TSR Q&A with Gary Gygax

Gray Mouser · Feb 9, 2005

Col_Pladoh said:
Spoken (virtually) as one who doesn't find roast leg of mutton a delicate dish, and spurns a breaded veal kidney chop

I have to admit I find lam only OK. As for the veal kidney, well I liek veal but not kidney!

How about flaming plum pudding or a trifle for desert after the double Gloster, Chesshire and Stilton cheese course?

Heh,
Gary

Now these I can get on board with!

Gray Mouser

Lassiviren · Feb 9, 2005

Hey Gary,

Thanks for taking a chance and pioneering a great game and publishing such great personal iconics and locations, ie WoG, my preferred setting.

Also if you are ever on the west coast there are some fine Ethiopian restaurants in the Berkley area and all around the Bay area in general.

Be Well.

loki44 · Feb 9, 2005

Col_Pladoh said:
Indeed, and I forgot to mention Ethopian cuisine, one of my favorites but difficult to find. The best restaurant serving it that i have come across is the Blue Nile in Washington DC.
Gary

Hey, if you're ever down in Atlanta gimme a holler and I'll hook you up with some fine Ethiopian grub....and just about any other cuisine you mentioned plus some, though I may be hard pressed to find Hungarian.

You seem to be a big fan of kidneys, what other sweetmeats do you enjoy? I'm a tripe man myself. Nothing better than a steaming bowl of menudo or pho on a cold rainy day.

alleynbard · Feb 9, 2005

Col_Pladoh said:
The best restaurant serving it that i have come across is the Blue Nile in Washington DC.

There is a restaurant here in Columbus, OH named the Blue Nile and it is pretty tasty Ethiopian. If you ever get into town for Origins or some such thing then I highly recommend it.

Speaking of cons, I understand your health prevents a great deal of activity but are there any cons you might be able to make in this coming year?

Most of the questions I would have asked have been answered. I eagerly await the arrival of Castle Zagyg and I want to express my thanks as well. I discovered D&D and AD&D when I was 8. It turned a frustrated and bored child into an imaginative individual. It taught me a great many things and gave me a place to express thoughts that had no previous outlet. The whole while my mother was leery, she believed much of the hideous propganda of the 80's, but I know I would never have become the socially adept individual I am today if I had not been introduced to the game. I lanquished in school out of sheer boredom but through skills that I learned while playing D&D I became more focused. Today I am a writer as well as a Public Relations manager for an educational theatre company in Columbus, OH. I now have an opportunity to help kids like myself become greater than they first appear. And I account my early exposure to such a satisfying hobby as one of the foundations this is built upon.

Ack... I ramble. Just wanted to say thanks for all that you have done.

Anabstercorian · Feb 10, 2005

Col_Pladoh said:
What about OAD&D?

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

alleynbard · Feb 10, 2005

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

Its commonly known as 1st ed. But some of us grognards like to call it OAD&D because, essentially, all other editions pale in comparison.

broghammerj · Feb 10, 2005

Col_Pladoh said:
Did you know that a proper steak & kidney pie has three sorts in it? That is lamb, veal, and beef kidney. With a thick but flakey crust one makes a lovely supper with a glass of Bordeaux

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

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

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

Jdvn1 · Feb 10, 2005

Col_Pladoh said:
Indeed, and I forgot to mention Ethopian cuisine, one of my favorites but difficult to find. The best restaurant serving it that i have come across is the Blue Nile in Washington DC.

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.

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

Col_Pladoh said:
What about OAD&D?

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...

Col_Pladoh said:
Heh, well, as long as the creativity is put to useful ends, right!

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

Virel · Feb 10, 2005

Col_Pladoh said:
Your testimonial is most appreciated. While the game was created and purveyed for fun and entertainment, i did realize it had beneficial effects in regards learning and creativity

Yes indeed! I advertised in teracher's magaznes for interested ones to sign up for information about instructional classrom adventure modules using the D&D game system, then I hired a Ph.D in Educational Psychology, Dr. Don Snow. We had over 3,000 teachers on a mailing list, and modules for math and science completes when the Blume brothers decided that my idea was useless. They dropped the idea for the line and put Dr. don to work on ordinary editing. No need to relate what I thought of that, but if the tems "fools" comes to mind, I am understanding.

<snip>

Welcone,
Gary

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?

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.

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!

T. Foster · Feb 10, 2005

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? 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? 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,

TSR Q&A with Gary Gygax

Gray Mouser

First Post

Lassiviren

First Post

loki44

Explorer

alleynbard

First Post

Anabstercorian

First Post

alleynbard

First Post

broghammerj

Explorer

Jdvn1

Hanging in there. Better than the alternative.

Virel

First Post

T. Foster

First Post

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