On Oriental Adventures
A recent conversation has emerged on Twitter and YouTube over the 1st Edition Dungeons & Dragons product Oriental Adventures, written by Gary Gygax and David “Zeb” Cook back in 1985.
In addition to the dated and offensive depictions of people from Southeast Asia in this book, part of this larger discussion explicitly deals with the continued sale of the book on the Dungeon Master’s Guild (affiliate link purposely not included). This protest has been spearheaded by Daniel Kwan who presented the initiating ten-part YouTube series on the subject of Asians in D&D.
Recently, Wizards of the Coast addressed this by including a disclaimer on several of their products on the DMsGuild:
We (Wizards) recognize that some of the legacy content available on this website does not reflect the values of the Dungeons & Dragons franchise today. Some older content may reflect ethnic, racial, and gender prejudice that were commonplace in American society at that time. These depictions were wrong then and are wrong today. This content is presented as it was originally created, because to do otherwise would be the same as claiming these prejudices never existed. Dungeons & Dragons teaches that diversity is a strength, and we strive to make our D&D products as welcoming and inclusive as possible. This part of our work will never end.
I’m writing this blog largely because a friend saw the disclaimer and was impressed that WotC included it, and was immediately perplexed that so many people were unhappy with WotC despite their apology for a book written long ago.
Why Is Oriental Adventures Bad?
Why is the book problematic. Because it’s racist AF.
Oriental Adventures is racist in innumerable ways, both large and small. While it was written as a love letter to the culture (or rather, the tropes of the culture as seen through western eyes) it was still unintentionally offensive. The inherent design of the book presents “Oriental Adventures” as being removed from the norm of fantasy adventure, and positions the people who live in such a realm as different from the norm. (In this instance “the norm” being the Western Europe in a vague anachronistic Middle Ages.) And by extension it is also declaring gamers of Southeast Asian descent as “different.” Referring to human beings from Southeast Asian in terms of “the Other” or presenting them as mystic asians is deeply problematic at best. As is writing a book on Asian cultures and mythology where no one of Asian descent contributed.
I’m not an expert on this matter by any regard, but as a rule “oriental” is a perfectly fine word to use to describe rugs, but a terrible word to use for people, a region, cultures, or literally anything but rugs. And it has been for a long time and well before Gygax wrote Oriental Adventures. Honestly, for anyone who wants to know more or doesn’t feel convinced, I’m just going to redirect back to the award nominated Asians Represent Podcast and Twitch Stream that started the whole conversation.
At the end of the day, Oriental Adventures is just a giant hodge-podge of “the Other”, the mysterious East, yellow peril, noble savages, cultural appropriation, and so much more. No matter how you feel about cultural appropriation, Weeaboos, and the wuxia genre, Oriental Adventures is a whole mess of problematic writing and tropes.
Without question.
The real question is how to handle the book.
Ban Hammer?
With Gygax’s Oriental Adventures clearly and inarguably identified as a problematic piece of literature that is full of racist tropes, the question remaining is “now what?”
This is where my opinion becomes controversial.
Okay, it’s racist. But it continues to be available for purchase on online stores. It continues to make money for Wizards of the Coast, and by extension, they continue to profit from the distribution of racist material. This is the primary argument for removal of the book and dissatisfaction with the “empty words” of the disclaimer on the product.
So, should it be removed?
This is a hard issue. Because it involves censorship and free speech, which are massive triggers for many.
As a general rule, whenever someone invokes “free speech” I tend to become instantly jaded. Whenever the best argument and defence a speaker can make regarding something they’re saying is “it’s not illegal to say it” then it probably wasn’t remotely worth saying.
However, this issue is significantly more complicated when you’re dealing with a published book in the public eye, let alone a historical document of some kind. Because removing that book becomes a form of corporate censorship.
There’s always someone arguing that a book should be banned. Fifteen-odd years ago, schools and parent groups were up in arms trying to ban the Harry Potter franchise for satanism and promoting witchcraft. And in the modern day people are equally concerned about the books because the author is deeply transphobic and a bigot. If it wasn’t okay to ban the book in the first instance, why is it a good thing in the second? If it’s solely because I believe in one cause versus the other then it’s actually about silencing voices I disagree with. (For the record, trans rights ARE human rights, and if you agree how about throwing a buck or two to someone in need)
While Daniel Kwan believes he’s right and that Oriental Adventures is racist (and, again, I don’t disagree with him or dispute that conclusion) the mothers who formed Bothered About Dungeons & Dragons back in the 1980s believed just as strongly in their convictions regarding the morality of D&D and were just as convinced they were in the right to demand the books be pulled.
