INTRODUCTION

The game Dungeons & Dragons is used as a means of providing improvised performances through assuming identities and streaming gameplay. This game is played and performed through campaigns such as Critical Role and Dimension20 that have an audience of millions worldwide. There are dozens of performers garnering audiences of millions, and there are campaigns that highlight diverse identities such as Desiquest and Dungeons and Drag Queens. This game, and the genre of fantasy, have a legacy of racism. Demonizing “Races”, such as orcs, dark elves and gnomes, goblins, and hazodee highlight that a game founded through white people and their interests cannot escape or be excused from the white supremist systemic structures that shape our reality.

 

Much like the culture in which you were raised, the abilities you have in D&D influence how you roleplay, and the decisions you make when navigating the world. These tethers to identity are not equally accessed, and there are communities that have been purposely stripped of their cultures and autonomy. Thus, while players can choose a Species, Class, and Subclass, they should also be able to choose a Culture, as part of their background. This culture is influenced by The Brother / Sister Plays, and is created for the use of Black folks, who have been not only disregarded in the creation and community of D&D, but intentionally marginalized and mocked. 

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The following is a proposal for a session designed to empower Black and Transgender folks to design their characters in a way that highlights the power of character design in tabletop role playing games. This game is meant to give players the opportunity to play and perform in their character design process. There is no risk of character death, although there are challenges presented to make the players feel like this journey is impactful. For the purposes of this session, and the ideologies I am hoping to challenge and highlight, there are terms specific to this game that will be adjusted.

 

First, the term Game Master or Dungeon Master, meant to define the player who is running the game, will be changed to Game Designer. Additionally, the term Race, meant to define the species of the character– elf, human, orc, gnome, dwarf, will be adjusted to Species as it accurately defines what the game mechanic does. It is important to highlight that these terms that are adjusted are remnants of racist ideologies that still permeate new official sourcebooks for Dungeons & Dragons (D&D). All design elements are based on the fifth edition player's handbook of D&D, and does not use any outside source material connected to individual intellectual property of other D&D Players. The Orisha Culture presented and incorporated is sourced and defined through Tarell McCraney’s The Brother / Sister Plays. 

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The ultimate goal of the session is growth, change, and reaction. Each player regardless of Class and Species, has the following additional and new mechanic called a Culture. The culture for this One Shot is The Understanders of the Orisha. Players must relate in cultural or ethnic ways to the tradition of Yoruba in order to utilize this cultural feature. Black Americans may also utilize this cultural feature, along with anyone who resonates with the violent displacement and loss of identity experienced by the legacy of the transatlantic slave trade.

 

If any non Black persons wish to utilize a culture feature, it is recommended that they reflect on their own cultural heritages to do so and create a Culture that honors their own, without appropriating from others. The Culture mechanic will be outlined after the quest design, in which those who have completed this quest may use it as an additional character mechanic.

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SESSION DESIGN: QUEER QUEST

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ACT 1: Awakening

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Game Designer

Each character has woken up on a dirt road, with no context of their past or identity. All they know is that the strangers beside them, their fellow players, are also awake. The Game Designer knows that each player was killed unjustly or heroically, and Reincarnated by a Druid, who took pity on them. The nature of the Spell Reincarnation means that the characters come back as a random Species depending on their roll on a percentile dice. For their first role of the game, each player must now roll a percentile dice to determine their starting Species, but their actual character race, gender and identity are their own choice. How the Game Designer narrates this first challenge is up to them. The players will all add the statistics and boons associated with the Species on their character. 

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Once the Species is determined through their Reincarnation, the players will introduce themselves. Reborn, this is what they know;

Narration

1. They have each died in some way, and Reincarnated, may or may not be in a body that they resonate with.

2. They know their personalities, gender identity, names, and cultural ties to the Orisha. These may or may not be effable to the characters or players themselves, but they are there. They may or may not be evolving, but the journey is always true.

