Is He a Man? Is She a Woman?

Is It Yet Another Manufactured Controversy by Wizards of the Coast.

In all honesty, some of the absolute toxicity online these days has been caused by the one company that should be full of light and celebration from January 1^st all the way through December 31^st. What did they do instead?

Disclaimer: Statements expressed in this article are strictly my opinion. If you disagree or have a different opinion, that’s okay. I’m not an expert on everything. I’m not always right. I’m just writing from my experience as I know it. Your mileage may vary.

Well, Wizards of the Coast in their infinite fallibility decided to put out the new edition of Dungeons & Dragons in September 2024 (Player’s HandBook,)  November 2024 (Dungeon Master’s Guide,) and Monster Manual in February of 2025?!? That’s seemingly the least of their hate crimes against the D&D fandom. We’ve seen videos of former Paizo Union Organizer Jason Tondro talking about the 50^th Anniversary book that he wrote where they basically bash on Gary Gygax and tell us how none of the 1974 material would pass a 2024 inclusivity review. We’ve watched WotC shill YouTubers celebrating with their special 50^th Anniversary D&D gift packs WHICH MEANS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO THE REST OF US!!!

Oh, but it gets… worse.

Vecna: Eve of Ruin, which was supposed to be a romp through some of D&D’s campaign world was spoiled outright when one of the lead writers made a video spoiling the entire plot. What was the point? To top things off this week, D&D Beyond no longer allows ala carte purchases, the new SRD 5.2 was announced, and we got this dumb controversy over some box cover art from way back in 1982.

See, Wizkids decided to take some liberties with the Basic Red Box cover art from the 1983 release BECMI edition and make a miniature of the iconic fighter pictured there. This wouldn’t have a big deal except they interpreted the character as a woman. Larry Elmore, beloved artist who painted the original, came out on social media saying it was intended to be a man, for which he caught no end of grief. WotC had to stick their two cents in and retcon the character as “female identifying.” (Yeah, that totally ‘helped.”)

The thing that just slays me over this whole dumb art controversy is that it’s so unnecessary. There’s no re-release of the 83 Edition. No one asked for this miniature to be made. Elmore should have just stayed away from the whole thing and written it off as more nonsense.

Take the politics away from the situation and what’s left?

I love women. I have absolutely no issue with women, trans women (who are women,) or men being in lead roles, authority figures, iconic characters, etc. I’m less than thrilled that’s what we’re choosing to focus on while another Open Game License Debacle is looming. If I had to call it- we’re being played by WotC. This isn’t about the art or the miniature. It’s a distraction.

I’m calling it right now. someone at WotC cooked up this whole gender/fandom divisive controversy to get us talking about D&D (positive or negative does not matter in this case,) and make us look the other way so we’re not concerned about the new SRD 5.2. First, WotC gets us talking about the game so all of the YouTube shills can brag about Vecna: Eve of Ruin since we’ll all be looking for videos about the artwork bull🦆🦆. Then they casually mention the new SRD 5.2 but they really didn’t tell us what their (I suspect nefarious, greedy, corporate driven plan from last year) is going to be for the future of the OGL. But hey, look at the shiny stupid art controversy over some miniature no one is going to remember a year from now!

Yeah, I’m the Tinfoil Hat Society guy. I see links to plots everywhere in fiction and in real life. I’ve been watching WotC plot and scheme for going on two years now. It’s tragic for them, really.

They could have done so much better in 2024.

It makes me weep for both D&D and the greater TTRPG hobby when I think about what the 50^th Anniversary of the game should have looked like. Family- I’m telling you- they royally screwed up! This year should have been productive, vibrant, and full of joy at every turn. Instead we got one dumb controversy and stupid political statement after another.

I could care less that a fighter from the box art in 1983 identifies as whatever gender. I don’t care who the character has sex with. I don’t care how the character pees. I could give a rip whether this character votes Democrat or Republican. That fool’s fighting a dragon at first through third level!

Personally, I always thought that character was the mighty Warduke at Level 3 because no one else in their right mind would have fought an adult Red Dragon at that level. It’s completely irrelevant because we never see the character from the front. It’s ART! Interpret it any freakin way you see fit because it does not matter! It’s all OPINION!

One person sees a man. One person sees a woman. One person sees a pineapple. Who cares? It’s a work of art. As someone who took an entire Art Appreciation class, I’ll tell you it’s all subjective!

Meanwhile, the fact that WotC has dropped the proverbial ball every step of the way in 2024 goes unnoticed and rarely commented-on. We’re too busy checking X(Twitter) to see if Elmore stuck his foot in his mouth and how many people are getting blocked by women who would rather shack up with a grizzly bear instead of a man. As someone who identifies as a Gray starseed, I’m ready to be done with humans in general after this one. (*👽You may message or email me any time to ask about starseed questions. No joke.👽)

Please refer to this article for more information on what I think Wizards of the Coast should have done this past year. I think if T$R hadn’t gone belly up back in the late 1990s and Gary Gygax was still with us, the 50^th Anniversary would have been a damn spectacle to behold. We’d have had T-shirts, posters, dice bags, modules, reprints, parties, and you couldn’t turn around without seeing Dungeons & Dragons splattered all over something. It could have been the biggest release year in D&D history.

This article was originally intended to be about… anything else.

It’s little fuzzy yellow peeper season at the lake I visit to meditate every chance I get. Mama goose did not want me to get too close to the little ones and I respect her. They are adorable, though. They’re also not weighed down by some absolutely contrived controversy.

Let’s take the rest of the day and consider the things that truly bring joy into our lives. Let’s celebrate being who we are. Let other people worry about themselves. Maybe if we spent more time going inward or rolling dice with friends, the world might be a better place. Meanwhile, I’m going to watch cats and little fuzzy yellow peepers.

Thank you for being here today with me. I appreciate you. Please embrace the things that bring you the most joy.