This is a transcript of the video: Things I dig: Combat Wheelchair

In my home D&D 5e game, I used an NPC in a combat wheelchair. I checked in with my players if there were any weird feelings around it - as expected, there aren't but one of them did ask me why I felt I needed to check in; she knew there was some discussion around it but not familiar with what. It sort of forced me to articulate some feelings that I thought I'd share. I don't expect everyone to agree with me. My perspective is from someone who has a degenerative condition,  with increasing physical limitations who experiences othering in many ways. If that is not your lived experience, obviously you will perceive things differently.

People have a few different issues with the combat wheelchair; I don’t agree with most of them tbh. Let’s look at some of the major points of discussion -

1. ‘In a world where ‘Restoration’, ‘Greater healing’ exists, why wouldn’t you just get any disability fixed?’ - this is the only one I sort of agree with but it super comes down to the availability of these major spells in your world. In my case, its that the NPC doesn’t have access to that, financially or otherwise. Most people wouldn’t. That’s Demi-god-tier magic.

2. ‘Wheelchair users shouldn’t be able to move through the world the same way able-bodied people can, and the combat wheelchair basically removes all impediment.’ - I fully disagree with this. WHY should a wheelchair user struggle exactly? Why shouldn’t they be able to navigate the world the same as if you’re able to walk? It's like Picard being bald - sure the technology exists for him to grow back his hair but it literally doesn’t matter, so…

3. ’Not having a wheelchair-user struggle does not accurately reflect what true wheelchair-use experience is like’ - Often said by actual wheelchair users. While I agree, I also don’t feel like a fantasy game is the right avenue to ‘teach’ about wheelchair use and the realities of ableism and ableist architecture. Also, this comes down to how individual wheelchair users are presented in YOUR game. 

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4. The opposing side to this, also said by wheelchair users: “Combat wheelchairs do accurately reflect my strength and provide a world that accepts that I SHOULD NOT have to struggle to get around’ - this is where I am tbh.

5. ‘Combat wheelchairs will get stuck in narrow hallways in dungeons, or stuck in swamps” - OK. So make your fucking hallways wider, and don’t have the players have to navigate a swamp. This comes down to the sportsmanship of the GM and the table, and it is a disingenuous way to say ‘wheelchair users should struggle’. If you make things hard for a combat wheelchair, they will be hard. Same as literally every other player.

So you might be seeing a theme - Struggle. This is my biggest thing. Why does ‘struggle’ have to be a part of a physically different character in a fantasy game? Or even in real life.

Anyway that’s my take. Like I said, I don’t expect everyone to agree with me. I’m not going to say ‘that’s fine’ because honestly, you should not be fine with inaccessibility. It should not be such a deeply ingrained and accepted part of your reality that you can’t even play a game of pretend where people can literally fly to suspend your disbelief enough to fathom a world where wheelchair users can get around without impediment. The reality is different  but what i’m saying is that its not something we should accept. Wheelchair users - or any disabled or differently abled bodies should have the same level of access as non-disabled bodies. 

I don’t feel like that’s a particularly hot take.

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Details about the chair: (Seriously the art in the book is SO COOL. You could access it for that alone and get so much out of it!) https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1KVW9Hv0QDPB6IiWbVY6RVi13S3W3bGuy

Sara Thompson's details: https://linktr.ee/mustangsart