3. They do not know where they are, except that they are laying in a crossroad that stretches as far as the eyes can see in all directions.

Game Designer

Have each player introduce themselves, and interact with this space as they see fit. They may not go down a path, if they attempt to, the air grows so thick it is impassable. A Perception check of a difficulty of 10 will illuminate the landscape down each path and is relayed in the narration. If they do not pass the check, the figure approaches them from the west, and they are surprised.

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Narration

The path north is clear, as if it contains only sky and leads to nothing. The path east is inlaid with cobbled stone that grows further apart, until branches and brambles obscure the  horizon. The path south is slick with clay and rippled with promises of a river. The path west mirrors the path east, except the vision west apparates like a mirage; revealing its own branches and brambles behind viscous air. As you look west, you see a figure approaching. Their image shifts, each of you see a figure that is vaguely memorable to you, as if  they are somehow connected to your previous life. 

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Game Designer

The figure is Eshu, and will lead them down the paths depending on how they roll. Eshu will attempt at all times to prevent them from going down the western path. When the players do go down the western path, it will be their last. The Game designer should be sly and charismatic when playing Eshu. The difficulty for successfully deceiving Eshu is 25, and the difficulty for persuading them is 20. They have an insight bonus of 12 if the game designer would like to roll against the player's checks. A successful check will remove one path challenge in which the players pass. The paths must be traversed in order of North, South, East, and West last. Create space for the players to interact with Eshu and each other, and explore the ways in which their characters are empowered in each space.

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ACT 2: The Paths

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Game Designer

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Each path is meant to explore a part of the self. On a successful check of each challenge, the players are each allowed to pick one ability to increase by one when they get to their final character creation. Alternatively, they may choose one skill, tool, or weapon to gain proficiency in. They get the opportunity to achieve these bonuses after each path they walk down, and if the path has no challenge, they automatically gain the boon. On a failed check for each challenge, the players are knocked out, and wake up in the crossroads without the aforementioned bonuses at the end. Any time the players interact with each other and explore their fellow players through improvisational performance, the difficulty of each challenge is brought down by 2, for a minimum of 5. If one person decides to take on the challenge of the path, the difficulty starts at 25, but if they decide to do a group check, and take the average roll, the difficulty is 15. For each path, it is at the Game Designer’s discretion to narrate the directions, but they must speak the wisdoms of the Orisha as they are presented. 

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NORTH: Ogun

The northern path shimmers, and there is a duality of self and other. As the players enter the path, Ogun appears to give them advice. There are two parts to this advice, and a persuasion check difficulty 15 will provide the second part of the advice, which lowers the difficulty of the final challenge and saving throw by 5.

Ogun’s Wisdom

“The Moon and her shadow have inspired you to unveil your true form onto the  reflective path you travel on. This path will leave you shallow; unable to sink into the depths of your potential as you walk along the shimmering surface. You and your  mirrored shadow will be undistinguishable; an illusion protecting you from the conquistadors who are cursed to chase your refracted form. You are free, but you also do not exist.” 

Part 2

“Your Lover will implore you to fulfill the desires that chain your body to the glass.  When you are chosen, you will kneel. As you place your perfectly sculpted brow onto the translucent surface, imagine it was on the other side of the painted glass. As your  bloodied forehead pierces the cool ground you will begin to drown in all that is not water.  To survive, you will guzzle the shards of mirrored glass until it satisfies you, fills you, and flows out of you. You will taste the iodized and acrid sting of liquid iron bubbling in  your torn throat, but as you vomit into your palms all you will see is rubies. You are a  gift, and you will give.” 

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The Challenge

The players find themselves walking atop a river, as the path suddenly transforms to rushing water. The water is hard, and the party is looking down through the glasslike water, and see a reflection of the selves as they feel they should be. Each player must succeed a DC 15 wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, the players think their true selves are trapped behind the water, and try to break the surface of the river. On a success, the players understand that this is an illusion. A successful strength check will break the surface, but the players will have disadvantage on their next roll. Choosing to accept that their reflection is ever moving like the water, and go back to the center of the crossroads is an overwhelming success.

