Kienna
@KiennaS
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Kienna Shaw · nbi she/they · game writer/designer · formerly @larianstudios · co-curator of ENnie winning #TTRPGSafetyToolkit · kiennashaw @gmail .com
Canada
Joined May 2015
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ITZY IS THE MOMENT
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Pinned Tweet
After a few whirlwind months with the lovely folks at Larian, I'm now back on the job market!
If you know of any full-time or part-time writing/narrative design positions within video games or TTRPGs, please let me know
I'm also available for TTRPG freelance work ✍️
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I try to ignore people who call diverse representation in games "too PC" or "forced representation," but I just heard someone say "What's next, a disabled bisexual Asian girl?"
Like dude, you literally just described me...is it that unbelievable that I could exist in a game?
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One of my favourite decisions I've ever made in ACNH was to make most of my villagers' catchphrase "I'm gay"
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Before publicly bemoaning the fact that someone set boundaries with you on social media (muting, unfollowing, blocking, limiting replies, etc.) or immediately trying to find ways to get around those boundaries, maybe examine why you feel entitled to access to that person
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as someone who realized they were nonbinary after playing a nbi robot and a nbi bard who uses he/they pronouns in streamed TTRPG campaigns, I am *deeply* uncomfortable with how quickly there's lack of nuance in the "who can play nbi characters on stream" discourse
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when you say that non-white/queer/disabled people aren't realistic in a game or setting that contains magic and monsters, you aren't concerned with realism, you're concerned with upholding biases and bigotry
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The kindest, most well-meaning folks can use imagery that has racist/colonial implications without intending to cause harm or lean into those implications - and they can and should be called in and made aware of that misstep so they can avoid repeating it in the future
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As a follow up: actively encourage inclusivity in your community and games, highlight the voices and stories of marginalized folks who are creating/playing, and call out gatekeeping BS
Thanks from this Chinese bisexual partially deaf girl who games
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For any of my fellow TTRPG folx who have been told they "ruined TTRPGs" because they have advocated for or created games/supplements/systems/tools to make a better and more inclusive/diverse space
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After years of getting yelled at for ruining TTRPGs by suggesting that racial bonuses were bioessentialist and the +2/+1 should be shifted to backgrounds, I can't help but feel a little vindicated (and exasperated) to see the new UA
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hey
hey psst
you can have compelling (and even deep-cutting) TTRPG sessions and stories without leveraging or even alluding to real-world bigotry and harm
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Friendly reminder that it costs $0 to be kind and not say shitty things on the internet ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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today I discovered that there are bees called vulture bees that feed exclusively off of meat (substituting meat for pollen), and make "meat honey"
who needs to design monsters when nature just keeps making them for us?
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do I think that white people can play POC characters in TTRPG livestreams respectfully? with a lot of work, maybe
do I think more good would come from casting POC players as POC characters, especially when there's already so few opportunities for POC to be represented? 100% YES
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Unless you're talking about Orientalism or rugs, get "the Orient" or "Oriental" out of your vocabulary
Yes, this includes even if you're talking within a historical context, and goes doubly so if you're not Asian
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today's small joy: YOU CAN PUT HATS ON SEA URCHINS IN STARDEW VALLEY
ok that is all
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all of the following things can be true:
- nbi players playing nbi PCs is important for representation, and they should be supported
- people can explore their gender through TTRPGs
- nbi people shouldn't feel pressure to out themselves to play nbi characters "authentically"
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*takes deep breath in*
NORMALIZE THE USAGE OF SAFETY AND COMMUNICATION TOOLS AT TTRPG TABLES
FOSTER A CULTURE OF TRUST AND RESPECT
PRIORITIZE THE FEELINGS AND EXPERIENCES OF THE PEOPLE
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It's 2021, and I just had to read the sentence "The TTRPG is the original safe space" with my own two eyes
You know, the space where I've received continual harassment for *checks notes* advocating for safety tools and other ways for TTRPGs to be more inclusive and diverse
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if you're a white person reading a POC's tweet about how they've had to navigate systemic racism in their careers, the last thing you need to do is to tell them that it would've been worth the sacrifice of their livelihood to speak up against it
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I told my uncle yesterday that I did D&D livestreaming, and when he didn't really get it I just shrugged it off as a lost cause
Today he told me that he spent some time watching videos and actual plays so that he could understand and talk to me about it and my thesis project 😭
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other things that can also be true at once:
- it can be problematic if you make all your nbi characters "not normal" in some way (e.g. a robot) because it's othering
