WotC Outlines D&D’s New Inclusivity Process
After addressing community concerns in Spelljammer, WotC’s Chris Perkins outlined D&D’s new Inclusivity procedures for the roleplaying game.
Wizards of the Coast has a new process for reviewing their material before it’s published. According to a new blog post from Chris Perkins, the D&D Studio is in the process of changing its review process, after fans raised concerns about offensive material present in Spelljammer: Adventures from Space. As Perkins explained:
The first printing of Spelljammer: Adventures in Space included two pieces of content that fans correctly flagged as offensive. [F]irst is an illustration of a hadozee bard that resembles offensive minstrelsy materials and other racist depictions of Black people. The second is a paragraph about hadozees that reinforces harmful real-world stereotypes. Future reprints will omit both the illustration and the offensive text, neither of which had been reviewed by cultural experts.
Moving forward, Perkins clarified that WotC hoped to learn their lesson. They’ll also execute some surprising transparency about the process for “inclusion reviews.”
D&D’s New Inclusivity Process
What is an inclusion review, you might be wondering? From Perkins’ blog post, it seems that he’s referring to work done by “outside cultural consultants.” This isn’t the first time we’ve heard about WotC working with cultural consultants. As a refresher, a cultural/sensitivity consultant is someone brought in when creating a project that features more diverse representations of culture. They specialize in the work of making sure ethnicities, cultures, religions, or other identities are represented well.
As outlined by writer/designer/consultant James Mendez Hodes:
“A cultural consultant or sensitivity reader joins you during (ideally, early in) your creative process to ensure your project not only doesn’t offend, but also supports and validates the people you’re talking about.”
And previously, work was flagged for an “inclusion review” at the discretion of the Product Lead. Their job was to identify which elements of a product might need that expertise. Now, there’s a new process in place. As Perkins states:
“The studio’s new process mandates that every word, illustration, and map must be reviewed by multiple outside cultural consultants prior to publication.
While the D&D team is racially, ethnically, gender, and cognitively diverse, we don’t want our marginalized employees to be burdened with the task of reviewing content for cultural competency. That’s why we leverage the expertise of outside cultural consultants.”
In place of these, WotC implemented a multi-phased process. Inclusion reviews happen during text creation, art creation, and again at the final product review phase.
How Will it Work
Perkins breaks down D&D’s new inclusivity process, which will be done at each phase. It starts with consultant reports:
“After completing their reviews, the cultural consultants submit written reports that are shared with the studio’s leadership team. The Product Lead then works with the Art Director and the Managing Editor to develop a plan that addresses the consultants’ feedback.”
And then, once that’s been accomplished, the proposed changes are compiled into a document for review by the consultants and D&D’s executive producer.
This will apply to both new texts and reprints. This is timely because Spelljammer: Adventures in Space is about to be reprinted, the first book to incorporate D&D’s new inclusivity process.
Happy Adventuring
