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.

 

[DarkCrisis]

Or read his actual words that he said unprompted.

As his daughter said “taken out of context”.
But yes Gary did say some stupid stuff. But as another person mentioned, sexist seems to be other people defining trait for him when most people are more complex.

I myself prefer to take people as a whole instead of as one aspect relentless picked apart on a gaming forum.

 

[Bedrockgames]

agreed, which is basically what my second paragraph said

Finally we agree

 

[DarkCrisis]

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.

Context does and to use your analogy, so does testimony from actual witnesses’ matter

 

[Vaalingrade]

As his daughter said “taken out of context”.

What context were we support to take the harlot table in, I wonder?

Bro didn't just say sexist crap in just the one article where he loudly says he is and people are desperate to explain away to protect his purity from himself, you know?

 

[Vaalingrade]

He's definitely on the spectrum

Speaking of saying awful stuff, can we please not with the attempt to diagnose people regardless of who they are?

 

[mamba]

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.

I do not know them, I have nothing against them, I even own some of their books. That post of theirs makes me like them less.

All they did is say 'do not attack our idol' instead of something more productive like 'Despite his potential flaws, Gygax was the co-creator of D&D and had a huge influence on the entire TTRPG hobby. We got to work with him for 8 years, are thankful for the opportunity, and continue working with and promoting his legacy'. That would have been a sentiment I could have gotten behind

 

[Morrus]

Context does and to use your analogy, so does testimony from actual witnesses’ matter

Yes but it’s the lowest form of evidence. Witness testimonies and character witnesses are right at the bottom of the pile.

Because we have the actual work. In black and white. And what this foreword criticises is the work. It doesn’t call anybody names. It looks at the work and evaluates it.

It doesn’t say Gygax was irredeemably evil. It says rh work contains some questionable stuff. And guess what? It does. And you know how we know that? We don’t ask his friends what’s in the work, we just look at the work.

I, like many, met him a couple of times at conventions. I liked him. I don’t think he’s a terrible person. But I do think that elements of the work he produced are a little wonky. And it’s really ok to point that out. And it’s really not ok to try to silence critics.

 

[overgeeked]

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.

We have a tendency as humans to overlook the flaws of our friends and family. Your bigoted uncle who's going to make a few choice comments over the holidays is an out-and-out bigot to the rest of the world, but to you it's just your "harmless" Uncle Gary.

We have a few people who knew Gygax defending him and we have page after page after page of Gygax's own words that show clear misogyny and racism.

Sorry. Facts over feelings and all that.

 

[Steampunkette]

Also Letters he wrote. And Posts on forums.

This forum, even, where he outright states that women, like me, just don't have the right "Brain" for enjoying D&D.

 

[Remathilis]

I look forward to the "H.P. Lovecraft said nothing wrong." Rehabilitation next.