More D & D racism

I love how just one day after I posted a link about racism in D & D, I played in the most racist D & D game (one-shot) I’ve ever had the misfortune of being in.

Every Halfling was a “peck” (I don’t really get that), we were reminded again and again about how dwarves are so “resourceful” and “industrious”, and well, you know how those swamp women are. Half-elves aren’t just half-elves, they’re disgusting half-breeds, and the NPCs had to play up asking the full elves whether they’d be willing to work with one.

I think the GM was going for gritty realism — after all, real people are racist and sexist and crude — but it fell pretty flat with some of the crowd, I think. Greg, who played a Halfling, made a point of having his character (upon being called a “Peck” for about the third time) say, “Do you realize that that’s a derogatory term for us? We prefer to be called Riverfolk, if you would.”

I left shortly thereafter, but I’m told things got a little better after that.

After about the first 15 minutes of incessant “Peck” references, I started a running tally in my notebook of racist references. I got to 56 in the next hour and 45 minutes before I left.

I’m tempted to email the GM that article, but I don’t think it would do any good.