On the Use of Race as a term in Elthos RPG

In recent years, many tabletop RPG communities have discussed whether the long‑standing fantasy term Race should be replaced with alternatives such as Ancestry, Heritage, or Lineage. The debate arises from two different concerns: some designers feel that “Race” has become ambiguous or outdated for describing the wide variety of beings found in fantasy worlds, while others are responding to modern cultural conversations and prefer terminology that avoids overlap with real‑world concepts of race. As a result, different RPG systems have adopted different approaches, each reflecting their own design goals and worldbuilding needs. Understanding this broader discussion helps clarify why various games use different terms, and why the choice of terminology ultimately depends on what best fits the structure and tone of a given system.

Much of the discussion centers on how different RPGs handle the idea of fantastical peoples. Some modern systems, such as Pathfinder 2E, have shifted to terms like Ancestry to emphasize cultural variation within a people, while others use Heritage to highlight learned traits or traditions. Meanwhile, long‑established games like Dungeons & Dragons have historically used Race to describe Elves, Dwarves, Orcs, and other beings, though recent editions have experimented with alternative terminology in response to community feedback. These changes often reflect the specific design goals of each system: games focused on biological or magical origins tend to keep the traditional term, while games emphasizing cultural nuance may prefer newer ones. The result is a landscape where multiple terms coexist, each carrying different implications for worldbuilding, mechanics, and tone.

In Elthos RPG, I’ve chosen to keep the term Race because it remains the clearest and most functional descriptor for what the game’s rules and world actually use it to represent: distinct kinds of beings, from Humans and Dwarves to Dragons, Balrogs, and Eye‑Tyrants. Terms like “Ancestry” or “Heritage” work well in systems focused on cultural or lineage‑based variation, but they don’t accurately describe the broad creature categories in Elthos, which include animals, undead, mythic entities, and monsters alongside humanoid peoples. In this context, “Race” is not a biological statement nor a commentary on real‑world issues—it is a long‑established fantasy convention that players immediately understand and that cleanly matches the structure of the game’s data model. Changing the term would not improve clarity or gameplay; it would simply replace a familiar, precise label with one that is less accurate for the wide range of beings the system encompasses. For these reasons, Race remains the most appropriate and useful term within the design of Elthos RPG.

REF: My previous post on this topic from 2022 is here...  
https://elthosrpg.blogspot.com/2022/07/on-use-of-race-or-species.html