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.

 

[Michael Silverbane]

What does free speech have to do with anything? Did the owner of Judges Guild get arrested by the US government and imprisoned while I wasn’t looking?

I think he must have...

Just out of curiosity ... did you ask me what the Constitution has to do with it, to make a point to me, in order to point out to someone else that the issue "has already been covered in this thread" ... by me?

It's like turtles, all the way down. Except, you know, Catra. Because Catra is much cooler.

Yes. Constitutional Turtles.

 

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*

 

[tommybahama]

What does free speech have to do with anything? Did the owner of Judges Guild get arrested by the US government and imprisoned while I wasn’t looking?

Free speech is a civic value required for a free society and a basic human right. It goes beyond a mere restriction on the government.

 

[Todd Roybark]

If you threaten someone, if you attack someones honor and dignity, if you slander them, if you falsely acuse them of something...

.....If you work for The Intercept. Their are certainly some in Brasil, that would make the publication of The Intercept to be criminal.

 

[tommybahama]

The right of assembly is not the right of association.

It is used interchangeably. If you disagree then go argue with Wikipedia and the UN.

 

[Michael Silverbane]

Free speech is a civic value required for a free society and a basic human right. It goes beyond a mere restriction on the government.

As far as I know, no one has attempted to restrict the speech in question. We (either 'the gaming community' or 'the people participating in this thread') are merely disclaiming the speech as hateful and not something that we want to be associated with.

 

[Alzrius]

Where is the freedom of association in the Constitution?

It isn't. It's, um, the period at the end of the First Amendment? It's the penumbras and emenations?

I kid. Again, mostly. It's one of those structural things that isn't in the words.

This is correct, but make note of National Association for the Advancement of Colored People v. Alabama, 357 U.S. 449 (1958), where the Supreme Court recognized "the right of the members to pursue their lawful private interests privately and to associate freely with others in so doing as to come within the protection of the Fourteenth Amendment." This was specifically mentioned with regards to the NAACP regarding the privacy of their membership rolls from being seized by the state, but does still recognize the right.

 

[CleverNickName]

If I somehow helped derail this thread by mentioning the Constitution of the United States, I sincerely apologize. I only did so to dispel the illusion that hate speech is somehow protected by it, or that it somehow protects bigots in America from the negative consequences of their vile speech.

I'd like to get this back on track. The owner of Judges Guild, a well-known RPG publisher, has demonstrated himself to be a bigot, and is getting (rightfully) ostracized and condemned by everyone for it. It will likely ruin him, and that's exactly what he deserves.

I worry for others that might have been caught up in the damage, though. Judges Guild is a giant in the (admittedly tiny) industry, but I don't know how many employees and contributors they employ.

 

[Morrus]

Folks, this is not the site for a discussion of US law. It’s not even relevant to the topic.

Free speech is a civic value required for a free society and a basic human right. It goes beyond a mere restriction on the government.

 

[Morrus]

Folks, this is not the site to discuss general law or politics, theories about free speech, or other unrelated topics. Please stick to the topic at hand, and stay clear of general political or religious discussion. If that's not possible for you, there are other places on the internet where you can discuss those topics.