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404 Inklings #9
They Came to Slay: The Queer Culture of D&D
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.
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.
120 pages, Paperback
First published July 28, 2022
39 people are currently reading
904 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 126 reviews
July 7, 2023
And they slayed!
June 19, 2023
Despite me having only played a single one-shot of D&D and thus not knowing much about the hobby, I found this book to still be a very engaging and easy read. The hobby itself and the community around it get described in very clear terms, making reading this even with minimal knowledge more than manageable. Some of the arguments/observations being made for why the hobby works well for queer people were often decently obvious to me - though maybe that comes from the limited experience I do have-, but I think these more broad points are also a result of the book's length (which is also one of its strengths at the same time). I still however see the value in making these points explicit, and the book still hit me with a lot of information and arguments I didn't know/hadn't considered. All in all, very enjoyable little read in-between larger books. If I ever buy a Player's Guide, I am blaming this author specifically.
December 31, 2022
3.5/5. A fun little book about a game I love. Too short to be enough of a deep dive. Felt aimed more at folks who haven't played D&D; as an experienced queer player myself, it was more confirming what I already knew to be true.
September 15, 2023
I think this would be a great book for someone who is just getting started or is interested in D&D but hasn't played before. But as a queer person who has some experience with playing & watching actual plays, it was just a bunch of stuff that I already knew - both in terms of queerness and D&D as a game
The most interesting bits for me were the homebrew chapter and also various examples (outside of D20 and CR), but because its such a short book it's just gives a very cursory overview of things without any analysis or depth. Which is a shame bc that's exactly what I would have liked!
The most interesting bits for me were the homebrew chapter and also various examples (outside of D20 and CR), but because its such a short book it's just gives a very cursory overview of things without any analysis or depth. Which is a shame bc that's exactly what I would have liked!
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August 13, 2024I don't rate nonfiction.
Interesting little snapshot of a book into the exploration of queerness in D&D. There's comments on how D&D has helped shape the LGBTQ+ community, has enabled queer people to express and discovery more about themselves and how the D&D community offers a safe place for those marginalised due to homophobia and transphobia. Interesting think piece.
Interesting little snapshot of a book into the exploration of queerness in D&D. There's comments on how D&D has helped shape the LGBTQ+ community, has enabled queer people to express and discovery more about themselves and how the D&D community offers a safe place for those marginalised due to homophobia and transphobia. Interesting think piece.
January 13, 2024
"Oh, you're gay and you play D&D? What colour is your tiefling?"*
When I started playing D&D, I didn't really know a lot about it. Nor was I aware of how queer people related to it. However, I quickly found out that this wonderful, creative hobby, let's us explore all kinds of wonderful identity aspects by creating unique characters. And, of course, give them horns and tragic backstories.
Maybe I expected too much from this text. I did relate to the queer joy, but I was expecting a deeper dive into nerd culture, and how that can often be exclusionary to women and femmes. How people in nerd culture can gatekeep, how they can 'other' others, even when they are often othered. How angry people can get when there is queer representation in their totally historically accurate 'medieval world'. Basically how, even though D&D can be a wonderfully welcoming space, it very often isn't.
I was also slightly confused with the critiques at the end. It felt like it was tacked on, and it didn't go as deep into the topic as I expected.
Overall, I like the stories that are told in this book, but its structure is not very organised, and it's target audience is unclear to me. But maybe that is just me expecting too much from a short 100 page text. 2,5/5 stars
*Light blue, with curved horns but no tail. He was covered in light blue (harmless) flames due to a spell gone wrong. He was, of course, also a wild magic sorcerer.
When I started playing D&D, I didn't really know a lot about it. Nor was I aware of how queer people related to it. However, I quickly found out that this wonderful, creative hobby, let's us explore all kinds of wonderful identity aspects by creating unique characters. And, of course, give them horns and tragic backstories.
