Time to rethink any support for Zak Sabbath

[El Jefe]

Not exactly sure if this is a better fit here or in the gaming specific forums, so move as needed, Mike.

(Also, content warnings for the included link, because it's dealing with abusive relationships.)

If you're still a supporter of Zak Sabbath in the gaming world, you might want to rethink that. If you're not sure who he is, I wouldn't recommend going down into that cave of insanity. Short version?

1. He worked with RPGpundit (AB folks will remember the pain of that fellow) on some minor parts of D&D 5E
2. He got picked up as a major creative force by the rebuilt White Wolf when they were bought from CCP in 2017. This was right after they went on to republish an older short story collection edited by an convicted pedophile, so that one of the new edgelord authors could add his rape short story to the collection.
3. He's a big part of the OSR (Old School Revival) creator crowd at various points.
4. He and his shield allies will absolutely go after folks relentlessly, so be aware of how public you make any of this.

Just posting it as a notice/reminder for folks to check up on the creators you support.



(Side note: There's an interesting intersection of things when Zak S's first claim to fame came from his D&D with Pornstars series on the Nerdist back in the day. Back when Chris Hardwick was still a part of it.)

[Stan]

1. It took a lot of guts for those women to post those accounts, fully aware of the creepy fanboy dog piling that will occur.

2. I hope women keep coming forward in ever greater number and for there to be repercussions for assaulters. If these men can't have morals and decency, at least they should have fear.

3. I'm not that surprised. I was never a fan. I haven't read much of his online interactions but he comes off as pushy and cocky, the kind who is always trying to win the internet, not have a discussion.

[akiva]

I've known he was an asshole who went after critics, but I didn't realize how abusive he was. Fuck him.

He, along with RPG Pundit, is one of the people whose products I've refused to buy.

[FlameBlade]

Reminder: there are millions other equally capable people who can replace him. Get rid of him, and get someone else who would be better to a lot more people.

[Phoebe]

I have never heard of this person but am all astonishment that RPGPundit actually sells products that real people buy. I thought he was just some sort of aesthetic Avatar a crank dreamt up one day. I think of him as being in Uruguay or Paraguay; can't ever remember which one.

[akiva]

[Kyle]

[Kyle]

Nevermind- his real name (John Tarnowski) is all over the internet now. If you're curious, he looked exactly like you would think he does (at least a decade ago).

[Phoebe]

Pretty much everyone with Tarnowski or Tarnowpolski as a family surname somewhere is a tenth cousin, so... Great. They also say somewhere between 5 and 9 percent of births were likely illegitimate, so given that it's his patronymic let's hope that some woman somewhere got around.

[El Jefe]

Yeah, he was really in Uruguay. He was an American living there. If you're really looking to harm your mental stability, you can listen to his voice (and see his house), while he drones on during his Youtube videos.

Another situation came up this weekend, but I didn't updated here at that time. Mostly, because I was giving time for folks working in the industry to make decisions and get responses out.



Matt McFarland (who had prior accusations against him) had more accusations come out this past week. Additionally, accusations came out against his wife, Michelle Lyons-McFarland, for serving as cover and shielding duties while in a leadership position. Some of you may recognize that last name if you trace back to the Dumpshock/Bulldrek days (or were big FASA/FanPro fans, as there was a lot of editing/freelancer work done by Michelle at various points).

TL;DR - Matt and Michelle abandoned most of their social media presence, shut down their gaming company immediately, and Matt put out an apology.