Hasbro’s stewardship of Wizards of the Coast and D&D has been a rocky one, at best. In 2023 we saw them make some MAJOR missteps. Hasbro started the year by laying off a few hundred workers, soon followed by a disastrous attempt to retroactively change the OGL contract. They now ended the year by laying off over a thousand more workers, including many Wizards of the Coast employees. This is in spite of the fact that Wizards properties were the best performing in the Hasbro portfolio – that fact did not spare them in the cost cutting measures spurred on by weak toy sales in other divisions. Meanwhile, CEO Chris Cocks stands to earn over $9M this year, the vast majority of that in performance bonuses.

Frankly speaking, we find this to be abhorrent behavior – though par for the corporate course. With some sadness, we feel it’s time to fully divest from the Hasbro economy around D&D. We cannot support this behavior as a consumer. Even though there are many, many excellent people still working hard at Wizards of the Coast, it is clear that no amount of consumer support can save their jobs – or maybe even their company. They will continue to be at the mercy of Hasbro performance as a whole, and as such, we firmly believe that the D&D community should not be giving Hasbro any money for the foreseeable future. They, as stewards of the D&D brand, DO NOT DESERVE IT. Send your money elsewhere. Here are some ways to do that – hopefully by supporting other brands, games and companies we can strengthen the market for those displaced by Hasbro layoffs.

If you still want to play D&D…
That’s fine! Play the game you want to play! It’s never been easier to play D&D without giving Hasbro another dime. First off, you can always consult the basic rules by accessing the 5e SRD, which is under the OGL and Creative Commons. You can use web sites that host it, or download the document itself. It covers all the core rules for the game.

Next, there is an absolutely endless wealth of 3rd party options for every single aspect of the game. You can find reviews of some items here on this site, or many other places. For monsters, try out MCDM’s Flee Mortals! and the Tome of Beasts series from Kobold Press. If you need an entire campaign setting, you can’t do much better than the Midgard setting from Kobold Press, or if you’re into a city that never sleeps – try Ptolus from Monte Cook Games.

For adventures and other inspiration, we’d recommend starting with some Kobold Press adventures, or some from Raging Swan, or Arcane Library, Elderbrain….there is no shortage of really high quality adventures out there. There are great creators out there that specialize in smaller things too, like NPCs or magic items. Use DrivethruRPG to find more of what you need, when you need it. One really good tip is to subscribe to MT Black‘s email newsletter – every single one shares 10 links around the community where you can get amazing advice, tools or products. And of course you can always write your own adventures the Lazy DM way – and that’s not an insult.

I’m done with D&D, I want a game that…lets us just fight bad guys in a dungeon for loot
Maybe you’re a DM with 5e burnout. Maybe your players aren’t engaging in the complex storylines in published adventures, or maybe they’re overwhelmed by class abilities. They’re busy, you’re busy, who has time to research? My answer is the Shadowdark RPG from Arcane Library. It’s perfect for drinks&snacks gaming, keeps everyone engaged, and has vibrant 3rd party support already. Low barrier to entry, simple character creation, simple rules, lots of fast action and fun. Check it out.

…has way more customization and tactical combat
If you love pushing minis around a map, if you love having the EXACT kind of character you envision – the answer is simple. It’s Paizo’s Pathfinder Second Edition. You may have heard some shade from the D&D community thrown at Pathfinder as being too crunchy and too power-creepy…but most of those criticisms are not as valid in the second edition. The rules have been reworked and streamlined across the board – the game is easier to learn than D&D 5e in some ways because it’s so consistent. There’s more freedom to create a unique character and more freedom in combat. If you like D&D combat and character creation but feel like it’s unsatisfying and straitjacketed – the Pathfinder is worth your while to try. You can even try it for free, without buying a single thing, by using the online SRD at Archives of Nethys.

…really steps back from combat and works better to experience a story
Our favorite story-forward game system is Monte Cook Games’ Cypher System. It’s an easy to learn ruleset, there’s game mechanics to encourage dramatic storylines, and it can be applied to any genre. If you’re itching for something fantasy, Ptolus (mentioned above) is available for Cypher System, and they have a genre book just for fantasy games – Godforsaken. But if you want to jump in to a rich sci-fantasy setting with tons of history and supporting material – the answer is the in-house campaign setting of Numenera. You and your players will be in awe of the mysterious Ninth World in all its weird glory. Check it out. And as a bonus, if you learn the Cypher System you can apply it to games of any genre.

…is basically 5e compatible but doesn’t need any Hasbro products for my players
Yeah, maybe you’re just starting up and you don’t have any Core Books yet. You were thinking of playing D&D, started to learn the rules but now what? Look no further than Kobold Press’ Tales of the Valiant. It’s not quite out yet, but should be very soon. It’s largely 5e compatible, but does have it’s own Player’s Guide. It’s sure to be well supported by Kobold Press and many 3rd party designers. We feel this company is best positioned and most deserving to carry on the D&D 5e lineage at this time.

Going Forward
It has long been the policy here to not review Hasbro/Wizard’s of the Coast products, generally speaking. They get plenty of press and reviews on their own, and we’d rather highlight some other things you might not have heard of or seen. There are so many deserving creators, companies and products out there that hardly get mentioned. They should get more spotlight on them, especially now – please take the basic step of seeking out non-Hasbro/Wizards products for your gaming table! If you’re struggling to find a product to meet your needs, we’d LOVE to help you – just let us know.

It’s time to let D&D rest for a while. Maybe in the future it will be owned and operated by a company that respects the legacy and the labor involved in making it the greatest RPG of all time. It’s time to have it be in the background for a while and try new ways of playing.

Happy hunting, and may your table find fun without supporting Hasbro.