Maybe I expected too much from this text. I did relate to the queer joy, but I was expecting a deeper dive into nerd culture, and how that can often be exclusionary to women and femmes. How people in nerd culture can gatekeep, how they can 'other' others, even when they are often othered. How angry people can get when there is queer representation in their totally historically accurate 'medieval world'. Basically how, even though D&D can be a wonderfully welcoming space, it very often isn't.
I was also slightly confused with the critiques at the end. It felt like it was tacked on, and it didn't go as deep into the topic as I expected.
Overall, I like the stories that are told in this book, but its structure is not very organised, and it's target audience is unclear to me. But maybe that is just me expecting too much from a short 100 page text. 2,5/5 stars
*Light blue, with curved horns but no tail. He was covered in light blue (harmless) flames due to a spell gone wrong. He was, of course, also a wild magic sorcerer.
May 18, 2025
They Came to Slay is a short work (similar to an extended essay), so Thom James Carter has to make his case succinctly. And he succeeds in delivering a very basic overview of what D&D is and how it has developed a significant LGBTQIA+ following in the last fifteen years or so. But he also wastes a fair amount of verbiage on trying to cast his text in the form of a D&D-like adventure story, and presents no new information that isn't easily found online.
If you're new to D&D, this slim book might still be worthwhile, but if you have any familiarity with the game and the community that has grown up around it, then They Came to Slay will be a bit too shallow to be a rewarding read.
If you're new to D&D, this slim book might still be worthwhile, but if you have any familiarity with the game and the community that has grown up around it, then They Came to Slay will be a bit too shallow to be a rewarding read.
August 26, 2025
About to DM my first DND and you BETTTTTTT this played a huge role!!!! (Thank you, you know who ❤️) Making your own magical queer world!?!!?!!!! Hell yeah. Let’s goooooo!!!
My first dnd character really helped me explore my own queerness - playing a teen boy and getting to step into that character really helped me explore my own gender and see how I felt in that space. Getting crushes on girl characters and just allowing myself to play in a way that had ripples on who I am in the “real” world. I love this game as an avenue to be whoever you want to be. Oh yes, oh yes.
My first dnd character really helped me explore my own queerness - playing a teen boy and getting to step into that character really helped me explore my own gender and see how I felt in that space. Getting crushes on girl characters and just allowing myself to play in a way that had ripples on who I am in the “real” world. I love this game as an avenue to be whoever you want to be. Oh yes, oh yes.
June 5, 2024
Interesting, but I was expecting less history and names and more lore, but still very enjoyable.
November 20, 2022
An accessible and readable deep-dive into how Dungeons & Dragons effortlessly intersects with the Queer community. Well written and clearly passionately researched, I found this engaging as someone who doesn’t know the first thing about D&D, although I most strongly associate it with the arguably queer-coded Will from Stranger Things.
While very pro-D&D as a tool for exploration and facilitation of queerness, this takes an unbiased look at the problematic history of the game, too, and acknowledges the (potentially toxic) white cis-het image that stereotypes D&D players. All of Carter’s interviewees blow that image out the water which is refreshing.
I wish more non-fiction took the route of this, and other Inklings, and had such a broken-down and digestible structure. It fit perfectly into the D&D theme to have little breaks between sections but also made it easy and enjoyable to read.
While very pro-D&D as a tool for exploration and facilitation of queerness, this takes an unbiased look at the problematic history of the game, too, and acknowledges the (potentially toxic) white cis-het image that stereotypes D&D players. All of Carter’s interviewees blow that image out the water which is refreshing.
I wish more non-fiction took the route of this, and other Inklings, and had such a broken-down and digestible structure. It fit perfectly into the D&D theme to have little breaks between sections but also made it easy and enjoyable to read.
August 3, 2023
This book was more about why a queer person would want to play dungeons and dragons not a love letter to dungeons and dragons by a queer person (which is more of what I expected). As a queer person who already has been playing dungeons and dragons for years, this book just reaffirmed everything I knew and didn’t add anything for me personally, but it could be a fun book for people who haven’t played before!