It doesn’t matter if you’re doing the wrong thing for the right reasons or the wrong reasons, you’re still doing the wrong thing. And that’s my personal opinion as well as my professional one. Because my opinions are influenced by the fact I’m a librarian.
Freedom to Read
As a librarian I am expected to uphold Intellectual Freedoms, as outlined in the American Library Association’s statement:
“Intellectual Freedom is the right of every individual to both seek and receive information from all points of view without restriction. It provides for free access to all expressions of ideas through which any and all sides of a question, cause, or movement may be explored. Intellectual freedom encompasses the freedom to hold, receive, and disseminate ideas.”
This is mirrored in the Canadian Federation of Library Associations’ statement.
“Libraries have a core responsibility to safeguard and facilitate access to constitutionally protected expressions of knowledge, imagination, ideas, and opinion, including those which some individuals and groups consider unconventional, unpopular or unacceptable. To this end, in accordance with their mandates and professional values and standards, libraries provide, defend and promote equitable access to the widest possible variety of expressive content and resist calls for censorship and the adoption of systems that deny
Books are challenged all the time. Banned from schools. Banned from stores. Banned from libraries. But it’s vitally important that people be allowed to read whatever they want.
Why should people be able to purchase and read a racist book?
Here’s the thing, the ten-part YouTube series dissecting this book and which prompted the disclaimers to be added to old D&D products was enabled by legal digital sales of the book. If Daniel and Steve of Asians Represent hadn’t been able to purchase the book, they would not have been able to dissect the product on their stream. If the book is removed, anyone doing a similar review in the future will not be able to without tracking down a physical copy or resorting to illegal digital piracy. The ability for someone to easily research or review the history of Asian representation D&D games or the evolution of the portrayal of ethnicity in tabletop gaming will be reduced. Their ability to choose to read the book or not has been taken away from them.
Oriental Adventures is also an important book in the history of the game. The non-weapon proficiency skill system was introduced to AD&D in this product, which led directly to 2nd Edition. Anyone delving into the history of D&D and the evolution of the game from OD&D in the ’70s to the present will likely look at Oriental Adventures.
It’s important that people have the choice and the ability to read and research what they want.
Morally Right Action
I am still bothered by the idea that Wizards of the Coast is profiting from the sales of Oriental Adventures. It isn’t a massive success like a modern book; as a Mithral best-seller it has only sold between 2,500 copies and 5,000 copies. (It was less until recently: the negative reviews significantly boosted its sales and people decided to read and evaluate it for themselves.) It retails for $5, split roughly evenly between OneBookShelf (who operate the DMsGuild) and Wizards of the Coast. Assuming the book has sold in the upper end of the band, it might have moved 4000 copies. That’s $10,000 made for Wizards of the Coast. Not a small figure for me or most small publishers, but relatively minor for D&D, let alone WotC as a whole.
What WotC should do is identify a few of the more problematic books (such as Oriental Adventures and Maztica) and donate a large percentage of the sales to charity. Allow people to still purchase the books if they want and give people the freedom to read but not benefit from the sales. They already do something similar with their charity adventures, like the recently released orc adventure Return to Glory.
This preserves the history of the game and allows people to retain their intellectual freedom and choice, while also making things better. By providing funds to charity, the world is improved and people can be helped, while just banning the book won’t enact any change or improve anyone’s life.
Shameless Plugs
If you liked this article, you can support me and encourage future reviews. My disposable income, which is necessary to buy RPG products, is entirely dependent on my sales.
I have a number of PDF products on the DMs Guild website, including The Blood Hunter Expanded. Others include my bundle of my Ravenloft books, the Tactician a level 1 to 20 class, Rod of Seven Parts, Traps, Diseases, Legendary Monsters, a book of Variant Rules.
Additionally, the revision of my book, Jester David’s How-To Guide to Fantasy Worldbuilding is on DriveThurRPG, available for purchase as a PDF or Print on Demand! (And now in colour!) The book is a compilation of my worldbuilding blog series, but all the entries have been updated, edited, and expanded to almost two-hundred pages of advice on making your own fantasy world.
Plus, I have T-shirts available for sale over on TeePublic! The art of which can also be put on cloth masks.
You book burner apologist scum.
“the book presents “Oriental Adventures” as being removed from the norm”
Are you kidding me? Everything you wrote about why it’s ‘bad’ is a farce. The book is not racist and you know it. Everyone knows it.
