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 what was the punchline of that joke? Look at all the old-timey ways to call a woman a [****]? I know it would remove the "humor" but please, explain the joke to me.

It isn't a joke with a punch line. It is a silly city encounter table where one entry opens up the harlot table (which includes such entries as Saucy Tart, Brazen Strumpet, Cheap Trollop and Haughty Courtesan). It reads like lines from a monty python catalogue of prostitution. It is amusing phrased. I find it pretty witty. Does it belong in the current DMG? Probably not. I think people clearly aren't open to that kind of humor these days. It certainly isn't anything you wouldn't have seen in plenty of comedy from that era.

 

[Bedrockgames]

That table gets all of the press, but I still think that the "Good Wife" table was worse.

Goodwife encounters are with a single woman, often indistinguishable from any other type of female (such as a magic-user, harlot, etc.). Any offensive treatment or seeming threat will be likely to cause the woman to scream for help, accusing the offending party of any number of crimes, i.e. assault, rape, theft, or murder. 20% of goodwives know interesting gossip.
AD&D (1e) DMG p. 192.

This is an an example of misogyny in the following ways (and I apologize if I miss any):
a) that a typical married woman is indistinguishable from a prostitute;
b) that women (not men) are the ones to get gossip from;
and worst of all c) women will make up accusations such as rape in response to offensive treatment.

I think that one might actually be a reference to the Scarlett Letter

 

[CleverNickName]

Great question! Dunno....

@CleverNickName Got any good Mystara references that might shed light on this?

I started to write a reply to this here, but quickly realized that it was drifting pretty far off-topic. And that's a good thing! If you ask me, the further away we get from Elon Musk and his profanity-laced show of ignorance, the better. So I created its own thread.

Come join us as we discuss:

Who were they?
When did they appear?
What did they look like?
Why are they so pale?
Where are their corsets and whips?
How is Clyde Caldwell such a good artist?

 

[mamba]

It isn't a joke with a punch line. It is a silly city encounter table where one entry opens up the harlot table (which includes such entries as Saucy Tart, Brazen Strumpet, Cheap Trollop and Haughty Courtesan). It reads like lines from a monty python catalogue of prostitution.

women, the punchline are women

I find it pretty witty.

we found the problem

 

[Bedrockgames]

women, the punchline are women


we found the problem

I don't know I think people take humor a little too seriously these days. There are things that are just a joke sometimes

Here what I find witty is the use of language. Making a distinction between a saucy tart and a brazen strumpet for the purposes an encounter table

 

[dbolack]

I don't know I think people take humor a little too seriously these days. There are things that are just a joke sometimes

And some jokes are just weak, crappy jokes we should be embarrassed to tell...

 

[OptionalRule]

My only answer to anyone who wants me to comment on Musk is that "I don't have a favorite billionare."

 

[Parmandur]

TLDR; the reason I wish the Elon Musks and Army of Grognards would stop bringing this up and denying history is because they aren't doing Gygax any favors. It's fine to acknowledge the real issues, because it is what it is. But instead of denying facts, and making the argument about Gygax's flaws, it's better to remember that he was a flawed person who did something important (even if some of the important things contain a few elements that aren't great to our modern eyes).

Yeah, throwing giant fits about some careful, nuanced contextualizing in the foreword is not "helping" or "defending" Gygax or his memory. He was who he was, for good and for ill, and a 576 premium Tome is pretty much the opposite of Damnatio memoriae.

Edit: spelling. Those throwing fits may or may be gits, and Gor is more fitting if we were focusing on Arneson.

 

[Bedrockgames]

And some jokes are just weak, crappy jokes we should be embarrassed to tell...

I think people need humor as a form of catharsis, even around sensitive issues like this. And I think it is okay to admit when someone says something that makes you laugh, even if it isn't humor you would say in polite company

 

[mamba]

I don't know I think people take humor a little too seriously these days. There are things that are just a joke sometimes

and sometimes they are not, and they always are sexist, so there is that