TSR Q&A with Gary Gygax

Col_Pladoh · Feb 12, 2005

Anabstercorian said:
What ABOUT OAD&D? I've never even heard of it until this moment.

Really? You've never heard of Original AD&D before this? I think you're pulling my leg :lol:

Cheers,
Gary

Col_Pladoh · Feb 12, 2005

broghammerj said:
As a urologist, I hope you can understand my disdain of kidneys or a least my disdain of eating them.

Heh, and if you were someone who specialized in the liver?

Thanks for getting a kid to read. I'll be the first to say a Gygaxian vocabulary will get you somewhere in life.

I must say that I am very happy to learn that my work encouraged you to read. As one who loves to do just that, and as a bibliophile, such information is heartening!

At least now I can really annoy my wife by talking with the creator of the game she loves to hate.

Best wishes on your health. -JB

Uh-oh! That sounds like my first wife. She hated games and gamers alike...

Best,
Gary

Col_Pladoh · Feb 12, 2005

Jdvn1 said:
Never tried Ethiopian. Is it anything like Mongolian? Aside from filling my D&D kick, I also have a cooking/culinary kick I need to have filled. I'm always up to try anything new, which has sometimes turned against me. If you like food and like a laugh, www.amateurgourmet.com is a pretty good site.

Well, I don't know what fills your schedule so you might not have time, but.

Ethopian cusine is nothing like Mongolian but it is something like Moroccan. That's about the best I can offer by way oF explanation.

I have virtually no sare time...after answering email and board posts like these

Oh, and I'm surprised how much response a small comment about Ethiopian cuisine can get.

That makes two of us.

Yeah, no. I'm relatively new to the hobby. When I have an opportunity, I read older books so I can get a feel for what D&D used to be like, but that's about it. I play with older players, but I'm more into the game than they are. I try to capture the D&D 'feel' when I GM, they just want to roll dice and level. I've started to get them to get more in the D&D 'spirit' but it's a slow process...

It'd be more useful if I got paid to do this. We don't all have that luxury, though.

There is surely a very dfferent spirit in new D&D than in the original games, D&D and AD&D.

As for getting paid to DM, what real gamer wouldn't love that? only a few manage the feat though :lol:

Cheers,
Gary

Col_Pladoh · Feb 12, 2005

Virel said:
I felt the Blumes were ID10T errors for a long time...this just proves my long standing view of them is valid - again.

Does anyone know where any of this material could be found?

It was in the archives of TSR. It is a god bet that most of it is long lost.

In my current 1st ed AD&D group, one player insisted her two children join and play (ages 11 & 13) because she felt it would help them in school and stimulate learning. The youngest one is quiet a problem solver for her age and the older one asked for his mom to buy him a Monster Manuel so he could read about the creatures. He hates to read and this was the very first time he'd ever asked someone to buy something for him to read. She was estastic.

I would really like to keep the momentum going with the two youngest players...but it's a little hard to tailor puzzles etc to them sometimes etc.

Excellent

This also fit with a long time ago when back in high school, a friend of mine that hated to read got interested in the game and started reading... a lot. His grades improved. Imagine that!

Music to my ears!

Ciao,
Gary

Tav_Behemoth · Feb 12, 2005

It's great to see you around again, Gary!

I wonder if I could ask you a few questions about the origins of monsters - please excuse me if these have been answered elsewhere.

1) Can you confirm that the bulette and rust monster were originally a plastic toy that you created a creature around in order to use it on the miniatures table?

2) Was your invention of the stirge inspired by the striges of Roman folklore, and if so do you remember if you encountered them in Thomas Burnett Swann's fantasy novel Day of the Minotaur or novella "Where is the Bird of Fire" or from another source (such as Ovid)?

3) Were you generally the (uncredited) author of the Creature Features in the early issues of The Dragon?

4) Was the displacer beast inspired by the Couatl in Van Vogt's "Voyage of the Black Destroyer"?

I have the highest respect for your bibilomania - after 20 years I continue to find new riches within the DMG's Appendix N: Inspirational and Recommended Reading - and tracing these literary antecedents serves to only further increase my admiration for you as a connoiseur of fantasy and as a game designer.

Thanks as always!

Krieg · Feb 12, 2005

I'm starting to get worried that I am going to get gout just from reading this thread!

Gary, back when you were exiled to Hollywood as the media entertainment head of TSR how far along did plans progress towards the D&D movie? Were their actual scripts in the works and if so written by whom? Plans being made for casting or director selection? etc

Col_Pladoh · Feb 12, 2005

T. Foster said:
Hi Gary,

Something I've wondered about off and on for awhile and don't think I've ever asked (or read an answer to) before: how and why did you decide to use 1d20 as the randomizer for the alternate combat system and saving throw charts in D&D in place of the 2d6 rolls used in Chainmail?

