About a month or so ago, I posted about wanting to discuss Jewish coding/stereotypes appearing in tabletop games. So to follow up on that, I'm now having a discussion with someone about whether or not goblins or golems are anti-Semitic.

I'm glad to be able to help, so here we go

Goblins in D&D aren't typically Jewish caricatures. Goblins in the Harry Potter franchise are. Different series, different goblins.

Regardless, the legacy of HP has left some with a concern that "goblins = anti-Semitic stereotype." That's a valid concern, but also easy to avert.

If your goblins aren't running a bank, haggling with everyone they meet, or generally acting like Watto, that shouldn't be an issue. Fortunately, I don't think I've ever seen that with D&D or Pathfinder goblins (Pathfinder goblins get great war songs, though).

In fact, I'm more concerned about dwarves falling into those stereotypes than goblins. I've definitely seem someone talk about dwarves using the triple parenthesis, and you best believe I blocked him before it got any worse.

The person I was speaking to was wondering if they would be able to avert the stereotype Rowling set by utilizing positive Jewish traits for the goblins. My advice: while that's well-intentioned, it still feeds into Rowling's idea that "goblins = Jews."

Rather than saying "No, these goblins aren't like the stereotypes in Harry Potter," it's saying "They are, but they're GOOD ones, so it's okay."

Just code the goblins as goblins and you're good. There are plenty of goblins to draw from that are neither negative nor stereotypes.

In fact, the person I'm speaking to wanted to model them after the goblins in "That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime," which is a great anime featuring wholesome goblins and no stereotypes, so that's a good way to go.

In short: don't do what JK Rowling did with her goblins and you're fine. But I wanted to share this because I appreciate the discourse and the concern that the DM was showing, as well as highlight a topic I've been seeing.

I'll talk about golems later, but I'll just say for now: I like golems.