- having a nbi character who is also a robot doesn't automatically make them a bad nbi character/representation
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me: *gets an idea for the TTRPG campaign I'm GMing* this is it, I'm a genius, look at my amazing storytelling abilities, an artist, a masterpiece
me: *10 minutes later actually trying to prep* I'm a hack, I don't know anything, how do you even GM
repeat ad infinitum
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I feel like not calling Asian people and their cultures "Oriental" is the lowest of low bars, yet in this year of 2022 we are somehow still seeing people in the TTRPG space eagerly trip over that bar left and right 🙄
Unless you're talking about Orientalism or rugs, get "the Orient" or "Oriental" out of your vocabulary
Yes, this includes even if you're talking within a historical context, and goes doubly so if you're not Asian
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- not every nbi person is going to feel reflected by a nbi robot and that's PERFECTLY FINE because nbi people are not a monolith
- people can play characters of a different gender than their own lived/perceived experience, as long as they're constantly working to be respectful
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Good morning, I'm feeling punchy about the limited resources given to indie TTRPG developers to make their games
So here's a resource thread on making layouts (and other useful graphics) on a budget
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I don't even know how to end this thread, but I look at all this discussion flying around and realize that there are many people who would've thought me playing E-404 or Ferryn was "wrong" because at the time I would've been perceived as cis, and that sincerely *hurts*
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In your calls for more focus on diverse GMs that aren't cis men, please don't forget about your trans and non-binary friends who aren't women
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I've been watching some Mythbusters Q&A recently, and something that was said struck me as relevant in conversations about TTRPG safety/consent/support tools:
"You're never gonna be able to make something safe - [but] you can increase the margin of safety."
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if you're a white person looking at the calls by Asian people for reparative actions re: the harmful material within Oriental Adventures and you want to weigh in or play devil's advocate, have you considered Not Doing That?
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I've muted this tweet for my own sanity awhile ago, but I've been perusing some of the comments and I may address some of the common concerns in the morning (stuff about historical accuracy, tokenism, etc.)
I'm glad so far almost everyone has been civil, let's keep it that way
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Happy Asian Heritage month, stop supporting Orientalist TTRPG products and instead start supporting and buying games from actual Asian designers!
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Been holding onto this bit of news since December, but very excited to finally share my new journey into the world of video games 😊🎉👀
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One of the first things I learned when studying epistemology is that no amount of scholarship/research as an outsider can ever fully supplement or replace the kind of knowledge created from being within a culture and living that experience
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Sharing this award again for anyone who needs it :)
(Can be shared/printed/reposted/made into a real plaque/etc. without credit)
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I can't believe we still have to say this, but if you're running/organizing a TTRPG stream or Discord and people are pointing out that your behaviour/stances might be creating an unsafe environment for marginalized people, DO NOT use your marginalized community members as shields
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This feels relevant again
(Can be shared/printed/reposted/made into a real plaque/etc.)
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Just thinking about every single time that I've been told that I was "overreacting" by calling out instances of Orientalism and racism against Asian people in every part of my life (including TTRPGs) because "it's just a joke/a positive stereotype/not actually harmful"
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there are two wolves inside me
one wants to make weird fey TTRPG stuff, and the other wants to make more cyberpunk TTRPG stuff
a third has the idea to make an unholy combination of the two
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my current energy re: people in my mentions asking for free emotional labour about inclusivity/diversity in TTRPGs
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Our Western-centric society has normalized imagery that is tied deeply to colonialism/racial harm against marginalized people (e.g. the typical "British explorer" look), so these aesthetics are often used without critical thought on how they belong to and evoke that harm
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every time I see stuff about the new cyberpunk game, the more I want to run my own explicitly feminist and queer game
I love cyberpunk, but I am done with the racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, and just general nihilism found in the mainstream (and sci-fi in general)
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I'm not delving into the D&D orc discourse today because I do not have the spoons, but I've retweeted some good threads by POC that I highly recommend reading
the only thing I'll say: fuck bioessentialism, but especially bioessentialism that says any humanoid is inherently evil
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Surprise, I'm one of the contributing writers for the newest official D&D adventure anthology Candlekeep Mysteries 🕯️📖😊
Introducing
#Candlekeep
Mysteries, the latest adventure anthology in the Forgotten Realms setting! Explore this collection of new mysteries by up-and-coming D&D designers from across our community. These short adventures arrive March 16!
