Does TSR3 Have Nazi Connections?

Evidence has been compiled by an anonymous website which suggests that TSR3's Star Frontiers: New Genesis (Star Frontiers being one of the trademarks under legal 'dispute' with WotC right now) is written by an author with extreme Nazi sympathies.

TSR - The Full & Glorious History of NuTSR

Because the Saga of TSR3 has been ongoing for a while, with many landmarks, I thought I'd do a quick timeline for those who haven't had the time (or, frankly, inclination) to keep up with the whole palaver. As multiple entities refer to themselves as TSR, I will use the nomenclature (1), (2)...

www.enworld.org

I'm not going to directly post the hateful images and tweets here because the content is extreme. It's one of the most focused outpourings of hate that I've personally seen.

But there is a website [CONTENT WARNING -- I need to post the link as evidence but I honestly do not recommend that you click on it] where somebody has anonymously and comprehensively compiled screenshots which indicate that a Twitter feed called 'DaveFilmsUS' (that they allege belongs to New Genesis author Dave Johnson) is filled with hate speech and Nazi imagery. These tweets include racist, homophobic, and transphobic content, along with Nazi and white supremacy memes. There are images of swastikas, and messages about the 'replacement' of white people. The tweets cover a long period of time, going back to at least 2017. They are extreme.

Star Frontiers: New Genesis is a book whose existence many doubt. It shows up as 'sold out' on TSR3's webstore on Dungeon Hobby Shop. Earlier this year, TSR3 posted manipulated images of piles of books (below) made to look like they were Star Frontiers stock. To the best of my knowledge, nobody has seen this book. The game was announced in June 2021.

Meanwhile, Star Frontiers owner Wizards of the Coast continues to sell the game on DriveThruRPG. TSR3 attempted legal action against WotC last year with the goal of claiming ownership of some of WotC's IP; WotC responded with a countersuit which is still ongoing.

Johnson, who runs Dave Johnson Games, also publishes an ezine called Alarms & Journeys, a name presumably 'inspired' by the the well-known zine Alarums and Excursions by the award-winning game designer Lee Gold. Alarums and Excursions has been running since 1975, and is still published to this day.

TSR3 is run by Justin LaNasa (a tattooist, weapon designer, and briefly a politician who refers to himself as Sir Justin LaNasa), who sent (real) TSR alumnus Tim Kask profane messages in January of this year. TSR3 is the third company to bear the name, and is in no way connected to the TSR which published Dungeons & Dragons from the 1970s to the 1990s.

WotC's countersuit against TSR3, which names the company and Justin LaNasa personally, currently remains ongoing.

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[Dire Bare]

My first question is, for those of interest, how reliable has that Twitter account been linked t the SFNG author Dave Johnson? Strong enough to hold up in court? Almost certainly? Probably? Likely? Possible? or less?

And then the regardless of that; who's surprised? I mean come on, we already knew these people are hateful and ugly and <add your own word>. Is it it really going to change how anyone interacts with these folks? Not me.

Hold up in court? Not the standard necessary here. No one is being charged with a crime, or sued. Well, not yet anyway.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

It IS an "us or them" issue, and they are the ones that made it so long ago. They are actively promoting murder and genocide. You can't counter that with flowers and peace signs, no matter how much you might want to.

Exactly. This isn’t a case of standing up to an oppressive government, it’s about responding to individuals in your community whose philosophy compels them to be a direct, very real, threat to the physical safety of your neighbors.

The history of non-violent resistance to oppression says you're incorrect. Love and peace messages can and have countered oppression at the highest level - governments, wars, groups have all been defeated with it. Not every time and it's not a guarantee. But the idea non-violence peaceful response to political oppression cannot result in changes for the better is not in line with the history of non-violent resistance.

Hard to discuss without getting political, but I’m not sure that this is historically inarguable. The Civil Rights Movement wasn’t entirely non-violent. Buildings got burned, riots occurred, lynchers got shot. School history lessons whitewash the heck out of it, but the real history is arguably that Malcom X and The Black Panthers and folks like them were just as big a part of getting the job done as Dr King and other nonviolent agitators.

But also, what you’re replying to isn’t really the same kind of situation. If neo-Nazis are trying to come into your bar and become regulars, you can either stop them, let them take over and eventually hurt marginalized people by doing so, or close up shop. That’s it. They don’t get tired of arguing. They don’t dissolve in rhetorical sunlight. They want to eradicate whole demographics, and take full unmitigated control of all systems of power.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

Reporting the hate speech is necessary, but not enough. We have to explain we are civiliced because our ethical values teach us to repect for the human dignity, the core of our rights as citizens. And we have to realise when the demagoges and populist use the emotional manipulation as bait, appealling our passions as the envy, resentment, fear, pride, desire, shame and guilty feeling.

