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.

 

[Steve Conan Trustrum]

Can you guarantee that three people (not necessarily women) from your past won't ever come forward publically and make up some false claims about you? I can't and I have been a saint, LOL. If you think back of your life, can you think of 3 people (again, not talking about women) that have been habitual liars?

There's a certain type of man who hears the sort of thing Zak has been accused of, from multiple women, and says something like this.

 

[Jester David]

Can you guarantee that three people (not necessarily women) from your past won't ever come forward publically and make up some false claims about you? I can't and I have been a saint, LOL. If you think back of your life, can you think of 3 people (again, not talking about women) that have been habitual liars?

But maybe that is the difference between me and certain others in the public: I am not willing to condemn Zak Smith (and I am banned from his blog due to a brief debate about GNS, LOL) because something is "probably true". Imagine it wasn't - would feel pretty bad to do so then.

To only look at probabilities without looking at the consequences of error is wrong. It's better to abstain. If a crime has been perpetrated, law enforcement should be involved or should have been involved - so that all the hobby sleuths and wanaabe inquisitors out there don't have to. Other than that, the people who actually know the people involed in person may possibly make up their minds in a more informed manner. I can't.

Also, I have already said too much in this thread. People these days just love to judge and condemn others; they pretend they do so because they have some real or alleged victim's interest in mind. I think they just like doing the condemnation; it feels good for a moment or two. Pointing fingers at the sinner, a secular form of holier-than-thou.

So, to be clear, you are calling the accusers liars?
You are saying they were not assaulted and their claims are baseless?

Furthermore, despite the fact the FBI pegs the number of false rape claims at 8%, you believe we cannot take women at their word when they claim to have been assaulted.
Because it *might* damage the reputation of one man.

 

[Shasarak]

Also, I have already said too much in this thread. People these days just love to judge and condemn others; they pretend they do so because they have some real or alleged victim's interest in mind. I think they just like doing the condemnation; it feels good for a moment or two. Pointing fingers at the sinner, a secular form of holier-than-thou.

Yeah, I agree. Three fingers point back at you. You have to work on yourself first.

 

[S'mon]

Can you guarantee that three people (not necessarily women) from your past won't ever come forward publically and make up some false claims about you?

I would be pretty surprised!! Certainly if three people I knew disliked me enough AND
liked each other enough to make false claims about me. IME the kind of people who tell lies
are not nice people and don't tend to like each other much either, so conspiracies are quite rare.

Anyway all I'm doing is not buying his stuff going forward (I only have Vornheim). I probably wouldn't have bought his stuff anyway due to him having demonstrably been a jerk on other occasions.
I don't need criminal standard of proof to make that decision.

 

[Steve Conan Trustrum]

Yeah, I agree. Three fingers point back at you. You have to work on yourself first.

Thanks for clearing that up using the same rudimentary, naive logic I use on my 5 year old to teach him the absolute basics of ethics as a starting point for dealing with life. As an adult, you probably should have advanced beyond that a tad.

 

[Steve Conan Trustrum]

I am not worried about Zak S's reputation, I am worried about people who think that it is somehow ok to imagine fake situations and compare them to real life tragedies.

Actually, I think the English language has a word for this sort of thing ... you know, when you propose a hypothetical situation as a position of comparison to clarify a point.

I believe it's called an "analogy."

It is just fake news and people like you are responsible for spreading it.

*snort*

Stop being part of the problem.

Why do you hate the English language so?

 

[Shadow Demon]

Anyway all I'm doing is not buying his stuff going forward (I only have Vornheim). I probably wouldn't have bought his stuff anyway due to him having demonstrably been a jerk on other occasions. I don't need criminal standard of proof to make that decision.

Instead of creating this dumpster fire thread, everyone could just agree with the above statement and then move on.

 

[Alexander Kalinowski]

What is the level of evidence you require for this not to be rumor-mongering?

That is actually a fair question. The bar is pretty high at this point, for, due to my lack of personal stakes in the case, my interest level is fairly low. (I do take some interest in public reaction to such cases though, which is largely why I am here.) So the requirements would be pretty high. Something that makes this an open-shut case. Or, even better yet, a conviction or acquittal. Because, here's the thing - both Smith as well as these women are more or less random strangers to me.

There are verifiable accounts of many of the things Zak has been accused of in the past. There are credible allegations by many credible people that can be found with a 2-minute stretch on Google of things he's done leading up to these allegations that would suggest these allegations are not out of character for him.

As mentioned I have had a brief run-in with him and was promptly banned from his board. That didn't leave a good impression. But "not out of character " of course doesn't mean he did anything. Doesn't mean he did nothing either.

Even these current allegations now have folks on various social media -- twitter and reddit, so far, that I can find -- that suggest the allegations are credible, and offer eye-witness statements.

Well, then apparently there is an ongoing public investigation. Good! Wake me up when the process has concluded (which requires going beyond rumor-mongering on the internet) and I'll skim over the executive summary of the findings to verify if proper procedures were being followed.
The great thing about having countries that have law enforcement agencies and courts is that I normally don't have to engage in vigilante-ism, in whatever form.

 

[kenmarable]

I am not worried about Zak S's reputation, I am worried about people who think that it is somehow ok to imagine fake situations and compare them to real life tragedies.

It is just fake news and people like you are responsible for spreading it.

Stop being part of the problem.

Speaking of “fake news”, quote where I spread these fake situations against Zak.

 

[Shasarak]

Speaking of “fake news”, quote where I spread these fake situations against Zak.

This is you supporting fake news:

Well, lets imagine that kenmarble was part of the KKK. How many people do you think he would have killed?

Do you not see the problem with this?

No, I don’t. Imagine whatever you want.