Pre-order now:
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One of the most common pushbacks I've seen against fostering safety in games is the idea that they aren't necessary because the game experiences are "just fiction"
And boy do I have THOUGHTS about how RP is fiction, but it also blends lines with reality emotionally and mentally
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2 years ago on
#TransDayOfVisibility
, I publicly changed my pronouns and came out as non-binary
It took me a long time to overcome "not feeling trans enough", but I'm thriving and I'm here to help other amazing trans people and creators thrive too 💖
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the TTRPG space has a lot of people from different experiences, perspectives, walks of lives, etc.
it's 100% ok to just...not get along with somebody or to not like them, even if you run in the same TTRPG circles or cross paths in the space
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Someone just told me "your type is ruining other people's games because you're incapable of making your own"
Who uh, who wants to break the news to them 😂
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When I say "ruining TTRPGs" I do mean it in the spirit of this though lol
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A reminder that the
#TTRPGSafetyToolkit
is up for the ENnies Best Free Game/Product!
Please take a minute to vote for it and help show the TTRPG space the importance of safety/support tools and the work being done to move safety in our games forward
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It then makes it all the more important we listen to the people who have the critical knowledge to call us in when we've fallen into the colonialist/racist norm, even when it seems "fairly harmless" or "just a show/game/media/not real life", and to learn and grow from it
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Using my "white" name to try to undermine my criticism of racist products/structures that harm Asian people really isn't the gotcha that you think it is
Especially considering how forced anglicizing of the names of immigrants is in fact part of a racist structure of assimilation
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there's something very satisfying about the ability to look bigots in the eye, smile, and then rub my little queer disabled Asian hands all over the games and genres they love
fantasy, eldritch horror, sci-fi...sorry, they're all queer, accessible, and anti-racist now, not sorry
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And therefore it's also very important to look deep inside and figure out how *you* will handle receiving call-ins on your missteps in unintentionally using colonialist/racist imagery/tropes without getting defensive or taking it personally or being otherwise unproductive
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Just in case it wasn't clear and since it's been awhile since I've said it...
Trans rights are human rights, and if you're a TERF, unfollow me right now and don't let the trash can lid hit you on the way out
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marginalized person: here's how I run this TTRPG system for my table
white dudes: you're a shit GM, you don't even actually know the system
marginalized person: well actually, I know the system well enough I got hired to do work for it
white dudes: now you're being ARROGANT
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your should-be-more-consistent reminder that the care, safety, and well-being of the people at the table ALWAYS matters more than the TTRPG system or story there
rules can be bent, story elements can be changed, but the game can't exist without the people - treat them with care
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And because society and pop culture and systemic racism encourages us to not challenge that imagery, we're fallible to making mistakes - even those of us who are working to be critical and being anti-racist, because it's the social default that we've grown up in
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Love is supportively listening to your partner talk passionately about something you have absolutely 0 knowledge of, even when everything is super out of context excited yelling
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The TTRPG Safety Toolkit by me and
@jl_nicegirl
is now live for the public!
It contains the TTRPG Quick Reference Guide v.2.0 (now called the TTRPG Safety Toolkit Guide), copies and links to other safety resources, and our own XNO cards you can print off!
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I forgot Twitter doesn't preserve transparency 😠
Here's a cleaner version for your printing/reposting/sharing needs!
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TTRPG safety work contains so much emotional labour within it, and I wish more people recognized that (and paid appropriately for it)
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A reminder again - and a bit more explicitly - no amount of scholarship/research or "respect and appreciation" is enough to supplant or dismiss the lived-experiences and critique of Asian people re: Orientalism in your products
One of the first things I learned when studying epistemology is that no amount of scholarship/research as an outsider can ever fully supplement or replace the kind of knowledge created from being within a culture and living that experience
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so looking at my track record of accusations levelled at me, I apparently first ruined D&D, then I killed the ENnies, then I ruined TTRPGs, and now I'm complicit for ruining D&D again
what will I destroy next in the industry? who knows!
