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Strength (all ability scores) are an abstraction of a creature's capability.
Strength is your:
* pushing power (okay, muscle strength)
* lifting power (so technique, too?)
* melee damage (so also special training?)
* etc.
[6/21]
Strength is your:
* pushing power (okay, muscle strength)
* lifting power (so technique, too?)
* melee damage (so also special training?)
* etc.
[6/21]
So even though it might not feel like it at first glance, when you give orcs +2 strength, you're saying something about how they're raised. "They are naturally born with knowledge on how to lift better and swing swords better."
[7/21]
[7/21]
That's the bioessentialism we were trying to avoid. Even though we pruned some of the more harmful foliage (by divorcing it from the vague and ambiguous term "race"), the SPORE was still there.
It just wasn't as obvious.
[8/21]
It just wasn't as obvious.
[8/21]
If you want to say something about orc bodies, just say it. In a lot of cases, it will actually be MORE interesting than +2 strength. Are orcs born with frames that make it easier to carry stuff? Don't give +2 str; give them the feature "Powerful Build" (or whatever).
[9/21]
[9/21]
The benefit of this? If you use a system like what's outlined in Ancestry and Culture, it makes it EASIER to create more interesting characters. An orc who doesn't have "Powerful Build" sounds way more interesting than an Orc Wizard with 10 strength. https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/314622/Ancestry--Culture-An-Alternative-to-Race-in-5e
It also gives you a way to interpret strength interestingly. That 18 str kobold? Amazing swords-master and athlete. But even a 10 str orc (with powerful build) can load up a HEAVY backpack and lug it around - because that's just their body.
[11/21]
[11/21]
Race has always been an ambiguous term, smashing together culture and biology in clumsy, harmful ways (and not just in D&D). So being MORE specific is actually MORE sensitive. It's certainly more difficult, but it better tracks with how a lot of POC view themselves - myself incl.
MOVING ON.
Changing to species has one other really big problem - and this one is net new.
If you consider orcs, humans, elves, etc. as different SPECIES, we now need to talk about the "half-races".
[13/21]
Changing to species has one other really big problem - and this one is net new.
If you consider orcs, humans, elves, etc. as different SPECIES, we now need to talk about the "half-races".
[13/21]
(Again, I'm not going to go into the details of how the very concept of a "half-orc" in D&D can perpetuate harm. Google it or start the Mendez' orcticles. https://jamesmendezhodes.com/blog/2019/6/30/orcs-britons-and-the-martial-race-myth-part-ii-theyre-not-human)
[14/21]
[14/21]
Most people know species to mean "individuals that can have viable offspring together". And in the context of D&D, usually the question of "viability" comes up.
(Which, I mean, reasonably so. WOTC dropped "half-race" in the 2nd chapter.)
[15/21]
(Which, I mean, reasonably so. WOTC dropped "half-race" in the 2nd chapter.)
[15/21]
(Side note: This definition is pretty much wrong, but here I'm focusing on the meaning of the word in most circles I've been in. I'm sure there's a biologist out there just WAITING to do a thread on how "species" doesn't mean what you think. And I want that. 
)
[16/21]
)[16/21]
Words affect us emotionally and there's very little we as people can do to stop that from happening. So when someone brings up species and another player (reasonably) brings up viability... it tracks that you might be hitting a very close, sensitive nerve of a friend.
[17/21]
[17/21]
Is (in)fertility, child-birth, child-rearing, etc. a topic you've set the groundwork to actually explore? For most D&D groups, I imagine the answer is "no" - and those groups probably have no real desire to dive into this with heart and nuance.
[18/21]
[18/21]
And when you tackle a very human topic WITHOUT nuance, you're just using your privilege-peepers and missing the harm you might be causing to people at your table. In fact, you'll almost certainly miss it - because those folx you likely hurt are going to just leave quietly.
[19/]
[19/]
CONCLUSION: If you're trying to move away from "race" in D&D, the bar is real low and almost any move you make is going to be net positive. And if "species" is working for your group? That's AWESOME.
But the work doesn't stop there. And you shouldn't kid yourself.
[20/21]
But the work doesn't stop there. And you shouldn't kid yourself.
[20/21]
As you move forward, ask yourself:
1. Have I addressed the root/spore of the issue people have shared with me?
2. Have I introduced new issues?
Thanks. Peace and love, y'all.
[21/21]
1. Have I addressed the root/spore of the issue people have shared with me?
2. Have I introduced new issues?
Thanks. Peace and love, y'all.
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