Race as Class

Up here in the Pacific Northwest, a progressive state income tax has long been considered the “third rail of Washington politics.” That is, it is the kiss of death to any politician that tries to broach the subject, even in an effort to do away with out regressive, archaic sales tax. In the past, I certainly fell into the group that championed keeping Washington free of an income tax, even voting down a good man who dared voice the idea in a gubernatorial election. Fortunately, he’s still in politics (he’s serving a position in Obama’s cabinet), and I have come around in my way of thinking. It would be nice if Washington joined the majority of states in the 21^st century and stopped disproportionately taxing lower income folks.

I think that a similar 3^rd rail analogy can be drawn to the “race as class” issue. But I'm going to step on it anyway.

I play B/X Dungeons & Dragons…that is my preferred edition of the game (and Labyrinth Lord is a worthy knock-off, for those not in the know). However, this was not always the case, despite B/X being the first version of D&D that I played. And I know that many people that may have started with B/X or BECMI (Frank Mentzer’s re-print and continuation of B/X) eventually moved on to AD&D or AD&D2 or 3^rd edition or all of ‘em, despite B/X and BECMI being perfectly serviceable and (at times) much more practical and efficient game systems.

And the reason MAINLY is the “race as class” issue.

Really. Some people play D3/Pathfinder because they like the cool feats and consistent skill system (not the mention the lack of auto-kill poison and permanent level drain). I’m sure some people play AD&D/Osric because they really want those speed factors, spell components, and segments in combat (more crunch!). And some folks play 4E because…well, because they don’t know any better or their World of Warcraft account is down or because “everyone else is playing it and I can’t find anyone willing to play ‘old school’ D&D.”

But for most folks, the real thing that drives ‘em away from B/X and BECMI (or a FREE copy of Labyrinth Lord…sheesh! Free!) is those editions’ adherence to “race as class.”

I know. I used to feel the same way. My friends and I used to mock and ridicule “basic” D&D…and heartily!...specifically because of its “race as class” concept. The idea that dwarves don’t have clerics? That elves don’t have druids? The idea that halflings can’t become THIEVES? How ridiculous!

As with the state income tax issue, I’ve come around in my thinking.

Given that pretty much everything else can be ‘ported directly from AD&D (or even some D20 stuff) to B/X or BECMI with minimal fuss, I can only see this race/class thing as the major sticking point.

So I want to write about it a bit.

Not in an effort to convince anyone of anything…you people know the games you like to play and you’re going to play ‘em I’m sure, regardless of MY stance. But hopefully I’ll get some brain synapses firing on the subject.

I think part of the issue stems first and foremost from our consideration of what “race” is in D&D.

Even though the term isn’t supposed to mean one’s ethnicity or culture or color of skin (as “race” means in real world, human terms)…even though it is NOT supposed to mean THAT, I think that we still somehow DO equate fantasy “race” with real world “race.”

When what the word is supposed to stand for is SPECIES. The challenge is that there is no real world equivalent of “fantasy race” in the real world. I’ll come back to this in a moment.

When you treat race as culture/ethnicity, it becomes readily apparent why class as a separate entity becomes so damn necessary. Regardless of whether or not your culture is Italian or Nigerian or Japanese, the people of your nation fall into a variety of categories/careers. There are Irish priests AND soldiers. There are Haitian wizards AND rogues. In fact, while not all cultures may believe in MAGIC (and thus not practice it), ALL cultures have the equivalent of warriors and thieves…because war and theft are universal traits.

Universal to human culture, that is.

In the “real world” of today, there is no such thing as a non-human SENTIENT species. Not in the civilized, tool-using, literate sense of the term “sentient.” And without a real world comparison, the easiest thing for us to do is to imagine fantasy species as other cultures. Sure they are imaginary cultures, with no real world equivalents (or rather, a mish-mash of various human traits found in multiple cultures), but other than that…and a few in-game bonuses/penalties…they are nothing but humans.

Let me try an example to illustrate:

Take the AD&D (hill) dwarf. They have the entirely human traits of greed, dourness, pride, stubbornness, and loving attention to detail in their craft. Historically, they can be likened to a number of (stereotyped) northern European countries that shall remain un-named.

Except that they’re not human. And to reflect this IN-GAME you give them many mechanical deviations from humans: they’re short and have different movement rates. They have different saving throws. They can see in the dark.

Then you give them certain mechanical deviations based on those aforementioned cultural stereotypes. They have stone-working skills/bonuses. Why? Because dwarf culture is a stone-working culture. They have class and level limits. Why? Because dwarf culture has little interest in magic (yeah, right), and more interest in fighting than in pursuing the priestly arts.

In D20, WotC makes race even MORE of simply an “alternate human culture” (though with shortness or pointy ears). Dwarves aren’t limited to any particular class or level…just like a 21^st century Irishman or Zimbabwean, if you are ambitious enough (and lucky enough) you can pursue any profession you want and reach any degree of expertise (i.e. level). As in today’s world, there are much fewer limits on what we can do. 20^th level halfling paladin? Check. Dwarvish wizard? Check. Half-orc bard? Check-a-roo.

As in the real world, there may be some initial challenges to a particular race/culture on a particular professional path (like the half-orc bard or the villager from rural Africa becoming a MicroSoft programmer). But anything is possible.

