Q&A with Gary Gygax Pt. 3

[Col_Pladoh]

Originally posted by Flexor the Mighty!
We usually drink our Budweiser at progressively warmer temperatures. See the group of guys I drink with most of the time just sit our case of Bud on the table and start going at it. Pour in some Bushmills shooters and it's ecstacy!

Boilermakers are different than straight beer. If I'm mixing Irish whiskey in my beer, the brand isn't going to matter much

Heh,
Gary

[Col_Pladoh]

Originally posted by Flexor the Mighty!
Gary can you tell me if the Gord GN's will be able to feature the Greyhawk names and locations?

Whatever is in the novel will be in the graphic form, so the later ones will not have Greyhawk names not found in the first two. Actually, as parts of City of Hawks will be picked up to flesh out the initial two graphic novel series, these will be somewhat expanded versions of the first two stories.

Cheers,
Gary

[Angcuru]

Well, there's one thing I've always wondered, Gary. When you run games, do you have your own unpublished homebrew, or do you use one of the pre-existing settings?

Have you(exclusively) written and published a setting? (I assume Greyhawk was a joint endeavor, if so, that wouldn't count in this respect .)

BTW, who developed Mystara?

[Col_Pladoh]

Originally posted by Angcuru
Well, there's one thing I've always wondered, Gary. When you run games, do you have your own unpublished homebrew, or do you use one of the pre-existing settings?

Have you(exclusively) written and published a setting? (I assume Greyhawk was a joint endeavor, if so, that wouldn't count in this respect .)

BTW, who developed Mystara?

I have done three world settings on my own: World of Greyhawk, Epic of Aerth, and the latest one, still in process of publication, and with developer input, Lejendary Earth.

I used my own special homebrewed setting for A/D&D up to about 1978, then switched to the published WoG. When I was running a Mythus campaign I used the Epic of Earth, and currently my LA game campaign is based on the Lejendary Earth world setting and it's 20 pantheons of deities

Sorry, but i don't know who authored Mysteria.

Cheers,
Gary

[Angcuru]

What do you think of the Hackmasterization of Old-School D&D? I.E. Greyhack...

[BOZ]

Originally posted by Col_Pladoh
Sorry, but i don't know who authored Mysteria.

Cheers,
Gary

was that dave arneson? i forget who i heard was the main designer for the original D&D Known World.

[Col_Pladoh]

Originally posted by Angcuru
What do you think of the Hackmasterization of Old-School D&D? I.E. Greyhack...

When it first hit I was quite enthused, but HM now seems to be growing out of all proportions. Of course, I have come to appreciate a "less is better" sort of approach to RPG rules...

Cheers,
Gary

[Col_Pladoh]

Originally posted by BOZ


was that dave arneson? i forget who i heard was the main designer for the original D&D Known World.

Heh....

Seeing that D&D wasn't around to build a world setting for until 1974, and the first pubvloished world setting thereafter was World of Greyhawk, what else can I say?

Gary

[Geoffrey]

Originally posted by Col_Pladoh
I used my own special homebrewed setting for A/D&D up to about 1978, then switched to the published WoG.

Gary, would you be amenable to sharing some details of this pre-1978 homebrewed setting?

[tieranwyl]

Gary,

Which do you consider to be more rules-lite, Lejendary Adventures or AD&D 1E?

If you were to do a revision of AD&D 1E, would there be significant changes to: classes, alignment, level restrictions, class restrictions, experience and level progression, combat or magic? Would there be any room for improvements in 1E, and if so, what would they look like?

What types of adventures are best handled by Lejendary Adventures? Do dungeon crawls have a place in LA?

[Col_Pladoh]

Originally posted by Geoffrey


Gary, would you be amenable to sharing some details of this pre-1978 homebrewed setting?

Briefly, I will do so

The planet was much like our earth. Think of the world of Aerth as was presented for the MYTHUS FRPG.

