Is Evil Genius Games Doubling Down On NFTs & Blockchain?

Evil Genius Games' Dave Scott presents to a panel of judges at a cryptocurrency convention in May 2024​

Earlier this year, it was revealed that Evil Genius Games--publisher of the d20 Modern inspired Everyday Heroes TTRPG--was considering use of certain controversial Web3 technologies, such as non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and blockchains. In response to that, EGG published a manifesto on February 6th, 2024, which they called their 'Technology Code of Ethics' in which the company pledged not to use blockchain or cryptocurrencies (along with AI, and other pledges). Indeed, Scott himself told me back in February that the company had decided not to use blockchain technology. For a full background on EGG and recent events, you can read more in The Rise And Fall Of Evil Genius Games.

#2: Evil Genius Games will not use Blockchain or Cryptocurrency technologies in the building or operation of its technology platform.

At the end of 2023 and the start of 2024 numerous employees resigned from Evil Genius Games citing--amongst other things--ethical concerns with the technologies that the company was planning to use, something which Dave Scott made public assurances that they would not do. At the time Scott said: “We made the decision not to do AI in October, and then not to do Web3 in December. But apparently, it wasn't enough to allay any concerns. So after the resignations, we brought the team together to discuss. And we felt a public and permanent statement on this issue would be useful. That's why we drafted the code of ethics after the fact.” In fact, back when I spoke to Scott in February of this year, one of the questions I asked him was why the staff who had recently resigned from EGG did not believe him when he repeated that the company did not intend to use those controversial technologies, and he indicated to me that he didn't know why that was the case.

EGG Pitches At Consensus 2024
However, last week, EGG participated in a pitch competition at an event at Consensus 2024, a convention in Texas run by Coindesk. Consensus describes itself as "the world's largest, longest-running and most influential gathering that brings together all sides of the cryptocurrency, blockchain and Web3 community". EGG's owner Dave Scott pitched a future for their TTRPG offerings which leaned heavily on both blockchains and on non-fungible tokens. Scott introduced the company and told the attendees that "we make turn-based RPGs on chain based on famous Blockbuster movie franchises that we all know and love."

Interestingly, Scott also stated that Jeff Grubb (Dragonlance, d20 Modern) works for the company and describes him as "the father of modern day Dungeons and Dragons"; Grubb made it clear earlier this year that he had no current involvement with Evil Genius Games. In my previous delve into EGG, it turned out that Grubb's participation in Everyday Heroes was that he wrote the foreword in 2023.

I'm not the best person on the staff. Meet Jeff Grub. Jeff Grub is the father of modern day Dungeons and Dragons.

So how do NFTs fit into this vision? Dave Scott described it as follows:

Imagine a scenario where you could actually buy NFT utilities that are exclusive to these licenses you could actually pilot Gypsy Danger, you can carry Rambo's M60, all of these that have value that can be bought sold and traded but more importantly in the Roblox fashion we're going to allow other people to actually create their own NFTs which can be thrown onto a marketplace where they can buy, sell and trade those adventures as well.

Scott's pitch can be watched below--in the video the CEO presented an NFT and blockchain powered future for Evil Genius Games' tabletop offerings in front of three judges, who then proceeded to ask him questions about the pitch.

During the Q&A which followed, Scott confirmed that there was no actual NFT technology in place yet, indicating that "we've just started to set up the infrastructure to be able to create the NFT program". He also claimed that the company has made $1.2M in revenue in the last year based on sales of digital products.

When asked about the blockchain components of the setup, Scott described the content creator marketplace.

All the Creator Marketplace components of it, the UGC components of it, the entire utility is on chain. If you've actually played RPGs before there's a character sheet, all the components of the character sheet will have objects on it, all the objects will be NFTs. In addition to that the actual character sheet itself will be minted as an NFT as well so what that means is that if we use your character as an NPC in a future game we'll actually pay you royalties on the character itself. So the whole thing is based off of objects which are have NFT components to it.

He went on to describe some of the more technical aspects of the platform, including the use of a 'wallet-as-a-service' company called Stardust. Stardust's mission statement is to "democratise blockchain technology for developers and players at scale".

What we're really excited about is the idea that we can use blockchain to be able to control the value and to create value around the objects which make up your character, that's going to be a really important component of it so if you actually create for example an adventure on our system that'll be something that you own as the creator from here on out but the experience we're going after is a Web2 experience which means that we don't want to expose the wallet, we're going to be using a company called Stardust be able to create custodial wallets for that reason.

