Kyonshi
2024-09-06 07:40:14 UTC
Source: https://www.wargamer.com/dnd/taco-sushi-debate
DnD fans debate whether sushi is unrealistic in a make-believe game
New art from the Dungeons and Dragons Player’s Handbook has sparked
debates about racism and what real-world foods fit in a fantasy game.
Mollie Russell
Published: 2024-09-05
Dungeons and Dragons
Bewilderingly, sushi and tacos have become the focus of a heated
Dungeons and Dragons discussion online, as art from the new D&D Player’s
Handbook happens to feature both of these foods. After a fan Tweet from
September 1 decried this artistic choice as “nonsense”, several members
of the D&D community rushed to defend sushi and tacos’ status as fantasy
game food.
That original tweet came from X user osgamer74, who shared new art for
the Heroes’ Feast spell from the 2024 Player’s Handbook. “Tacos? Sushi?
What the fuck is this nonsense?”, they comment.
That original post has gained a lot of traction (so much that its
creator has now muted the post), so osgamer74 has expanded on their
original thought. Apparently, their, er, ‘beef’ with the artwork is that
sushi and tacos are too “contemporary” for D&D’s mostly faux-medieval
settings. They equate them to McDonald’s meals, as osgamer74 can buy
both in their local mall.
For context, both these foods are closer to the current day than they
are Medieval times, which serve as the main influence for D&D’s
particular flavor of fantasy. Sushi in some form has been around for
centuries, but the dish as we know it today is thought to have been
invented in 1824, and it was already available in America by the early
1900s thanks to immigration.
Tacos are also an eighteenth-century creation, though there is some
debate about exactly when and how the food came to be. Both foods
reached Europe at a later date, with the first records of sushi
appearing in the UK in the 1950s, and the first UK Mexican restaurant
opening in 1982.
However, anachronisms have rarely bothered Dungeons and Dragons fans
before. Potatoes are often a staple food for the fantasy game, despite
only arriving in Britain in the 1580s. The Heroes’ Feast art also shows
pumpkin as part of the meal, and these weren’t available in Europe until
the 16th century. Nothing about this meal is particularly medieval.
Nevertheless, osgamer74 has said that they’re “fine with pumpkins” as
part of the feast.
Comments like this have led many online to call a spade a spade and
accuse the post of racism.
Dungeons and Dragons writer and presenter B. Dave Walters shared the
post, adding “People that complain about this sort of thing never seem
to be bothered with overtly western medieval food and customs in their
‘fantasy’ game. Weird, I wonder why.” “In addition to everything else, I
love that there are literally Samurai in D&D but Sushi is a bridge too
far”, Walters adds. This post is accompanied by an image that says
‘careful, your racism is showing’.
Ennie-winning RPG designer Alison Cybe shares a similar sentiment,
tweeting: “The reason folks get so pissy about artwork in D&D always
comes back to the idea of fantasy being history; specifically WHITE
history. Tacos & sushi are ‘too exotic’ to be real for them, because
their idea of the genre excludes non-whites.”
While much of D&D’s world building is influenced by Medieval European
fantasy tropes, the tabletop RPG has always taken inspiration from
non-white cultures. 1985’s Oriental Adventures is not a kind and
respectful portrayal of Asian culture, but it shows that all editions of
Dungeons and Dragons have taken images and ideas from diverse nations.
DnD Monks have been in the game since the ‘70s, and Samurai are also a
first-edition character option.
In modern Dungeons and Dragons, books like Journeys Through the Radiant
Citadel have created entire settings inspired by non-white communities,
with far more nuanced and respectful portrayals of such cultures. Plus,
there’s Pathfinder, D&D’s sibling rival, who recently proved in its Tian
Xia character guide that Sailor Moon, Zelda, and Godzilla references can
work in a heroic fantasy RPG.
Art depicting sushi and tacos has caused a divide on D&D social media,
but if the actual DnD books are anything to go by, such diverse
influences are here to stay for tabletop games.
For more Dungeons and Dragons updates, be sure to follow Wargamer on
Google News. We can keep you up to date with the DnD release schedule,
or we can help you choose the right DnD classes and DnD races for your
next character.
Author's bio: Mollie Russell Mollie Russell is Wargamer's resident D&D
and guides specialist. She has a degree in Creative Writing and English
Literature, and you can also find her writing at Pocket Tactics and in
various poetry magazines. She's covered some of the biggest and weirdest
releases for Wargamer - including the DnD movie, Frosthaven, and
Baldur's Gate 3. Mollie is constantly playing Dungeons and Dragons, but
she's still on her quest to try every tabletop RPG she can get her hands
on. An avid fan of MTG drafts and horror board games, she will take any
opportunity to info-dump about why Blood on the Clocktower is the best
social deduction game. (She/Her)
DnD fans debate whether sushi is unrealistic in a make-believe game
New art from the Dungeons and Dragons Player’s Handbook has sparked
debates about racism and what real-world foods fit in a fantasy game.
