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]

Alright here we go.

Youre welcome.

Now it is time for you to quote me defending Zak S.

Congratulations.

Your quote proves kenmarable understands how analogies are supposed to work.

 

[Alexander Kalinowski]

This! Yes, This! As a gaming/community organizer I cannot separate creative content from its creator because if I laud the content and DO NOT address the behavior I am tacitly endorsing/enabling their behavior.

If you don't take justice into your own hands, you're an enabler?

If these accusations were happening in a vacuum I would be more inclined to hold my judgement and see what came of them, but they have not. There has been long documented proof that Zack S. behavior is toxic and contrary to the stated rules of this site (and many others). So, the question is not weather Zack S. should be stripped of his awards here, the real question is why has it taken so damn long to even become a question.

So you need to punish Zak Smith over allegations that you consider credible? Let's say he was convicted of some of the charges made. Then he would have to pay the price that society has agreed upon that should be paid in such cases, right? Prison time, most likely. Do you think private citizens should ADD to that agreed upon price by adding economic and social sanctions on top of that? Would that imply that the official sanctions of sexual harrassment are too low to be satisfactory? Or do we engage in personal justice because it makes us feel good and powerful?

Do you understand why personal sanctions could be interpreted as vigilantism? "Sure, he got convicted and served his time but let's beat the dude bloody nonetheless!" Again, I've got no stakes with Mr. Smith, i hardly know him and we parted ways on unfriendly terms. But do you see where I am getting at and why it could be interpreted as vigilantism? It's not your nor anyone else's place to punish Mr. Smith in our western democracies. Somehow this understanding got lost along the way.

And let's be clear: stripping away awards does not serve the purpose of protecting anyone. Its purpose is to punish. Punishing feels good.

Doesn't it?

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Oh look...ENWorld took something posted to a social media site, which doesn't seem to have law enforcement involvment to show whether or not it's accurate, posted it as news, and started a giant politics thread even though the site claims to have a "No Politics" rule.

One of these days someone's going to sue the bejeesus out of the site owners for their "News" articles.

There's no legal grounds to do so. They're correctly reporting that there was a social media post about something. The original social media posts might be actionable, if they're not provably true, but reporting that someone said a thing, and linking to it, puts ENWorld on pretty stable legal ground.

 

[Steve Conan Trustrum]

And let's be clear: stripping away awards does not serve the purpose of protecting anyone.

Unless you're adult and empathetic enough to realize that by showing people that a specific type of behaviour isn't welcome within a community, at all levels (including something incredibly public, like say ... an award) that you're doing something so that those people who have been victims hopefully feel safer, and would be victims feel like the community has an eye open and is watching their back.

You know ... just for example.

But you've already illustrated that you and empathy are not on speaking terms, so ...

 

[billd91]

Where, exactly, is the politics?

How is it that whenever it's women standing up to men behaving badly, it's politics and not appropriate behavior? It's almost like some people have a political agenda to preserve the status quo or something... If I could only put my finger on it.

 

[kenmarable]

Congratulations.

Your quote proves kenmarable understands how analogies are supposed to work.

Thanks. Definitely didn’t want to keep making it about me, but when they say something so easily proved false, it’s hard not to call them on it. But it also proves that I should spend more time with my Ignore List than trying to take these disingenuous arguments seriously.

 

[TwoSix]

And we're back to your position of ethics by proximity.

It's like you've somehow managed to fail to even be qualified to participate in a conversation involving ethics. That's all kind of messed up.

All ethics are local. That's why we're talking about one particular rapist, because it impacts our fairly small community. Logically, we should be far more concerned about the tens of thousands of Burmese soldier rapists who attacked the Rohingya, to name one atrocity in a world filled with them.

 

[Immortal Sun]

Oh boy, we're already into the "this needs to be taken to court and decided in court and evidence presented" part of the denial train.

This couldn't have gone more predictably.

 

[Steve Conan Trustrum]

How is it that whenever it's women standing up to men behaving badly, it's politics and not appropriate behavior? It's almost like some people have a political agenda to preserve the status quo or something... If I could only put my finger on it.

Yeah, it's almost like certain men don't internalize the fact that abusing women should just be considered universally wrong regardless of politics, but instead attribute it to something "they" do.

I believe there are words for guys like that.

 

[monsmord]

But it also proves that I should spend more time with my Ignore List than trying to take these disingenuous arguments seriously.

Absolutely. The only reason I even see most of that nonsense is through quotes by other folks.

A few insipid trolls are getting well-fed tonight. Is there a way to redirect this thread into something more positive, whether supportive of the victims/claimants or on how we raise the bar in our industry?