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SOUTH: Yemoja

The path east is respite, a warm embrace of a caregiver. Yemoja is honest, and will express her body and the power within the path. The players do not need to make a check to wander down this path, and if they choose to, they will automatically succeed on the next path they wander down. 

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Yemoja’s Wisdom

“The path east follows the stream, and will lead you to the basin of all human emotion, creating within you a well of compassion, integrity, and love. All of the joys and pains of those who shed tears before you overflow this well, and it will take all of your power to hold down the geyser that yearns to burst out of you. Your throat will seize and burn, and a river of mucus will accompany the waters of the well as your lungs fill with blood. You will contain within yourself the power of all humankind and creation in all of its agony. You will begin and end in the cycle; always moving, never leaving.”

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EAST: Shango

Shango’s path embraces the intoxicating feeling of freedom found in the natural world. Shango is intense, and dangerous. 

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Shango’s Wisdom

“The path south will leave you the happiest, and those you find along this path will  share in the commonwealth of ecstasy at the trail's end. You will bask in the stinging cold and bristled pine that lightly eviscerates the uppermost layer of skin as you pass by; raw, naked, unencumbered. You will be weighed down by the heat of the sun. Through the sinews connecting bone to bone to earth you will channel this heat- sole to dust. This is the path of no return, for those who walk it must forget about all that lives and dies left behind the first stone that lay on this path. If you continue down this splendid path you will achieve all that it is to be alive and attuned to all that exists. If you stray, turn back, and take pity on those who have yet to pass the first stone you will find out all that exists as an entity inside a body. You will be cursed, and every stone henceforth on this path will turn to coal as your uncalloused feet kiss the embers. Ever moving.”

 

The Challenge

Each Player must make an intelligence saving throw difficulty 15 or be enamored by the eastern path and never leave it. On a failed save, the players walk for eons, but do narratively make it back to the center of the crossroads. On a successful save, they embrace the heat of the earth, and feel the electricity in the soil. 

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WEST: Oya

This path leads to destruction, and rebirth. This path has no challenge, and at the end of this journey each player will create their true character, using whatever Species Aesthetics, as well as their own, with whatever Species’ abilities they resonate with the most. At the end they will remember their characters' past, create their backstory, and enter a new campaign with the unbreakable connections they made with themselves, their culture, and the players they journeyed with.

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Oya’s Wisdom

“A fool or a saint, your journey continued east, until the westward winds turned her back to the  crossroads. But your heart was heavy for all those who could not follow you. She wanted them to share in the joys of the Eastern Path; you wanted them to share the feeling of smooth stone under bare feet and the rough embrace of brambles on bare skin.Such a fool, you foolishly turned her back on the eastern path- forgetting the fate of the eastward deserters. Every stone on that sublime path turned to coals. Burning embers stretched further east than you could have ever hoped to go, and west. Every time you lay sole to earth you will be forced to pick it up again– unable to bear the heat beneath your naked feet. You are destruction. You are liberation.” 

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Each player may choose to stand in the fire, and let their forms burn and be recreated in the image of their choice. As the journey closes, each player knows that this journey together strengthened their bonds, their abilities, and their characters.

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Session Ends, or Begins

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CULTURE: THE CONNECTED TO THE ORISHA

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When you build your character, you may choose a cultural tether in which your character’s background is influenced by. This tether can be conscious or subconscious to your character. They can spend an entire campaign learning about their otherworldly connections or they can already know these influences. If they are a Cleric or a Paladin, they can worship these entities as deities, and if they are a Warlock, they can choose these entities as patrons as well. In any case, these tethers influence each character, and have an impact on how they grow in their abilities. Because this is tied to a character and not a class, these increased awarenesses are based on the total level of a character, and are not impacted if they multiclass.

