RPG Writer Zak S Accused Of Abusive Behaviour

RPG writer Zak S (aka Zak Smith, Zak Sabbath) has been accused by multiple women of abusive behaviour in a public Facebook post by his ex-partner, and two other women.

Photo from Wikipedia​

Zak Smith appeared in the video series I Hit It With My Axe, and is known for the Playing D&D With Porn Stars blog. He has also written several RPG books, most recently for Lamentations of the Flame Princess, consulted on the D&D 5th Edition Player's Handbook, has won multiple ENnies, and recently worked for White Wolf. As yet, he hasn't made any public response to the accusations.

Since then, another ex-partner of Zak Smith, Vivka Grey, has publicly come forward with a further account of his conduct.

This isn't the first time that Zak Smith has been accused of inappropriate behaviour (language warning in that link). The Facebook post, which was posted overnight, has been shared widely on social media, and takes the form of an open letter (linked above; it makes for unpleasant reading, so please be aware of that if you choose to read it).

The industry has been reacting to the news. Amongst many others:

• DriveThruRPG has stated that it will sell no future works by Zak Smith.
• Veteran author Ken Hite has announced that he will not work with or share credits with Zak Smith again.
• The Gauntlet blog and podcast will no longer cover Zak S or his publications, or attend conventions that he is permitted at.
• WotC's Mike Mearls has noted that they have not engaged with Zak S since he worked for them as a consultant on 5E, although a previous statement from him in 2014 takes a different stance. However, D&D Beyond has now removed all the consultant credits (not just Zak S) from its online version of the book.
• UPDATE - WotC has now made a longer statement and will be removing Zak S from the credits of future printings of the Player's Handbook.
• Gen Con has tweeted a brief statement which says it has investigated, but the results are confidential. It has bene stated by various industry insiders that Zak S has, in fact, been banned from Gen Con, but the convention isn't saying so publicly.

I believe Mandy, Jennifer, Hannah, and Vivka. It must be terrifying to come forward like this. They have been put through horrible ordeals. I will not cover Zak’s work on this site, in my podcast, or elsewhere, and will not provide him with any kind of platform.

 

[bedir than]

Yes, they are. And an Ennie should have nothing to do with acceptable behaviour.
An Ennie should be judged on the merits of the work alone. Hell, if it weren't completely impossible, the authors of the works up for voting shouldn't even be known at the time.

It's fairly easy to see that ENnies are not given to the work, but instead to the creators. That's why the creators are given physical awards. If authors didn't matter they wouldn't get an award.

Authors do, in fact, matter.

 

[Yunru]

It's fairly easy to see that ENnies are not given to the work, but instead to the creators. That's why the creators are given physical awards. If authors didn't matter they wouldn't get an award.

Authors do, in fact, matter.

Umm what?
They win awards for their work. That's why they are given the award, because the thing they own won it. The author doesn't matter for who wins.

 

[jasper]

Was the award for his behaviour, or his work?
If it's not for his behaviour, why should it be stripped because of it?

.....

Me and my wife have went round and round on this subject. What do you do to an award winner when his behavior is no longer acceptable. Or has become acceptable? (Alan Turning was prosecuted for being gay).
There is no one answer. Some groups have struck awards from people being unacceptable. Some groups have given awards for past deeds once the behavior/etc have become acceptable. (see various Medal of Honors given to dead black troops).
In modern times do we strike the persons name from the rolls, add an asterisk, etc?
Do we unperson them by editing their name out of books, thank you's, etc. ?
Does it various with fields? Sorry Bob you are now consider an terrorist, turn in your Noble Peace Prize.
What happens after we unperson someone, we find out the behavior was misreported?

 

[Yunru]

Me and my wife have went round and round on this subject. What do you do to an award winner when his behavior is no longer acceptable. Or has become acceptable? (Alan Turning was prosecuted for being gay).
There is no one answer. Some groups have struck awards from people being unacceptable. Some groups have given awards for past deeds once the behavior/etc have become acceptable. (see various Medal of Honors given to dead black troops).
In modern times do we strike the persons name from the rolls, add an asterisk, etc?
Do we unperson them by editing their name out of books, thank you's, etc. ?
Does it various with fields? Sorry Bob you are now consider an terrorist, turn in your Noble Peace Prize.
What happens after we unperson someone, we find out the behavior was misreported?

It's why I'm such an advocate for the separation of creator and creation.
I mean, the Abrahamic religions already do it, no-one's condemned Einstein for his part in making nukes (except himself), etc.