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just had to block a bunch of racists who were showing their whole asses and also somehow following me, so in case it wasn't clear from all my RTs:
- Black Lives Matter, all day every day
- defund police
- gtfo of here with your model minority bs
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Woke up to see another terrible take from a white person about how a white scholar would apparently know a POC's culture more than the POC themselves
So let's bring back this thread, shall we?
One of the first things I learned when studying epistemology is that no amount of scholarship/research as an outsider can ever fully supplement or replace the kind of knowledge created from being within a culture and living that experience
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DungeonDining has a long history of being ableist/racist/transphobic, attacking marginalized creators on this platform, and hopping between his alt accounts to keep rebranding, and it seems like he's back to doing that on his newer account NotLikeMonopoly
I have several mutuals following this account.
I want you to know this is their response to me musing about putting a homebrew god in a combat wheelchair.
I don't stand for ableism, nor for getting this worked up about me just running my games the way my people enjoy.
Smh.
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If your TTRPG publication has a focus on a culture that isn't yours...HIRE SENSITIVITY READERS AND CULTURAL CONSULTANTS FROM THOSE CULTURES
This includes cultural references in characters, settings, lore
Save yourself pain and embarrassment and get the right people on your team
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I am still shocked and humbled by the fact that what started as a tiny personal project - a simple guide to safety tools for my streaming friends - has grown and reached so many people, and that it is being honoured by a nomination for an industry award
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tired: nihilistic cyberpunk with its roots in xenophobia, sexism, transphobia, and queerphobia
wired: cyberhopepunk with explicit queer, feminist, trans, and non-racist transhumanist roots
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I'd love to expand my list of creators to recommend for freelance TTRPG design and writing gigs, so if you're a POC TTRPG designer/writer, reply down below!
Being specific about what you like to work on (e.g. adventures, setting prose, design, etc.) will help immensely
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This copy of
#CandlekeepMysteries
has made its way through the perilous mail system and across borders to finally land in my hands
Still wild to see my name in the pages here 🥲
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tbh at this point, if you're using "exotic" to describe your TTRPG product (or any element of it), any interest I might've had in it is going to immediately drop
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Playing TTRPGs as characters outside of your own race/ethnicity/gender/sexuality/ability, especially ones that have been historically misrepresented, is a tricky subject, and one that I've done a lot of thinking on...
*THREAD INCOMING*
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self-care is going through the replies of tweets about consent and safety at the TTRPG table and preemptively blocking the people getting mad about it
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just remembering all the times when white people insinuated I was stealing their spots on TTRPG livestream shows because I was the "easy token Asian"
Dear white actor friends,
Please stop tellin your non-white actor buds, “it’s great they’re looking for more minorities but now i can’t get a role, y’know?”
TV is still predominantly white.
Ur pretty much saying ur only shot was racism & now ur sad there’s a little less of it.
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I am So Tired of (non-Asian) people defending Oriental Adventures, especially after Asian people take the emotional energy and time to critique it in a thoughtful manner
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Alright. Screw it. This isn't even the major focus of my thesis but I have the spoons, I have the papers, let's do this
Super quick
#KiennaExplainsItAll
Twitter crash course incoming!
I'm seeing the influx of "are GMs players or not" arguments, and it's taking every bit of willpower to not pull out all of the research I've been doing for my thesis to discuss how different roles doesn't equal different social rules in TTRPGs
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got my first "you're not qualified to write for [insert publisher]" message today and I'm just...
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Nobody owes you a follow (even if you've worked together before), and they don't owe you access to them on social media, especially if you have a pattern of disrespecting set boundaries
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"Actions should have consequences" and "It's what my character would do" works only if they're being done in the spirit of collaborating and having fun with everyone at the table
Unfortunately they're often used as justification for antagonistic and mean-spirited behaviour
Whenever I hear DMs say "actions should have consequences", I can't help but hear "it's what my character would do"
...but coming from the opposite side of the screen.
#dnd
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Not sure what TTRPG safety tools are, or how to start using them in your games? Curious about what options are out there that work best for your table?
Check out the TTRPG Safety Toolkit, a free compilation resource made by me and
@jl_nicegirl
!
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me and every other person on my timeline right now: it's time to watch Muppet Christmas Carol!
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