Thanks, DungeonTube.

I’m hearing it more and more lately. The term “Grognard” being used in a nasty, rude, derogatory fashion by some peppy younger DungeonTuber (usually with 100K+ subscribers.) I’m tired of it, almost fighting mad tired of it.

Now, the downer here is someone is going to cry, “You’re using a straw man argument. You’re a big phony.”

Well, before everyone freaks out, I can name a handful of popular DungeonTubers (four letter word salad not included.) I’m not going to name them directly on the freakish off chance this gets back to her/zir/him, and I get chased down the street by their/zeir rabid fan base. Admittedly, some of these people already have me blocked on social media. But why risk a channel war with someone who gets more views in five minutes than I have total subscribers? Not to mention all the ones who are going to jump up and down proclaiming they were right about us old guys all along.

Rampant stereotypes on both sides of this argument.

Old guys aka Grognards:

  • Middle aged
  • White (Caucasian)
  • From the Midwest flyover states (like Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota…)
  • Fat
  • Bald
  • Beardy.
  • Regularly forget there are games outside of B/X Dungeons & Dragons or 1E AD&D.
  • Right Wingnut Conservative.
  • Everything is about politics or religion.
  • Assholes.
  • Don’t know anything after 40+ years in the hobby.
  • Bigots.
  • Constantly yelling at clouds.
  • Spew hate on YouTube for anyone labeled as “not-them.”
  • “Those damn kids…”
  • “You’re playing it all wrong.” (even if it’s a made-up game with elves and magic.)

Meanwhile on the other side of the fence:

  • Younger than 40.
    (Let’s face it, honey, your younger fanbase will abandon you someday.)
  • Green hair or some other unnatural hair color.
  • Openly liberal/leftist.
  • Former/current members of the cosplay community.
  • Watch that one popular DungeonTuber who fits the first two lines.
  • Started playing with D&D 5E.
  • Don’t know or understand older editions of D&D.
  • Give advice from their whopping two years of experience.
  • Regularly regurgitate the same advice that used to appear in Dragon Magazine.
  • “Sparkle Trolls.” (I don’t know what that means either.)
  • Exemplify the staff at Wizards of the Coast and Paizo these days.
  • Regularly forget there are games outside of D&D.
  • Think all the old guys are part of the Old School Renaissance. (We’re not.)
  • Think the OSR is evil.
  • Think all the older editions of D&D are evil or something.
  • Pro LGBTQIA, BIMPOC, neurodiverse, disabled. (Combat wheelchairs all around!)
  • “Woke.”
  • The reason we have jokes about “Baristas & Besties.”
  • They’re all social media clout chasers looking for cheap heat.

I think we can agree both sides have their issues and misconceptions.

I wish I was exaggerating anything on either list. Much like any issue where stereotypes are involved neither side is completely correct, nor are they completely incorrect. It’s been happening as long as humans have been forming social groups. Side A automatically gravitates toward exaggerating the differences of Side B and vice versa.

That’s not to say it’s the right thing to do. It’s human nature. The truth normally lies in the middle, and truthfully I think the majority of us fall in the middle ground somewhere. I would love to believe most of us really just want to play our game, regardless of what it might be.

Tinfoil Hat moment: There are those who enjoy stirring up trouble.

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I’m not saying it might be to a certain corporation’s advantage to keep the feud alive between the new and old school lines of thought in D&D. I do kind of believe they see an advantage to keeping the old guys away, so no one challenges their precious corporate culture. Just because they completely botched the 50th Anniversary of D&D and have since issued a half-arsed apology to the family of Gary Gygax doesn’t mean they have it in for the old guys who started the game that makes them millions of dollars.

When the next edition of D&D finally comes about and theoretically falls flat on its face the same way 5.5E has, they’ll likely blame the Old School.

“See. We tried to cater to the old fartz and look where that got us,” WotC will decree.

Okay. Done barking in the dark on that one now. There’s always an agenda at work, though.

Somewhere many years ago on a social media platform known as Twitter…

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Once upon a time somebody rubbed G____ _’s tender feeling the wrong way and led to the inevitable idea that all of us old guys are “icky.” (Sorry kiddo.) Yeah, it was probably a Grognard. How do I know that was likely the case?

See, Grognard comes from the French term for “grumbler.” It refers back to Napoleon Bonaparte’s generals who complained behind his back on a frequent basis every time an order was given they didn’t agree with. Now, who in our hobby would likely be most familiar with Napoleonics? That’s right. The generation before D&D was ever a thing.

These youngins today don’t realize we had our own generation gap and batch of crochety old Grognards to deal with on top of the Satanic Panic. Those were some trying times. We had a bunch of old wargamers who liked to paint tiny lead figures or push carboard chits around a hex map telling us that roleplaying wasn’t real gaming. We often heard it was “just a fad” from the same generation that literally spawned roleplaying games as we know them. We didn’t have the Internet, but we did have to try to share the same physical space at conventions, clubs, or game stores with these guys. All the while we were being yelled at to keep the noise down and go play somewhere else.

What I’m saying is I get it. I see you younger folx and I hear you. All sarcasm aside, I get why you might not like us older guys who literally built the hobby from the ground up. Yes, some things have been said by older TTRPG YouTubers that probably didn’t sit well with a younger audience. I can’t fix what’s already broken, all l can do is apologize where appropriate.

We have to mend fences and grow the hobby.

That’s what is most important. I’m 53 at the time of writing and I ain’t getting any younger. Someday when I’m gone, I hope the hobby will last at least another 50 years or more. I hope people will come away from the glowing screens to tell stories with dice while yelling “Huzzah!” and eating pizza.

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I’d also point out to a certain androgynous individual who regularly takes cheap shots at us older guys that your day will come. Someday that shoe is going to be on the other foot and some young punk is going to be railing against the ills of your generation. I hope you weather it as well as I have your insults. Cheap heat and clout chasing will only get you so far on YouTube or in life. You’ll find out for yourself.

In the meantime, I urge everyone to stop throwing around “Grognard” like it’s some kind of insult. To some of us it just means we have a duty to be shepherds of the hobby and bring in as many fresh faces as we can before we leave this world behind. Regardless of corporate politics or clout chasing DungeonTubers, some of us just want to get back to having fun without a bunch of social baggage dragging us down.

That’s my somewhat sociological take on the whole thing. I almost remember going to college once, I think. Anyway, I would love it if we could all just declare peace with one another and go back to enjoying the hobby.

I say it every year, but I think 2026 bears repeating it. This year I intend to write more, read more, and discuss cool TTRPGs as well as supplements. Most of all, let’s just have more fun. Let’s explore. Let’s save the kingdom from the evil warlord. Let’s discuss all the fun stuff in gaming that we love.

With the world in the state it finds itself in today, please be kind. Please be considerate to one another even if we don’t agree. Lastly, please pursue the thing that brings you the most joy without harm to others. Thank you!