To my wife, Teresa, for always being my companion on the many harrowing adventures that comprise our lifetime together.
Adding Depth to Inclusion
A band of goblin bandits, snarling and brandishing their weapons, charged at the party. The fighter stepped forward, using her training and strength to take on the goblins head-on. She swung her sword with precision, cutting down the goblins one by one.
Meanwhile, the gnome wizard unleashed a flurry of spells, engulfing the goblins in fire and ice. The halfling rogue used her agility and stealth to strike from the shadows, taking out the goblins with swift and deadly blows. And the dwarven cleric used his divine magic to heal his companions and smite the goblins with holy energy. They fought together valiantly, and in the end, they emerged victorious.
Those adventurers succeeded thanks to the combination of skills important to a well-balanced party, able to accomplish more together than each could individually. The same applies to disabled characters. A blind paladin is not less capable of being a hero/adventurer/party member than a seeing rogue—they just have different skills and abilities. An elf might consider all humans disabled for lacking darkvision or needing to sleep, and a halfling might consider those without their luck limited, but when we begin first with the person—their values, hopes, dreams, fears, and joys—and then consider other traits, whether mental, mobility, magic, or martial, we develop characters with depth and authenticity.
Do your research. Find real-world examples, interviews, blog posts, and other information about not just the symptoms or traits of a disability, but how it’s experienced by those who experience it, and note that no two persons experience it the same way, yet their experiences share commonalities. How does this experience affect daily life and responsibilities, from dressing and eating to social interaction? What challenges does it bring, and what advantages? How does that person adapt to the challenges, and how do they want others to help them? Incorporating this information into your game can help create more realistic and nuanced characters.
Avoid tropes, stereotypes, and assumptions. Not all disabilities are visible, and they can vary in the extent of their impact from day to day. Many wheelchair users are ambulatory, meaning they can stand and walk but not for extended durations. Blind people can use their other senses more effectively, but they don’t have heightened senses. Paralysis, like most disabilities, has degrees beginning with joint stiffness or differences in motor control. Avoid using disability as a plot device or as a defining characteristic of a character, and instead, focus on their individual personalities and perspectives.
Making an Inclusive Game
As much as tabletop roleplaying games emphasize cooperation, they’re not inherently inclusive. Intentional steps make the difference.
Representation
In the real world, disability is a common and diverse experience, and by including disabled characters in a game, designers create a world that more closely resembles the diversity of our own. This inclusion communicates a welcoming atmosphere to players the same way adding other marginalized identities and experiences does.
Especially when moving beyond tropes like pirates with peg legs, disability inclusion demonstrates openness to learning about others’ experiences, showing care and concern for others’ needs without patronizing.
When players choose to play a character with different experiences and abilities than their own, they have a unique opportunity to consider others’ lives and enhance their empathy for the feelings and needs of a wide variety of people.
When players play characters representing their own disabilities, it helps them reinvent themselves and their circumstances as victorious, even when life’s challenges or an inaccessible environment or culture cause frustration.
Accessible Gaming
Accessibility needs vary for each individual, so asking individuals privately about accessibility needs provides the most accessible environment, whether online or in person. Discuss these needs with each player before you begin, including how they want those needs or the adaptive strategies communicated to the rest of the group, and communicate your willingness to adapt the environment or tools as needed and as needs arise, thus creating a more inclusive gaming experience for everyone.
For everyone, safety tools like Lines & Veils or the X-Card can ensure sensitivity to mental health needs. See Disability, Neurodiversity, and Mental Health Resources for Tabletop Roleplaying Games on our website for details.
Multiple formats of game materials can make written content more accessible, including audio, ePub, plain text, HTML, and other options where available. Shared notes with names of NPCs, locations, plot points, and other details help everyone keep track of information, which also helps those who miss a session or when groups meet infrequently.
Consider the game space. Make sure you have plenty of room to move for those with mobility needs. Consider sound and lighting for those with sensory needs. If playing online, check what accessibility options your online tools offer. And offer breaks—depending on the group and length of a game session, five to ten minutes every hour or two can improve everyone’s enjoyment.
When meeting in person, consider the game pieces you’re using, whether miniatures, dice, or other markers, and make sure they meet the tactile and motor needs of the players.
Accessible Groups
Beyond physical and virtual tools to accommodate the needs of the group, an overall attitude within the group of intentionally seeking inclusion for all people makes such a group accessible to everyone, regardless of their needs or background.
Before beginning, the players can discuss the type of game, story genre, and other game details they prefer. A code of conduct to prevent harassment and discrimination communicates safety.
Gaming groups can also make their group more accessible by engaging with and listening to underrepresented communities, including emphasizing inclusion in descriptions for public groups, reaching out to underrepresented peoples and inviting them to join the group, and making an effort to learn more about their experiences and perspectives directly from those populations.
The Characters
The Heroes
Supporting Cast
Adventures
Bonus Encounters
Credits
- Project Lead: Dale Critchley
- Character Design: Dale Critchley, Simone Arnold, Matthew Rickmon
- Sensitivity Reader: Naomi Hazlett
- Copy Editor: Lynne M. Meyer
- Layout Editor: Rodney Sloan
- Cover Design: Galadriel Coffeen
- Character Art: Dana Braga, Erin Anderson, Kalman Andrasofszky, Kii Weatherton, Luca Ippoliti
- Character Sculptors: Ludwik Łukaszewski, Matheus Zastawny
- Character Consultants: Abraham Klein, Cadfael Pugh, Daniel Wood, Donna Nason, George McDermith, Jeremy Hudgens, Jessica Ryan, Kimberly Sorenson, Lyssa Angélique, Thomas Darlington, Tony Newton, Victoria Rogers
- Additional 3D Art: Clara Rose, Lily Summer
Legal
The names and descriptions of traits, assistive devices, creatures, service animals, and all tables in this document, except for the portions specifically declared Product Identity © 2023 by Wyrmworks Publishing are licensed under CC BY 4.0. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Notice of Product Identity: Product identity includes character backgrounds and personalities, adventure text, artwork, logos, symbols, designs, depictions, illustrations, maps and cartography, likenesses, and other graphics except stock art.
This work includes material taken from the System Reference Document 5.1 (“SRD 5.1”) by Wizards of the Coast LLC and available at https://dnd.wizards.com/resources/systems-reference-document. The SRD 5.1 is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License available at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode.