It’s not looking good for a few companies right now.

I’ve seen a trend the last few months in the TTRPG Industry. There are a handful of well known personalities on YouTube and X (Twitter) who really seem to have it in for a couple of popular TTRPG brands. I’m not going to disclose the “who,” although if you watch TTRPG industry news close enough you might be able to discern which individuals I mean.

Okay, time to put on our tinfoil hats and maybe suspend disbelief just a little bit. If what I have to say resonates with you, great. If not, then please use your discernment and go look around online, especially YouTube and X (Twitter.) This might sound outrageous, especially to people who tend to be more politically conservative or lean farther to the right.

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.

CAUTION: Please do not run to your favorite content creator or social media platform of choice and tell them that some crazy old guy on the Internet has a theory about them and they are being accused of X, Y, or Z. This is MY kooky theory and maybe there’s nothing to it at all.

I’m very happy to be proven wrong about this one. I’d like to think as gamers we are for the success of our favorite game companies more than we are for the ruination and downfall of others. Even I have had my disagreements with Wizards of the Coast, Sly Flourish, and Paizo in the past. Certain writers within those companies sometimes trigger my sense of propriety with what they say outside of the game. Actually, the worst part of what’s going on has almost nothing to do with game mechanics or rules.

Let’s look at a timeline here.

  • Sly Flourish publishes Forge of Foes in late 2023 I believe. A story emerges on X (Twitter) almost a year to the date later. The thread attacking Forge of Foes is looking specifically at the anti-colonial statements on Page 119. Additional attention is given to what I call the “monster humping” article a few pages prior. It really took an entire year to be offended by this?

  • June 2024, the book commemorating the 50th Anniversary of Dungeons & Dragons is released. Jason Tondro, formerly of Paizo, (the guy who pushed for the union there) writes scathing criticism of the game’s original authors. Outrage sprouts up all over the internet, including catching the attention of Elon Musk in late 2024 following a post on X (Twitter.)

  • August 2024, Jason Bulmahn, Lead Game Designer at Paizo Publishing, makes a statement about Vice Presidential candidate JD Vance saying, “If Vance has played Pathfinder I want him to send his books back. No space for fascists in our hobby.” (I’ll cover more on this in another article and a YouTube video.) Bulmahn later took the post down only to replace it with one that sounded almost as bad.

    Massive uproar occurs when this statement resurfaces on multiple X (Twitter) posts causing multiple Pathfinder buyers to attempt to return their books for a refund. Unfortunately their request for refunds are denied by what is basically a form letter from a spokesperson at Paizo. Needless to say 2025 is already looking like a rough year for Paizo, and with Starfinder 2E just on the horizon, this debacle ain’t good. All caused by a social media post and a half dozen videos. Possibly half the Pathfinder fanbase is now alienated.

If my theory holds water, there will be a few things that will happen next.

The following predictions will happen in no particular order in some form, probably starting with an X (Twitter) post or a YouTube video from one of a handful of (conservative, right wingnut) content creators. I’m watching for one guy in particular who has been at the center of all the above controversies (if I’m not mistaken.)

I think several of these “woke” idealist TTRPG creators are going to be targeted with really ugly accusations, possibly past misdeeds being brought to light, and all sorts of non-game related drama. Personally, I consider myself part of the “woke” crowd given my beliefs about LGBTQIA folx and various DEI issues. Not to mention I get annoyed every time the far right wingnuts go after the disabled and neurodivergent. Given the incoming regime in the USA, I think this is all going to get louder as the hardcore nuts are encouraged by their victories.

Watch for any/all of the following to happen in no particular order:

  • Matt Mercer will be targeted for being “woke,” Daggerheart having a “woke agenda,” and Critical Role fans will be accused of having the “woke mind virus.” (That last one really makes me cringe.) We already know of some of Mercer’s political and social leanings, so I doubt the conspirators will have any trouble dredging up something ugly from the past.

  • Matt Colville has already been accused of being too liberal back when the MCDM RPG now called Draw Steel was being funded. I can’t decide if Colville will be under fire more for being successful or because he might have some “woke” agenda. Either way, I think Colville is going to catch a lot of heat on social media/YouTube for something again.

