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Had this conversation with someone who chose to no longer be at my table after meeting a blind NPC
(files.catbox.moe)
Another player who was at the table during the incident sent me this meme after the problem player in question (they had a history) left the group chat.
Felt like sharing it here because I'm sure more people should keep this kind of thing in mind.
Fantasy and sci-fi are designed as alternate realities to this world and usually disabilities are expressed through metaphor rather than literal real world disability. A person can’t use magic so they become the worlds greatest artificer and the like.
I’m all for representation, but what is fantasy without being able to fantasize about not having a disability?
Conversely, why would a person want to fantasize about having a disability? I’m not saying there aren’t valid reasons, but I would imagine most people would be doing it in a performative manner.
One of the characters at my table was a blind monk who used blindsight to fight and move about the world a la Toph. It was an interesting thought exercise for us all, especially because he literally only had 30 feet of "sight." Another time we had a barbarian who decided not to fix a severed arm because he wanted to be constantly reminded not to take stupid risks and it would keep him humble. I had another guy who rolled up a low INT, high WIS character and played him like Forrest Gump. So yeah, there are people who will spice up their roleplay with some sort of disability.