TSR Q&A with Gary Gygax

RFisher · Feb 11, 2005

Col_Pladoh said:
In brief: We are using the three booklets. HP rolls are re-done if a 1 comes up. Fighters add +1 per die, and all PCs add +1 if their Con is above 14. Fighters add +1 damage for Str above 14. Dex does not affect AC just missile attacks. That's about it.

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.

So, no thieves?

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

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?)

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.)

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

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)?

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

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

Jdvn1 · Feb 11, 2005

*bump*
I hope Gary's okay.

T. Foster · Feb 11, 2005

One of the players in Gary's current OD&D campaign just posted a session summary at dragonsfoot.org from a session held yesterday (Feb. 10, 2005), so I suspect that's the reason why Gary hasn't dropped by -- they used up all his 'gaming mojo' for the day in actual play

Here's the post if you're curious.

Col_Pladoh · Feb 12, 2005

Napftor said:
Hello again, Gary. These threads just keep getting more interesting.

While we're on topic of the D&D cartoon (which I love and watch an episode of every Sat. morning to this day), which script was your favorite and why? Same questions for which writer (I'm partial to Michael Reaves but Jeffrey Scott was prolific and maintained some good quality as well).

Of course I preferred those scripts for which I suggested the springboards, but after all these years my memory of the lot is pretty fuzzy. All of my videotapes of the show are lost.

I can say that that Michael Reeves unproduced script, Requim, meant to be the concluding eisode of for the series, is IMO the best.

Cheers,
Gary

Col_Pladoh · Feb 12, 2005

TerraDave said:
We do have quite a few Ethiopian and Eritrean restraunts here...I noticed Thai and Vietnamese where not on your list, perhaps something to add?

Ohh, and there is quite a difference between the leg of the lamb and the kidney of the lamb...but a glass of Bordeux is always tres bien , to bad it is so expensive here in the states

In any case, as always this has been a great Q&A, thanks for this and so much more Gary!

Thai and Vietnamese cuisine tend to be a bit too hot for my taste (and stomach), so they are in my third tier of foods.

Actually, I prefer mutton to mutton to lamb, for the former has more flavor, but it is very difficult to get mutton here these days.

I also enjoy the top Burgundies of France, and it is sad for us that all good wine is so blasted expensive here

Cheers,
Gary

Col_Pladoh · Feb 12, 2005

trollwad said:
since it is a non-wog product, you wont give 'official' guidance on where to place yggsburgh. but, unofficially, if your fans pleaded for some potential locations for yggsburgh on the WOG map, where might "some miles south (of greyhawk)" be?

presumably north of hardby. possibly on the western edge of the marshes between greyhawk and hardby (since the yggsburgh map seems to have swampy lake on it), about halfway between those two larger cities? Then, simply move 'zagyg's castle in the setting to this location rather than its official WOG setting just to the north of the city and then I can use your new material and not have to obsolesce my WOG collection?

Thanks

To make a long explanation short, the introductory portion of the module covers that, placing Yggsburgh on the River Nemo running some miles distant to a majot city named Dunfalcon that is on the shore of a large lake...

"This module is large in content but the area of land it covers is relatively small, a bit less than 1,500 square miles, an area of some 44 miles east and west, 34 north and south. With some inclusion of areas “off the map,” that size is sufficient for much adventuring but should be small enough, at most perhaps 3,000 or so square miles if all the border areas described in the adventure text are included, to fit into the campaign world, whatever one is used by the Game Master. The area is likewise suitable to serve as the core for building a complete new campaign world around it should that be desired, a major undertaking to be sure, and not a subject for further discussion here."

Cheers,
Gary

Col_Pladoh · Feb 12, 2005

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

Now these I can get on board with!

Gray Mouser

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

A flaming plum pudding is indeed something special, and about the only way to get one is to make it oneself.

Cheers,
Gary

Col_Pladoh · Feb 12, 2005

Lassiviren said:
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.

Welcome, of course.

It has been about 10 years since i was in the SF Bay area. As I recall there weren't a lot of Ethopian restaurants around back then, but we did enjoy some excellent Chinese food. Gail, Alex, and I drove up Highway 1 from LA to SF, stopping along the way to enjoy the sights on the way for my appearance at Berkeley and several game shops, of course.

Cheers,
Gary

Col_Pladoh · Feb 12, 2005

loki44 said:
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.

Well, I must confess I am not a fan of tripe--save as sausage casing--even though my father enjoyed them. I like sweetbreads, brains and eggs, and liver

Cheers,
Gary

Col_Pladoh · Feb 12, 2005

alleynbard said:
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?

Appreciate the heads-up for the Ethiopian place in Columbus.

There is a chance that I'll be at the Canadian National Game Exposition in Toronto at the end of August. That's the extent of my convention plans for this 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.

Your good words regarding the benefit of RPG activity are apreciated! It does seem that a goodly number of participants are benefited considerably by the game form, that it brings forth their potential in this or that field

Cheers,
Gary

TSR Q&A with Gary Gygax

RFisher

Explorer

Jdvn1

Hanging in there. Better than the alternative.

T. Foster

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Gary Gygax

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