D&D General Words which replaced "race" in fantasy games

[Frozen_Heart]

I don’t agree they should be so distantly related. Moreover, that the term species calls to mind the distances of these groups’ phylogenic relationships is a huge part of why I dislike it so much for this purpose. It’s a fantasy setting where these beings were created directly by the gods, modern phylogeny shouldn’t be applicable.

I mean it depends on peoples settings there too. Some people run them as having evolved naturally, others run them as having been directly created by the gods.

The reason I like them being extremely distantly related, as it allows you to really go all out making each playable completely different in lore and mechanics. The second you get anywhere even close to them being 'race', big issues with real world racism and calls to remove all mechanics from playable species start popping up.

 

[MoonSong]

I don’t think it does at all, since “people” doesn’t have the baggage “race” does.

I'm on your side here, but there's room to pull a thread that way. Not the same baggage, obviously, but there is some.

 

[Charlaquin]

I'm on your side here, but there's room to pull a thread that way. Not the same baggage, obviously, but there is some.

I guess. Still think it’s a better term than species.

 

[MoonSong]

I guess. Still think it’s a better term than species.

Oh, indeed.

My favorite terms are kin, folk or origin. People/peoples and even kind or type work too.

 

[Marandahir]

"Han Who? Who are your people?"
"I don't have anyone."
"Han. Solo. Welcome to the Academy, Han Solo. I'm sure we'll have you flying in no time."

cue Han as-imperial-infantry being thrown across the Mimbanese trenches by a exposion.

Kinda like the GoT Jon Snow thing where bastards or family-less folk adopt a term related to the people of their region. If he was one of the Riverfolk he'd be Jon River instead.

This is also much like the Domesday Book recording people's trades as their names – John Smith, Erik Fletcher, etc.

 

[jmartkdr2]

I don't disagree with your historical assessment. However, there was a sizeable span of time when people were using it both in the "people of a region" sense and in the "group delineated by skin color and/or eye shape" sense. During that time, which lasted past the midpoint of the twentieth century, you could encounter both usages and work out which one was meant by context; the first definition increasingly showed up when someone wanted to sound deliberately archaic, but they could still do so and expect to be understood.

The second meaning was already starting to pull decisively ahead of the first by the time D&D was created, and that process accelerated over the next few decades. By today, you basically never see the first meaning anymore. Unfortunately, we don't really have a term that neatly replaces it.

I'd say "ethnicity" has moved into the vacant slot, although non-academics use it like it's much clearer than it actually is.

 

[jayoungr]

I'd say "ethnicity" has moved into the vacant slot, although non-academics use it like it's much clearer than it actually is.

It works for real-world situations, but it doesn't translate well to game terms.

The tricky thing is that in the real world, we're talking about different subgroups of humans, while in a fantasy setting, the groups we're trying to describe are not all humans. Depending on the setting, they might not even all be humanoid.

 

[Aldarc]

I think “people/peoples” is much more sound.

I don’t think it does at all, since “people” doesn’t have the baggage “race” does.

I like the more rustic sounding "folk," though the meaning is the same.

 

[jmartkdr2]

It works for real-world situations, but it doesn't translate well to game terms.

The tricky thing is that in the real world, we're talking about different subgroups of humans, while in a fantasy setting, the groups we're trying to describe are not all humans. Depending on the setting, they might not even all be humanoid.

That is the rub - we don't have a non-loaded term for major biological differences, because humans don't have major biological differences.

Race is loaded. Species would be good but creates silly arguments. Speaking for myself, I don't really have a preference beyond not liking either of those.

 

[Maggan]

I'm mainly referring to games which removed the word 'race' rather than those descended from systems which never used that word in the first place.

Pathfinder 2E - Ancestry (2019)
Level Up (A5E) - Heritage (2021)
Shadowdark - Ancestry (2023)
Black Flag/ToV - Lineage (2024)
D&D - Species (2024)
13th Age 2E - Kin (2024)

Any others I'm missing?

The current iteration of Drakar och Demoner (now Dragonbane) uses "kin". The earlier iterations (from different publishers than the current) used "race".