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]

So, what of Heidi Gygax's comments on the subject? Where (after explaining that he was born in the late 30s to parents from the late 19th century/early 20th century) she explicitly said that these beliefs were, in fact, sexist and deplorable by modern standards?

Like I said, I tend to agree with Heidi gygax's comments. But they are pretty nuanced, and her opinion of the quotes in question seemed to be she thought they were largely misunderstood or taken out of context. She never said his views were deplorable. She said they were not in step with our times:

...Was he sexist? He was born in 1938 to a father born in the 1880’s and a mother born in 1906. He was raised in a traditional Anglo-Saxon Protestant family with traditional biblical family values where the male was the head of the household. In my adult opinion, yes, this is sexist and doesn’t hold up to our more enlightened standards today. Yet, he was a loving father and husband who valued all of his children and his wife. All 3 of his daughters played D&D with him at some point, but I happen to be the only one who still plays. In short, he wasn’t perfect, but he was far from all of the negative accusations that are (re) surfacing, and I’m extremely proud - as a strong, independent female - to have E. Gary Gygax as my father and my family legacy.

This is not a condemnation. It strikes me as a very mature, nuanced, and empathetic understanding of ones parent who was born in very different times than oneself.

Because that would seem to be quite relevant here. It rather severely challenges the idea that this is something other than what a plain reading of the text would indicate.

Again she seemed pretty ambivalent not the quotes themselves. I think we would need for her to weigh in herself to know what she actually thinks about them. This is what she remarked:

Regarding the post by Ben Riggs “D&D Co-Creator Gary Gygax was Sexist” IMO much seems to be taken out of context and pieced together. I cannot verify the sources, although I truly believe they are incomplete and/or incorrect. I think Frank Mentzer states his insights on this eloquently. As for my perspective, I do not believe my father was racist or misogynistic...

 

[the Jester]

I think the point was that people who were closest to him are the best judges of what he was actually like.

I'd argue that the closer you are to someone, the harder it is to see them objectively.

 

[Parmandur]

I see you working. The likelihood of me actually buying this book is slim to none, which is why I was hoping for your help here. But I'll carry the thoughts you've dropped here with me when/if I get my hands on a copy.

Thing is, I'm not interested in just stirring the pot, juat critiquing the shallow criticism of the excellent contextual work Peterson and Tondo give in the foreword. The book is absolutely fascinating, and I recommend it.

 

[Bedrockgames]

Do you really believe that folks saying, "Wow, Gygax said some pretty sexist stuff, and early D&D has some pretty sexist rules and text in it" are engaging in some sort of hyper-purity, no-dissent-allowed dystopia?

Because I can tell you right now who I think is engaging in a hyper-purity, no-dissent-allowed dystopia. It's the people who try to silence criticism. Y'know, like Elon Musk, who wants WotC to "burn in hell"--as the title says--for....admitting that some of the writing in early D&D is Pretty Dang Bad, and that WotC today does not support that stuff.

I think there are a broad range of opinions being expressed. Some of which seem hyper focused on purity, others more reasonable and nuanced

Okay.

Does that mean anyone who sees the problematic behavior must be silent? Because that's the message we're getting here. "He was a good man." "He was a good father." "He was a good husband." So....that means...what? He couldn't have done anything bad if he was also those good things?

No. I just think we need to be more tolerant of differences of opinions on whether things are problematic, how we should each feel about them when they are. I mean I am not going to tell you how to feel about a grandparent who expresses regressive views. That is for you to decide. When it comes to a public figure like Gygax, we are going to interpret their words and behavior differently, and even when we agree on those things, we are going to ascribe different levels of significance to them

Your pleas for "understanding" would be a lot easier to accept if the climate of the discussion weren't "anyone who besmirches our heroes must BURN IN HELL." Y'know. As Elon Musk explicitly said.

For the record, I think Musk's burn in hell remark is pretty stupid. I suspect he was being hyperbolic, but I also think consigning people to figurative hellfire for an opinion is not helpful for conversation with these topics. I don't particularly enjoy the division from either side of this argument. I think at the end of the day, no one is going anywhere, we all have to co-exist in the same hobby in the end and learn to live with one another

 

[EzekielRaiden]

A lot of the arguments I see on this post follow the Narcissist's Prayer by Dayna Craig (changing some of the pronouns):

That didn't happen.
And if it did, it wasn't that bad.
And if it was, that's not a big deal.
And if it is, that's not his fault.
And if it was, he didn't mean it.
And if he did, they deserved it.

The only one I'd add is "and the people who said it, they should be quiet".

Yep. Exactly this.

Deny it, or
Downplay it, or
Dismiss it, or
Deflect it, or
Doctor it, or
Demonize the critic
Delete the criticism.

 

[Bedrockgames]

I'd argue that the closer you are to someone, the harder it is to see them objectively.

I don't think you get a complete picture from the outside though either. People aren't consistent. Building a complete image of a person takes examining how they conduct themselves in all aspects of their life and trying to reconcile the contradictions. Few people are saints. But I think the question is how much we should fixate on peoples sins when evaluating them

 

[Ulorian - Agent of Chaos]

A lot of the arguments I see on this post follow the Narcissist's Prayer by Dayna Craig (changing some of the pronouns):

That didn't happen.
And if it did, it wasn't that bad.
And if it was, that's not a big deal.
And if it is, that's not his fault.
And if it was, he didn't mean it.
And if he did, they deserved it.

The only one I'd add is "and the people who said it, they should be quiet".

Uh, yikes. They really don't. Wow...

I don't think this is a realistic or helpful viewpoint of the world. Hurts should be acknowledged, but more importantly, folks should lift each other up. This poem is a paean to narcissism though, and frankly diminishes what those who have lived through actual abuse have experienced. Yuck.

I just finished Season 1 of Arcane. It's like Jinx is talking to me here.

I know you didn't mean that, and apologies for the strength of my reply, but the stridency of your post warranted that for me.

 

[Voadam]

How?

Jim Ward entering the conversation was a joke on the shifting wordplay the conversation had been taking riffing on the last word in the sequence.

Foreword
Forword
Fourword
Wardfour
Jim Ward

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I don't think this is a realistic or helpful viewpoint of the world.

Well, yeah. It's sarcasm.

 

[Ulorian - Agent of Chaos]

Well, yeah. It's sarcasm.

You think so? I don't see that.