TSR Q&A with Gary Gygax

Gary:

Having read through much of this thread, one thing strikes me over all others: to say you don't like direction D&D has gone would be an understatement. While I can understand your dislike, a question occurs to me: what is it YOU look for from a game?

What comes to mind for me is, 1/2E were far more rules-lite then the current incarnations, and perhaps your dislike stems from having the rules take some of the improvisation and imagination out of gaming, but thats just what comes to mind when I compare the two (mind you, I got into gaming very late in the life of 2E, so my understanding of the previous versions is pretty limited).

I suppose my question is: what is it you look for in a gaming experience that you feel 3E destroys?

Moggthegob said:

Dear Gary,

My friends and I were discussing characters in greyhawk and a few interesting questions came up. If there were a World of Greyhawk movie, who would you have play Robilar, Tenser, and Mordenkainen. Or at very least what are good descriptions of what they look like.

Mogg the gob,
Goblin Extraordinaire

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Howdy,



As if WotC and Hasbro would consult me about such a thing. With that in mind, why would I spend any of my valuable time pondering such a question? That would be completely vaccous nethinks.

Being familiar with how motion pictures are made, such a decision would be up to the director and the casting people, so I would have no say in the matter even if I was a story consultant.

To the point, though, i have never thought about the matter, and I do not have any actors in mind. I wouldn't mind seeing Vin Deisel as Mordie, though. That's because he is a D&D fan, of course.

Cheers,
Gary

Aegir said:

Gary:

Having read through much of this thread, one thing strikes me over all others: to say you don't like direction D&D has gone would be an understatement. While I can understand your dislike, a question occurs to me: what is it YOU look for from a game?

What comes to mind for me is, 1/2E were far more rules-lite then the current incarnations, and perhaps your dislike stems from having the rules take some of the improvisation and imagination out of gaming, but thats just what comes to mind when I compare the two (mind you, I got into gaming very late in the life of 2E, so my understanding of the previous versions is pretty limited).

I suppose my question is: what is it you look for in a gaming experience that you feel 3E destroys?

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Hi Aegir,

First, I do want to make it clear that I have no quarrel with those that love new D&D--or any other RPG, or no RPGs at all for that matter. What game is captivating to someone is a personal matter, and not one that is generally open to critical comment from anyone.

That said, you are on target ion regards to what sort of RPG I enjoy. If you take a look at my latest design, the Lejendary Adventure game, you will note that it is indeed rules light, very flexible, the mechanics can be and are applicable to other RPG genres, and the skill-bundle base allows for great freedom in creating PCs and NPCs that are a more accurate reflection of both fictitional figures and real people.

As a matter of fact I find I must continually fight against those that like the system but want to make it more cumbersome by adding "explanations," "examples," and "clarifying rules." Keeping it rules light is is not easy

Keeping imagination, innovation, and improvisation in play for all particiapants, allowiing and encouraging such freedom in the game, ain't all that easy. Maybe it's beacsue that means everyone must do more thinking and use more creativity.

In short, a comparison and contrast of new D&D with the LA game will provide a complete answer to your question. There is a free pdf download of the LA game Quickstart Rules on www.lejendary.com and at www.dragonsfoot.org is you care to go through that exercise.

Cheerio,
Gary

Hey Gary have you read the Black Company series? If so did you like it?

Col_Pladoh said:

As a matter of fact I find I must continually fight against those that like the system but want to make it more cumbersome by adding "explanations," "examples," and "clarifying rules." Keeping it rules light is is not easy

Keeping imagination, innovation, and improvisation in play for all particiapants, allowiing and encouraging such freedom in the game, ain't all that easy. Maybe it's beacsue that means everyone must do more thinking and use more creativity.

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I'm actually running a game currently where I've run into this very problem.

I've found that the more I run games, the less I want to stick to all the rigid rules, and simply want to play a game of act and react, let the PCs do what they will in the world, and I react accordingly. The most glaring example of this is probably that I almost never use the social interaction skills; I simply develop an understanding of my NPCs personality, and have them respond accordingly when the PCs interact with them.

Unfortunately, what I've found is that often times, this is such a departure from the games modern players are used to playing, they're left lost when their options consist of, "Heres the world, do what you want!"

Mostly what they respond with is, "Um... but what can we do?"

I suppose that leads into another question: if confronted with a situation like this (running a "sandbox" campaign with PCs who don't seem to grasp how to proceed in such a game), what would you do to spark their imagination? I really don't want to simply dumb the game down, but its starting to feel like I might have to.

Flexor the Mighty! said:

Hey Gary have you read the Black Company series? If so did you like it?

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I have read a couple of these novels, and I enjoyed them...something I can not say about most contemporary fantasy books. I also enjoy the Diskworld series.

Cheerio,
Gary

Hi Aegir,

That is one of the reasons I have found skill-based RPGs superior to class based systems. As my player group has changed periodically over time I found that many of the newbies coming in were reliant on what the game's books told them about playing, not their own thinking about it from immersion into their make-believe persons.

With a skill-based game the player must think about his game character, what can be done and what is not easily possible. Players are reminded of this when asked continually by the GM, "How will your PC do that? What skill will be used to manage that?"

that said, sometimes with I am running an LA game I get annoyed and say what Ability (skill set bundle) they should be using for theior Avatar to accomplish some desired act. Of course it is easier from the GM's role to grasp more easily such choice than it is for the player that is under the pressure of game situational stress.

I do hope I made sense there

Cheers,
Gary

Col_Pladoh said:

I do hope I made sense there

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In a nutshell: you worry about what your character is doing and how he does it, and I'll worry about the numbers.

This I've found is most glaring when using the social skills. All too often you get a player who says, "I roll diplomacy to make him see things my way," instead of explaining what he says, or, even what "his way" is.

I suppose the best way to go about it is to simply try and take the numbers out of it. Let me (the DM) worry about the figures and how they interact, I just want to know what your PC does.

Moving on: I'm checking out your LA Quickstart rules, and they look very interesting; not so different from something I've been wanting to do myself: take the rigidity of classes and such out of the equation and just let the PC be what he is, even if that happens to be a mage who can swing a greatsword, or rogue that augments his abilities with magics.

Are there any plans to release more of these books in PDF? I've got too many books as it is, and its way easier to just expand my hard drive space then it is to add a wing to my house for more books.

Aegir said:

Are there any plans to release more of these books in PDF? I've got too many books as it is, and its way easier to just expand my hard drive space then it is to add a wing to my house for more books.

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There's a basic set available from Troll Lord Games (www.trolllord.com) and the three volume hard backs will be forthcoming from the same company. ^_^

Col_Pladoh said:

Howdy,



As if WotC and Hasbro would consult me about such a thing. With that in mind, why would I spend any of my valuable time pondering such a question? That would be completely vaccous nethinks.

Being familiar with how motion pictures are made, such a decision would be up to the director and the casting people, so I would have no say in the matter even if I was a story consultant.

To the point, though, i have never thought about the matter, and I do not have any actors in mind. I wouldn't mind seeing Vin Deisel as Mordie, though. That's because he is a D&D fan, of course.

Cheers,
Gary

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Dear Gary,

Not to push or anything, but how about a general description of how they are supposed to look. I am running them as NPCs and I would like to use better descriptions than "a big jovial man" or "an aging man " for Robliar and Mordie and i figured I'd go to the source