That is, if one assumes fantasy “race” is little different from our normal, human concept of “race.”

I, however, prefer to think of fantasy races as something very different: alien, in-human species.

For one thing, it makes me feel a lot better about killing orcs and kobolds. If “monsters” are just humans with different faces (kobolds favored class: sorcerer!) than why the hell are we killing each other. Wow, is D&D teaching us to be intolerant of those who are “different” from us? Or that some cultures (orcs, kobolds, Islamic nations) are “inherently evil” and should be fought and destroyed? That’s a pretty ugly thought.

On the other hand, if you choose to make fantasy race really, truly mean “alien, in-human species,” then the game goes back to just being a fun fantasy game. Orcs are evil because…well, because they ARE EVIL. They are brutish, nasty, creatures that eat people and each other and wage war for no reason other than a love of bloodshed. Killing orcs isn’t just a means to treasure; it’s downright necessary to preserve the world from Chaos.

[and kobolds steal babies…to eat!]

When the aliens are alien we can say “ah, these are a real and true threat, because they do not share a HUMAN PERSPECTIVE.” And my fellow humans, despite our differences (Irish Catholic versus Irish Protestant) are still on the same page when it comes to preserving our own civilization.

So back to the Player Character races. In B/X we have dwarves, elves, and halflings. AD&D expands this with gnomes, half-elves, and half-orcs. I won’t bother to list all the additional species included in later editions (I don’t know them all there are so many!).

Leaving aside the gnomes and semi-humans (the half-humans) for a moment, let’s consider the basic races: dwarves, elves, and halflings. The Big Three (those present in every edition, including B/X and the Little Brown Books) can be considered culled directly from Tolkien. All are present in Tolkien. All fight together against evil and the forces of chaos in Tolkien. And all are playable character species in every edition.

In Tolkien, these civilized aliens are NOT very alien at all…they have personality traits equivalent to distinct regions of the UK. With elves being a bit more enlightened (older = mature) and thus both “merrier” and “more serious” than humans.

Of course, in Tolkien EVERY ONE OF THE FOUR RACES SHARES THE SAME CLASS.

Gandalf is not a human. He is a wizard (an Istari in the appearance of a man if you want to get technical). There are no human wizards in Tolkien…Sauruman, Radagast, Gandalf, Sauron…all come from “over the sea.” Elrond is wise, but he is a warrior. Magic in Tolkien is more of a higher degree of skill and craftsmanship (and even the dwarves work spells in their crafts, or lay hexes/curses over the troll hoard they find in The Hobbit).

All of the human, dwarf, elf, and halfling characters in Tolkien are sword-swingers. Period. Their distinction of species is ONLY cultural.

By contrast the faerie folk in Poul Anderson’s Three Hearts, Three Lions (the closest equivalent to B/X Elf I can find) is an alien species, much as they are in folklore…fey and chaotic, inherently magical, who knows what their motivation for anything is?

And that’s just it…IF the “races” of D&D ARE species and not just short, curmudgeonly humans, then why do they need to practice human professions AT ALL? Yes, you might find a German fighter, or a German cleric, or a German thief…but Germans are humans, just like the Chinese, the English, and the Inuit.

Dwarves are dwarves. Elves are elves. Halflings are Halflings. NONE of them are human. Who’s to say they practice ANYTHING equivalent of a human profession.

In B/X all elves know how to fight and how to use magic. Why? Because that’s the game. They are not humans, they are a species alien to humans. And unlike humans they are ALL brought up with sword-play and spell craft and know how to combine the two.

In B/X all dwarves are tunneling, tough warriors. Why? Because that’s how they’re defined. Why don’t they have clerics or thieves or wizards? Because they don’t. Call it a particular “blind-spot” of the species. Perhaps they DO have clerics…but the dwarf gods give them the ability to wield any weapon and do NOT grant the ability to cast spells or turn undead. Perhaps they DO have magic-users…but dwarf magic is limited to activities at the forge (dwarven hammers and axes). Perhaps they DO have thieves…what do you call an adventurer that breaks down a door, kills the occupants, and steals their goods? That’s home invasion, baby.

In B/X all Halflings are little, dexterous folk that never become great warriors, don’t bother much with religion, are too nice to develop thieving careers, and don’t use any magic worth mentioning (perhaps in the culinary sense). Why? Because that’s their species! They aren’t humans! It is the odd Halfling that wants to go on adventures in the first place…8^th level is the limit of their ambition because it is the limit of their species…just like my beagle isn’t concerned about much more than kibble and squirrel chasing!

The only reason to “snub” the B/X-LL-BECMI “Race As Class” concept is because you consider the various species of D&D to be the equivalent of humans in rubber masks. Or real cultures thinly disguised in fantasy tropes. Or some other human equivalent.

To me, keeping the races as separate, different, ALIEN actually increases the feeling of “fantasy” in the game. It makes humans AS A SPECIES really stand apart from the other species…their high levels, their variety of class/careers. It also makes humans more dangerous than other species.

[regarding gnomes and the semi-humans: to me, gnomes are a kind of hybrid between dwarves and halflings, and as such I’m not sure they’re necessary for inclusion in the B/X game; YOUR mileage may vary. Half-human hybrids are a completely separate, thorny issue, requiring its own post]