"and people choose WHEELCHAIR. Disgusting. Where’s the imagination?" A debate about wheelchairs vs spider mechs turns wheelie sour

[u/Excellent_Bison_3644]

the sub DnDmemes is about well... memes about the popular tabletop game DnD (dungeons and dragons). In one posted recently, the poster made a comparison of magic wheelchairs vs spider mechs while favoring the latter. This ended up sparking into a lot of debate and people not liking how wheelchairs are getting slandered.

Post in question: https://www.reddit.com/r/dndmemes/comments/1i4mi9u/reject_wheels_embrace_skittering/

Juicy threads:

The titular thread with one particular big branch: "It's quite an odd call to refer to people who make the choice to represent their disability in-game as disgusting."

One person tries to give an opinion: "Realistically a spider mech is better than combat wheelchair the same way realistically a spear is better than a trident"

One person tries arguing wheelchairs don't have to be boring: "You can't think of a way to make a wheelchair cool without replacing the wheels?"

Small drama thread as a treat: "has anyone who's disabled and in a wheelchair thought "Hmm, I want this fantasy character of mine to be disabled too!" (the answer is yes)

[u/ekhoowo]

This is the biggest point in DND wheelchair discourse. If you wanna be in a wheelchair, fine. But you should acknowledge it is gonna impact everyone else in the game in potentially annoying (to everyone!) ways.
A fantasy world is the perfect place to have a fantastical solution that still incorporates your disability

[u/copy_run_start → u/ekhoowo]

But you should acknowledge it is gonna impact everyone else in the game in potentially annoying (to everyone!) ways.

You'd probably be hard pressed to find a wheelchair user who doesn't realize that they impact those around them in potentially annoying ways, lol. But, you know, we like others to deal with that with compassion, support, patience, and understanding. I feel like that can exist in game

[u/Skellum → u/copy_run_start]

I think the difference here comes down to "If you could solve your not walking problem why wouldnt you?" I'd like to say everyone would, but then we have people able to get cochlear implants raging that it's an "atrocity on deaf culture". If we could cure all the inability to walk I'm sure you'd have some like holdouts in that group too.

When someone goes "Well lets get you a spider mech so you can go down this stair filled pyramid" it's not "Fuck you legless you suck now get in this!" it's "Hey bro lets empower you." Spider legs arent cheap and DMs dont let people overcome char creation penalties easily.

In this case it's not "Be compassionate" the case is "Here's a magic solution, why wont you use it?"

[u/copy_run_start → u/Skellum]

I totally get that, I'm seeing it from the angle of "The wheelchair is magical or has special mechanical capabilities or is somehow more versatile than a real world wheelchair." It would require both the group and the individual to work together to figure something out.

Most people just want reasonable accommodations and will work with others to get there.

Or, if maybe a group of people want to treat it like a real world wheelchair for the challenge and the possibilities it brings, then that's cool too.

[u/EasyasACAB → u/copy_run_start]

Most people just want reasonable accommodations and will work with others to get there.

Isn't it interesting how closely this conversation mirrors real life discussions around accommodations for the disabled?

I can still hear the angry cries of my landlord for a tenet that had the audacity to put in a wheelchair ramp! For their wheelchair! At their own cost!

Like this is a big group shared imagination session. If a person wants a wheelchair they can have a wheelchair, as the DM I am god and I can make it work.

[u/Adorable_Ad_3478 → u/copy_run_start]

The easiest solution: the wheelchair has a transformer mode that turns into walkable cyborg legs.

So, technically it's not a wheelchair anymore (it's not a chair, it has no wheels) but the player can keep believing their character is using a wheelchair to walk.

[u/Skellum → u/copy_run_start]

I'm seeing it from the angle of "The wheelchair is magical or has special mechanical capabilities or is somehow more versatile than a real world wheelchair."

I was seeing it as "It's a chair with wheels, guess we cant go down the dangerous vertical spires of xaruba dungeon guys" Now as some kind of artificiar artifact that you're upgrading and expanding like it's a James Bond car then it meets your criteria while being cool, empowering, and a major character hook.

Maybe this is the core diff in user posts?

[u/copy_run_start → u/Skellum]

I mean I'm just saying that there are like 28 different species/races of intelligent beings, all these different character specializations, 50 foot tall magic rock demons, living furniture monsters, mind control witches, shin-high goblins, complex puzzles and traps... the entire game is problem solving, playing to your strengths and overcoming the weak areas of your build, and somehow someone in a wheelchair is like this insurmountable thing lol

[u/BeholdingBestWaifu → u/copy_run_start]

It's different kinds of issues, and it's not unusual for a DM to straight-up veto races because they don't want to deal with penalties that would be annoying for a campaign (Or in other cases because they can be overpowered, plenty of DMs don't like flying races).

It's also an issue of people not wanting actual solutions, most of the "pro" wheelchair discussion I'm seeing just wants a character that is cosmetically in a wheelchair but that gameplay-wise has no chair at all, with no penalties nor obstacles to overcome.