Dungeons & Dragons Announces New Inclusivity Processes After Spelljammer Revisions

Dungeons & Dragons has made a number of changes to this summer’s Spelljammer: Adventures in Space boxed set while detailing the additional inclusivity processes all future books will undergo prior to publication. Today, Wizards of the Coast published a new Design Blog on D&D Beyond detailing the changes the Dungeons & Dragons design studio had made to its design and editing processes, following the inclusion of harmful content in the Spelljammer: Adventures in Space boxed set books. The blog post, written by Chris Perkins, stated that every word, illustration, and map set to be published by Wizards of the Coast in a Dungeons & Dragons publication would be reviewed by multiple outside cultural consultants prior to publication.

This is a change from Wizards’ previous practice, which saw the Product Lead determining which parts of a product would be subject to an inclusion review. Additionally, text and artwork are now reviewed separately until a final product review phase, in which consultants review the text and artwork side by side. 

These changes occurred after readers pointed out that the new lore for the Hadozee in Spelljammer: Adventures in Space (which was inspired by Planet of the Apes) featured themes of enslavement and eugenics that reinforced harmful real-world stereotypes. Additionally, a picture of a Hadozee bard bore resemblance to depictions of offensive minstrelsy materials, specifically those used to degregate black people. Wizards of the Coast apologized for the offensive material and issued an errata within weeks of the book’s publication and stated that they would remove the material from future printings. 

“Just as D&D is a living game that grows and changes as we learn, so too will our inclusion-review process evolve and improve,” the blog post states. “We are expanding our pool of cultural consultants so that we have the expertise needed to review the variety of material we publish. We will also continue to listen to D&D fans who call attention to offensive content. We will do our best to make this process as diligent, methodical, and universal as possible, better ensuring that our products bring joy rather than cause pain to our fans.”