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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