* We should also worry when the speculative fiction is tainted by social darwinism and elitism, altough more subtile and hidden. When you read some psychology articles about psycopaths then you realise when some titles show the point of view by the author, about the world is a jungle, the life is mercyless, and the future will be by "Übermensch", Nietsche superior men, but all that verbiage to describe a psychopath who don't understand the defense of the human dignity. Do you remember "X-Men: Noir"?

* I suggest as vengeance a parody to show the reason they are wrong, something grimmer than Warhammer 40.000 or Mutant Chronicles. A fabule to explain the State is not the fairy oddmother who is going to fix all your troubles thanks her superpowers, but the real danger when somebody has got too much control, but he hasn't to worry about the consequences of his actions because we are the dummies who are going to pay for the broken plates.

 

[Mistwell]

Non-violent, peaceful responses to political oppression can absolutely work and have absolutely worked.
But these turd blossoms are not, in fact, the government and therefore this is not about political oppression. This is about not being murdered by deranged lunatics. Smacking them on the nose with a newspaper and saying, "NO!" just isn't cutting it, else we wouldn't be in this situation.

Non-violent peaceful resistance isn't smacking on the nose and saying no. And yes, powerful murderous and deranged lunatics have in fact been defeated with non-violent peaceful resistance. Indeed, they have a history of working better than violent responses.

We will always be in this position. There will always been deranged lunatics who need to be opposed. They will always try to wreck things. This generation is not at all unique in dealing with these kinds of problems. Stop thinking this is somehow a special challenge requiring a special response.

 

[CleverNickName]

Stop thinking this is somehow a special challenge requiring a special response.

The part that is unique here is the format: this is all taking place on the Internet, where records cannot be as easily scrubbed and voices cannot be as easily silenced. Sure, we have had oppressors across all of history, but this is the first time that we have had the technology to respond so quickly, to drag them into the light so suddenly. I think that alone is enough to qualify this as a "special response."

 

[hunter1828]

Non-violent peaceful resistance isn't smacking on the nose and saying no. And yes, powerful murderous and deranged lunatics have in fact been defeated with non-violent peaceful resistance. Indeed, they have a history of working better than violent responses.

We will always be in this position. There will always been deranged lunatics who need to be opposed. They will always try to wreck things. This generation is not at all unique in dealing with these kinds of problems. Stop thinking this is somehow a special challenge requiring a special response.

Good article. Too bad it is completely about opposing oppressive laws and regimes and not about opposing the person down the block that wants to shoot you for not being straight, or 100% white, or a nutjob just like them.

 

[Unwise]

I came here to complain that as much as we might dislike TSR3, calling them Nazis is too slanderous and is...

...wait up. Yep, they have Nazis among them. Well...carry on...

 

[Zardnaar]

Non-violent peaceful resistance isn't smacking on the nose and saying no. And yes, powerful murderous and deranged lunatics have in fact been defeated with non-violent peaceful resistance. Indeed, they have a history of working better than violent responses.

We will always be in this position. There will always been deranged lunatics who need to be opposed. They will always try to wreck things. This generation is not at all unique in dealing with these kinds of problems. Stop thinking this is somehow a special challenge requiring a special response.

Not sure if it the same thing but I remember numbers thrown around. Violent revolts fail 75% of the time.

Peaceful protests fail around 50% of the time.

And 3.5% of the population actively protesting in the streets is the critical mass needed to effect change.

TSR3 is just a symptom it's not the main disease.

 

[GuyBoy]

Huge respect for @Morrus for all he has done to bring the foulness of TSR3 and all its iterations to our attention over several months. Evil struggles in the light and all of us now know just how disgusting and vile these people are.
Nazis and their disgusting apologists have to be opposed by every means possible and it is so heartening to read the posts of so many lovely, decent people on this site.
My heart is with everyone who has suffered due to the repulsive views and poison of the far right.

 

[Horwath]

Wow, what a cesspool of hate and stupidity.

Looks that someone didn't get any for decades.

Also, I believe that he thinks he is funny. But, there is a fine line between dark humor about racism and being actual raving racist, and this guy stepped over it a 100km ago.