The city of Greyhawk was located on the lakes in about the position that Chicago is, and Dyvers was north ar the Milwaukee location. The general culture was pseudo mediaval European. Some of the kingdoms shown on the WoG map were around the adventure-central area, the City of Greyhawk.

More details aren't really possible, as the sketch maps I used are long gone

Cheers,
Gary

[Col_Pladoh]

Originally posted by tieranwyl
Gary,

Which do you consider to be more rules-lite, Lejendary Adventures or AD&D 1E?

If you were to do a revision of AD&D 1E, would there be significant changes to: classes, alignment, level restrictions, class restrictions, experience and level progression, combat or magic? Would there be any room for improvements in 1E, and if so, what would they look like?

What types of adventures are best handled by Lejendary Adventures? Do dungeon crawls have a place in LA?

LA is more rules-lite that OAD&D, although you can play the latter in the same manner LA is--setting aside the class-based nature of the latter.

It doesn't actually matter what changes I would have made in AD&D, does it? Suffice to say that I had hoped to broaden the system to allow its play in genres other that fantasy. Goint into details of how I would have altered the game is really a futile exercise

As for the LA system, I have found it accommodates all types of adventures very readily. As one who loves dungeon crawls, I can assure you that they are as excoting with the LA game as they are with OAD&D.

The HALL OF MANY PANES module now in editing at Troll Lord Games has a huge number of different sorts of encounters within it. Ine is an "Olde Time Dungeon Crawl," that played excellently. Other encounters feature roleplay, problem solving, intregue, etc. There are many exploration-combat (dungeon crawl) encounters in it, though, because gamers love them, and as I mentioned above, I certainly do

Cheers,
Gary

[tieranwyl]

It doesn't actually matter what changes I would have made in AD&D, does it? Suffice to say that I had hoped to broaden the system to allow its play in genres other that fantasy. Goint into details of how I would have altered the game is really a futile exercise

You still have fans that play 1E AD&D, many of whom hang out at the dragonsfoot site. After all these years, some people have not been willing to move on to newer editions of D&D or other FRPG's. Partly they love the game because you wrote it, and mostly they just love Old AD&D. I think many of the "old schoolers" are hanging on to the hope that Old AD&D will make a come-back, that you would be in the creative lead of it and that their favorite classed-based game can be experienced by new gamers. There is still a lot of resentment by them toward the non-Gygax versions of the game. I could be wrong, but I don't think the old schoolers would accept a multi-genre D&D. Just an observation.

[Col_Pladoh]

Originally posted by tieranwyl


You still have fans that play 1E AD&D, many of whom hang out at the dragonsfoot site. After all these years, some people have not been willing to move on to newer editions of D&D or other FRPG's. Partly they love the game because you wrote it, and mostly they just love Old AD&D. I think many of the "old schoolers" are hanging on to the hope that Old AD&D will make a come-back, that you would be in the creative lead of it and that their favorite classed-based game can be experienced by new gamers. There is still a lot of resentment by them toward the non-Gygax versions of the game. I could be wrong, but I don't think the old schoolers would accept a multi-genre D&D. Just an observation.

When 2E was released TSR lost about hald of its audience. That's according to inside information from someone then at the company. I suspect there was a much resentment about unnecessary changes and the cost of acquiring brand new core books as there was resistance to playing a game I didn't write...

My take on the matter is that those who hold fast to OAD&D do so because they like the system as it is, do not want any major revisions that alter its spirit and soul--other than those they have done for themselves to suit their group. Seeing as how I am quite unable to create a new edition because of legal reasons, speculating about it is indeed a fruitless exercise.

As for adding genres, that was generally directed in the ODMG, and what alterations I made in the rules would simply have made such facilitation easier.

Cheers,
Gary

[EvilPheemy]

The city of Greyhawk was located on the lakes in about the position that Chicago is, and Dyvers was north ar the Milwaukee location.

Now that I think about it, the Nyr Dyv does look something like Lake Superior.