Mollie Russell
Published: 2024-09-05
Dungeons and Dragons
Bewilderingly, sushi and tacos have become the focus of a heated
Dungeons and Dragons discussion online, as art from the new D&D Player’s
Handbook happens to feature both of these foods. After a fan Tweet from
September 1 decried this artistic choice as “nonsense”, several members
of the D&D community rushed to defend sushi and tacos’ status as fantasy
game food.
That original tweet came from X user osgamer74, who shared new art for
the Heroes’ Feast spell from the 2024 Player’s Handbook. “Tacos? Sushi?
What the fuck is this nonsense?”, they comment.
That original post has gained a lot of traction (so much that its
creator has now muted the post), so osgamer74 has expanded on their
original thought. Apparently, their, er, ‘beef’ with the artwork is that
sushi and tacos are too “contemporary” for D&D’s mostly faux-medieval
settings. They equate them to McDonald’s meals, as osgamer74 can buy
both in their local mall.
For context, both these foods are closer to the current day than they
are Medieval times, which serve as the main influence for D&D’s
particular flavor of fantasy. Sushi in some form has been around for
centuries, but the dish as we know it today is thought to have been
invented in 1824, and it was already available in America by the early
1900s thanks to immigration.
Tacos are also an eighteenth-century creation, though there is some
debate about exactly when and how the food came to be. Both foods
reached Europe at a later date, with the first records of sushi
appearing in the UK in the 1950s, and the first UK Mexican restaurant
opening in 1982.
However, anachronisms have rarely bothered Dungeons and Dragons fans
before. Potatoes are often a staple food for the fantasy game, despite
only arriving in Britain in the 1580s. The Heroes’ Feast art also shows
pumpkin as part of the meal, and these weren’t available in Europe until
the 16th century. Nothing about this meal is particularly medieval.
Nevertheless, osgamer74 has said that they’re “fine with pumpkins” as
part of the feast.
Comments like this have led many online to call a spade a spade and
accuse the post of racism.
Dungeons and Dragons writer and presenter B. Dave Walters shared the
post, adding “People that complain about this sort of thing never seem
to be bothered with overtly western medieval food and customs in their
‘fantasy’ game. Weird, I wonder why.” “In addition to everything else, I
love that there are literally Samurai in D&D but Sushi is a bridge too
far”, Walters adds. This post is accompanied by an image that says
‘careful, your racism is showing’.
Ennie-winning RPG designer Alison Cybe shares a similar sentiment,
tweeting: “The reason folks get so pissy about artwork in D&D always
comes back to the idea of fantasy being history; specifically WHITE
history. Tacos & sushi are ‘too exotic’ to be real for them, because
their idea of the genre excludes non-whites.”
While much of D&D’s world building is influenced by Medieval European
fantasy tropes, the tabletop RPG has always taken inspiration from
non-white cultures. 1985’s Oriental Adventures is not a kind and
respectful portrayal of Asian culture, but it shows that all editions of
Dungeons and Dragons have taken images and ideas from diverse nations.
DnD Monks have been in the game since the ‘70s, and Samurai are also a
first-edition character option.
In modern Dungeons and Dragons, books like Journeys Through the Radiant
Citadel have created entire settings inspired by non-white communities,
with far more nuanced and respectful portrayals of such cultures. Plus,
there’s Pathfinder, D&D’s sibling rival, who recently proved in its Tian
Xia character guide that Sailor Moon, Zelda, and Godzilla references can
work in a heroic fantasy RPG.
Art depicting sushi and tacos has caused a divide on D&D social media,
but if the actual DnD books are anything to go by, such diverse
influences are here to stay for tabletop games.
For more Dungeons and Dragons updates, be sure to follow Wargamer on
Google News. We can keep you up to date with the DnD release schedule,
or we can help you choose the right DnD classes and DnD races for your
next character.
Author's bio: Mollie Russell Mollie Russell is Wargamer's resident D&D
and guides specialist. She has a degree in Creative Writing and English
Literature, and you can also find her writing at Pocket Tactics and in
various poetry magazines. She's covered some of the biggest and weirdest
releases for Wargamer - including the DnD movie, Frosthaven, and
Baldur's Gate 3. Mollie is constantly playing Dungeons and Dragons, but
she's still on her quest to try every tabletop RPG she can get her hands
on. An avid fan of MTG drafts and horror board games, she will take any
opportunity to info-dump about why Blood on the Clocktower is the best
social deduction game. (She/Her)