​

This was part of a competition, which--as it happens--Evil Genius Games won!

To Pledge Or Not To Pledge?
Whether or not one supports the idea of blockchains and NFTs, Evil Genius Games did make a very public pledge not to use blockchains--and reiterated to staff, to me, and on forums that they did not plan to go ahead with that course. This presentation appears to indicate otherwise, with CEO Dave Scott declaring his intentions towards both blockchains and NFTs in a very public venue.

EGG's technology Code of Ethics, published in February 2024
​

 

[UngainlyTitan]

I see this as part of the hobby's move to virtual table tops. Want your character to have a particular item in a particular (presumably officially licensed) VTT? You have to own the NFT of that item.

Obviously it won't affect actual real life games, but those might be dying out.

VTT play might become bigger than face to face play but face to face play will never die out completely. A lot of old stuff might not be economic significant but still lingers on as a hobby practice.
As for NFT on private online game, I really do not see the merit. As long as the DM or DM and players collectively control the exact expression of the online game and all the stuff is made up where is the payoff for a NFT sword.
I can only see it having merit on an MMO or other shared world and question why NFT. Why does that need blockchain support?
Maybe if the item could be shared across separate games but the NFT is also a potential attack vector.

 

[CleverNickName]

Personally, I felt that making that promise to try to keep people around who don't share your vision was foolish. Why not stick to your guns and find people to run with you?

Hard to say for sure, but I think it's because so few people share this vision anymore. (Compared to the wider market, anyway.)

 

[Langy]

Personally, I felt that making that promise to try to keep people around who don't share your vision was foolish. Why not stick to your guns and find people to run with you?

Despite all the hate for web3 and NFT here, it's not a bad plan.

NFTs are not just cute pictures you collect. They have technological uses. It could drive a "collectible" RPG platform where you play online and build characters with these components. Standard components are cheap and easy (STR 14 = $2), and others are more expensive (Alien artifact that gives you STR 20 = $25).

The underlying blockchain can verify the validity of the component (NFT); you don't have to worry about someone copying the cute picture—the picture doesn't matter. It would be easy to run an organized play system using this verification. Everything is on the blockchain, and components are verified. You don't have to waste any time verifying a character is legal for play.

There are plenty easier, cheaper technologies that do the same thing. Achievements have been on Steam for decades and are effectively the same thing from the user perspective, but without the hassle, with much lower transaction cost, and without real money trading needing to be a thing to pay for those transaction costs.

The only thing NFTs bring to the table is the ability to 'trade' them from player to player in a vaguely decentralized way instead of using a trusted third party to do the trade for you. It turns out that consumers prefer to use the trusted third party, so all this blockchain and NFT stuff has already died out in terms of desire.

 

[UngainlyTitan]

Personally, I felt that making that promise to try to keep people around who don't share your vision was foolish. Why not stick to your guns and find people to run with you?

Despite all the hate for web3 and NFT here, it's not a bad plan.

NFTs are not just cute pictures you collect. They have technological uses. It could drive a "collectible" RPG platform where you play online and build characters with these components. Standard components are cheap and easy (STR 14 = $2), and others are more expensive (Alien artifact that gives you STR 20 = $25).

The underlying blockchain can verify the validity of the component (NFT); you don't have to worry about someone copying the cute picture—the picture doesn't matter. It would be easy to run an organized play system using this verification. Everything is on the blockchain, and components are verified. You don't have to waste any time verifying a character is legal for play.

As seen in other online gaming marketplaces (official or grey market), plenty of cash exists for people building up characters and selling them—or cool magic items, or mods—all kinds of stuff. The NFT approach would be similar, with the added benefit of being within a controlled, transparent, verifiable ecosystem.

You could have contests or special releases where players can find cool, unique components. DMs could be incentivized with awards and titles. There is plenty of opportunity to combine TTRPGs and MMO-style computer games and drive a marketplace to support them.

Now, dealing with a business owner who lies and misleads to run their company? It doesn't help Web3 that so many charlatans use it to deceive and rob people. The early Internet was a Wild West as well. The idea is sound, but the company agitating for it doesn't seem like a good entity to do business with. IMHO.

Why does any of this need NFTs? The MMO creator is making the cool unique components and tracking their existence in a database or similar structure. Why is there a need for the additional overhead of crypto verification (or what ever they call the process of adding a new block to the chain)?

 

[CleverNickName]

VTT play might become bigger than face to face play but face to face play will never die out completely. A lot of old stuff might not be economic significant but still lingers on as a hobby practice.

