Dale Critchley and Wyrmworks Publishing have a good track record of pro-actively (aggressively, even) working disability and diversity into tabletop RPGs. The latest Kickstarter aims to make history with the largest and most diverse collection of minis ever made.
Not long ago, some people lost their minds over a combat wheelchair. Can you imagine how they’ll react to this? Imagine only being able to cast a fireball if you’re standing up or finding a dungeon not handily designed around six-foot-tall humanoids. Impossible! (sark). You can see just how close Wyrmworks is to hitting its Kickstarter goal.
I should get two disclaimers, of sorts, out of the way. I’m not involved in the project but I do have a hidden disability and I’ve tried for years to find an artist to work with me (and budget) on kick-ass disabled (I get to use that word) fantasy hero pictures without luck. I know what Dale and the team are doing is hard.
If the campaign succeeds, we might see minis with representation for fibromyalgia, amputation, quadriplegia, blindness, anxiety, alopecia areata, cleft palate, Treacher Collins syndrome, arthritis, Down syndrome, Cerebral palsy, diastrophic dysplasia and, well, you get the idea. It’s a long list.
Not all of these things are considered disabilities by people with them, and not all are visible on the mini. The point is about inclusion and representation rather than artistic depiction.
There are also inclusive add-ons, and I think the condition markers are worthy of attention.
Designed especially for visually impaired gamers (but beneficial to all, as is common with universal design principles), to keep track of different character conditions, you can place a character on one of these 16 bases. Each base has a different shape or tactile marking to distinguish them by sight or touch and braille labels on the bottoms. These are included with all Gold or higher tiers or as an add-on for lower tiers.
There is an accompanying 5e stat block for each of the NPCs and STL files if you want a physical mini and have access to the production technology.
Backers at $10 get a PDF of Limitless Champions, which means the character illustrations, and an ePUB and audio version.
Jumping up to $30 adds 10 figures, and then going to $50 also means 20 figures and 16 condition bases are extras.
There are additional perks at $100, such as a wooden case, which is the top tier—all tiers have access to the pledge manager.
All the deliverables are estimated for July 2023, which is lightning-quick.
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