Quote Originally Posted by pendell View Post
If you mean explicit words to the effect of "lesser races", the answer is no. However, D&D 1e crippled nonhuman PCs; ISTR they had level caps and other issues . Only humans had the potential for unrestricted growth and levels. It was a very human-centric game. So I can see why the attitude and the term would rankle even if Gygax never actually spelled it out. I would say it is implicit speciesism, not explicit.

Respectfully,

Brian P.
Again, I get that. I even got on board in the truly ancient days, in basic D&D, where being an elf, dwarf or halfing was a class, meaning that all dwarf PCs were a variant of fighters, and elves were fighter-mages. Halfings were sort of fighter-rouges (if I recall correctly, which I am frankly not sure if I do) and could only advance to level 8. There is even a joke about it in OotS.

http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0748.html

This is a reference to the fact that while halfings couldn't advance past level 8, they (as well as dwarves and elves) could increase their ability to hit with additional XPs.

D&D old-school was weird. Especially at higher levels. I don't know if you have seen the rules for the immortal quests. They are frankly insane.