The 5% incriment (20) probability curve was used in the WW II military miniatures rules set, Tractics, that I co-authored with Leon Tucker and Mike Reese. tucker originally wanted a 1-100 spread, and Reese had used something like that using two d6 for one of his rules sets. the desire for different curves was pretty common by the time I authored D&D.

How much consideration did you give to the fact that the wide, flat 1d20 distribution creates a much more random (i.e. luck-based) feel than 2d6 where ~45% of all rolls will fall in the middle of the range (6-8) with the extreme high and low ends both correspondingly rarer?

Not much consideration was given, because of flat curve can be adjusted easily and addition to the chance is lavel, not shifting with the bell curve.

Was it a conscious decision that such a wide-open random/luck-based distribution was more appropriate to the feel of a heroic fantasy-based game as opposed to the more "realistic" historical feel of Chainmail with its less random (more predictable) 2d6 distribution? Do you find it odd that for the sake of 'consistency' and 'elegant design' that this very random 1d20 distribution is now applied to almost every roll in the game? Or am I reading too much into this?

Regards,

Sorry, but I don't agree with the premise of your question, that one curve is more luck-based than the other. Requiring a 20 to hit or to get a given result is about the same as requiring a 2d6 score of 2 or 12, no? It is all a matter of building the mechanics according to the desired probabilities.

In D&D mutliple hits and varying hit points allowed for the option of more frequent hits without affecting the end result, thus making the play more action-oriented and exciting.

Cheers,
Gary

Col_Pladoh · Feb 12, 2005

RFisher said:
Picking up this sub-thead about your group's recent OD&D campaign... (Yeah, other things have kept me from keeping up with my internet discussions...)

I ask these questions for many reasons. Mainly, I suppose, because--as someone who started with the c. 1981 Basic Set, Traveller, & OAD&D--I find the original game intriguing. Also, because I figure I'll force my group to give the old game a try sometime--& so--I'm interested in how others--especially its author--play it.

sure

So, no thieves?

Everyone uses d6 for HD? All weapons do d6 damage?

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That's right on both counts. We are playing original D&d as in the three booklets...only with some few modifications I have tossed in to make the PCs more viable.

When a cleric becomes a Curate, he only gets to add 1 hp to his current total rather than a full HD? (Or +2 if Con is >14?)

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No, we always played one HD addition per level of character.

Elves have to declare each session whether they're operating as fighting-men or magic-users? (I assume they keep two XP totals: one for each class.)

The would if any of the players were of elvish race, but all are human.

Anyone playing an "Other Character Type"? A "young" Dragon, perhaps.

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Get out!

I'm guessing you let the players roll ability scores themselves rather than doing it yourself as Men & Magic indicates. Did you make them stick to 3d6 in order (with the modifications allowed on p.10)?

To make PCs of the sort that are viable and be what the player wants to play, I allowed them (or optionally me) to roll 4d6 and use the three higheest dice. totals could then be arranged, as I added bonuses for Str, Int, Wis, and Dex, not just Str and Dex.

Do you use the weights on M&M p.15 for encumberance, or just wing it?

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My group is veteran, and they don't overload, so that's not a consideration. I pull out those rules only if someone is abusing the amount of equipment they claim to be carrying around.

Do you ever use reaction rolls? (I've always found them to be one of the most seldom used mechanics.)

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Not often, as almost everything in the dungeon is hostile. Reaction is thus a foregone

Cheers,
Gary

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Col_Pladoh · Feb 12, 2005

Jdvn1 said:
*bump*
I hope Gary's okay.

I hadn't realized all these posts were here. Likely I deleted a notice that someone had replied to this thread when in my usual spam-deleting frenzy

Cheers,
Gary

Gray Mouser · Feb 12, 2005

Col_Pladoh said:
Heh, and I'll bet you aren't a fan of smoked eel then

Heh, you got me there. My wife, however, loves the stuff. When we go for sushi she usually gets eel. I'm a fan of tuna and salmon, myself.

Of course, when I drag her to Korean restaraunts she's usually there under protest and so generally orders a koreanized Japanese dish lol.

Gray Mouser

PS
Sheesh, I just noticed not one AD&D related question here. Hmm, I'll have to think of something.

TSR Q&A with Gary Gygax

Col_Pladoh

Gary Gygax

Col_Pladoh

Gary Gygax

Col_Pladoh

Gary Gygax

Col_Pladoh

Gary Gygax

Tav_Behemoth

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Krieg

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Col_Pladoh

Gary Gygax

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Gary Gygax

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Gary Gygax

Gray Mouser

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