Grow a pair and stop apologizing for being white. Anyone who wants to you feel guilty about it is himself a racist and kafkatrapping his ass off.
Read some Orwell or Paranoia or whatever it takes for you to grow some backbone and stand up to the inquisitors.
(…Actually, it’s just occurring to me that everyone *doesn’t* know it’s not racist. The witch hunt’s target audience are millennials who are too young to be familiar with it and wont bother reading it but have an ‘everything old is probably literally Hitler’ attitude and wont question the accusation. All the more reason not to spread that lie.)
“As a general rule, whenever someone invokes “free speech” I tend to become instantly jaded. Whenever the best argument and defense a speaker can make regarding something they’re saying is “it’s not illegal to say it” then it probably wasn’t remotely worth saying. ”
Evolutionary pressure causes Bad Ideas to grow a culture of censorship as a method of self defense to protect them from scrutiny and criticism, the same way animals may develop quills or shells.
Well… someone stopped reading halfway through the article and it shows.
Thanks for the brave words guest from guest@guest.com. Nice to have people willing to put their name online as they stand up for their principals.
The books Daniel Kwan put out use the same tropes as OA, kung fu movies, anime, Asian fantasy and Japanese pulp all do as well. The only issue is OA and Kara-Tur were written by white, black and Hispanic people. In 26 hours he complained there is no real culture but does not mention the extensive list of books to read for real culture, then as he makes fun of the creators names not once does he mention the Asian play testers and contributors mentioned by name in the thank you section. They call universal mechanics that effect all races racist, they have no understanding of the game. It took him 26 hours to say the wrong color human wrote them because if an Asian person wrote the book there would be no issue. They are very much like the satanic panic of the 80s but I am glad you do not wish the books gone. But those videos hide any good in these books; like TSR was the first company to use ethnic play testers on ethnic products as an example.
Anyway now everything TSR ever put out is labeled as “Wrong then and wrong now” because of something very subjective. As a brown player who played in the 70s these games have always been one of the few inclusive things in my life, it hurts me to see them labeled as hate.
It is deeply problematic to say white people should only write white fantasy or paint white fantasy art which is exactly what Mr. Kwan suggests.
In a perfect world anyone would be able to write any culture they want. But the world is imperfect and there are many biases and negative stereotypes. Personally, I don’t think it’s inherently wrong for a white author to write about non-white cultures… provided they work with an heavily consult with someone from that culture who has enough authority to veto sections.
It’s not unlike someone publishing an RPG based on the culture of the USA. “‘Merican Adventures” And the only writers were from the UK, Canada, and Australia. How authentic would it be and how many negative stereotypes would be knowingly (and unknowingly) included?
I don’t buy it. This is just another post where a white person tries to explain to me what non-white people think.
Then don’t take my word for it. The link the the YouTube series is in the second paragraph, where two gamers of SE Asian descent talk about the product and their experiences.
Of watch the streamed segment at D&D Live 2020 with a series of Black gamers and creators:
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/655590487?t=00h23m14s
See what they say on D&D and representation. It’s maybe 90 minutes. Less if you listen at 1.5x speed.
I’m half-asian myself and was never offended by it back in the day. So I wanted to watch it to see what I missed. It is full of tropes and stereotypes? Really? Newsflash: That is why we bought it! We were tired of playing western fantasy tropes so we wanted to play ninjas, samurai, etc. etc. I watched a bit of it…but stopped. They were getting offended by the font and then the world ‘mystical’. Mystical? Really? We bought this stuff because we wanted to escape. Play a game. If it said, “Be transported to the hard reality of Asian history…” I’d have been like ‘pass’. Which probably doesn’t say good thing about pre-teen and teen me…ah well. Personally I played games with the AD&D version and we had fun. It is only now I realize I was the only kid at the table with asian descent, but that didn’t matter at the time. We became our characters in our minds…
Whether or not you or I am offended by something doesn’t really matter. No one gets to decide for someone else if something isn’t offensive or tell them they’re wrong to be offended.
Personally, I think it’s silly to be offended by orcs, as they’re not dark-skinned humans. But if someone feels upset by the idea and making changes to the game makes it more comfortable to them, then why not? Everyone should be able to play in comfort.
So the question isn’t “is OA offensive?” but “someone finds OA offensive… what do we do now?”
Someone finds “Happy Holidays” offensive, what do we do now? We can’t decide they aren’t offended.
