D&D 5E [Merged] Candlekeep Mysteries Author Speaks Out On WotC's Cuts To Adventure

In an event which is being referred to as #PanzerCut, one of the Candlekeep Mysteries authors has gone public with complaints about how their adventure was edited.

Book of Cylinders is one of the adventures in the book. It was written by Graeme Barber (who goes by the usernames PanzerLion and PoCGamer on social media).

Barber was caught by surprise when he found out what the final adventure looked like. The adventure was reduced by about a third, and his playable race -- the Grippli -- was cut. Additionally, WotC inserted some terminology that he considered to be colonialist, which is one of the things they were ostensibly trying to avoid by recruiting a diverse team of authors for the book.

His complaints also reference the lack of communication during the editing process, and how he did public interviews unknowingly talking about elements of an adventure which no longer existed.

"I wrote for [Candlekeep Mysteries], the recent [D&D] release. Things went sideways. The key issues were that the bulk of the lore and a lot of the cultural information that made my adventure "mine" were stripped out. And this was done without any interaction with me, leaving me holding the bag as I misled the public on the contents and aspects of my adventure. Yes, it was work-for-hire freelance writing, but the whole purpose was to bring in fresh voices and new perspectives.

So, when I read my adventure, this happened. This was effectively the shock phase of it all.

Then I moved onto processing what had happened. ~1300 words cut, and without the cut lore, the gravity of the adventure, and its connections to things are gravely watered down. Also "primitive" was inserted.

Then the aftermath of it all. The adventure that came out was a watered down version of what went in, that didn't reflect me anymore as a writer or creator. Which flew in the face of the spirit of the project as had been explained to me.

So then I wrote. Things don't change unless people know what's up and can engage with things in a prepared way. So I broke down the process of writing for Wizards I'd experienced, and developed some rules that can be used to avoid what happened to me."

He recounts his experiences in two blog posts:

• What happened? Writing for Wizards Part 1
• What Happened? Writing for Wizards Part 2

The author later added "Wizards owns all the material sent in, and does not publish unedited adventures on the DM Guild, so there will be no "PanzerCut". I have respectfully requested that my name be removed from future printings. "

 

[TheSword]

Interestingly after listening to the same description of the editing process, Graeme seems to be more understanding of how things happened and instead wishes for a greater understanding at the pitch stage so he could have written a piece that needed less editing. (According to his Twitter)

A natural step would be to take that lesson onto the next project with WOC. If that is possible.

 

[DM Magic]

Someone, probably overworked and underpaid, was in a hurry. It happens.

This sort of dismissal undermines what WotC was attempting to do with this release. Shouldn't they be held to the standard that they made for themselves?

 

[Mistwell]

Can we refrain from homophobic speech?

Uh...that's not what that phrase means, at least to me. It means someone kicked your butt and you're complaining about it. At least, that's what I think of that term. I guess we're again running into an issue where you see words entirely differently than I see words?

I'd note that the author commented on an important aspect of our debate and his clarification is not how you presented it. The author is not taking the stance that the word "primitive" cannot be used in any context. What he says is, "Colonialist language and imagery around the Grippli was inserted as well, moving them from being simple and utilitarian with obvious culture and technology to being “primitives” who “primitively decorate” their thatched huts with crab bits."

And to that I say...I think he's wrong. I do not think that is the context here. I don't think the distinction made between the ramshackle temporary structures and the nicer permanent one depicts THEM as being "primitives." Nor do I think the decorations in the temporary huts are saying these people decorate primitively since we see another building they made decorated elaborately. I do not think that is a reasonable interpretation of the words used in the adventure. That smacks, to me, of a guy looking to take offense where there is none. Probably because he's upset about the main complaint he talks about, which was how much of his stuff was edited. Which I have some sympathy for, but only as far as I have sympathy for all freelancer artists of any kind who experience this.

 

[Bacon Bits]

Yeah, as I said, I think it's great if they stop calling sapient beings "primitive." I think it's a hundred percent just fine if they refer to anyone's makeshift, ramshackle, temporary structures as "primitive." I'm not persuaded by the charge that this obvious distinction constitutes "nitpicking."

"I'm not saying you're fat. I'm just saying the dress makes you look fat. It's not the same thing! I'm blaming the dress!" -- Man digging his own grave

 

[TheSword]

Is that really the standard we should hold publishers to? To do only what they are “obligated” to and no more? Maybe they weren’t “obligated” to communicate with Panzer before making major changes to their work, but in this instance seems like a poor choice not to do so, given that a significant part of the marketing for the book was that it featured “new voices.”

Over a dozen new voices of whom one has an issue. After it becomes clear that the process took him by surprise and he learnt a lot of lessons from it.

 

[Charlaquin]

Rudimentary is a pretty good word, until some point in the future when it accumulates baggage of some sort. Words change over time, we all know this.

The degree to which something becomes pejorative or derogatory will change with time and social mores.

Sure. That’s a normal part of language. It was within my lifetime that lots of words mostly related to bodily functions like sex and waste management were taboo, and they still are in many contexts (I can’t say them here, for instance), but gradually those are becoming more accepted, while words that demean or marginalize are on the out. I’m sure that will eventually change as well, and some other group of words will become socially unacceptable. The turtle moves.

 

[Justice and Rule]

Decorations could have just been described as "consisting of bones, teeth, and feathers" instead of using primitive as a catch all.

See, this is really interesting because I don't believe their decorations had any of that: they were just like, crab parts or something? But there's a cultural idea of what "primitive decorations" implies given years of seeing it movies, books, TV, etc. You ask just about anyone and I'll bet they'll say something similar. But it's also exactly why the author wanted to avoid it, because it creates a certain implication about the cultural development of the Grippli.

These days a large amount of books are obtained through Roll20 and DNDBeyond.

Hm. Have they done that sort of after-the-fact editing before? Honestly curious.

 

[J-H]

Given the context and recent history, I was expecting a complaint-fest based around identity issues like some others I've seen recently. I'm happy to say I was wrong.

I can tell from the way the posts are written and put together that Panzer is a good writer who can communicate clearly. Are there any DM's guild adventures by this author? If so, I think I will buy them. I like the style of the adventure as described in part 2; it aligns with my personal sensibilities and approach to adventure design, complexity, and novel reward options.

I now have a feeling that some of the "X doesn't make sense" or "WOTC can't be coherent" issues that I've seen in the past are a result of editing.

 

[Justice and Rule]

Uh...that's not what that phrase means, at least to me. It means someone kicked your butt and you're complaining about it. At least, that's what I think of that term. I guess we're again running into an issue where you see words entirely differently than I see words?

Put me down as someone who had a very different understanding as to how that pain came about.

 

[Greg Benage]

This sort of dismissal undermines what WotC was attempting to do with this release. Shouldn't they be held to the standard that they made for themselves?

Why is it that if I'm not also outraged I must be "dismissive"? I don't believe anything I'm saying will undermine Wizard's business or creative goals, with this release or any other. How would that work, exactly?