December 3, 2023
A lovely, fun and quite nerdy read... which is always a great combination.
July 6, 2025
incredibly surface level for its length. felt like a dragged out essay for most of it. cute writing style tho
2.5
2.5
December 27, 2022
This is a great intro to the world of queer D&D that sadly misses a little bit of depth. While I recognize that it‘s important to let members of the community speak about their experience I was hoping for more citations and insights from scholars or journalists who have written about D&D and Queerness. One more issue I had was that the author often just sounds like a fan of D&D (which is great, so am I) and when I read non-fiction I usually expect the author’s voice to step into the background.
Nonetheless I would recommend this book to anyone interested in D&D because it offers good starting points to seek out more queer material and resources.
Nonetheless I would recommend this book to anyone interested in D&D because it offers good starting points to seek out more queer material and resources.
December 30, 2022
Extremely relatable and insightful. In my personal experience as a queer dnd player, it’s served as a platform for personal expression, development, and exploration. This pocket-sized book did a great job of explaining the intricate and complex relationship that the queer community has and has had with Dungeons and Dragons, as well as does it’s so diligence of covering the problematic parts of its history. My only complaint was the repetitiveness, but it wasn’t too bad deeper into the book. Otherwise, I really enjoyed this!
June 2, 2023
This was an enjoyable and enchanting introduction to D&D and the queer joy and comfort it nurtures.
This book recites a brief history of the creation of D&D as a game, discusses how aspects of gameplay such as role play are safe avenues for queer exploration and experimentation, whilst also acknowledging the problematic aspects of D&D in the past.
I would thoroughly recommend this read, especially to anyone who wants to be or already is a D&D player, I know for sure I am even more eager to play it now!!
This book recites a brief history of the creation of D&D as a game, discusses how aspects of gameplay such as role play are safe avenues for queer exploration and experimentation, whilst also acknowledging the problematic aspects of D&D in the past.
I would thoroughly recommend this read, especially to anyone who wants to be or already is a D&D player, I know for sure I am even more eager to play it now!!
April 15, 2023
I need to DM a queer af campaign right this very second
January 10, 2024
As a queer D&D player playing a queer character the book left my heart feeling happy. I really enjoyed the conversationalist style of writing.
April 10, 2023
A great take on the parallels of exploring a fantasy realm and discovering your own identity through it!
January 25, 2025
This was interesting but it felt quite surface level and I wanted more from it than it gave.
August 25, 2024
Ligerito, al grano, adorable, interesante y desde luego escrito por alguien que se lo ha pasado genial jugando a Drsgones y Mazmorras.
August 14, 2022
⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
A lovely little look into the importance of D&D for LGBTQIA+ people. I absolutely recommend this to new players, and even people who haven't yet discovered D&D at all!
A lovely little look into the importance of D&D for LGBTQIA+ people. I absolutely recommend this to new players, and even people who haven't yet discovered D&D at all!
September 16, 2022
Enjoyable, and I think a very good manifesto for playing D&D for those who have been on the fence about it or were previously unwilling to for a number of reasons (e.g. perceiving it as queer-unfriendly or too complex, or something else). For me I think I was expecting a more analytical approach than what this was. And while I do appreciate a personal touch in essays (it’s what makes them unique, after all), the segment that was from a D&D game illustrating a way D&D can be a cathartic way to process feelings or past experiences just felt overly indulgent - I have no context or personal interest in that particular game and even being told that what this game extract illustrates, it just came across as…a context less excerpt from a random story. I understand that for the author this excerpt is intensely personal and important, but to me the reader it held no significance whatsoever so it just felt like, well, overly self-indulgence. That’s fair! I don’t want to diss it, but what I’m getting at is what I’ve seen from so many other roleplayers (whether D&D or not) and something I recognise from myself from back when I did roleplay (not D&D) is that role players over estimate what other people think about their stories - we are so deeply enmeshed in the roleplay that for us a story can elicit strong emotions, but it’s users who are just witnessing it or reading it, don’t, in the same way.
