Skip to main content
  • Accessibility
  • Headlines
  • Coronavirus-News
  • Get-Hooked
  • Technology
  • Education
  • Employment
  • Parasports
  • Ask Bhavna
  • NHBrandView
  • Independent Living
  • Lifestyle
  • NH Videos
×
Newz Hook – Changing Attitudes towards Disability Logo
  • Stories
  • Videos
  • Inclusive
  • NH Voice
  • Login
COVID-19 Notification by Government in Accessible Format

Accessibility Tools

Text Size:

Contrast Scheme:

  • C
  • C

Reset

  • Home
  • Accessibility
  • Latest Dungeons & Dragons book to feature its first wheelchair accessible dungeon

Latest Dungeons & Dragons book to feature its first wheelchair accessible dungeon

Cover of Candleep Mysteries book with the title
Accessibility January 22, 2021
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)

Candlekeep Mysteries, the next Dungeons & Dragons book published by Wizards of the Coast, will include the franchise’s first official adventure that is wheelchair accessible. Newz Hook interviewed Jennifer Kretchmer, the designer behind the accessible adventure.

Seventeen adventures from 19 different designers! There’s plenty to look forward to in Candlekeep Mysteries, the next Dungeons & Dragons book published by Wizards of the Coast.

The collection, to be published on 16 March, includes the franchise’s first official adventure that is wheelchair accessible.

Located in Washington, United States, Wizards of the Coast LLC, referred to as WotC, is an American publisher of games, mainly based on fantasy and science fiction. Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) is a popular role-playing game. D&D allows every player to create their own character to play and the players can embark upon imaginary adventures within a fantasy setting. The game has won multiple awards and has been translated into many languages.

WotC embraces diversity with new book

Instead of a single campaign that takes characters through different levels, the collection of experiences in Candlekeep Mysteries are shorter and unconnected. Each adventure is designed to serve as a one-shot, which means it is to be completed in one or two sessions by a group of players. The themes of all the adventures are centred on books.

Many of the adventures have been written by adventure writers new to D&D.

“I got my start in D&D 35 years ago writing D&D adventures as a freelancer. The experience was very formative to me, and I’ll always like the short adventure format,” said Chris Perkins, D&D’s Principal Story Designer, at a press briefing over a video call. “So, when an opportunity came up to do a product that would allow me to work with a bunch of other people on doing very much the same thing, I jumped at the opportunity. I reached out to various, enormous talents—great people I’ve been wanting to work with and had done great work—who have been terrific graces in the D&D community—and I brought them together to each contribute.”

Among the designers at the press briefing was actor and producer Jennifer Kretchmer, who has designed the wheelchair accessible dungeon. An ambulatory wheelchair user, Kretchmer said it was important for her to make sure that her adventure was available to everyone.

I believe strongly that the stories we tell inform how we view the world, and the disabled community is vastly underrepresented and maligned in fiction. When the only representations out there cast us as villainous, infantilised, manipulative, or super-powered in a compensatory manner, it makes it difficult for disabled people to find any sort of representation that lets them be complex, nuanced, complete human beings, and lets that be normalised. – Jennifer Kretchmer, Actor & Producer

Designer Jennifer Kretchmer is on her wheelchair posing with an axe.

Accessibility in gaming is nothing new. The most iconic monsters in D&D, as Kretchmer points out, both fly or float and don’t require floors, much less stairs. “Accessibility features have been elements in real-world historical ruins since before Ancient Egypt, and wheelchairs have been in use in Ancient China and Greece since at least the 6th century”.

17 adventures featured

Candlekeep Mysteries, Kretchmer hopes, will help people realise how minor the adjustments to the wheelchair accessible dungeon are, making the point that people imagine accessibility in gaming to be much more complicated than it really is. Much like in the real world.

“I think that one of the most extraordinary things about storytelling is that we can create new worlds”, says Kretchmer , who created the Accessibility in Tabletop Resource Guide last year. This is a compilation of resources for anyone looking to address accessibility in gaming.

Here it is, friends. A massive compilation of resources, documents, tools, and more addressing accessibility in tabletop gaming, streaming, and life. I'm incredibly proud to share my Accessibility in Gaming Resource. https://t.co/uzCODeeYjL (1/)

— Jennifer Kretchmer (@dreamwisp) August 22, 2020

“While often these worlds revolve around monsters and epic battles, they also give us the chance to explore real-world issues and conflicts. We have the opportunity to make our fantasy better than our reality”.

In creating the guide, she hopes to provide a place where people can learn about disability, and find options to make games, events, and streams more inclusive and accessible.

“I hope it results in more and better disabled representation in media, more authentic representation, more accessible content, and more disabled creators making content, getting hired, and telling our stories. Access is a right, and I hope that my work moves the needle towards a more accessible, inclusive world”.

Watch in Sign Language

Also Read:

  • Multiple audio tracks now available on YouTube, including AD for blind viewers

Support us to make NewzHook Sustainable – Make a Contribution Today

We need your continued support to enable us work towards Changing Attitudes towards Disability. Help us in our attempt to share the voices of people with disabilities that enable them to participate in the society on an equal footing!

Contribute to Newz Hook

NH Videos

Healing pain through art - Dr. Anubha Mahajan, Founder Chronic Pain India

Read more on Newz Hook

  • Technology
    Top 5 Apps for People with Alzheimer

Contribue to Newz Hook |Disability news. Support us to make NewzHook Sustainable – Make a Contribution Today.

Newsletter

 Subscribe to our Newsletter

Want to feature disability stories or share disability news with the disabled community? Write to:

editor@newzhook.com

Related News

An old man smiling looking at his mobile phone

Technology

Top 5 Apps for People with Alzheimer

Newz Hook - Accessible News

Download App Now!

Videos

View More

Accessibility

Carmaker Ford designs clear, reusable N95 masks for people with hearing impairments

Technology

Auticare uses virtual reality-based therapy to help children with autism develop critical skills

Coronavirus-news

Kerala parent support group TogetherWeCan’s series ‘Speak Up’ addresses mental health

Get-hooked

Two disabled people from different worlds share their quirky brand of humour on YouTube channel The Blind Walkthrough

Newz Hook Logo

About Newz Hook

Newz Hook | Disability News - media site focusing on Disability Stories and Changing Attitudes towards Disability globally. We highlight disability news, offer inclusive solutions and create accessible collaborations. Our focus is to have Inclusion Champions from across the globe who will share disability stories and news.
Lets come together to change attitudes towards disability!

Newz Hook is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Follow us on:

Related Links

  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Partner with Newz Hook
  • Embed Newz Hook Timeline
  • Affiliate disclosure
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Contribute to Newz Hook

Our Awards

Zero Project Award Winner 2018
Back To Top
© 2019 All Right Reserved. Inclusive News India Private Limited.

Ask Bhavna

All fields are mandatory unless specified as optional.