 

Level 1

You have innate awareness of power within you, connected to a source you may or may not understand. Based on the Orisha of your choice, you gain the following cantrip that does not count towards your total spells known.

Ogun- You may choose one of the following cantrips: True Strike, Sword Burst, Blade Ward, Booming Blade

Eshu- You may choose one of the following cantrips: Friends, Mold Earth, Guidance

Shango- You may choose one of the following cantrips: Control Flame, Lightning Lure, Thunderclap

Oya- You may choose one of the following cantrips: Gust, Lightning Lure, Light, Create Bonfire

Yemoja- You may choose one of the following cantrips: Druidcraft, Shape Water, Guidance

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Level 5

Your understanding of yourself has influenced how you manage your bond with the Orisha. Depending on your primary bond, you gain the following spell you can cast once per day. Additionally, you gain expertise in one skill of your choice. You may not choose expertise in a skill in which you already have it.

Ogun- You gain access to the spell Blinding Smite, and may cast it once per day without expending a spell slot or material cost

Eshu- You gain access to the spell Fast Friends, and may cast it once per day without expending a spell slot or material cost

Shango- You gain access to the spell Thunderstep, and may cast it once per day without expending a spell slot or material cost

Oya-  You gain access to the spell Call Lightning, and may cast it once per day without expending a spell slot or material cost

Yemoja- You gain access to the spell Spirit Guardians, and may cast it once per day without expending a spell slot or material cost

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Level 15

You have intimate knowledge of the Orisha, and their influence on your life. Once per day, you can cast the Commune Spell to make contact with the Orisha of your choice. Additionally, you gain the following spell or feature based on the Orisha you are most connected to.

Ogun- You gain the knowledge of those who have mastered battle. Choose two maneuvers from the Battle Master archetype. You gain two superiority dice (additional if you are already a Battle Master fighter) based on your level that are regained after a short or long rest.

Eshu- You gain access to the spell Find The Path, and may cast it once per day without expending a spell slot or material cost

Shango- You gain access to the spell Investiture of Wind, and may cast it once per day without expending a spell slot or material cost

Oya- You gain access to the spell Chain Lightning, and may cast it once per day without expending a spell slot or material cost. You also gain a flying speed of 30 feet for 10 minutes when casting this spell using the Orisha feature.

Yemoja-You gain access to the spell Druid Grove, and may cast it once per day without expending a spell slot or material cost

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Level 20

You have gained the ultimate connection with the Orisha, and understand innately that what you do not understand guides you just as much as what you do understand. You gain the ability to cast the spell granted at level 5 once per short rest. Additionally, you gain the following spell or feature based on the Orisha you are most connected to. 

Ogun- You gain one additional battle maneuver and two additional superiority dice that are regained after a short or long rest. Additionally, your maximum constitution and strength cannot be under 20, and is moved to maximum if they are not already. Your maximum hit points increases by 50.

Eshu- You cannot be lost, and always know which way is north. Additionally, you have advantage on all persuasion and deception checks.

Shango- You gain resistance to lightning, bludgeoning and thunder damage, and you gain immunity to lightning, bludgeoning, and thunder damage when you cast Investiture of Wind using your Orisha feature. When you damage a creature with lightning or thunder damage, you may add 2d8 of damage of either type.

Oya- You have mastered the balance of destruction and life. Anytime you damage a creature with lighting, you may heal 10hp to 1d4 allies within 30 feet of you. Your flying speed increases by 30 feet for every lightning based spell you cast during the duration of the flight, up to 300 feet.

Yemoja- You are the embodiment of creation, and the destructive power that entails. You gain the ability to channel creation. Once every seven days, you may channel your creative powers to imbue a short rest with the full benefits of a long rest for up to 10 willing creatures. Additionally, once a day as an action you may designate any space you occupy as Hallowed for 10 minutes. When you Hallow earth in this way, the place in which you cast it gains the full benefits of the spell Plant Growth.