And to complicate matters, there's more than just these two modes of play. "Tabletop play" can be done in-person with just some graph paper and a single set of dice, or it can be a full-table wargame with hundreds of minis, custom terrain, and a whole shelf of books. A "VTT" can be a massive automated online repository like D&D Beyond or Roll20, or it can be four people on an MS Teams call, one of whom is sharing a screen.

I use Roll20 and I love it, but if Roll20 starts bringing NFTs into the mix I'll drop them without remorse. They are far from the only VTT game in town:

A Comprehensive List of Virtual Tabletops - Updated 2025 | StartPlaying

With more tabletop roleplaying games (TTRPGs) happening online these days, you might be exploring your virtual tabletop (VTT) options. We’ve checked out some of the best VTTs around so you can find the perfect fit for your group.

startplaying.games

 

[Deset Gled]

If I see a product that claims to use NFTs or AI, I will walk away.
If a product won't disclose whether or not it uses NFTs or AI, I will assume they do, and then walk away.

Let's just say I have a severe allergy, and leave it at that.

So, a serious question (not trying to bait here, I swear). You, and a lot of people, seem to really be against NFTs on principle. What is that principle?

I understand that NFTs were a big scam at one point; trying to get people invest stupid money, then unloading and walking away. But I feel like we're past that point. No one is dumping huge amounts of capital into them as a scam anymore, and the overhyped fake value is obvious to anyone who cares to do a basic google. Also, I understand that there's a moral point that EGG promised not to get into NFTs, and now they're going back on that word. Which is problematic for EGG, but isn't really a problem with the NFTs themselves.

So, what's the real beef with NFTs? Why are they worse than any other gimmick, like buying a fake "lordship title" or buying yourself a star (either in the "registry" or on the walk of fame)? I understand that they may not be necessary, and I'm not saying they're "good" for any particular reason. But what makes them "bad" in a way that's any worse than the rest of capitalism in general?

 

[humble minion]

There are plenty easier, cheaper technologies that do the same thing

Yeah, this. When it comes to organised play (which is a tiny proportion of the rpg market, let’s face it), there’s pretty much nothing the blockchain can do that a very boring traditional database couldn’t do. And outside organised play, there’s no use case for this stuff whatsoever.

It looks a lot to me that the business model here is extracting money from slightly out-of-date investors than it is about making a useful gaming product.

 

[UngainlyTitan]

And to complicate matters, there's more than just these two modes of play. "Tabletop play" can be done in-person with just some graph paper and a single set of dice, or it can be a full-table wargame with hundreds of minis, custom terrain, and a whole shelf of books. A "VTT" can be a massive online repository like D&D Beyond or Roll20, or it can be four people on an MS Teams call, one of whom is sharing a screen.

I use Roll20 and I love it, but if Roll20 starts bringing NFTs into the mix, I'll drop them without remorse. They are far from the only VTT game in town:

A Comprehensive List of Virtual Tabletops - Updated 2025 | StartPlaying

With more tabletop roleplaying games (TTRPGs) happening online these days, you might be exploring your virtual tabletop (VTT) options. We’ve checked out some of the best VTTs around so you can find the perfect fit for your group.

startplaying.games

I agree and I really cannot see what an NFT can do that cannot be done cheaper with more conventional technology.

 

[Gradine]

The only thing NFTs bring to the table is the ability to 'trade' them from player to player in a vaguely decentralized way instead of using a trusted third party to do the trade for you.

And all it costs is a few dozen square miles of rainforest somewhere in the world to do it!

 

[humble minion]

So, what's the real beef with NFTs? Why are they worse than any other gimmick, like buying a fake "lordship title" or buying yourself a star (either in the "registry" or on the walk of fame)? I understand that they may not be necessary, and I'm not saying they're "good" for any particular reason. But what makes them "bad" in a way that's any worse than the rest of capitalism in general?

In white-room isolation, the only beef I have with them is the beef I have against pretty much any blockchain product, which is that they’re horrifyingly wasteful consumers of energy at dubious value during a time of increasing climate crisis. But I have the same objection to ludicrously big SUVs.

In historical context though, such a large proportion of all nft project ever have proven to be scams or bubbles, and nfts themselves have demonstrated such a complete lack of real-world utility whatsoever, that these days I by default assume anyone selling or promoting them is either a scammer or an idiot, and I’d need some VERY convincing evidence to the contrary before making any exceptions.