Heidi Gygax is active in the TTRPG community, as well as crowdfunding projects like Tomb of the Dundel and GAXLAND. Heidi, of course, is one of Gary Gygax’s co-creators of D&D’s five children.
Recently, a row has broken out over The Making of Original Dungeons & Dragons 1970-1977.
A preface written by Jason Tondro, a Senior Designer on Dungeons & Dragons, provides some context on how the 50-year-old game fits in culturally;
Some language in the first iteration of D&D presents a moral quandary. The documents reproduced in this book include many pages of charts and tables alongside lists of monsters, spells, and magic items. But that game content also includes a virtual catalog of insensitive and derogatory language, words that are casually hurtful to anyone with a physical or mental disability, or who happens to be old, fat, not conventionally attractive, indigenous, Black, or a woman.”
Some people have charitably ascribed this language to authors working from bad assumptions. In the 1970s, historical wargamers in America were predominately white, middle-class men; it isn’t surprising that they would dub a class of soldiers the ‘fighting-man.’ But when, in the pages of Greyhawk, the description of the Queen of Chaotic Dragons includes a dig at ‘Women’s Lib,’ the misogyny is revealed as a conscious choice. It’s an unfortunate fact that women seldom appear in original D&D, and when they do, they’re usually portrayed disrespectfully.”
Slavery appears in original D&D not as a human tragedy that devastated generations over centuries, but as a simple commercial transaction.”
The cultural appropriation of original D&D ranges from the bewildering (like naming every 6th-level cleric a ‘lama’) to the staggering; Gods, Demi-gods and Heroes (not reprinted in this book) includes game statistics for sacred figures revered by more than a billion people around the world,” he wrote. “Were players expected to fight Vishnu, one of the principal deities of Hinduism, kill him, and loot his ‘plus 3 sword of demon slaying’?”
Despite these shortcomings, D&D has always been a game about people choosing to be someone unlike themselves and collaborating with strangers who become friends. It has slowly become more inclusive, and as the player base has become more diverse, the pool of creators who make the game has expanded to include people with a broader range of identities and backgrounds. As these new creators make the game more welcoming, the game has attracted new fans who, in turn, continue to make the game more inclusive. The future of Dungeons & Dragons, here at its fiftieth anniversary, is bright.”
The introduction has upset a subset of fans and people who have heard of D&D. Included in this list is the billionaire Elon Musk.
It’s worth noting that Gary Gygax was proudly a biological determinist. It’s unclear whether Gary would refuse any of the preface. It’s entirely possible Gygax would remain proud of his work and would be annoyed by people taking offensive on his behalf.
One person who might know is Heidi, of course, and she has taken to Facebook to comment and confirm.
Regarding the post by Ben Riggs “D&D Co-Creator Gary Gygax was Sexist” IMO much seems to be taken out of context and pieced together. I cannot verify the sources, although I truly believe they are incomplete and/or incorrect. I think Frank Mentzer states his insights on this eloquently. As for my perspective, I do not believe my father was racist or misogynistic. Was he sexist? He was born in 1938 to a father born in the 1880’s and a mother born in 1906. He was raised in a traditional Anglo-Saxon Protestant family with traditional biblical family values where the male was the head of the household. In my adult opinion, yes, this is sexist and doesn’t hold up to our more enlightened standards today. Yet, he was a loving father and husband who valued all of his children and his wife. All 3 of his daughters played D&D with him at some point, but I happen to be the only one who still plays. In short, he wasn’t perfect, but he was far from all of the negative accusations that are (re) surfacing, and I’m extremely proud – as a strong, independent female – to have E. Gary Gygax as my father and my family legacy.
Heidi says;
- Gary’s values are “sexist and doesn’t hold up to our more enlightened standards today”.
- Gary was raised in a “family with traditional biblical family values”.
- Gary was a loving father and husband.
- Gary played D&D with all his daughters.
It’s a powerful, measured and honest response from Heidi and should remove any doubt.
D&D was a product of its time and its co-creators. We don’t know if Gygax would have written what he did if he was writing today, whether he’d defend his point of view or what he’d feel about people denying what we wrote. He certainly was proudly a biological determinist, so it is entirely possible he’d continue to stand by his jabs at ”Women’s Lib’.
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