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.

 

[mamba]

I think even if we consider it a history book, history books often have different takes on teh same source material.

yes, usually that source material are far from objective accounts by people living hundreds to thousands of years ago. This is different, this is not the account of someone who was 'in the room' at the time, and they are not evaluating the people in that room. They are discussing a 'literary work' and they can do so firsthand instead of relying on other people's accounts of it.

That does not mean you still cannot have different interpretations of what he wrote, but it removes a lot of the speculation usually associated with history / historic accounts.

 

[Jahydin]

yes, it means I disagree with them about liking the sentiment. People get to criticize other people, even if those other people are the co-creators of D&D. I do not need this BS hero worship, and it does not address misogyny or sexism at all, all it does is say 'how dare you mention it, this is Gary', so the Trolls can eff right off

Understood.

I've been following the Trolls for years now and know them well enough to know their character, so their disappointment in how Gygax was portrayed in the foreword carries more weight with me peraonlly.

 

[Vaalingrade]

Always funny when a bunch of randos think they know someone (like Gygax) better then his actual friends and family because they read a book or saw some old articles.

Or read his actual words that he said unprompted.

 

[Morrus]

Always funny when a bunch of randos think they know someone (like Gygax) better than his actual friends and family because they read a book or saw some old articles.

Friends’ testimony trumps evidence? May you never be involved in a court case! “Your honor, my friend says I’m a nice guy!” “Oh well why didn’t you say so! Throw away that signed confession and the CCTV footage, stat!”

That is not how the world works.

 

[dbolack]

Lee is awesome.

 

[Bedrockgames]

yes, usually that source material are far from objective accounts by people living hundreds to thousands of years ago. This is different, this is not the account of someone who was 'in the room' at the time, and they are not evaluating the people in that room. They are discussing a 'literary work' and they can do so firsthand instead of relying on other people's accounts of it.

That does not mean you still cannot have different interpretations of what he wrote, but it removes a lot of the speculation usually associated with history / historic accounts.

I am not talking about speculation on history. I am talking about interpreting a primary document. It is still a primary source with all that entails. I agree, it gets easier the closer the source is to your own time, but my point is there is still a lot of interpretation and analysis involved.

 

[R_J_K75]

He's definitely on the spectrum

 

[mamba]

Always funny when a bunch of randos think by they know someone (like Gygax) better then his actual friends and family because they read a book or saw some old articles.

no one says they knew Gygax better, they are however saying that he in addition to other things, also at times was sexist (even his daughter agrees) and even misogynistic. That does not take away from his accomplishments, it just adds nuance and shows that he, like all of us, was a flawed human being, and not a hero to be put on a pedestal to never be criticized and treated as if they were flawless.

 

[R_J_K75]

Lee is awesome

Lee Van Cleef?

 

[mamba]

my point is there is still a lot of interpretation and analysis involved.

agreed, which is basically what my second paragraph said