  • The closer we get to Cosmere and the Brandon Sanderson games’ debut, the more his political beliefs will come under fire. His fiction is already taking some heat as I understand it and it’s only a matter of time before we get an attempt to sabotage his TTRPG efforts.

  • Kobold Press’ Tales of the Valiant seems to have escaped scrutiny so far. Given the close relationship between Kobold and Wizards of the Coast, I think it’s only a matter of time before something ugly comes up regarding a member of Kobold’s staff.

  • Due to the incident with Sly Flourish, I’m not ruling out other D&D Beyond content creators coming under fire. Dungeon Dudes, Ghostfire Gaming, Kobold Press, Darrington Press, MCDM, Hitpoint Press, and my beloved Free League Publishing could all be on the alt right chopping block any day now. That’s aside from the specific people I mentioned at MCDM and Darrington.

  • Maybe look for Goodman Games to get into some sort of hot water again if it looks like Dungeon Crawl Classics is too successful. Last year’s Indie Game Designer’s Summit was the center of a lot of controversy ending in Goodman’s reputation being tarnished with both sides.

But why?

I think there is a plan in motion to destroy companies who are considered “woke.” The handful of people I’m thinking might be in collusion on this have all complained about all of us liberal “wokies.” Obviously if Wizards of the Coast and Paizo are run by these liberals, they must be eliminated by any means necessary short of legal action or blatant violence. I put absolutely nothing past the thousands of followers each of these guys have.

I also believe certain TTRPG companies will be selectively spared the wrath of the anti-woke mob. I suspect Chaosium, Troll Lord Games, and a gamut of old school indie publishers will be safe. I think the ultimate goal of this conspiracy might be to put companies run by upstanding conservative (Republican) owners at the top of the TTRPG food chain. I think the people doing this want nothing less than to see WotC, Paizo, and any other political enemies burnt at the stake, ruined, put out of business for good.

People are going to have to be very careful with what they say on social media if they have a work designation in their title. “Lead Game Designer for Paizo Publishing” for example is one that I personally would have expected to be very careful with what they say. These guys that want Paizo eliminated are watching.

How will any of this be accomplished?

The biggest boogeyman of the modern era is social media cancellation. Nobody wants to be on the receiving end of an angry mob on X, BlueSky, Threads, Instagram, etc. It can take the form of anything from tons of negative comments to doxing or even threats of physical violence. Imagine someone threatening to kill an entire family over a TTRPG player’s take on a game about elves with sticks?

I also think financial ruin is going to become a factor in the potential downfall of major game companies. Hasbro/WotC D&D sales have been less than stellar. Paizo is looking at lost sales following the Bulmahn thing. (Pro tip: Don’t’ alienate half or more of your fanbase. Looking at you too, Tondro.) Sly Flourish was well known for having liberal staff, but I can’t imagine their book sales on Forge of Foes benefitted from any of this negativity. To make things worse, we have Elon Musk himself taking an interest in Hasbro.

Imagine what could happen to any of the big upcoming releases if half or more of the fans turn on the creators. Kickstarter money is great in the case of Cosmere and Draw Steel, but if those games don’t move past the fulfilment of pledges, they won’t survive. Daggerheart just launched their preorders. What’s going to happen if a bunch of the Critters abandon ship overnight because of some scandal?

We’re coming into another year of what I see as bitter financial times for many people. Sets of core rulebooks ranging from $150 to $240 for three or four books is pretty stiff for some of us. Maybe the right wing conservative crowd as more disposable income than say, us idealistic hippie types. Companies who have huge price tags on their books had better be careful with what they let their staff say on social media or these guys are going to come after them. All it really takes is for one or two people to draw negative attention and sabotage months of good public relations and advertising. (ex: Pathfinder 2E Remastered.) Are consumers really willing to put their money behind a set of books written by someone who is seen as controversial and possibly adversarial?

I think my biggest concern in the end is that the TTRPG hobby could suffer being constantly subjected to this sort of dictatorial mob of social media/YouTube content creators. It’s actually worse than government censorship because it’s nothing official, legal, or binding. It’s just a group of guys forcing their traditional conservative values down everyone’s throat the way they claim the “woke mob” does it now.

