Wizards of the Coast has a few more books to publish before they wrap up 5E‘s decade-long run with the introduction of One D&D, and one has a surprising and welcome addition.
The Book of Many Things, out in November, sees the return of the legendary artifact—the Deck of Many Things—as well as a narrator who is autistic.
The Book of Many Things‘ narrator Asteria is a “princess turned Paladin” and will serve as the voice players hear throughout the book. She is also canonically autistic, according to designer Makenzie De Armas. She has hyperfixation—especially on puzzles—and uses a fidget toy while exploring with her adventuring party.
De Armas, who is also autistic, said she was very careful to not let Asteria’s condition “define her.” Instead, Asteria helps players see through the perspective of someone who lives on the spectrum in a fantasy world.
As the designer described during an interview with Polygon, “It’s so rewarding to see her experiences and get to reflect her experiences through the notes and her story.”
As Wizards continues to represent communities in their world—from their promise to make “adventures more queer” to characters like Char in the Birds of a Feather adventure path who are genderfluid—the real-life tabletop becomes easier for members of other communities to join. It is important for the designers to consider how their world represents non-white, non-male, and non-neurotypical people in the world of Faerûn.
The themes of Asteria’s autism happen to coincide with The Book of Many Things. De Armas notes “it resonates so much with the idea of the [Deck of Many Things] being a thing that you use to change and alter fate and challenge the perception of what a story should be.”
Wizards’ continued inclusion of underrepresented individuals in their official books is a growing trend throughout the tabletop RPG world. While any dungeon master or player can create these groups that were so poorly represented in the past, having companies like Wizards and Paizo create content that is inclusive to them can expand the TTRPG community positively.
We hope that the presence of characters like Asteria, alongside other characters of the LGBT and neurodivergent communities, continues to grow and become more commonplace in the world of D&D, Pathfinder, and other TTRPGs.
Asteria and The Book of Many Things can be pre-ordered through D&D Beyond. The book’s release is on Nov. 14, though it is available on digital from Oct. 31.
