D&D's fantasy races are often portrayed in broad strokes: if you need a cunning villain, you can always get a drow; if you need an angry, monstrous warrior, you can always get an orc. But Wizards of the Coast says it is trying to put an end to that in order to make the tabletop game more inclusive.

For example, the 2016 Curse of Strahd featured the Vistani, a Romani motif that exacerbated negative stereotypes; WotC has made changes to the Curse of Strahd and, with the help of a Romani consultant, is planning to make changes to the upcoming publication. WotC has made changes to the Curse of Strahd and, with the help of Romani consultants, will further explore the Vistani in two forthcoming books.

More fantastical tribes are also not free from these problems, and WotC acknowledges that the language often used to describe some tribes is "a painful reminder of how real-world ethnic groups have been and continue to be denied." (Eberron. Eberron In Eberron: Rising from the Last War and Explorer's Guide to Wildemount, both published last year, the drow and orcs are portrayed as a complex race, as are other races, and apparently will continue to be so.

Not only will the approach to future books and the language used be changed, but changes will also be made to the characters. Wizards of the Coast will provide a way for players to customize their character's origins and change their race's ability scores. Races will get different ability bonuses, such as elves being particularly dexterous, but will be able to choose different bonuses that better reflect their characters.

"This option emphasizes that each person in the game is an individual with unique abilities," says WotC. Not only is it less restrictive, but it also seems more in line with the 5th edition, which emphasizes storytelling over math. It's not the +1 modification that makes a character or group interesting. It has not yet been announced when this option will be available, but it should appear later this year.

More importantly, WotC is looking for "new and diverse talent" to work on the game, stating that they have brought in new talent that "reflects the beautiful diversity" of D&D.

Hopefully WotC will ensure follow-through, as these are all healthy steps, and D&D, despite being an imagination-driven game, can be very rigid at times.