I’ve often said the most effective kind of censorship doesn’t come from outside the creator. The best sort of censorship is done by editing or by influencing the writer directly. Could our mainstream D&D, Pathfinder, or other fantasy TTRPG content change because writers are too afraid of losing their paychecks due to outrage on the Internet? Could this cadre of conservatives become a sort of approval committee. That’s a very dark place for the hobby to go.

A couple of alternative theories.

Maybe there are people out there in the world who just simply hate D&D or TTRPGs as a whole and want to see the whole thing come crashing down. That’s possible, too. To them I ask, “who hurt you?” I have seen other cases where people just hate the hobby so much they pretend to be giving advice or critiques when in actuality they just want to see the whole hobby burn.

A couple of these guys involved in this have a serious hate on for any “woke” franchise. Or everything they hate is “woke.” It’s getting hard to tell. All I know is when you start referring to people I care about with the derogatory “those people,” I get offended. Maybe they’re not happy unless they have something to get mad about. Please find another hobby to harass if that’s the case.

There’s one guy involved in this whole thing who went so far as to draw up a friends and enemies list. I haven’t done that since I was in fifth grade, but his guy has a PDF and keeps it updated. We’re talking about TTRPGs, not the WEF or something. How serious can this possibly be? Yet here we are. WtF?

WotC may have made some mistakes in the past, granted. No, Jason Tondro and his ilk aren’t seeming to do a very good job representing themselves, their company or D&D. But at what point has pushing back on mainstream ideology gone too far? At what point have the accusers become just as bad as the accused? Gatekeeping can go both ways.

My personal viewpoint.

We all know that I don’t have a heap of respect for Wizards of the Coast. I started listening to certain YouTube commentators and watching specific X (Twitter) accounts very closely in 2021 before the Great OGL Debacle of 2023 happened. Moreso after some of the more historical events in our hobby. That’s how I discovered this somewhat nefarious plot.

That having been said, my eyes have opened a bit toward Wizards of the Coast. I love D&D. I grew up on it, a kid from the great state of Iowa. Damn straight I took offense to Jason Tondro’s comments in the anniversary book and on social media since. (I’m still good for that steel cage match, dude!) But maybe modern 2024 D&D just reflects the popular culture of our time. I’m still not buying into it because I prefer other games more, but that’s one of the lynchpins in this conspiracy. I think the critics are counting on people like me who won’t buy into a company’s products because I disagree with them philosophically.

Maybe some TTRPG settings have legitimately become overly politicized. I have minimum 150 good reasons for not buying into 2024 D&D without even considering politics. I have 240 minimum for not buying the new Pathfinder. Too many new or revised systems all dropped at the same time. Screw the politics.

I’m backing one or two games in 2025 along with enjoying several I already own. I don’t need the drama. I think a lot of us are looking to sink our hard earned money into games made by companies we trust. I hope all of the new D&D players coming in are either oblivious to the online drama or just simply don’t care because they love the game. I don’t hate D&D as much as I just want to see a change in the design direction.

Once all the dust settles, I think the very vocal handful of content creators behind this conspiracy are going to start pushing the products they actually enjoy and the publishers they agree with. Again, I’m steering clear of the whole thing. I have my two or three games I still follow. I can run forever on my collection. I never have to buy another book again. Screw politics.

Pushing conflict, negativity, and drama only leads to more dissatisfaction, misery, and suffering. No one is going to be in the mood to play a TTRPG if every other game is mired in toxicity. Trying to force the downfall of two of the biggest game companies in the industry might lead to greater consequences on the whole. People might not think it matters, but please believe me when I say we’re all one big symbiotic collective in this hobby of ours. What happens in one part of the community could very well affect all of us. Imagine a world without official D&D.

I’m the guy staring at a corkboard covered in thumbtacks, articles, and strings all leading back to one of two sources. I wish I could name who the two biggest troublemakers are, but I do not want to get doxed or worse and one of them is known to do so. I’m a ways down this rabbit hole, but I hope someone else gets it now. I don’t want for this to turn into a found footage situation.

If you made it this far, thank you for bearing with me. You’re one of the great ones. Love ya for it.

Can we just go back to enjoying the game? Whatever game it is. Let’s just go back to gaming. TTRPGs are about fun. Let’s have fun again.

Thank you for being here with me today. I appreciate you. Keep it real, but please strive for positivity, too. Please embrace the things that bring you the most joy in your life.