Karen is threatened by the presence of someone not pasty white, what do we do now? Apparently she has the right to be scared.
The left correctly recognizes the above examples as the complete and utter horseshit that they are. If someone takes offence at something that is plainly not intended to be offensive, that’s a power play on their part. A way to exploit others good nature and manipulate those around them. I think everyone claiming OA is problematic would have no trouble saying that Karen and the War on Christmas people should get fucked. Pretty easy to recognize when the other side is operating in bad faith and deal with that appropriately. But apparently not so easy to spot when the scam is coming from inside the tent.
Just because some people are offended by silly things doesn’t mean ALL people who are offended are doing so to silly things. You need to reasonably judge their reasons and listen to them with an open mind. Even if it was something not intended to be offensive, because culture and society doesn’t stand still. What was considered acceptable changes over time and we either move with society or become the racist grandpa.
I suggest you listen to the videos and actual hear their arguments with a willingness to be proven wrong.
You stated that if someone is upset by the something it is wrong to tell them otherwise. You stated that it is wrong to tell someone that something isn’t offensive. Is this an absolute or not? You seem to be back tracking.
And I’m not talking about people who get offended by silly things. I’m talking about people who use being offended as a path to power, recognition, clicks, cash, and clout. Corporate America is full of these people, and I think most people fortunate enough to avoid this behavior in the work place have, at some point, encountered other examples of this in their daily life.
And after listening to the first episode of Asian’s Represent, Kwan is definitely in the that group. He has realized that it is easier to gain influence accusing others of some hard to defend against crime than it is to make money selling his own creative work. Easier to rally the mob than offer your own material (which he also does, but somehow always forgets to mention). And he has realized he doesn’t have to do much homework or offer any arguments about the harm his targets have done to do it.
One example. His take on Comliness in OA. Had he done his homework he would have known that all D&D characters got a Comliness stat in 1985, from the book Unearthed Arcana, which came out right before OA and had sold as 4th core book. That same bit of homework would have introduced him to the Barbarian class which parallels the similar class in OA, and to the Cavalier which has a strict chivalric code similar to the OA honor system. Most of that material had shown up in Dragon already, OA added nothing in that regard wasn’t already present in what today we call the meta.
The complaint about lumping all Asians together as a single culture is where we discover that he isn’t just ignorant, but operating in bad faith. OA isn’t a settings book, its a mechanics book. Just like the PHB. We would never accuse the PHB of lumping all of Europe together. We would instantly recognize such as a charge as a bad faith non-sequitor. And Kwan definitely knows that the setting material, found in the Kara-Tar set, offers analogous to for various Asian cultures. So he’s damned them for treating Asians as a single group, before he damns them for attempting to portray the different cultures.
Kwan’s grift isn’t a victimless crime. Material like OA is the messy, imperfect working end of multi-culturalism. It’s the escapist fantasy that leads people down the rabbit hole to more in depth sources. By attacking it Kwan has made it less likely people will dare similar products in the future, and fewer people will be introduced to material outside their own culture. He’s damaged the cause he claims to be fighting for, because he’s realized is an easy way to gather cash, clicks, and clout.
This is contradictory. You argue he’s using it as a path to power via gaining clicks. But then mention he’s not plugging and hyping his own work, which is how one benefits from clicks, as his podcast and video isn’t monetized. He’s paying himself in exposure.
Look, it’s okay to enjoy problematic material. You can enjoy and find 1e’s Oriental Adventures a useful product and important piece of gaming lore and the history of D&D. No one is taking that book away from you, or saying you’re a bad person for finding it influential in your games back in the ’80s. I’m quite happy to display my copy on my shelf along with my other 1e D&D books.
Highly unlikely now that places like South Korea are developing their own RPG industries and the internet connects gamers from across the globe. Like the inSANe RPG.
People are regularly exposed to material outside their own culture. But unlike the 1e OA book, these products will be written by people belonging to those cultures instead of white colonialists doing a superficial exploration of said cultures, exploiting them to sell books. In fact, not having white creators make that material creates a vacuum in the market, encouraging minority creators to write and fill that void.
Ah. There it is. The real agenda. The idea that certain creators should be given a protected status in the market based on their race.
Seems to me that the East India company would agree with this position. But you might want to think carefully before adopting it as your own.
It’s not an agenda. It’s called “cultural appropriation.” A term coined back in the 1980s. It not a new concept.
And it’s not a protected status: it’s that colonialist cultures shouldn’t be able to exploit cultures they conquered.