TSR Q&A with Gary Gygax

haakon1 · Oct 3, 2005

Col_Pladoh said:
My parents, particularly my mother, encouraged me to gain a command of language. She read to me, and encouraged me to read on my own--I preferred being read to, but it soon became evident to me that to get all the reading I desired I'd have to go it on my own.

Later she would challenge me to compete against her in the Reader's Digest "It pays to increase your word power" tests, and I hated to lose as at first I did regularly.

Many of the friends I associated with also had large vocabularies, and so it only seems natural to me to use the best word one knows to describe or convey information, the one that best conveys what is meant.

Aww. My mom used to read to me too, some of it near-fantasy like "The Wind in the Willows". Those are some good parenting tips, I think -- I like her making vocabulary into a competitive game.

Col_Pladoh · Oct 3, 2005

haakon1 said:
Aww. My mom used to read to me too, some of it near-fantasy like "The Wind in the Willows". Those are some good parenting tips, I think -- I like her making vocabulary into a competitive game.

That competition aided me greatly in comprehendng many of the books I decided I wished to read, such as Poe and some old history books in grandfather's library.

Cheers,
Gary

airwalkrr · Oct 8, 2005

Gary,

It's so much fun to read your responses to these questions and reminisce about old times of older editions and such. Until recently, I never paid much attention to these Q&A threads because they were so long! But I've been going back and reading them and there is a wealth of interesting information. Anyway...

I know you don't particularly care for WoG much anymore, but perhaps you could deign to answer a question about lost lore from a diehard fan of the richest campaign setting. It is my understanding that you were at some point working on a supplement that detailed the city of Stoink in the Bandit Lands entitled The Wasp's Nest or something like that. What ever happened to that supplement and is it possible there are still remnants of the work that was done on it? The Wasp's Nest is one of my favorite locales. Thanks!

Col_Pladoh · Oct 8, 2005

airwalkrr said:
Gary,

It's so much fun to read your responses to these questions and reminisce about old times of older editions and such. Until recently, I never paid much attention to these Q&A threads because they were so long! But I've been going back and reading them and there is a wealth of interesting information. Anyway...

Howdy Airwalker

Glad to provide some reading entertainment, of course.

Speaking of that, an old associate, Bill Speer, one of the co-founders of the International Federation of Wargaming (with Scott Duncan and me) just sent some old black & white pics form the first IFW gaming con out in Malvern PA in 1967, and that was a revelation. Now most everyone depicted looks like a kid to me...(just as I look like an old fart to most everyone) :lol:

I know you don't particularly care for WoG much anymore, but perhaps you could deign to answer a question about lost lore from a diehard fan of the richest campaign setting. It is my understanding that you were at some point working on a supplement that detailed the city of Stoink in the Bandit Lands entitled The Wasp's Nest or something like that. What ever happened to that supplement and is it possible there are still remnants of the work that was done on it? The Wasp's Nest is one of my favorite locales. Thanks!

Sadly...
All of my notes and the Stoink map were purloined when Lorraine williams took over TSR. Thus I am a loss to add anything, other than to say that I had much fun devising and having the PCs adventure in Stoink, "The Wasps' Nest" as it were. The whole place was designed for feloneous activity, double-dealing, and thuggery. It saddened me a lot to have to forget further development, as was the case with Shadowland and a couple of areas of the Flanaess I had hoped to ser adventure modules in--the Rift, Scarlet Brotherhood, and the jungles of Hepmonoland in particular.

Cheers,
Gary

Cheers,
Gary

haakon1 · Oct 10, 2005

D&D Movie

Gary - Did you see the D&D 2 movie on SciFi? I thought it was far closer to the game, and a much better movie, than D&D 1. I'm guessing you had no involvement in either movie, and maybe haven't seen 'em?

Anyhow, both movies are like "fan fiction" of homebrew campaigns, not official TSR/WOTC IP everywhere, but D&D 2 has a lot of 1st Edition references -- the party veterans mention in passing Jubilex, the Barrier Peaks, the Shrine of the Kuo-Toa, and the Ghost Tower of Inverness.

jdrakeh · Oct 10, 2005

haakon1 said:
Gary - Did you see the D&D 2 movie on SciFi? I thought it was far closer to the game, and a much better movie, than D&D 1. I'm guessing you had no involvement in either movie, and maybe haven't seen 'em?

Dude - he's in the first D&D movie

[Edit: My bad. I guess that was Dave Arneson.]

Col_Pladoh · Oct 10, 2005

haakon1 said:
Gary - Did you see the D&D 2 movie on SciFi? I thought it was far closer to the game, and a much better movie, than D&D 1. I'm guessing you had no involvement in either movie, and maybe haven't seen 'em?

Anyhow, both movies are like "fan fiction" of homebrew campaigns, not official TSR/WOTC IP everywhere, but D&D 2 has a lot of 1st Edition references -- the party veterans mention in passing Jubilex, the Barrier Peaks, the Shrine of the Kuo-Toa, and the Ghost Tower of Inverness.

Indeed, I had the misfortune of seeing the first D&D movie, nothing to do with it.

The same is true of the new, second movie, but thankfully it was much better I thought. The producers gave me a private showing, and then had me do a spot on the DVD version commenting on the film, so I had "something" to do with it--answer questions after the fact. I really liked the thief character in the new one

Cheers,
Gary

Col_Pladoh · Oct 10, 2005

jdrakeh said:
Dude - he's in the first D&D movie

[Edit: My bad. I guess that was Dave Arneson.]

Oops!
Right. It was Dave Arneson, and he would have been disturbed had you not remembered it was he is in that movie, not me

Cheers,
Gary

Joseph Elric Smith · Oct 10, 2005

Hmm going to have to rent the DVD so I can hear your comments
Ken

Col_Pladoh said:
Indeed, I had the misfortune of seeing the first D&D movie, nothing to do with it.

The same is true of the new, second movie, but thankfully it was much better I thought. The producers gave me a private showing, and then had me do a spot on the DVD version commenting on the film, so I had "something" to do with it--answer questions after the fact. I really liked the thief character in the new one

Cheers,
Gary

Col_Pladoh · Oct 10, 2005

Joseph Elric Smith said:
Hmm going to have to rent the DVD so I can hear your comments
Ken

I suspect the producres hoped you'd BUY the DVD because of my appearance :lol:

Cheers,
Gary

TSR Q&A with Gary Gygax

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