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There's a book series I read, the Rivers of London series by Ben Aaranovich and the lead character, DC Grant, is a black copper. (Also, slightly a wizard).

And there's a thing that happens in them, which is that often when Grant meets someone he'll say if they're white or not. So I'll be reading merrily along and run into a line like

> She was a white, middle-aged woman who looked like she was already losing her patience

And for a while that was really jarring.

I'd literally stop reading to think "Why the fuck would you bother to mention that she's white?"

...And after a while, I realised that Grant mentions that she's white because he's a black guy. It makes sense he'd notice that sort of thing, when I personally wouldn't bother to describe a white woman as white - I tend to see people as white by default to the extent I'd forgotten that DC Grant was a black character with a different worldview to mine. That was a pretty valuable discovery for me, if I'm honest, because at least now I know I'm prone to think like that.

And I suspect that something similar might be happening when people listen to the descriptions of inclusive characters in TAZ.

It's very easy (assuming that you're more or less straight, white and cisgendered) to kind of forget that some people aren't the same as you. Not in a malicious way (or at least not necessarily in a malicious way), but if you happen to inhabit the same cultural space as most portrayals of "what people are like", being reminded that a character is outside those parameters can feel jarring.

It's a good jarring, if you ask me - it makes as much sense to say "But why is Merle a dwarf though?" as it is to complain that so-and-so isn't cisgendered, but people are conditioned to expect dwarves in the context of a fantasy narrative, and they're not (so) conditioned to expect LGBTQ or ethnic variations to be represented in a fantasy narrative or in the media generally.

Honestly the way the McElroys do it, as an aspect of a character rather than the central focus, is probably the best way to fix that lack of representation. I don't think people find it jarring out of malice, just because they're not used to it - but having that representation is how people get used to it. And for those demographics that are traditionally underrepresented, getting to that point is huge.

Your podcast sounds fun! I love watching (listening?) to newbies playing for the first time!

“Of Dice and Men” is the name of a book about the history of D&D. It’s a pretty great read and runs through a brief history of gaming in general before getting into the story of war gaming in the 60s and how Gygax met Arneson. I highly recommend it!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/145164051X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_FmybBbFXMM83Z

>just wish there was a better compromise between all or nothing

I suppose this isn't precisely the same thing as typical merch, but they definitely have collaborated with fans to make things associated with the show.

The graphic novel is being illustrated by Carey Pietsch, who was doing fan art and character designs for TAZ long before the comic.

They did a fan-art zine for charity, The Adventure Zine.

And the trailer they made for Balance was done by an artist who started off with animatics and stuff.

While I love it, it does kind of feel like you’re missing a trick by not making the bible look as unapologetically 90s as the original. Still a really great drawing though!

Ehh, you can get by as a newbie in the 5e scene by using the System Reference Document which is free by default. It doesn't have everything from the Player Handbook, such as all of the cleric domains, but it has the rules and some of the other subclasses. After playing with it for a while and determining you enjoy that edition of D&D you can get the PHB on [Amazon for $29.74 USD] (https://www.amazon.com/Players-Handbook-Dungeons-Dragons-Wizards/dp/0786965606/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1483698202&sr=8-1&keywords=player+handbook+5th+edition).

So there are lots of options before resorting to piracy.

I know it's a little weird to respond to a comment this old, but I highly highly recommend this book. It's written for kids but I found it to be very meaningful myself when I read it to my kids.

I feel like no one remembers it was an actual thing that was super popular in the 90s. https://www.amazon.com/dp/0785200819/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_KlJ3Bb8HP35V4

Thanks guys! If you like the shirt, here is the listing on Amazon . It only comes in a t-shirt so you'll need to pull out the sleeve seams. And if you're a particularly small mothman like I am, you'll need to take it in at the sides.
Keep Kepler strange!

Yeah, it’s very real. Griffin having grown up in church & gone to church camps knew it was a real thing. That was the joke. It’s just a NKJ Bible with little devotions & stories that relate to teens. I remember seeing them in church as a teen myself.

https://www.amazon.com/Extreme-Teen-Bible-NKJV/dp/0785200819

Oh I have both a cat and have had a kouse and I gotta tell you the bunny is 100 times worse I guarantee lol. The mouse wasn't too bad especially since we have him dried papayas he went crazy for em. Dropped a link below incase: )



Kaytee Fiesta Healthy Toppings Papaya Bits For All Pet Birds, 2.5-Oz Bag https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002UIZ12W/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_z0WpDb7SJC8JW

Pretty sure it's the more recent player's handbook
http://www.amazon.com/Players-Handbook-Dungeons-Dragons-Wizards/dp/0786965606

You are viewing whiteness as an innate, essentialist trait. What's being talked about here is whiteness as a social construction and how it functions. I recommend checking out The Wages of Whiteness or much of the work of James Baldwin if you're interested in exploring this idea at all. But ultimately whether you personally participated in genocide, for instance, is utterly beside the point.

The module is called "Lost Mines of Phandelver". It's from the 5e Starter Set.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0786965592 (If you're interested, it really is a good starting point)

I’ll be honest, it’s one of the starter sheets in the box set the boys use for the campaigns.

Extreme Teen Bible https://www.amazon.com/dp/0785200827/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_-RoDyb8VT8FWF

Better get a signed copy!

I'm fairly certain the WV guys use an oversized flashing d20

I use a Speedball oblique holder, and my nib for this was a Hunt 22. Nothing terribly fancy. :)

Extreme Teen Bible https://www.amazon.com/dp/0785200827/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_9.zCCbRX97P5Y

https://www.amazon.com/Adventure-Zone-Here-There-Gerblins/dp/1250153700/

The Extreme Teen Bible actually exists IRL. I had one as a kid.

https://www.amazon.com/Extreme-Teen-Bible-NKJV/dp/0785200819/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?keywords=extreme+teen+bible&qid=1567853572&s=gateway&sprefix=extreme+tee&sr=8-2

Nah, just text

Here's the newer version...

https://www.amazon.com/Extreme-Teen-Bible-James-Version/dp/071800163X/ref=dp_ob_image_bk

The actual source: Link

The Sudden Appearance of Hope

Mr. Whiffle! https://www.amazon.com/Adventures-Princess-Mr-Whiffle-Beneath/dp/0983613125

No, it's a reference to this actual real book that was published in 1999, long before King of the Hill's season 8 (which was in 2004, according to Google):

https://www.amazon.com/Extreme-Teen-Bible-NKJV/dp/0785200827

The "Here there be Gerblins" arc is actually built on the "Lost mine of Phandelver" starter set, which is designed as an intro for the modern version of d&d. You can find it online for about $10-15. That's what my group used to get us started.

https://www.amazon.com/Dungeons-Dragons-Starter-Set-Roleplaying/dp/0786965592

As long as they don't die like Pres. Garfield did, because that was fucking tragic. (This book kinda messed me up: https://www.amazon.com/Destiny-Republic-Madness-Medicine-President/dp/0767929713 - tl;dr: he got shot just late enough that doctors tried to do something, but just early enough that they made everything worse.)