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.

 

[Steampunkette]

Now see, I have, multiple times now, heard of the orchiectomy being referred to, alternatively, as a bofaectomy

... and now by the sacred right I must ask:

Bofa what?

 

[Gradine]

... and now by the sacred right I must ask:

Bofa what?

 

[mamba]

So... you know, if that's the kind of person defending Gygax...

ouch, him defending Gygax is more damning them him simply shutting up…

 

[Chaosmancer]

Because it might not be something that guides their actions in real life. People say things all the time on forums, in books, etc as a result of arguments, a result of pride, that don't always reflect how they conduct themselves in everyday interactions. Peoples pride gets in the way of them apologizing. I am willing to bet most people here have been victims of their own pride.




Because very few people admit when they were wrong. I have admitted when I feel I have been wrong on forum threads before. It is isn't an easy thing to do. Especially if people are accusing a person of being something society considers morally bad. Also a lot of times when this stuff is unfolding, the people making the accusation engage in their own bad behavior and that makes the person digging in feel justified. Generally speaking I think the solution is for everyone to take a step back and take big breath.

If you are too prideful to admit you were wrong for saying something sexist or racist... then you are still sexist or racist. You don't get to claim "I would have apologized, but my pride was too large and too vulnerable to apologize for the harm I caused". Because that claim, literally, puts your own pride above the well-being of others.

Because, again, I know that Gygax only said some words. And words don't hurt by themselves, but when you put down a group of people fighting for equality by telling them they don't deserve equality? Well, then the people behind you, the people who are worse than you? They get to say "Yeah, this guy gets it, and he agrees we should do violence on them to stop them!" So, sure, maybe you are too prideful to care about the feelings of vulnerable people and don't care that your words will encourage others to harm them. That doesn't make you less of a sexist or a racist. It just makes you a worse person in general.

 

[damiller]

I don't know I think people take humor a little too seriously these days. There are things that are just a joke sometimes

Well I'm serious about humor. I like to know what it is, and the bit I've learned is that jokes at someone else's expense aren't.

And I learned that the hard way.

They didn't consent to being the joke.

And I think consent is funny.

 

[Chaosmancer]

I have known plenty of older people who had views like that. Most of them, when asked, would deny being a sexist because they would still have seen that as a bad thing. Again, I am not saying sexism wasn't there. I am saying I tend to view that particular statement as being more a product of him being exasperated with people saying they think he is a sexist

Denying you are a sexist doesn't mean what you did wasn't sexist. Being upset with being called a sexist, doesn't mean you should try and prove people wrong by saying "Yes I'm a sexist and I'll do even worse if you don't shut up about it."

 

[teitan]

Your check didn't come yet?

Been waiting since 2020 man. Fricking George.

 

[Steampunkette]

Oh hey, this thread wasn't nuked by the time I got home.


Fun fact: the Frank Mentzer (how curious that he misspelled his name in a way that may make it inconvenient to google him!) mentioned by Now-Banned-Guy is an infamous serial sexual harasser who would wield the fact he was buds with Gygax as a weapon to try and force people to do things and threaten to blacklist them from the industry.

So... you know, if that's the kind of person defending Gygax...

Somehow... I'm not surprised.

 

[Maxperson]

Then what is the point?

IF you're not trying to help people build a shield out of 'Product of his time', then why try to make the case that he was a product of his time?

Because understanding is important. By understanding whether someone is a product of their time and to what degree, better allows people to judge what that person did.

I'm going to judge a current sexist that does things similar to what Gygax did far more harshly than I judge Gygax. Gygax had far greater societal pressures pushing him to be sexist.

That's all. It's not an excuse. It simply allows a better understanding of what happened.

 

[grankless]

Somehow... I'm not surprised.

Sometimes you google a guy's name and the only results are either bad things he did or Certain Websites being like "they're trying to CANCEL Frank Mentzer over at rpgnet!". It took more time to actually figure out what his credits were...