Elon Musk Calls for Wizards of the Coast to "Burn in Hell" Over Making of Original D&D Passages

Elon Musk, the owner of the app formerly known as Twitter, is calling on Wizards of the Coast and its parent company Hasbro to "burn in hell" for the publication of Making of Original Dungeons & Dragons. On November 21st, former gaming executive turned culture warrior Mark Hern posted several passages from Making of Original Dungeons & Dragons on Twitter, criticizing the book for providing context about some of the misogyny and cultural insensitivity found in early rulebooks. These passages were pulled from the foreword written by Jason Tondro, a senior designer for the D&D team who also worked extensively on the book. Hern stated that these passages, along with the release of the new 2024 Player's Handbook and Dungeon Master's Guide for D&D's "40th anniversary" (it is actually D&D's 50th anniversary) both "erased and slandered" Gary Gygax and other creators of Dungeons & Dragons.

In response, Musk wrote "Nobody, and I mean nobody, gets to trash E. Gary Gygax and the geniuses who created Dungeons & Dragons. What the [naughty word] is wrong with Hasbro and WoTC?? May they burn in hell." Musk had played Dungeons & Dragons at some point in his youth, but it's unclear when the last time he ever played the game.

Nobody, and I mean nobody, gets to trash E. Gary Gygax and the geniuses who created Dungeons & Dragons. What the [xxxx] is wrong with Hasbro and WoTC?? May they burn in hell.

- Elon Musk​

Notably, Making of Original Dungeons & Dragons contains countless correspondences and letters written by both Gygax and Dave Arneson, including annotated copies of early D&D rulesets. Most early D&D rules supplements as well as early Dragon magazines are also found in the book. It seems odd to contain one of the most extensive compliations of Gygax's work an "erasure," but it's unclear whether Hern or Musk actually read the book given the incorrect information about the anniversary.

Additionally, Gygax and Arneson are both credited in the 2024 Player's Handbook and Dungeon Master's Guide. The exact credit reads: "Building on the original game created by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson and then developed by many others over the past 50 years." Wizards of the Coast also regularly collaborates with Gygax's youngest son Luke and is a participant at Gary Con, a convention held in Gygax's honor. The opening paragraph of the 2024 Player's Handbook is written by Jeremy Crawford and specifically lauds both Gygax and Arneson for making Dungeons & Dragons and contains an anecdote about Crawford meeting Gygax.

Musk has increasingly leaned into culture war controversies in recent years, usually amplifying misinformation to suit his own political agenda.

 

[Bedrockgames]

Notice it doesn't name names. It doesn't accuse anyone of anything. It's making the basic and obvious point that the reprinted books within it have some things that might look off to the modern young reader who wasn't an adult in the 1970s.

But much of the discussion has become about this, and I think it is fair to say it is implied by the foreword

 

[mamba]

Honestly the Forward was a huge mistake, it doesn't matter if Gygax had some backwards things, it picked a huge completely unneeded fight with a large part of the fan base that already believes rightly the current day WotC doesn't have enough respect enough for D&D creators of yore or the lore. There was no need to do it and it was a divisive mistake.

how big that base is, is up for debate, and the reaction this gets kinda means it was not unneeded

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

But much of the discussion has become about this, and I think it is fair to say it is implied by the foreword

Well, I think it's fair to say that there are some who are looking for things to be angry and outraged about... and weirdly, they always find it.

 

[Bedrockgames]

I will say this again...

Gygax isn't named. Further, given I wrote a really long piece on how I square my love for his work with his very real character flaws as a person, I'm not sure that saying that a small preface in a love letter to his work that doesn't mention his name is out of the pale.

And I respect that you did that. I'm not trying to stir things with you. But to my other point, this is still what the discussion became about in the end (and I think it is a fair inference from the foreword).

I think a lot of us who grew up with the older material aren't actually aware of how some of it can look today. And I'd rather have a preface and the material, than no material at all.

Sure, but there is also the fact that some people will have genuinely different interpretations and analysis of the material even looking at it today. I think the idea that everyone who goes back and reads the old D&D stuff has to come away with the same conclusions on these concerns, is not healthy for any of us. I mean if you read it, and find it to be a problem, that is fair, but some are going to read it and not see the same intentions behind the language and ideas (or perhaps they do but aren't troubled given the context was different). I just think we are not in a good place as a hobby and a lot of it stems from everyone wanting others agree with their moral conclusions about this stuff.

 

[Bedrockgames]

Well, I think it's fair to say that there are some who are looking for things to be angry and outraged about... and weirdly, they always find it.

Sure but that exists on all sides of the hobby everywhere. People like being angry. Part of my point is we should try to be more measured about our reactions to all this stuff. But it is also still a pretty reasonable inference from the forward's wording

 

[Henadic Theologian]

Not sure if it's been posted, but I think Kuntz's response to the forward is worth sharing too.

It was brutal, but just.

 

[mamba]

Mentzer has also weighed in, as has Heidi Gygax. I think they all do make some valid points. I don't think people have to agree with them. We can all have different opinions on this and not dislike one another

I am sorry, the ‘not dislike each other’ rings pretty hollow these days. Yes, we can disagree, and the opinion on this foreword alone might not be enough for me to dislike someone, but usually it is not just the foreword where people would disagree with each other on…

 

[Maxperson]

Wait what?

I read his Incarcerations of Immorality series a life time ago and probably got me into sci-fi fantasy books.

I mean, his writing isn't great and they all probably should have been incarcerated, but it's Incarnations.

 

[Maxperson]

How can the most wealthy person in the world, capable of traveling anywhere they want including space, able to buy anything, able to bribe anyone they want and pretty much commit any crime in most of the world... HAVE THIS LITTLE TO DO?!

If you believe him, he says he sleeps on a couch at Twitter, so that saves him a lot of travel time.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

Mentzer has also weighed in, as has Heidi Gygax. I think they all do make some valid points. I don't think people have to agree with them. We can all have different opinions on this and not dislike one another

What did Mentzer & Heidi say?