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.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

I'll make this addendum to my prior post.

In addition to what I said before, ,there's also the identification issue. If you love something- a book, a game, music, whatever, and someone attacks it, it can feel like an attack on you, because you like that.

I know that a lot of gamers who grew up loving TSR-era D&D, especially the weird, wild, and adult stuff they were putting out for OD&D and Gygaxian AD&D ... it's hard for them to hear that the actual things that they love ... are sexist (or whatever). Because if they love it, does that mean that ... they are?

I think that's where a lot of the defensiveness comes from. It can be hard to separate out a correct and true critique from all the other things that made you love it.

I will always love OD&D and, especially, the original AD&D- the PHB, the MM, and the DMG. They are magic to me still. But I know that there are some things in there that didn't age well. And I accept that. Because it happens. I mean... have you seen any John Hughes '80s movies? Sixteen Candles is a tough watch,

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I just bought the Uncaged Anthology, 'cuz it's 5e and I'm nothing if I'm not basic as hell. Holy moly, these products are beautiful and so VERY well written. I'd been thinking about where my next adventure is coming from, and this anthology is a serious contender. Only $13, too!

Hell, just did some digging and found out that there's hardcovers, which is VERY ATTRACTIVE to me. Christmas list just got a little bigger.

Yeah, it's a great example of the great stuff out there that isn't WotC. There's also a whole adventure anthology channeling Studio Ghibli, although some of it is set in the Forgotten Realms for some reason.

 

[Zardnaar]

I'm going to take a stab at this, actually.

I think that there are people that fall into two camps.

One camp will defend their "heroes" and try to fight any attempt to discuss, you know, the actual facts about them.
Then there are others, unfortunately, who do try to take people down- those who only look at the bad, and forget the good.

I'd like to think that at some point we can realize that people are complicated, and we can both accept that people have done things that we don't like, but they have also done things that we do like, And just because someone has produced something "good" for you- art, music, literature, politics, a winning season for you team, whatever ... you can still not reflexively deny that the person in question may have done other things.

Like a lot of things, there's a lot of gray, and people often only see black and white.

Most things require some nuance. Except bards. They require termination... with extreme prejudice.

You spelled Gnomes wrong. G n o m e s not b a r d s.

 

[Jahydin]

I really hate that questions of sexism become deflected to questions of character.

It's like the racist guy pointing out that his black friends love him.

I don't know Gary's soul. I never met the man. I am not here to judge him as a human. We're all clever apes doing our best in a complicated world.

I am here to call out the garbage he DID, that there's EVIDENCE for, that HURT PEOPLE.

Okay, great, he wasn't a garbage father according to his kid. Wonderful, yipee, and completely irrelevant.

And I'm just here pointing out evidence to the contrary. You know, to add to the conversation.

Kelsey's shared experience of feelings of camaraderie with Gygax and team (that led to her becoming a full-time game desinger) far outweigh his decisions to use "Fighting-Man" and gender the dragon of chaos female.

Pay attention to what real people are saying, not the company that's trying to gaslight us all into thinking they're the saviors of gaming and we were all horribly corrupt, knuckle dragging neanderthals before they came around.

That said, who do you know, in actual real life, that was HURT by Gygax's words? Not a challenge; I'm just curious and willing to listen.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

I mean... have you seen any John Hughes '80s movies? Sixteen Candles is a tough watch,

That reminds me (as a tangent) of how much I loved Revenge of the Nerds. But I was, what? Probably twelve (maybe younger) when I saw it. I was far too young to understand some of its problematic bits. I was just happy that the Nerds win, the Jocks lose, and I get to see boobs. But when I remember it (I probably haven't seen it since '86 or so)... uh. Some stuff that happened in there was not okay. (And I probably shouldn't have been allowed to watch it).

 

[Parmandur]

Well they absolutely wrecked Ben & Tondo very effectively. Taking quotes out if context to mislead folks in order to mislead folks while ignoring actual ACTIONS is unethical journalism. Context matters alot.

I hope Tondo has increased in wisdom since this embarrassing book.

There is nothing embarrassing in the book.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

...the company that's trying to gaslight us all into thinking they're the saviors of gaming and we were all horribly corrupt, knuckle dragging neanderthals before they came around.

I think you'll find that many of us, whether we like WotC or not, will consider this statement to be... let's say... an exaggerated view of anything that WotC is actually attempting to do.

 

[Jahydin]

I think you'll find that many of us, whether we like WotC or not, will consider this statement to be... let's say... an exaggerated view of anything that WotC is actually attempting to do.

Probably right. Just have been reading so many "glass half-full" takes on early D&D lately.

On a positive note though, thought this was a cool read:

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

And I'm just here pointing out evidence to the contrary. You know, to add to the conversation.

Kelsey's shared experience of feelings of camaraderie with Gygax and team (that led to her becoming a full-time game desinger) far outweigh his decisions to use "Fighting-Man" and gender the dragon of chaos female.

Pay attention to what real people are saying, not the company that's trying to gaslight us all into thinking they're the saviors of gaming and we were all horribly corrupt, knuckle dragging neanderthals before they came around.

That said, who do you know, in actual real life, that was HURT by Gygax's words? Not a challenge; I'm just curious and willing to listen.

Okay. Why don't you have a listen to the recent (and excellent) podcast, When We Were Wizards.

Here's the trailer that I posted:

D&D General - When We Were Wizards: Trailer for the Podcast

Came across this - This is from the Youtube description: Four years ago, screenwriter, Adam Turner and Dungeons & Dragons® historian, Paul Stormberg, embarked on a project about Gary Gygax, D&D®, and TSR Hobbies, the company he founded to publish the game. During the course of this project...

www.enworld.org

Here's my review of the completed podcast:

D&D General - When We Were Wizards: Review of the Completed Podcast!

Four years ago, screenwriter, Adam Turner and Dungeons & Dragons® historian, Paul Stormberg, embarked on a project about Gary Gygax, D&D®, and TSR Hobbies, the company he founded to publish the game. During the course of this project they recorded their ongoing conversations, not only about the...

www.enworld.org

After that, tell us what you think. If you still have questions, I am happy to talk about some of the history, as someone who loves Gygax as well as understands he was a flawed person.

Which I've covered using words. SO. MANY. WORDS.

D&D General - Let He Who Is Without Sin Cast the First Magic Missile: Why Gygax Still Matters to Me

I am not a role model. I am not paid to be a role model. I am paid to wreak havoc on the basketball court. Parents should be role models. -The Round Mound of Rebound, his excellency, Sir Charles Barkley I realized that while I have discussed, in depth and several times (most recently here), the...

www.enworld.org

 

[mamba]

Kelsey's shared experience of feelings of camaraderie with Gygax and team (that led to her becoming a full-time game desinger) far outweigh his decisions to use "Fighting-Man" and gender the dragon of chaos female.

does it? What metric did you use to determine that this outweighs what his misogyny caused? Oh, just your opinion, I see…

Pay attention to what real people are saying, not the company that's trying to gaslight us all into thinking they're the saviors of gaming and we were all horribly corrupt, knuckle dragging neanderthals before they came around.

so you are not exactly a fan of WotC, that is all I take away from this, the rest ironically is you gaslighting us