TSR Q&A with Gary Gygax

Col_Pladoh · Jul 18, 2006

Gray Mouser said:
Hey Gary, I know you've said that notes for classes you were planning on (such as the Savant, Jester, and Montebank, IIRC) were lost after your exodus from TSR but I was wondering if you've since designed any new classes for use in your own personal A/D&D campaign. If so, I'd be very interested in hearing about them.=Gray Mouser]Hey Gary, I know you've said that notes for classes you were planning.

No, I have played only the published classes, reserving my creative urges for the new RPG designes I have done such as the Lejendary Adventure game

This fact is easily discernible to anyone who reads even a page or two of any of the 2e rule books. The difference in writing styles is marked. 2e seemed to talk down to the player whereas 1e assumed you had a rateable I.Q.

One can only assume that the bunch that did the revision truly thought that they knew best...

Lo, sons are a heritage from the LORD,
the fruit of the womb a reward.
Like arrows in the hand of a warrior
are the sons of one's youth.
Happy is the man who has
his quiver full of them!
He shall not be put to shame
when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.

Gray Mouser

An interesting piece of near free verse, that. I quite agree with its message.

Cheers,
Gary

Col_Pladoh · Jul 18, 2006

tzor said:
In one sense it depends on how you define "art" although few people who would claim a relationship between art and role playing would define it in such a way that might make sense. Art can be defined as opposed to science; the former being the "skill acquired by experience, study, or observation," as opposed to science which is "a department of systematized knowledge as an object of study." Thus we have the "Art" of rhetoric.

"It depends on that the meaning ofr 'is' is..." Right.

Beg pardon, but I think that is a plain old crock. There are creative and performing arts. and playing a game doesn't qualify in eithert sub-category, and that includes chess grand masters.

So in that way, while it is silly to call role playing in general art, it is proper to consider the art of various aspects of role playing. Are good DMs good because of a systematized knowledge or because of experience, study and observation? Is there a science of good DMing or an art of good DMing?

More weasel wording doesn't change the matter in the least. Don't be swayed by such sophistries. Is chewing gum a scievce or an art? How about picking one's nose? tell those pretentious ones to be honest. "Let's Pretend" is a game, and nothing more. Games can be entertaining, enjoyable, educational, and more, but playing them is nothimg more than that, playing a game.

Of course I'm convinced some people these days have quite a science to character generation. Makes we wish for the days when character creation was neither art nor sciene, but a series of superstitions on what to do before you rolled your attributes.

Now creating games does call for a good deal of logic, science in some cases, and perhaps there is art to be found in some designs. All of it is minor in regards humanity im general

Cheers,
Gary

Gray Mouser · Jul 18, 2006

Col_Pladoh said:
An interesting piece of near free verse, that. I quite agree with its message.

Well, the author was pretty wise in a lot of matters (see Pslam 127 for more info!)

Gray Mouser

Col_Pladoh · Jul 18, 2006

Gray Mouser said:
Well, the author was pretty wise in a lot of matters (see Pslam 127 for more info!)

Gray Mouser

I would have likely spotted it had the whole of the Psalm been quoted. I note that you used the Revised Standard Version.

Cheers,
Gary

Deuce Traveler · Jul 18, 2006

Gary, take a look at this...
http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?p=2956441#post2956441.

What I barely eluded to in that article I did for Silven Publishing, this gentleman took to whole new levels. I think you'll have yourself a grin over what he has to say.

Col_Pladoh · Jul 18, 2006

Deuce Traveler said:
Gary, take a look at this...
http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?p=2956441#post2956441.

What I barely eluded to in that article I did for Silven Publishing, this gentleman took to whole new levels. I think you'll have yourself a grin over what he has to say.

I do believe that the Good Mr. Stross is exaggerating for the sake of drama, although I did win a "Lifetime Achievement in Cool" from the Kerouac Fest...

Cheers,
Gary

Joël of the FoS · Jul 19, 2006

On Stross: I like it when people exagerate to make a point... He would have been taken more seriously with less.

"life achievement in cool" at the Kerouak fest? Hey, that's cool

What was it? A golden plaque on a 50's bumper car?

Who else got this award?

Joël

Priest_of_Boccob · Jul 19, 2006

Hello Mr.Gygax. First I would like to say thank you for your wonderful creation of the original DnD. I don't know what I would have done without it, so thank you very much.

I have played every edition of DnD, except for 1st edition, cause unfortunatly I can't find anyone to play 1st edition with

I know that you are not a fan of the latest editions of the game (which is quite understandable).

I would very much like to know what you think about a recent thread started about your influences in creating the game, and the possible influence of Tolkien (I know it may be a touchy subject, so I'm very sorry if I have annoyed you, that was not my intent).

the link is here: http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=669838&page=1&pp=30

...i know it is on the website of the company that now has control of DnD, Wizards of The Coast, but I couldn't think of any single person that could contribute more to the conversation on the thread than your self.

I would love to know what you think, so if you would care to reply, it would be greatly appreciated, even if you were to just give your thoughts in a post here on this site.

thank you.

MerricB · Jul 19, 2006

Col_Pladoh said:
Four of us played it [TTR:E] last night, and I elegantly beat the lot of them

Fantastic.

No, I have not seen it, but I was introduced to Quo Vadis and Condottieri (I hope I spelled those correctly) last night, and they are both enjoyable. I managed a narrow victory in the Roman Senate, but failed to win the battle for control of Italy

Argh! Too many good games to play! (You spelt both correctly, btw, Gary. At least, I could find them on boardgamegeek with your spelling...)

I've just picked up the expansion to the War of the Ring game - great game, but takes 2+ hours to play. It seems I'm not role-playing on Friday night, so I'll get a chance to play it. I've really begun to appreciate the games that only take 30-60 minutes to play, which we can engage ourselves in while waiting for others to turn up. (That reminds me, Ben recently picked up Around the World in Eighty Days, which I must get him to bring again - although it's not quite of the standard of TTR:E or Settlers, it was very enjoyable to play.)

Cheers!

MutieMoe · Jul 19, 2006

What are your thoughts on singleplayer computer RPG's and the online multiplayer games of today?

TSR Q&A with Gary Gygax

Col_Pladoh

Gary Gygax

Col_Pladoh

Gary Gygax

Gray Mouser

First Post

Col_Pladoh

Gary Gygax

Deuce Traveler

Adventurer

Col_Pladoh

Gary Gygax

Joël of the FoS

First Post

Priest_of_Boccob

First Post

MerricB

Eternal Optimist

MutieMoe

Explorer

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