They Came To Slay: The Queer Culture of D&D

by Thom James Carter

Since its inception decades ago, the tabletop roleplaying game Dungeons & Dragons has offered an escape from the real world, the chance to enter distant realms, walk in new shoes, and be part of immersive, imaginative tales as they unfold. More so, in Thom James Carter’s opinion, it’s a perfect vessel for queer exploration and joy. Journey on, adventurer, as Dungeon Master Thom invites readers into the game’s exciting queer, utopian possibilities, traversing its history and contemporary evolution, the queer potential resting within gameplay, the homebrewers making it their own, stories from fellow players, and the power to explore and examine identity and how people want to lead their lives in real and imagined worlds alike. Grab a sword and get your dice at the ready, this queer adventure is about to begin. (This book is unofficial and unaffiliated with properties Wizards of the Coast and Dungeons & Dragons.)

Genres: Nonfiction, Queer

88 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 1, 2023

Reviews

[That show will never end · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pure joy. Historie opisywane w tej króciutkiej pozycji- ludzi którzy odnaleźli siebie przez medium jakim jest dnd to łzy szczęścia w oczach. Świetnie opisana mechanika i potencjał jaki się z tym wiąże, ale też oddany ogrom pracy jaki osoby queerowe przez swoją sztukę, poświęcenie, marzenia przelały aby to uniwersum mogło być tak wspaniale. Jest tu podane tak wiele rzeczy- od książek, przez artystów i twórców internetowych- wszystko co pomaga rozbudowywać społeczność graczy i czynić ją tak inkluzywną i w ciągłym ruchu. Ryj mi się cieszył przez całą lekturę i każdemu polecam

[Robert Waite · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this short book, it was illuminating to read. Felt like there was a bit of redundancy in the writing.

[Caitlin Holloway · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly well balanced and informative, a great resource for anyone looking for creative avenues to explore their queerness and why D&D is a great place to do that. A short but important read.

[Leonor Estrela · Rating 3 out of 5]

(3.75) Alguns pontos foram redundantes, mas foi um privilégio ler este pequeno pedacinho de alegria e, principalmente, ode ao mundo queer de dnd.

[Will · Rating 5 out of 5]

i’m gonna go play through baldur’s gate 3 again

[Nordin van Egmond · Rating 4 out of 5]

*in Jennifer coolidge voice*
Makes me want to start a dnd campaign real bad.

[Lizzah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book but did find it to be quite surface level. I may be wrong but I also got the feeling that the author's primary experience of D&D is 5th edition and that does lead me to a few criticisms:

1.) This book looks at D&D in a vacuum rather than examining what was happening in wider tabletop gaming. In particular I think most nerds would acknowledge that world of darkness/vampire the masquerade was doing unashamedly queer stuff from its inception as a system and really should be given some credit in the tabletop space for this. In many ways D&D was incredibly late to the party in embracing queer culture and some would argue still has some way to go.

2.) In the same vein I would probably add there is no acknowledgement of wider queer trends in other nerd hobbies like video games, which absolutely influenced D&D's direction. For example, Dragon age: origins, whilst not D&D was clearly meant to be a more gritty take on the traditional fantasy games of the age. DA: O was released in 2009 and came with two openly bisexual characters, with the series being primarily written by David Gaider, a gay man who also famously wrote large chunks of Baldur's Gate 1&2, one of the most popular CRPGs of all time and of course one that uses 2nd edition Dungeons and Dragons as its system.

3.) No detailed examination of the extremly problematic elements of D&D particularly around gender and diversity, which have probably hindered it from becoming an entirely welcoming place for femmes and people of colour. The book lightly touches on the history of female characters not being able to have a maximum strength score but little else such as the hugely problematic drow, anything to do with Mystra and the general portrayal of women dominated societies. I do appreciate this is meant to be a positive celebration of queer culture but I would have expected a whole part of the book dedicated to this.

[Zoë Kimber · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 but I'll be nice and round up - I was mildly excited about the concept of this book but I found that Carter's argument was very descriptive and was essentially just that the D&D community is an inclusive space and queer people can use their characters to explore different identities (though one of his examples of this was someone saying all their characters were bi femmes so not even exploring a range of identities?). It was broadly a nice read but yeah I think I was just hoping for something a bit deeper - Judith Butler has written very interesting (and challenging to comprehend in fairness!!) Stuff on gender as a performance and there's a lot of gender theory and philosophy stuff that I thought would be interesting to see here. Also, I thought it needed another pass through the editors to tighten the writing oop sorry!

[Jude Schofield · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5/5
A short 2 hour read which I unfortunately felt lacked the depth and analysis I had hoped for. Echoing other reviews here, the cyclical arguments, repetition, and critical arguments was disappointing. There were also clear gaps in the author’s knowledge of the topic; for example, the gendered hierarchy of drow, which would have been interesting to critique through a queer lens.

[Cat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice little book all round but did feel a bit shallow. Kind of like reading an extended essay on queer culture and D&D aimed at people who did not know what D&D or queer culture was. And if someone wasn't LGBTQIA+ or into D&D I don't know why they'd pick up the book in the first place.

[Jose Rivera · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this after 1984 served as a beautiful palate cleanser. Thoroughly enjoyed learning how D&D has been moving into a much more inclusive direction. Lastly, as member of the community, it helped me appreciate the freedom to explore that the hobby has historically granted us.

[Jimmy Sherwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely bite-sized read and summary of the queer experience of playing D&D. While probably not too new to anyone who is queer and part of the hobby, it’s a wonderful retrospective journey with an optimistic outlook for the future (which I only hope comes to fruition!)

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a brilliant homage to queer culture and history in D&D. An unexpected bonus was the queer D&D platforms shared in this gorg book, I started adding to my podcasts as I read this. Love❤️‍🔥⚔️

[Stephen Pflugfelder · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute exploration of D&D

Cute exploration of D&D through a queer lens. Nice quick read. Could absolutely be developed further into a longer and deeper read.

[Shane Keane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some interesting tidbits and ideas. However a bit repetitive and some typos.

[Emelyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5💫

[James Deaville · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a quick read which provided an insight to the the intersectionality of D&D and queerness. Even though I already knew the majority of the information, due to being a queer player already, there was still some new information I found. It shall be a great read for people with no knowledge.