Happy pride month, everyone!
We would like to take a moment to celebrate our dear LGBTQ+ friends in the community. We admire you all for being who you are and commend your strength of character to believe in equality and love.
As a group of people from an underrepresented part of the world, we sympathize with your struggles and hope for a better world for you, us, and everyone in the future.
We wanted to talk about how we included diverse content, including LGBTQ+ characters and concepts into our upcoming title, Book of Conflict: Brutal Races, which is about Orcs & Goblinoids in Dungeons & Dragons games.
Our design philosophy is to find underrepresented, unexplored parts of the game and expand upon those points. Orcs & Goblinoids were one of those. So, it was completely natural for us to include LGBTQ+ content to enrich the content with alternatives to the traditional “monster” narrative and bring it to a more grounded and playable state, essentially expanding these races to be (albeit different) people. If a sentient race is irredeemably monstrous, there are no viable alternatives to design play content for a game. While not rejecting their traditional place in the game outright, we managed to expand upon their opportunities to grow and change.
Our most prominent content is the half-orc variant Hobni, which sometimes is born from the union of Orcs and Hobgoblins. These people are without gender until they choose (which they may not until the end of their lives) and choose which side of their parents they choose to look like. They can create alternative identities in different communities with their appearance-changing abilities and use their identities to live peacefully or pursue various careers.
Also, an interesting tidbit of information is: Among 30+ art that we commissioned for our preview and used in advertising, the illustration of Hobni was the best performing and cherished one, so we also used it as our project banner too!
Our second content is the Hobgoblin deity Vual (they/them). A staunch supporter of freedom, they protect all Goblinoids from their oppressive societies and provide them with sanctuary. With their clerics and worshippers, they also work to overthrow tyrants, strict military order, and all oppression from Goblinoid life. They even extend that hand to members of other races that are oppressed.
Our third content is Orc goddess Lemertel. Lemertel is the survivor of the late Orcish pantheon, which was replaced by the current one. Leaving her old life behind, she became the patron goddess of outcasts. Unlike Vual, Lemertel worshippers do not attack the rulers or the establishment; they found peaceful settlements in the wilderness and try to live peacefully with other creatures and people.
Also, we have a lot more planned as the stretch goals are unlocked, so it is early to include them at this point. If you have any ideas that you want to share or any comments or questions that you would like to drop, feel free to do so. We are eager to have a conversation with you all!
Have a nice day!