D&D General Companies Cut Ties With Judges Guild After Owner's Racist Posts

Several game publishers, including Bat in the Attic, have said that they will no longer do business with Judges Guild after its owner posted a number of racist and anti-semitic statements. They don't need to be repeated here; but there are several examples.

Judges Guild has been around since 1976, producing products compatible with Dungeons & Dragons; the current owner, Bob Bledsaw II, is the son of its co-founder, Bob Bledsaw, and has run the company since 2008. The company is well known for 1976's City State of the Invincible Overlord, amongst other classics. Bat in the Attic and Frog God Games both license Judges' Guild properties.

Rob Conley of Bat in the Attic stated yesterday that the company would no longer do business with Judges Guild, or its properties. "Sunday evening, I called Robert Bledsaw II and discussed the issue. I notified him that I will no longer be doing future Judges’ Guild projects and will only continue to sell what I have currently listed. I stated that I will be calling the other Judges Guild licensee and inform them of the situation and of my decision."

Frog God Games, which has been working with Judges Guild for nearly 20 years, followed suit. "Recently the owner of Judges Guild made a series of racist and anti-semitic posts on Facebook. We will not reproduce them here; they are shown on Rob Conley's Bat in the Attic blog, and we are convinced of their authenticity. Rob wrote his post because, as a licensee of Judges Guild property, he felt he needed to state clearly that he would not be doing business with Judges Guild in the future. We have also licensed property from Judges Guild in the past, and we are seconding Rob's example by cutting off all future business with Judges Guild. The posts made on Facebook were completely unacceptable."

UPDATE — DriveThruRPG has severed ties. “The Judges Guild publisher account has been closed and they are no longer available on DriveThruRPG.”

A few years ago, Judges Guild ran a Kickstarter to bring back City State of the Invincible Overlord, with nearly a thousand backers raising $85K. The Kickstarter has not yet been fulfilled. The latest update was in October 2019.

 

[Rikka66]

Just to be clear, the first person who says he did not hold those beliefs is not anonymous - he's pretty well known actually, he just doesn't post here at ENWorld much anymore (this may have been his first post here in many years). His recollection is also backed up by James Mishler over on James' website. I don't know the person who said Bob Sr. did hold those beliefs, but he may not be anonymous either.

Well that's one of them accounted for, with support even. So I'll amend my statement to, "I won't believe the anonymous (my apologies if Bill from blogspot is in fact a known industry figure I'm unaware of) poster over the two known individuals with history in the industry (and I presume a history with Bob Sr.)

 

[Panda-s1]

Two non-anonymous people who did know Bob said it. Can we stop with the claims they're anonymous? They're not. These are two people in this industry.

we're not saying they're anonymous in the sense that we don't know who they are so much as in the sense they're completely unrelated to the story at hand.

 

[Mistwell]

we're not saying they're anonymous in the sense that we don't know who they are so much as in the sense they're completely unrelated to the story at hand.

Uh, that's not what the word "anonymous" means however. I am not aware of any definition of "anonymous" which includes "unrelated to the story at hand".

 

[CleverNickName]

@Mistwell I'd go one step further: you don't owe anyone the effort to change their minds. You don't owe them a platform to explain themselves, you don't owe them an opportunity to be heard, and you don't owe them an education on things their parents failed to teach them. If someone demonstrates hateful and toxic behavior, you have every right to walk away from them without comment or explanation.

I have nothing but respect for those who go above and beyond, like you did. It's a fine example, but not everyone can (or should, or needs to) follow it.

 

[Panda-s1]

Uh, that's not what the word "anonymous" means however. I am not aware of any definition of "anonymous" which includes "unrelated to the story at hand".

is this good enough for you?

 

[Morrus]

Folks, if you're at the point of arguing over the definition of random words just to score points over each other, you might want to consider walking away from the thread. The first sign of this common internet affliction is always the point where somebody screenshots a dictionary definition. Let's drop that little argument, eh? The thread's not entitled "Who's got the best grammar?"

 

[Mistwell]

@Mistwell I'd go one step further: you don't owe anyone the effort to change their minds. You don't owe them a platform to explain themselves, you don't owe them an opportunity to be heard, and you don't owe them an education on things their parents failed to teach them. If someone demonstrates hateful and toxic behavior, you have every right to walk away from them without comment or explanation.

I have nothing but respect for those who go above and beyond, like you did. It's a fine example, but not everyone can (or should) follow it.

I am not saying it's an act done out of duty because someone is owed something. I do wish more people would try harder though because I think it's better for society, and persuasion is a skill like any other that improves with use. I believe in the marketplace of ideas, but that concept only functions when people actually try to persuade others that their side is wiser.

I think a lot of people give up too quickly, are cynical, or never learned how to persuade people they deeply disagree with. If I ran the universe debate would be a required course for seniors in high school or general ed in the first two years of college. Where you're required to argue both sides of a controversial issue. It not only builds argumentation skills, but it also builds empathy for how people with differing views think. These are skills I find are more lacking lately in society, and which are not as valued as they used to be. Which is a shame because they're necessary for many aspects of society, including getting along with a significant other and raising children and interacting with a boss or colleagues at work.

 

[Panda-s1]

Well that's one of them accounted for, with support even. So I'll amend my statement to, "I won't believe the anonymous (my apologies if Bill from blogspot is in fact a known industry figure I'm unaware of) poster over the two known individuals with history in the industry (and I presume a history with Bob Sr.)

Bill name-dropped Chuck Anshell. unfortunately the fact that Bill Owen is a founder of JG obfuscates a lot of searches, but JG works involving Chuck Anshell also include Bill Paley or Bill Seligman. this commenter is likely one of those Bills.

 

[billd91]

okay I hate to be That Guy™ (except when I do, like right now), but I went through the comments of the original blog post I found this unfortunate gem:
View attachment 118353
I don't Bob Bledsaw Sr. too well, or Judges Guild, but I figured given his age he wasn't perfect, and well it turns out that's the case. maybe he wasn't anywhere near as bad as his son and grandson, but he probably didn't help much either.

Definitely unfortunate, but it is kind of surprising how many people use ethnic slur verbs without knowing they're doing so. I would think that jewing might be at least a little more obvious than gypping or welching, but the one guy I chewed out for using it back in high school (you don't need to know how long ago that was) had no clue and I don't think it was blatant antisemitism on his part.

 

[Panda-s1]

Definitely unfortunate, but it is kind of surprising how many people use ethnic slur verbs without knowing they're doing so. I would think that jewing might be at least a little more obvious than gypping or welching, but the one guy I chewed out for using it back in high school (you don't need to know how long ago that was) had no clue and I don't think it was blatant antisemitism on his part.

I mean sure, like I said he's from a time when that sort of thing wasn't viewed as "racist".

but I started thinking about my own dad probably used Jew as a verb, and then distinctly remembered one time when I was like 12 when he told me how people used to say that and how it was not at all okay. he then told me I might meet other people who still say that and that it's not okay for them to use it. he brought up a few other words, too (like "gyp"). my dad is of an ethnic minority, and even he still says some racist stuff and I have no doubt in my mind he thought words like that are okay when he was younger, but clearly something happened that got him to change his mind.

there's about a 30 year difference between those 2 anecdotes, and I want to believe Bob Sr. got better and that his kid and grandson strayed away from their father, but hearing him say something like that could have set them down that road in the first place.