you objectively call the actual color.

This is a whole other can of worms where brown skin was associated with
the words "dark" and "black" (and paler skin with "white") for political reasons. The denigration is calling a group of brown people pejorative
names that don't make sense. "Black people" are not actually black, and
are no more "colored" or "of color" than anyone else with a skin color.

People need to find a sense of tolerance here. Tolerance means not
looking for things to be offended at because it's pleasurable. If people
are going to look around for these things, there's going to be a whole
lot of unnecessary hand-wringing and pearl clutching. Everything will
become bland in response, as 5.24 D&D already has.

Call him "night" skinned (or something) and be done with it. Or, you
know, maybe people just get over their intolerant sensitivities?

Sensitive is fine. So sensitive as to not be able to tolerate dissonance
and disagreement is offensive.
--
Zag

This is csipg.rpg - reality is off topic. ...G. Quinn ('08)
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