 

[Gradine]

Yes, they are. And an Ennie should have nothing to do with acceptable behaviour.
An Ennie should be judged on the merits of the work alone. Hell, if it weren't completely impossible, the authors of the works up for voting shouldn't even be known at the time.

Fortunately, that's not how this works. Any of our choices within a free society, whether that be commercial (what product to purchase/artist to support) or based on recognition (what products and artists to promote or award), are free to be made upon whatever criterion we so choose, including morality and ethics. That's not a bug; that's a feature.

That you think a rapist should still deserve an award if their artistic talent merits it is troubling to me, if not downright chilling. Continuing to support and recognize rapists for their works is a tacit endorsement of rape, regardless of how much you'd like to believe it isn't. It says "you can still rape and be celebrated within our community/industry." That is unequivocally a bad thing.

 

[Yunru]

Fortunately, that's not how this works. Any of our choices within a free society, whether that be commercial (what product to purchase/artist to support) or based on recognition (what products and artists to promote or award), are free to be made upon whatever criterion we so choose, including morality and ethics. That's not a bug; that's a feature.

That you think a rapist should still deserve an award if their artistic talent merits it is troubling to me, if not downright chilling. Continuing to support and recognize rapists for their works is a tacit endorsement of rape, regardless of how much you'd like to believe it isn't. It says "you can still rape and be celebrated within our community/industry." That is unequivocally a bad thing.

Ummm no.
Celebration of works is not celebration of person, get off your high horse.

 

[mjsoctober]

Whether ENies are given to the creator or the work, rescinding an award because of behaviour we wish to censure is a legitimate means of ensuring better behaviour in the community.

If you want to work in this industry (or any industry, really), and hope to be recognized, respected, and awarded for your work, you better not behave in ways that are not acceptable.

As for being political, ENWorld is a private company. They can make any statement they want by their actions, they have no obligation to any of us. The community will react to those statements accordingly. If the award is rescinded, and more people support that than don't, ENWorld will know which way to move forward.

 

[Steve Conan Trustrum]

Of course, to assume otherwise questions both the integrity and the point of having an Ennie award.

Of course, you're also conflating personal merit and the merit of someone's works. A peace prize is award based on personal merits, and should be retracted if those merits turn out to be falsified.

An Ennie is based of off the merits of someone's work, and thus should only be retracted if the merits of that work is falsified.

Again, because you seem to somehow keep missing this point:

The ENnies are voted on by fans. These fans are not sampled by the awards process itself so that the voting base is demographically vetted in any way, including which of the products they've been exposed to.

It is literally a popularity contest more than it is a merit contest. Merit comes in to play with the hope that it is the reason why the products being voted on became popular in the first place.

The votes are being made by people who are voting for what they personally like best from among a selection of products that, in all likelihood for most voters, are not all possessed and have even been looked at in their entirety (or at all.)

And, all that aside, even if it were 100% merit, it's still a COMMUNITY based award. How a winner's personal life reflects on that community is often taken into account in situations like this.

I mean ... damn, dude. Are you really this unaware? Do you live on an island where there were no other people for you to develop the rudiments of social interaction and responsibility?

Because you really seem determined to die charging up the worst of all possible hills for the worst of all possible causes.

 

[raelik777]

Yeah, nah.

You completely put words in my mouth.

What if it isn’t the victims fault AT ALL.

AND glamorizing casual sex and acting as though it’s typically harmless ALSO hurts people.

WOW, not everything is unidimensional .

You are a pathetic key-board, virtue warrior. Look at your own moral character before you judge mine.

I get what you were trying to say, but resorting to this sort of ad hominem attack does nothing to support your argument. Besides, it was misplaced and I'm not surprised it was interpreted as victim-blaming. The problem with the argument is that it is a gross over-generalization of what you call "an extremely liberal attitude towards sex". There is a whole spectrum of "attitudes towards sex" that exist outside the hetero-normative interpretation, and almost none of them represent a failing of moral character. There are almost no actual human beings that actually expect complete sexual freedom and complete emotional safety. Putting that out there is a blatant strawman, since nobody actually has that expectation. What she was describing wasn't simple "hurt feelings" because of poor expectations in a poly relationship. It was manipulation and abuse.

 

[Steve Conan Trustrum]

no-one's condemned Einstein for his part in making nukes (except himself), etc.

Sigh.

This assertion is about as valid as your earlier comment about a certain xenophobic writer.

Perhaps you should spend sometime learning about more about Einstein and the role he played in the advancement of scientific ethics and responsibility.