D&D General Companies Cut Ties With Judges Guild After Owner's Racist Posts

Several game publishers, including Bat in the Attic, have said that they will no longer do business with Judges Guild after its owner posted a number of racist and anti-semitic statements. They don't need to be repeated here; but there are several examples.

Judges Guild has been around since 1976, producing products compatible with Dungeons & Dragons; the current owner, Bob Bledsaw II, is the son of its co-founder, Bob Bledsaw, and has run the company since 2008. The company is well known for 1976's City State of the Invincible Overlord, amongst other classics. Bat in the Attic and Frog God Games both license Judges' Guild properties.

Rob Conley of Bat in the Attic stated yesterday that the company would no longer do business with Judges Guild, or its properties. "Sunday evening, I called Robert Bledsaw II and discussed the issue. I notified him that I will no longer be doing future Judges’ Guild projects and will only continue to sell what I have currently listed. I stated that I will be calling the other Judges Guild licensee and inform them of the situation and of my decision."

Frog God Games, which has been working with Judges Guild for nearly 20 years, followed suit. "Recently the owner of Judges Guild made a series of racist and anti-semitic posts on Facebook. We will not reproduce them here; they are shown on Rob Conley's Bat in the Attic blog, and we are convinced of their authenticity. Rob wrote his post because, as a licensee of Judges Guild property, he felt he needed to state clearly that he would not be doing business with Judges Guild in the future. We have also licensed property from Judges Guild in the past, and we are seconding Rob's example by cutting off all future business with Judges Guild. The posts made on Facebook were completely unacceptable."

UPDATE — DriveThruRPG has severed ties. “The Judges Guild publisher account has been closed and they are no longer available on DriveThruRPG.”

A few years ago, Judges Guild ran a Kickstarter to bring back City State of the Invincible Overlord, with nearly a thousand backers raising $85K. The Kickstarter has not yet been fulfilled. The latest update was in October 2019.

 

[PsyzhranV2]

Bludgeon? What is more likely, that I'm using my personal experiences to deny systemic discrimination and oppression, or that you will use systemic discrimination and oppression to deny my personal experiences?

And I thought only Zoomers said "no u".

I'll say it again: whatever you may have gone through, it doesn't give you the right to be reductive and negatory about the other kinds of suffering and abuse other people have gone through particularly those that are being perpetuated by our current power structures.

Be careful that all that rhetoric isn't just an excuse for drawing a circle around your tribe and raging against everyone else.

When one tribe in particular is fueling stochastic terrorism, when their rhetoric is motivating disaffected "lone wolves" to shoot up churches and mosques and garlic festivals, I think some circle drawing is justified.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Has Goodman Games addressed this yet? They've got a whole section of republished Judges Guild stuff for sale and recently did a big archival edition of some modules and suggested there was more to come. I would have bet on them announcing an archival edition of City-State at a convention this year.

 

[ad_hoc]

Be careful that all that rhetoric isn't just an excuse for drawing a circle around your tribe and raging against everyone else.

No.

 

[Bolares]

And that's not what I said. If you can hold up me for stereotyping, it's because I assumed that you had been beaten up - not that I assumed had hadn't been.

I've literally said this: "When you've been thrown to the ground and kicked by a group of people, stoned, tripped, spit on, pushed, stabbed, punched, mocked, belittled, and so forth, then you can tell me how you feel reduced. " Maybe it's the language barrier, but this does not seem to assume I have been through something similar... In fact, if you were assuming I've had, there would be no point in making this statement.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

That is a complicated issues. The two companies that hold JG licenses have stated they are disengaging, but there are things in the pipeline and current stock that they will likely need to complete and sell for both financial and legal reasons.

Doesn't Goodman Games hold a current license, or are they just selling through back stock?

 

[Celebrim]

I've literally said this: "When you've been thrown to the ground and kicked by a group of people, stoned, tripped, spit on, pushed, stabbed, punched, mocked, belittled, and so forth, then you can tell me how you feel reduced. " Maybe it's the language barrier, but this does not seem to assume I have been through something similar... In fact, if you were assuming I've had, there would be no point in making this statement.

Maybe if you also quoted my very next sentence would clarify that I conceded it was quite possible you had been through all those things or things like them, and that if you had you have my sympathy.

Now, again, you said: "When you say the verbal abuse and harassment I feel for not being straight (or in the case discussed here, a jewish person for their religion, or a black person for the color of thir skin) is similar to the kind of abuse everyone gets from some quarter makes me feel reduced." As a practical matter, how is it not similar. When the fist hits me, do I not bruise? You know that particular sucking sensation when a fist gets right in your eye socket? I experience that just the same as anyone else. My blood runs the same color as a Jewish man or black man. You think I don't know pain? Raise your hand if you were fired from a job because of your skin color and they actually told you that when they fired you.

raises hand

 

[CleverNickName]

Has Goodman Games addressed this yet? They've got a whole section of republished Judges Guild stuff for sale and recently did a big archival edition of some modules and suggested there was more to come. I would have bet on them announcing an archival edition of City-State at a convention this year.

I haven't seen anything from them yet.

 

[Umbran]

A lot of people do take it as a reason to not attempt to make the world better.

So... don't speak the truth, because some folks misuse it?

 

[darjr]

FYI someone who claims to have known Bob Sr claims that he would not have approved of his kids bigotry.

On rpg.net

Bob Bledsaw II and III of Judges Guild go on egregiously racist, Nazi, rants

So this is a multi-generational thing? Was the father like this as well, just in an age without social media, or is this a more recent family development? No, Bob Sr. wasn't like that at all. We only discussed race, religion, and politics about the Wilderlands Campaign setting. He was from...

forum.rpg.net

 

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*