That’s not to say this book has turned me off role playing or D&D, but it has crystallised for me why I’m probably never actually going to play D&D - I’ve always wanted to try it out - and it’s the fact that this kind of role playing and emotional vulnerability it can bring about, is not something I want to do in person (or zoom). The aspects of D&S highlighted here as positives (exploring queerness, achieving self insight and catharsis, etc.) are things I’m already exploring through avenues that work for the person *I* am - I write queer stories and I process emotions and past experiences through my writing, in the safety of privacy. I can choose to share those stories if I want. If I wanted to process those things out loud face to face with other people, I would go to therapy.
So, final verdict! This is well written, not quite what I expected it would be but a good guide to D&D for the D&D-curious. I expect that for D&D players and aficionados this is “old news” but perhaps also validating to have their experiences in writing, in print, like this.
That’s not to say this book has turned me off role playing or D&D, but it has crystallised for me why I’m probably never actually going to play D&D - I’ve always wanted to try it out - and it’s the fact that this kind of role playing and emotional vulnerability it can bring about, is not something I want to do in person (or zoom). The aspects of D&S highlighted here as positives (exploring queerness, achieving self insight and catharsis, etc.) are things I’m already exploring through avenues that work for the person *I* am - I write queer stories and I process emotions and past experiences through my writing, in the safety of privacy. I can choose to share those stories if I want. If I wanted to process those things out loud face to face with other people, I would go to therapy.
So, final verdict! This is well written, not quite what I expected it would be but a good guide to D&D for the D&D-curious. I expect that for D&D players and aficionados this is “old news” but perhaps also validating to have their experiences in writing, in print, like this.
December 21, 2023
Somehow, I was expecting more from this. It's very short, spends much of its time explaining basic concepts to the reader, and overall feels very unorganized as a piece of writing. The author meanders a lot, and one big chunk is just scenes from one of his campaigns. He does quote from interviews with interesting people, but even that's so disjointed that I would have been more interested in just reading one whole interview.
January 3, 2024
On the one hand, as a queer dnd player this was a fun quick read about how dnd has got to where it is in relation to queer themes in the 50 years of its life. On the other hand, as a queer dnd player who happened to dabble in (or well, focus on) queer theory while in university, most of what this book discussed was too simple for my taste. I would have loved for it to have been even more academical and for it to pull more queer theorists' words into the discussion.
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August 27, 2023(could have been an essay)
November 19, 2023
Assertions with little evidence. And a limited perspective given the author’s more limited experience.
March 25, 2025
ATTENTION TO ALL MY FRIENDS WHO ARE GAY AND/OR WHO PLAY DND: please read this. Short book so got through it quick and showcases the beauty of dnd and just having the freedom to play in life :’)
September 23, 2023
A 4 star read for me. For one, it was short and sweet and I loved the chapter build up (and the short rests!). For me, it felt like a 101 into D&D, as well as a 101 in gender studies/LGBT+ representation in games, both subjects I have a master's in (semi-literally), but I enjoyed it nevertheless and always think these texts are important. At points, it felt like reading an academic text, having me smile that we read some of the same references. At others it resonated on a personal level, with me recognizing patterns I have seen during D&D campaigns with my friends.
September 3, 2024
Nice, short read that serves as a good starter set for exploring queerness in D&D - as someone who’s been playing for nearly 10 years, it would have been nice to see a bit more of a deep-dive into the queerness of the Lore itself rather than the mechanics (mainly since I’m a little obsessed with the Drow matriarchal social dynamics and how they’re chronically unexplored) but this is still a very good starting point for people unfamiliar with the current queer landscape
Displaying 1 - 30 of 126 reviews