Dungeons & Dragons Removes Controversial Backstory From Spelljammer Race

Wizards of the Coast has quietly excised several paragraphs from Spelljammer: Adventures in Space that provided the Hadozee with a controversial backstory. At some point yesterday, Wizards of the Coast removed two paragraphs from the digital version of Spelljammer: Adventures in Space on D&D Beyond. Additionally, a paragraph describing the Hadozee’s “Glide” ability was also changed, removing one of their aerial manuevers. As of press time, Dungeons & Dragons has not formally commented on these changes, nor has the changes been made on third-party websites such as Roll20. ComicBook.com has reached out to Wizards of the Coast for comment.

The paragraphs provided a new backstory for the Hadozee explaining that the race of flying monkey-esque humanoids were created by a wizard who intended to sell the creatures as magically enhanced soldiers. While the Hadozee killed the wizard before they could be sold off, many Dungeons & Dragons fans pointed out that the race suddenly had a history tied to slavery and forced eugenics. This seemingly ran counter to Wizards of the Coast’s stated goal of bringing more diversity into Dungeons & Dragons and to avoid tropes and descriptions that paralleled harmful real world acts that people of color have experienced.

As of press time, neither Wizards of the Coast nor D&D Beyond’s development team has commented on the removal of the text, but it does seem that this marks the fastest that a new Dungeons & Dragons book has experienced a significant correction. Typically, Wizards of the Coast releases errata ahead of a new print run of a rulebook, but with Wizards of the Coast promoting D&D Beyond as a primary way to play Dungeons & Dragons, it’s clear that the company can take quicker action to make adjustments to the rules (or remove problematic text that was missed during the editing process) than they could before. 

UPDATE: Wizards of the Coast has issued a statement apologizing for the offensive material.

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