You mentioned earlier that few of the early characters ever faced Demon Princes or ArchDevils. However, wasn't Iuz (admittedly not a Demon Prince in the proper sense, but a Demigod qualifies in my book) confronted by Tenser and companions (in the adventure where Robilar dispelled the wards trapping Iuz within Greyhawk Castle)? Was that adventure actually played out, or was it flavor text developed for the published setting?

[Col_Pladoh]

Originally posted by EvilPheemy
[i]

[snippage]
You mentioned earlier that few of the early characters ever faced Demon Princes or ArchDevils. However, wasn't Iuz (admittedly not a Demon Prince in the proper sense, but a Demigod qualifies in my book) confronted by Tenser and companions (in the adventure where Robilar dispelled the wards trapping Iuz within Greyhawk Castle)? Was that adventure actually played out, or was it flavor text developed for the published setting?

In the Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth there were the trapped "demigods' that were released. Erac and Aylarach freed a demon prince in Greyhawk Castle, Fraz'urblu, that carried the pair off to the Abyss with him in "thanks." robilar smashed the portal confining Zuggtmoy in the ToEE, and she offered to make him her main servant.

There was interaction, if you will, but no confronation in the actual sense of the term.

Cheers,
Gary

[Flexor the Mighty!]

Weren't the Nine demigods imprisioned withing Castle Greyhawk?

[fusangite]

Now that I've slobbered all over you in another thread, Gary, here's a series of questions that have been bugging me for about a year:

1. D&D appears to be inspired from Aristotelian physics, judging by the four-element system and non-exponential falling damage.
(a) What are the implications to this system of of replacing the celestial spheres with the Great Wheel?
(b) What are the implications to this system of having elemental planes instead of confining the elements to Earth?
(c) Am I correct in using Aristotelian physics for questions of physical science when the rules aren't directly on point -- ie. relative speed of falling objects, object trajectories, how electricity interacts with water, etc.?
2. The popularization of polyhedral dice suggests that D&D is in some way paying homage to Platonism; is there any aspect of Platonism in the way the rules or world have been structured?

[Col_Pladoh]

Originally posted by Flexor the Mighty!
Weren't the Nine demigods imprisioned withing Castle Greyhawk?

Right, Flexor...

That last post was a brain fart on my part. It was Iggwilv's daughter that was in the LCoT, and the Nine were confined in the dungeons below the castle. There was considerable confusion amongst the lot when they were brought out of stasis and set free, though, and no confrontation with PC--a few squabbles amongst themselves, then off they went.

Cheers,
Gary

[Col_Pladoh]

Originally posted by fusangite
Now that I've slobbered all over you in another thread, Gary, here's a series of questions that have been bugging me for about a year:

1. D&D appears to be inspired from Aristotelian physics, judging by the four-element system and non-exponential falling damage.
(a) What are the implications to this system of of replacing the celestial spheres with the Great Wheel?
(b) What are the implications to this system of having elemental planes instead of confining the elements to Earth?
(c) Am I correct in using Aristotelian physics for questions of physical science when the rules aren't directly on point -- ie. relative speed of falling objects, object trajectories, how electricity interacts with water, etc.?
2. The popularization of polyhedral dice suggests that D&D is in some way paying homage to Platonism; is there any aspect of Platonism in the way the rules or world have been structured?

Heh

don't read the complex into what is pretty simple. The four elements are indeed drwwn from Aristotelian physics, but then leaped ahead some centuries to Paracelsius (sp?) and later Spiritualist writers. In all it is meant as a game system of workable sort and nothing more.

As for the non-exponential falling speed question, I corrected that later on--much to the dissatisfaction of many players.

The elemental planes had to be expanded beyond the material in order to exist in other parallel worlds, and to have existence in terms of Theosophy, such as the empyreal plane. By being so it also offers new realms in which to explore and adventure, places for elemental creatures. For example, without the elemental plane of fire being outside the mundane, where would the efreet dwell?

The use of platonic solids is coincidental to the generation of a wide variety of random numbers

Cheers,
Gary