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]

And yet people do. People like Kanye West have made that exact argument.

They do and Kanye West is wrong about that (and many other things)

And the second line is the problem. You feel a kinship to Gary because you appreciate what he has done for you. Your affection for the game he made (and especially the edition he specifically wrote) forces you to defend him like you would a family member.

I actually don't feel kinship to Gary. I find him a thorny person with political views and a view of the world that is so far from my own. His views on religion, civilization, history, etc are all pretty much different from mine. I don't have any particular animosity towards him, I just don't feel a sense of kinship. When I say I see him in the way I would see an elderly relative, I simply mean he seems to have a worldview shaped by his age the way they often did.

I appreciate some of his writing (particularly the 1E DMG), and I find him an interesting person and do appreciate his contribution to the hobby. But you are reading feelings into my statements that aren't present. I do think he deserves fair handed treatment like anyone else, I do have some issue with the foreword and I think it is fair for people have a conversation about how well the foreword captures problems with the game and his writing, and how well some of the criticisms of gary capture him, miss the point or overstate their case.

 

[mamba]

In a practical PoV it's how you get there.

no, from a practical view that means you change nothing

I don't really like Gary's work tbh. I prefer Lorraine's TSR.

same

But what he did or says doesn't bother me.

irrelevant at best

Digging it up isn't going to help. Doesn't solve anything. Doesn't improve anyone's life directly in any concrete way.

staying silent can only be worse

 

[Zardnaar]

and you cannot convince everyone either, so I am fine with pissing of some that cannot be convinced

Not here it's an echo chamber. I'm not out to change the world he'll right now I woukd settle for not making it worse. That would be a massive improvement tbh.

What people are doing isn't working though. If it's a strategy game you're losing.

Purity testing which some here are doing has totally backfired out in the real world. Keep doing it if it makes you feel better but it's flow on effects resonate around the world. Eg my country is getting worse and we're about 30 years ahead of USA.

 

[Cordwainer Fish]

For reference, the action that made 'everyone' mad was... citing facts about the works included in a history book.

 

[Vaalingrade]

Digging it up isn't going to help.

Once more with feeling:

This Was A History Book

 

[Umbran]

We can disagree on this, but I think it is clear I wasn't suggesting it is okay to be abusive

Um, no, that is not clear. I'm sorry.

You were using a rhetorical line that we see frequently used to attempt to forgive offenses, to make them okay. It is the same rhetorical line as "It was only a joke."

I didn't let it get to what you were actually suggesting, by rejecting the base premise. Whether you are "only trolling" or "only joking" does not mean it isn't sexist. Period. What you were suggesting doesn't matter, because the base premise fails anyway.

 

[Zardnaar]

no, from a practical view that means you change nothing


same


irrelevant at best


staying silent can only be worse

It's legacy media though basically forgotten until someone digs it up.

How's it working out lately though? The strategy us flawed you're not gaining anything but living what you have.
. That's what I'm calling out. Gary's views were a lit more popular back then but even now it's not as cut and dried as it seems in USA.

Even here some posters view would be odd putting it mildly. And we did a lot of this stuff back I'm the 90s by comparison to USA.

 

[Bedrockgames]

Purity testing which some here are doing has totally backfired out in the real world. Keep doing it if it makes you feel better but it's flow on effects resonate around the world. Eg my country is getting worse and we're about 30 years ahead of USA.

I've definitely seen it backfire among people I know, who have moved in the opposite direction of where the people would want them to be in reaction to purity tests

 

[mamba]

Not here it's an echo chamber. I'm not out to change the world he'll right now I woukd settle for not making it worse.

well, you aren’t doing that by not speaking up

That would be a massive improvement tbh.

yes it would

What people are doing isn't working though. If it's a strategy game you're losing.

eh, people fall for lies, doesn’t mean everyone should be lying

 

[Bedrockgames]

Um, no, that is not clear. I'm sorry.

You were using a rhetorical line that we see frequently used to attempt to forgive offenses, to make them okay. It is the same rhetorical line as "It was only a joke."

I didn't let it get to what you were actually suggesting, by rejecting the base premise. Whether you are "only trolling" or "only joking" does not mean it isn't sexist. Period. What you were suggesting doesn't matter, because the base premise fails anyway.

Again I think you are attributing things that aren't present in what I am saying. I am taking the approach I am in order to understand people more. In this case what Gygax meant. I think it is pretty self evident that when someone says something in anger, they may say things that don't reflect the totality of their beliefs. That isn't justifying abuse. I don't know much more clear I can be about that.