Leon Barillaro Joins Wizards of the Coast as D&D Designer

Mournblade94 · Saturday at 4:58 PM

FitzTheRuke said:
Uhh... I like Gygax as much as the next guy, but I think you're wrong here.

We'll agree to disagree then and thats a healthy thing.

Misanthrope Prime · Saturday at 6:01 PM

Mournblade94 said:
Gygax admitted to being sexist. He didn't demonstrate racism and there's no tales of him being a pig. Give it a rest.

"Nits make lice" as he was fond of saying, explicitly in reference to supporting genocide of native Americans . He was also a coke fiend and a philanderer, and once overpaid for a stupid pair of pants.

Parmandur · Saturday at 6:19 PM

FitzTheRuke said:
Uhh... I like Gygax as much as the next guy, but I think you're wrong here.

For me personally, admiring someone and what they accomplished has to include an authentic understanding of their flaws and mistakes.

Mournblade94 · 2026-01-18T04:10:38+0000

Misanthrope Prime said:
"Nits make lice" as he was fond of saying, explicitly in reference to supporting genocide of native Americans . He was also a coke fiend and a philanderer, and once overpaid for a stupid pair of pants.

He wasnt supporting genocide of indigenous cultures. Upon talking to people that were close to him on the dragon foot forums Gygax was using a historic example to give someone an example of how zealous lawful good characters could still be considered acting in alignment when dealing with a monster race. In this context it was assumed the monster race was inherently evil. He was not encouraging genocide against indigenous Americans. He was not saying covington was lawful good for his actions. He was saying how a lawful good character in a world where evil is tangibke and monster races could be inherently evil may act. He was using a historic anecdote to explain a concept in a gaming and not academic setting. I've seen history buffs and wargamers talk about these incidents as cold fact all the time.

But yes he was a coke fiend.

bedir than · 2026-01-18T15:21:36+0000

Mournblade94 said:
He wasnt supporting genocide of indigenous cultures. Upon talking to people that were close to him on the dragon foot forums Gygax was using a historic example to give someone an example of how zealous lawful good characters could still be considered acting in alignment when dealing with a monster race. In this context it was assumed the monster race was inherently evil. He was not encouraging genocide against indigenous Americans. He was not saying covington was lawful good for his actions. He was saying how a lawful good character in a world where evil is tangibke and monster races could be inherently evil may act. He was using a historic anecdote to explain a concept in a gaming and not academic setting. I've seen history buffs and wargamers talk about these incidents as cold fact all the time.

But yes he was a coke fiend.

The person who chose to present a humanoid race as always evil, and then used common tropes used to describe native Americans and other oppressed populaces then chose to talk about how it was good to kill all of the evil humanoids he described as native Americans and other peoples.

Umbran · 2026-01-18T17:34:52+0000

Mod note:

It seems to me this thread isn't supposed to be about Gygax at all, much less the specifics of possible racism in his work.

So, how about we drop that, and keep this thread on its topic, please and thanks.

Leon Barillaro Joins Wizards of the Coast as D&D Designer

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