TSR Q&A with Gary Gygax

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This is the multi-year Q&A sessions held by D&D co-creator Gary Gygax here at EN World, beginning in 2002 and running up until his sad pasing in 2008. Gary's username in the thread below is Col_Pladoh, and his first post in this long thread is Post #39.

Gary_Gygax_Gen_Con_2007.jpg
 
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MerricB

Eternal Optimist
Supporter
Thanks muchly for the answers, Gary.

Another question for you:

Do female beards have dwarves? ;)


The other thing I should say is to thank you very much for the gaming anecdotes you've been giving us in the "On a Soapbox" column in Dragon. (I can seem to remember wishing for stuff like that back when you first revealed yourself to us on these boards, and lo! it appeared!)

Cheers!
 
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Nathal

Explorer
autobiography

Col_Pladoh said:
...yes, and I have a few dozen pages done, but it's not really an autobiography yet, just a lot of recorded incidents and the like.

Gary


I remember asking Gary if he was ever going to write an autobiography and he responded, "when they are selling slushies in hell!". :p

Why the change of heart?:
 

Teedoff101

First Post
Question for Gary: As you can tell, DnD has spawned into its own cult. Are you proud of creating a game that so many people (including myself) play constantly? My DM is a huge fan and when he is not doing work, I find him re-reading the DM guide or the Players Handbook for what seems to be the 10,000th time. Congrats on this great accomplishment Gary.
 


Col_Pladoh

Gary Gygax
Harlock said:


If you swing toward evil on the alignment scale you could always become a reviewer when you retire.

What do you plan to do when you retire?

What do you do now as a break from writing? Of course reading previous responses I am not quite certain a "break from writing" may exist for you.

Heh, and many a reviewer is of evil alignment. Not a bad idea, though, especially if I could do history and imaginative fiction in the main.

If I ever retire, I'll spend more time playing games, read more again, and get in some travel too, perhaps. Of course reading and seeing different places inspires me to write...

When I need a break I usually read (non-gaming material) or watch something of interest on the telly. Now and then we get out to a movie ot visit a friend. What I realy need is a long vacation in some distant place--or at least a place different from the usual ;)

Gary
 

Col_Pladoh

Gary Gygax
Fourecks said:


That would totally ROCK! If only I were worthy...

Fact is that I have a very rough pencil sketch done of a castle--a map with some ideas as to how the original material and some new ideas might be merged to create a setting that contains elements of the original, plus added fun.

I'll fiddle with it now and then as I get time, meanwhile make notes and see what gels. If all that works, I'll have a good idea as to the size of the work projected, the time needed. Then it will be decided if it's a go or not. If it is a go of course I'll leave hooks in the module so as to allow for expansion if that's desired by the audience. That way a potentially massive project can be bitten off in "digestable" chunks. Furthermore, with a base done, I might be able to enlist co-designers to assist in the development of the possible whole. I do have--somewhere on this machine--a file outlining a version of the castle and dungeons that would reflect the original and be managable as a series of releases.

Gary
 

Col_Pladoh

Gary Gygax
MerricB said:
Thanks muchly for the answers, Gary.

Another question for you:

Do female beards have dwarves? ;)


The other thing I should say is to thank you very much for the gaming anecdotes you've been giving us in the "On a Soapbox" column in Dragon. (I can seem to remember wishing for stuff like that back when you first revealed yourself to us on these boards, and lo! it appeared!)

Cheers!

Damn! I tried trolling this board a while back to see if I could get any anti-female-bearded-dwarf folks all het up. Lackaday! Seems that those folks have finally coped wise to the fact I was jesting.

Glad to learn you enjoy those little tales of the old days of D&Ding. Thank Dave Gross for getting me started. I have only a few left, though. Likely I should be writing more now, but as nobody from DRAGON is hollering at me, I'll not worry... :rolleyes:

Gary
 

Col_Pladoh

Gary Gygax
Re: autobiography

Nathal said:


I remember asking Gary if he was ever going to write an autobiography and he responded, "when they are selling slushies in hell!". :p

Why the change of heart?:

Did I really say that? Hmmm... No matter, as I am not seriously writing an autobiography, simply recording some memories of things that I liked, found amuising or telling. Fact is, though, that so many persons have urged me to do the deed that one day I might seriously undertake it. It is a lot of work, though, and organizing the material is quite a task in itself. Meantime, I have a lot of gaming stuff to look to :)

Gary
 

Col_Pladoh

Gary Gygax
Teedoff101 said:
Question for Gary: As you can tell, DnD has spawned into its own cult. Are you proud of creating a game that so many people (including myself) play constantly? My DM is a huge fan and when he is not doing work, I find him re-reading the DM guide or the Players Handbook for what seems to be the 10,000th time. Congrats on this great accomplishment Gary.

No questuion that I am very happy to have created something that has brought so much fun and enjoyment to millions of people world wide! The best part is receiving emails from fellow gamers who have been helped in various ways by the game. That, amigo, is really heartening.

Secondarily, the creativity that my work has encouraged is also very satisfying to me. Fact is that I believe that RPGers are a well-above-average lot, and that they are also highly creative (and opinionated) group. The full results of the stimulation from the D&D game and other material I've done has yet to be seen and assessed. I am sure that there'll be some great things to come from this. Being the primer of the creative pump for so many people is somewhat overwhealming to me. In all, I hope that I did a good job of it, and I expect to be emulated soon, using that word in its true meaning :eek:

Gary
 

Col_Pladoh

Gary Gygax
sword-dancer said:
A few other questions from german threads, not from me.

quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Why it gives Swords + 3 or something ???
Why is an Mage so Poweerless at the beginning ?
Why did you choose the vancian magic system ?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


As for the +3, or whatever, on weapons or anything else, I am nor really sure of the reference here, the "it" in "Why it..." I'll take a stab at it anyway (pun intended): In creating a game there are certain systems used to reflect ther "magical." The plusses are a means to quantify "magic," the extraordinary.

Powerless magic-users at first level? Ha! That's an old question, and one I can deal with easily using the OAD&D rules, the main origination of the m-u in most play. Questioner, you be an ogre, a big strong 4th-level monster. I am a poor weak magic-user. We are at 30-foot distance. You move to attack, I cast my Sleep spell. You loose. So, now I'll be any other sort of PC, and you remain the ogre. You win...unless my character succeeds in running away.

The low-level magic-user is mainly a one- or two-shot weapon, but the "artillery" is potent. This fits well with a balanced party of low-level PCs, none of wom are really very strong singly.

I chose to use a system of magic inspired by the worls of Jack Vance because it fit the whole of the game I devised. For example, think of an archer with a quiver of arrows. When one is shot, it is gone. Magic spells, more potent than arrows, are much the same. So archers need to select their arrows before going forth to battle, so too the m-us in the game.

Gary
 

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