Roleplaying Disabilities

To start with: What in God's name...?

The upward trend of, I hope, younger players assuming roles of the Disabled troubles me deeply. In a game where you can fly, Wish away your maladies, get cybernetic implants, and more, there is no need for war wheelchairs and there is never a place for mocking the Disabled.

A character with, say, OCD or soething like that might be possible, if given the proper respect, but it's still about as tasteless as I can imagine and as low as it gets. Before you think I'm telling you how to play your game, I'm not; I'm telling you how not to play the game - no matter which RPG it is.

While you may think you're doing something else, maybe paying respect to such people or something twisted, you're actually doing something almost any normal person would find highly disrespectful and downright offensive. I'm not against being offended - hell, keep reading; being offended is how I start my day - but I am definitely against allowing players to pretend to be Disabled, especially when it sinks to the depths of things like severe Autism and Down's Syndrome, et.al.

You most certainly are not starting a discussion or teaching others or honoring the Disabled; you're mocking them by making light of their situation. And fuck that "being inclusive" nonsense; if you want to be inclusive, actually invite some actually Disabled players to join your game. I don't think they'll choose to play a disabled character.

And, before you pop-off in the comments, ask yourself if you would be comfortable playing your character in front of someone who suffers from the malady you have chosen. Would you feel comfortable doing so if you knew the session was being livestreamed or recorded?

If your answer is "Yes," then the problem goes much deeper than even I want to consider. It is absolutely not the same as playing a different race or sex; it has fuck-all to do with the inclusion of Sanity as a game term or mechanic; it's truly deplorable, with all the pop-cultural cachet that word carries. In fact, was not the President of the United States accused of doing this very thing? Assuming that was his intention, it did not go over well.

I can't believe no one else in the community has taken notice of this and addressed it: Just don't do it.

© The Weirding, 2025