TSR Q&A with Gary Gygax

Col_Pladoh · Feb 14, 2005

francisca said:
Agreed, with Fritz Leiber thrown in for good measure.

I avoided mentioning what authors I'd add beynd the two giants in horror and swords $ sorcery. I agree that Fritz is a likely candidate, and Ray Bradbury and Jack Vance as well as Phil Farmer are also on my short list.

What about Edgar Rice Burroughs?!

Cheers,
Gary

Col_Pladoh · Feb 14, 2005

Gray Mouser said:
Gah! And no Fritz Leiber???? What gives?!

Gray Mouser

See above

I knew Fritz fairly well, and he was a fine fellow. In truth he is not a important to the shaping of the genres as were Howard and Lovecraft.

Cheers,
Gary

Col_Pladoh · Feb 14, 2005

Gray Mouser said:
Isn't "life leech" a power from Gamma World? I've never played MA (although it sounds pretty cool from what you and others have said). Also, I assume PSH stands for "pure strain human", which, iirc, was also a GW race. Was there overlap between these games?

MA was dne before GW, and IMO it was a much better game. The Blumes "helped" Jim Ward to revise his MA game for GW, and thus much good material was lost.

I know you designed a module for Gamma World, did you do any for MA? (I'm not even aware if there were any published scenarios!)

No modules were written for MA, sad to say...

[/QUOTE]Oh, and if you want to share your PC character sheets for MA (or GW) feel free

(re: "You should see my Metamorphosis Alpha PCs.."

).[/QUOTE]

Thanks, but no. I have them for my use when playing the game--although it has been almost three years since last I had the pleasure of visiting the Starship Warden with James M. Ward as Game Master.

[/QUOTE]Man, she's smart

BTW, if you really want to enjoy sashimi or sushi I suggest getting a top quality sake to go with it. Brings out the flavor. A good Japanese beer will also do

[/QUOTE]

Right-o! Cold saki out of a wooden drinking box is not something I recommend, though :uhoh:

Cheers,
Gary

Col_Pladoh · Feb 14, 2005

BOZ said:
astounding! i think i will make one of those for the next PC i make.

Heh, Boz,

You'd never guess that I really had a lot of fun RPGing, eh? Or that i wasn't one who took myself or my PCs too seriously either... :lol:

Cheerio,
Gary

Col_Pladoh · Feb 14, 2005

nerfherder said:
That's the fun of these lists, though - to discuss who they got wrong

The first name that sprung to my mind was John Wyndham.

To be honest, I was surprised to see Gary's name on the list. Not because I thought he didn't deserve to be, but because I didn't think that many people appreciated the influence he has had. Kudos to SFX!

Cheers,
Liam

Dude!

Hats off and make a leg when you are soeaking of me. After all, Sync Magazine ranked me #1 on their list of the 50 greatest all-time nerds!!!

BTW, John Wyndham, is a nome de plume, no?

Cheers,
Gary

eyebeams · Feb 14, 2005

Col_Pladoh said:
Heh...

When most of the play is action-based, there isn't much need to check on non-cmbat tasks. When needed, though, I do have a chack made against a stat, with such modification as I deem appropriate for the circumstances.

Cheers,
Gary

Thank you. Are these checks on 1d20? 3d6?

I'm thinking I might use a mix of your idea and the AD&D system. Maybe I'll give each character one "trade." Tasks where that trade applies are made with a 4d6 (roll under) check. If the character doesn't have the trade, it's 5d6 or impossible. Maybe at a high enough level you can choose a second trade or to jump to "Master" level, rolling on 3d6.

I'm also interested in the idea of using hit dice for checks (kind of like you did when you talked about orcs grappling a PC). I wonder what else I could apply that to? Lots of good ideas there.

Oh, one more question: The original rules talked about games using up to 20 players -- not a common thing these days! With that in mind, I can see why folks had treasure division agreements, callers and such. Did you run many games of this size? What was it like?

nerfherder · Feb 14, 2005

Col_Pladoh said:
Dude!

Hats off and make a leg when you are soeaking of me. After all, Sync Magazine ranked me #1 on their list of the 50 greatest all-time nerds!!!

BTW, John Wyndham, is a nome de plume, no?

Cheers,
Gary

Hehe!

Since I have no hat, I'll be sure to tug my forelock instead.

I didn't know that about John Wyndham, but a quick bit of research revealed to me that his name was John Wyndham Parkes Lucas Beynon Harris. I just remember as a youngster reading and loving Chocky, the Midwich Cuckoos, Trouble with Lichen, and The Day of the Triffids.

Cheers,
Liam

Gray Mouser · Feb 14, 2005

BOZ said:
has he done any sci-fi?

As much as JRRT

Actually more. There's one episode in The Swords of Lankhmar where Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser encounter a German-speaking dimensional traveller who's collecting multi-headed sea-dragons. IIRC, the German uses a sort of spaceship to travel between worlds.

and yes, HPL missing from that list is certainly astonishing.

You know, I've always primarily thought of HPL as neither a fantasy nor a science fiction author. I guess the Dreamquest of Unknown Kadath might qualify as the former but he sure never scribed what I would consider a stereotypical SF story.

Gray Mouser

Gray Mouser · Feb 14, 2005

Col_Pladoh said:
See above I knew Fritz fairly well, and he was a fine fellow. In truth he is not a important to the shaping of the genres as were Howard and Lovecraft.

Cheers,
Gary

Yeah, Leiber was less of an influence in the shaping of the genre, I agree. That being said, I still think he did some fine work and his writings have given me a lot of inspiration in my gaming (go figure with my handle, huh?

).

And I can't believe that I forgot to add Jack Vance on my own! He was another author that I read specifically because of his influence on D&D and was quite happily surprised. A great master of prose and it's a shame that more Dying Earth novels were never written (picked up most of mine on a trip to England and had read them by the time I was headed home!).

BTW, anyone know if Vance is still kicking about? I think he was born in 1916 (or there abouts) but I'd like to know if I should keep hope alive for further adventures of Cugel, Rhialto and company.

Gray Mouser

Gray Mouser · Feb 14, 2005

Col_Pladoh said:
MA was dne before GW, and IMO it was a much better game. The Blumes "helped" Jim Ward to revise his MA game for GW, and thus much good material was lost.

Thanks for the clarification, Colonel. I knew MA preceeded GW but never played (or even saw) the former). That explains the crossovers, too.

Oh, and if you want to share your PC character sheets for MA (or GW) feel free (re: "You should see my Metamorphosis Alpha PCs.." ).

Click to expand...

Thanks, but no. I have them for my use when playing the game--although it has been almost three years since last I had the pleasure of visiting the Starship Warden with James M. Ward as Game Master.

Yeah, I know about your policy about not giving out stats for your PCs but I had to ask, given the opening you presented

Right-o! Cold saki out of a wooden drinking box is not something I recommend, though

Cheers,
Gary

Heh, I've heard that some sake is good cold, but I do prefer mine warmed.

Gray Mouser

TSR Q&A with Gary Gygax

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