TSR Q&A with Gary Gygax

oldschooler · Mar 31, 2005

I think what my buddy Gary is saying is: when it comes to ANYTHING owned by WotC (including, but not limited to D&D, AD&D & Greyhawk) he'd just rather not risk the threat of the legal backlashing constantly hanging over his dear head. As stated before (many times and on many different forums) any questions relating to such material are better aimed at WotC themselves. This is one of the reasons his current game (Lejendary Adveture) spells legendary with a "j" instead of a "g".

Having said that, Gary: Is there any part of AD&D that you wrote (i.e. in the original Monster Manual, Players Handbook or Dungeon Masters Guide) but would'nt actually use in a game run by yourself?
I know from previous posts that you don't use Weapon Speed, Weapon vs. Armor Class and Psionics. But what about stuff like age affecting abilities, or whatever? Do you even play Advanced D&D nowadays? I'd like to know where your current gaming preference lies; As well as what games you plan to use most in the future, and to what extent (house rules, "by the book", etc..)?
Hopfully, this will be a catch-all question to cover many that tend to come up over and over, and allow you to tend to more important matters (like family, Castle Zagyg, LA, etc.)!

Orius · Mar 31, 2005

Col_Pladoh said:
Where on earth such a notion came from is quite beyond me...and beyond the pale. Paladins have no requirement of celibacy, and those of the troubador bent can be unchaste as well. How they fare with that is a matter of what deity they honor, of course.

My guess is that people looked at some medieval knightly orders like the Knights Templar that were required to be celibate, and assumed that something similar applied to the generic (A)D&D paladin.

Orius · Mar 31, 2005

Col_Pladoh said:
Well that makes no sense for anyone to do, as the Templars were holy knights and warriors, not paladins.

That may be the case, but over the years the (A)D&D paladin has been seen as a sort of archtypical holy warrior. I think people don't really look at the historical peers of Charlemagne, but rather the presentation of them in the medieval romances. As a result, the concept of the paladin has become something of an amalgam of Roland and his companions, the Knights of the Round Table, and historical orders like the Templars.

Gentlegamer · Apr 1, 2005

Gary, did you ever work out specific rules for the benefits that the barbarian tertiary skills bestow for such characters? Or were they to meant to be loose and adjudicated ad hoc by the Dungeon Master?

NewJeffCT · Apr 1, 2005

Orius said:
That may be the case, but over the years the (A)D&D paladin has been seen as a sort of archtypical holy warrior. I think people don't really look at the historical peers of Charlemagne, but rather the presentation of them in the medieval romances. As a result, the concept of the paladin has become something of an amalgam of Roland and his companions, the Knights of the Round Table, and historical orders like the Templars.

I think you've hit the nail on the head, Orius. While the paladins of Charlemagne were the ones behind the original idea of the paladin, many gamers have tended to think more of the medieval holy warriors/templars & Knights of the Round Table where chastity was a virtue, if not a requirement.

Nothing in the main writeups in the 1E, 2E, 3E or 3.5 player's handbooks lists this specific requirement, but my experience has been that it's kind of an unwritten rule that the paladin shall not engage in sex, shall have no love interest, etc.

Granted, my gaming experience has been limited to a relatively small group of players over 25 years, and I have never been to a gaming convention. However, my original college had a rather large D&D club in the mid-80s when I was there and I was pretty active in that group and gamed with quite a few at that time. So, it's not like I've been gaming with the same group for that whole time, either.

And, I don't want people to think my gaming experiences are a bunch of guys running into every brothel in town... most of the time, any PC sex or romance is "off screen" or "off camera" though a while back we did have a real-life boyfriend/girlfriend who also had an in-game romance that was done well, IMO.

Col_Pladoh · Apr 2, 2005

Patryn of Elvenshae said:
Or made of marshmallow ...

Err...

That went over my head... Maybe I shouldn't have ducked.

Cheers,
Gary

Col_Pladoh · Apr 2, 2005

Gentlegamer said:
But surely they can slyly be alluded to?

Not very "slyly" after this exchange :\

Point of order: why would we want to sell WotC's adventure material when we could sell out own by having transporters send PCs to new modules we devise for that purpose? :lol:

Cheers,
Gary

Col_Pladoh · Apr 2, 2005

oldschooler said:
...

Having said that, Gary: Is there any part of AD&D that you wrote (i.e. in the original Monster Manual, Players Handbook or Dungeon Masters Guide) but would'nt actually use in a game run by yourself?

I know from previous posts that you don't use Weapon Speed, Weapon vs. Armor Class and Psionics. But what about stuff like age affecting abilities, or whatever? Do you even play Advanced D&D nowadays? I'd like to know where your current gaming preference lies; As well as what games you plan to use most in the future, and to what extent (house rules, "by the book", etc..)?

Hopfully, this will be a catch-all question to cover many that tend to come up over and over, and allow you to tend to more important matters (like family, Castle Zagyg, LA, etc.)!

Generally speaking, when I DM AD&D, which OI do now and again, the areas you note above are the only rules I don't use. As I am not running an ongoing campaign, there's no need to worry about age, save when creating NPCs.

I never did create house rules, but I seldom open a book either. I create much material and referee on the fly as the players have their characters interact with the game environment.

Cheers,
Gary

Col_Pladoh · Apr 2, 2005

Gentlegamer said:
Gary, did you ever work out specific rules for the benefits that the barbarian tertiary skills bestow for such characters? Or were they to meant to be loose and adjudicated ad hoc by the Dungeon Master?

Right! As you conclude, the DM was the one expected to manage the tertiart skills of a barbarian character

Cheers,
Gary

ScottyG · Apr 2, 2005

Gary, how were the AD&D training rules supposed to apply to multi-class characters? Would a 1/1 level fighter/magic-user have to stop and spend time training and pay the training costs two times for the character to reach level 2/2?
Scott

TSR Q&A with Gary Gygax

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Orius

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Col_Pladoh

Gary Gygax

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Gary Gygax

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Gary Gygax

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Gary Gygax

ScottyG

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