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.

 

[MPA2000]

Well, that's dumb.

The book is great. I would heartily recommend it to anyone who loves D&D.

 

[Chaosmancer]

yes, usually you do

@mamba

This was worth quoting me for? Dude... you're better than this.

No, most of the time, people do not recognise they are speaking to an actual person. They speak to them like they are trash when they disagree with them. See how I am being direct with you and not talking down to you? Give that a shot.

Trash usually doesn't talk back. If it does, you might need to see a therapist about hallucinations.

Human Beings quite often talk back when you talk to them, creating conversations.

 

[mamba]

It's basically a joke these days.

is it? I hoped people were beyond that. That is the same level as ‘There is a swimming island of garbage in the ocean, I think it is called Puerto Rico’.

I think I have to reevaluate your claim that your country is 30 years ahead of the US, you might be just about on par

It's sobad they found it funny

yeah, that is more like it, maybe I misunderstood your opening

 

[Zardnaar]

is it? I hoped people were beyond that. That is the same level as ‘There is a swimming island of garbage in the ocean, I think it is called Puerto Rico’.

I think I have to reevaluate your claim that your country is 30 years ahead of the US, you might be just about on par

It's so bad they found it funny. They refuse to play 1E they will play 2E.

We're not Americans. I live in the second most liberal parts of the country. Gamestore.

One of the famers has a matt for his card games. It features a nice big picture of a former American president. There may be 30-40 gamers in the store.

He doesn't support said president he's mocking them. It's what we do here.

Day to day life is vastly more liberal than USA. Are we perfect no but it's one of the better ones generally top 10 for nice things to have.

Basically it doesn't get much better if anywhere maybe certain countries in Europe and very few of them.

NZ humors more British based but less censorship so you get away with more on TV here than say UK. If you're aware of British humor you might get it if not....

Sex works been legal here last 20+ years btw.

 

[Bedrockgames]

It's so bad they found it funny. They refuse to play 1E they will play 2E.

Yeah I am mostly a 2E player when I play D&D. I sometimes dig into the 1E DMG for material. I think most people made their own city encounter tables. I know I never actually used the Harlot table myself. But I did use the city encounter section as a model for my own cities.

We're not Americans. I live in the second most liberal parts of the country. Gamestore.

One of the famers has a matt for his card games. It features a nice big picture of a former American president. There may be 30-40 gamers in tbe store.

He doesn't support said president he's mocking them.

Day to day life is vastly more liberal than USA. Are we perfect Jo but it's obe

What part of the world are you in?

I live in one of the more liberal states in the US

 

[mamba]

We're not Americans. I live in the second most liberal parts of the country. Gamestore.

that tracks, game stores are pretty liberal

I assume that was meant to be some city name that got auto-corrected, but the only thing I can come up with is Galveston, and that makes no sense

 

[Zardnaar]

Yeah I am mostly a 2E player when I play D&D. I sometimes dig into the 1E DMG for material. I think most people made their own city encounter tables. I know I never actually used the Harlot table myself. But I did use the city encounter section as a model for my own cities.



What part of the world are you in?

I live in one of the more liberal states in the US

Dunedin, New Zealand. It's a university city my electorate close to 50% students. Translation young (Gen Z).

 

[Bedrockgames]

Dunedin, New Zealand.

That is pretty liberal compared to the US I think

 

[Zardnaar]

That is pretty liberal compared to the US I think

It's very liberal here. Go smoke pot in the police station type liberal if you're protesting. Arrests 0.

 

[Bedrockgames]

It's very liberal here. Go smoke pot in the police station type liberal if you're protesting. Arrests 0.

That only recently became legal in my state (maybe not in the police station but I've seen it done in the grocery store)