This particularly worn out topic has resurfaced yet again.

I want to preface this with the notion that I have no desire to rehash the whole sordid story of the last three years of D&D history, much less the last 50. At this point I think we’d be better off celebrating the 51st Anniversary of D&D in a positive way.

Apparently Elon Musk got wind of the controversy surrounding the 50th Anniversary D&D book from June of 2024. Many of this are not fans of that particular publication as the Preface managed to alienate a lot of long time veterans of the TTRPG hobby. This also resulted in the eccentric billionaire (Musk) telling Hasbro/Wizards of the Coast to “go burn in Hell.”

I can’t tell if Musk is doing this as another one of his PR stunts or if he’s serious. Let’s be honest here. We’re not even sure if the guy is a native Earthling. (*I’m only half joking.) I seriously doubt he cares enough to buy out Hasbro/WotC with his pocket change.

Now, I have no particular love for Hasbro/WotC at this point. I don’t think I’ve ever wished a fate so horrible on that company, though. Those are pretty strong words coming from Musk aimed at the Reptilian Overlords at Hasbro/WotC. I might joke around about them a lot. (Wizards of the COBRA!) But I’d never wish for anyone to “burn in Hell.” That’s pretty extreme.

We’ve buried the lead.

Dungeons & Dragons is a TableTop RolePlaying Game. By definition, we’re supposed to be working together and having fun. We’ve gotten so far away from discussions over the game itself because we’ve been distracted by all of these essentially political arguments outside of the game. I’m just here to bash monsters in the face with a blunt object and get cool loot. I don’t need all this other stuff.

Has Wizards of the Coast completely mismanaged the Intellectual Property and attempted to mire the creators with all kinds of accusations? Yeah. And it royally sucks. I’m incredibly bummed out speaking as a longtime fan of the game. D&D is how many of us got started in the TTRPG hobby. It sucks watching so many people get polarized over things that aren’t what the game is all about.

I’ll freely admit, I’m just as guilty as anyone. I was talking about leaving the game behind before this new/not-new edition was announced back in 2022. It’s very sad that other games are currently more like D&D than the actual named property is. I can probably name ten games off the top of my head that do D&D better than 5th Ed D&D or whatever this new 2024 thing is.

D&D has fallen from being the pillar holding the hobby up.

Let’s get back to the game.

I remember going to game conventions and being one of maybe a handful of Game Masters running something besides D&D. I would still end up running at least one or two RPGA tables of 2nd Ed AD&D back then because DMs cancelled or got tied up in other game sessions. But I would say the ratio was probably four or five to one D&D over everything else.

Now? I hear there are more boardgame and minis games being run at conventions than D&D. I’m more likely to be able to try something new or get in a session of my beloved Dragonbane than D&D 5E at some of these major conventions from what I hear. (Can you tell I miss going to cons?)

I also hear the Wizards of the Coast presence at conventions has shrunk dramatically again. They have a packed house for one or two presentations and then Poof! they’re gone. They sell out the 3,000 copies of the 2024 Player’s Handbooks and then run back to Seattle. They didn’t even premier the 2024 Dungeon Master’s Guide at a dedicated gaming convention for crying out loud. I remember when T$R and WotC had the biggest booth at every convention because they were the sponsors!

So what can be gleaned from all the hubbub, if anything?

Let’s just go back to enjoying the damned game! I don’t have beef with anyone on X (Twitter) or YouTube. I want to keep it as such and just go back to enjoying the TTRPG hobby. You like 2024 D&D and I like Dragonbane. We can coexist. No one is better. We’re here in the hobby to have fun.

I’m truly ready to go back to discussions about my latest Solo campaign adventures and Dragonbane characters. Tell me about your new 2024 5E character. Great. I’d love to hear it. Whether you’re a fan of Wizards of the Coast or not, we can still sling dice together and be cool if we choose to be. Let’s make that choice.

Am I buying into 2024 D&D? No. But I’m not buying into Pathfinder 2E Core Remastered or Tales of the Valiant, either. I invested in a new lavalier microphone the other day for $20 and it felt like breaking the bank. (*That was a business investment for goodness sake.) I can’t afford to shell out $180-$240 for three core rulebooks that do the same thing as books I already own.

I’ve found my game for the next few years to come. If I’m doing fantasy at all, it’s probably going to be Dragonbane. The fine folks at Free League Publishing have won me over with a much happier, simpler game that has a beautiful open license framework for us to publish in.

I’ll still run/play other games, but if it’s fantasy, I’m all in on Dragonbane. ICONS if we’re talking supers. Power Rangers if it’s sentai. Monster of the Week if it’s horror, although that might be changing. I’m also still on the lookout for a cool mecha/sci-fi game that I can really get behind. I still read through plenty of other games.

I don’t begrudge anyone playing any other game/edition of D&D. I think there’s enough room left in the hobby for all of us. That hasn’t really changed. We just need to all reach a point where we agree to disagree and move on with our lives. I just want to roll dice and have a great time.

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