TSR Q&A with Gary Gygax

zypherillius · Aug 8, 2006

Mordenkanen progression?

Hello Mr. Gygax,

My name is Andy, and this is my first time posting to one of your threads, so pardon if this has been asked before, there are too many threads to read through to find one answer, so I figured I'd just ask here.

What level had Mordenkanen made it to before you decided to retire him, or he met his *gulp* untimely demise? *gulp*

Again, my apologies if you have answered this question before and if I spelled His name wrong, I don't have the spelling right in front of me.

Thanks Mr. Gygax!
Andy

BOZ · Aug 8, 2006

Col_Pladoh said:
:\

And not one groaning post regarding my clever pun on that:

"At least it doesn't grow south on you."

Maybe if I explain: Grow for go, south being a loss or bad, and moss being found on the north side of the tree trunk...

Gary

no, i got it... i just groaned silently.

Rakin · Aug 8, 2006

Gary,

Sorry for posting another question so quickly. Please don't take this as an attack, and I agree on your ideas that gaming isn't an "art" it's a game. But I can't help but notice that you also write novels in the same like settings as you would play your games in and to most writing, espeically novels, is considered art. How do you keep the 2 seperate? From maybe getting ideas for a novel in your head as you play? Or watching the gaming unfold in front of you like a fantasy novel and not go over the top and keep the game down to earth?

Treebore · Aug 8, 2006

Rakin said:
Hey Gary,
As someone that constantly feels that's more rewarding to flesh things out and figure things out myself, I rarley use or seek out tools to help my gaming, such as magazines, modules, premade maps and the such. I pretty much game only using the corebooks, a pencil, paper, character sheets, graph paper, and any notes I've written myself. I guess what my question is if I'm missing much? Or better yet what makes tabletop gaming fun for you or what makes it successful in your eyes? Is it the people you play with? Is it the story offered up by the GM? Is it the fights? Is it when something unpredictable happens? Is it when someone does something out of the ordinary to solve a puzzle? Or is it when others make you laugh ingame? Or something else. I know for most people they probably going to take the easy way out and say all of they above, doiy! But I was wondering if there was one certian thing that draws you to gaming.

I just want to make sure that my players are getting all that I can offer and that my obsession of that feeling I get when people usse something I create isn't getting in the way of my players having the best time they can. Thanks.

EDIT: Edited to offer up this question to anyone else reading in

I felt like you the first few years I played (DMed). Then it came up that my games were somewhat predictable. It probably helped that we had been playing my campaigns for a couple of years at that point, but my style was predictable. They convinced me they were right so I started using Dungeon adventures. I found that I liked adapting the adventures and ideas into my own campaign and the infusion of fresh, great ideas also helped motivated me to "do better". Plus I became far less "predicatble". Plus having the cool maps and many NPC's pre-gen'd for me were very nice bonuses.

So I say you are missing out on a lot. A ton of a lot. Such as Gary's Yggsburgh book. It may be made for C&C, but it still has a lot of classic Gary Fluff goodness for any setting. With lots more to come.

If you want recommendations start with Dungeon magazine, then check out the stuff put out by Necromancer (via Kenzer and White Wolf), Goodman Games, and Green Ronin. Then there are lots of others to try out form there.

Rakin · Aug 8, 2006

Hmm good advice.

I'm not too sure I have too much of a problem with predictability (I'd have to ask my players). I seem to stump them from time to time and try very hard to come up with twists to my adverntures.

But I do believe in your advice that at times my ideas can become stale. I guess my biggest fear is to get a certian play style stuck into my head, or reading something kind of subpar and get that stuck in my head and not being able to think of something better. Hmm, I guess what I'm trying to say is that instead of reading a lot of different things and trying to do as good or better than the "best" I hope to surpass it by accident, since I'm not setting any kind of bar, I'm not limiting myself.

Bah! Does any of that make sense? (Haha, and I doubt that I could really surpass any "professional" writer, maybe it's more of the idea that I might be keeps me kickin.

)

Col_Pladoh · Aug 8, 2006

ghul said:
At the root of it all, I lichen this to acorny form of punnery.

--Ghul

I'll go out on a limb and quip that if it didn't bole you over at least it made you bark up, plant a few punning attempts of your own. I won't go on for fear that I'll use some old chestnuts.

Cheers,
Gary

Col_Pladoh · Aug 8, 2006

grodog said:
To quote Bill the Cat: "Ack! Thbbbt!"

A most satisfying reaction, thank you very much

Cheers,
Gary

Col_Pladoh · Aug 8, 2006

zypherillius said:
Hello Mr. Gygax,

My name is Andy, and this is my first time posting to one of your threads, so pardon if this has been asked before, there are too many threads to read through to find one answer, so I figured I'd just ask here.

What level had Mordenkanen made it to before you decided to retire him, or he met his *gulp* untimely demise? *gulp*

Again, my apologies if you have answered this question before and if I spelled His name wrong, I don't have the spelling right in front of me.

Thanks Mr. Gygax!
Andy

Hi Andy,

He is alive and well, and as I still occasionally play Mordenkainen, as usual I will decline to answer questions about his stats and level. I will say he is over 20th level and has some great magic items, though. bigby is still two levels lower than Mordenkainen, BTW.

Cheers,
Gary

Col_Pladoh · Aug 8, 2006

BOZ said:
no, i got it... i just groaned silently.

Public groaning is so much more satisfying that I stoop to troll for it... :lol:

Cheers,
Gary

Col_Pladoh · Aug 8, 2006

Rakin said:
Gary,

Sorry for posting another question so quickly. Please don't take this as an attack, and I agree on your ideas that gaming isn't an "art" it's a game. But I can't help but notice that you also write novels in the same like settings as you would play your games in and to most writing, espeically novels, is considered art. How do you keep the 2 seperate? From maybe getting ideas for a novel in your head as you play? Or watching the gaming unfold in front of you like a fantasy novel and not go over the top and keep the game down to earth?

Howdy Pilgrim,

Allow me to respond in this manner:

Writing fiction and game mastering are not at all similar. In the former the author relates a story from beginning to end, and the reader is a spectator to events given in the work.

Game mastering requires a setting and an initial plot line, players to take the roles of the protagonists, NPCs and monsters to be the adversaries. From that beginning the players direct the action, create new plots, alter the setting by their actions, give the basis for an ex post facto story.

The sort of fiction I write is more of a craft than an art. Shakespeare wrote artfully, and I believe that Jack Vance does so in his genre, imaginative fiction

Cheers,
Gary

TSR Q&A with Gary Gygax

zypherillius

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BOZ

Creature Cataloguer

Rakin

First Post

Treebore

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Rakin

First Post

Col_Pladoh

Gary Gygax

Col_Pladoh

Gary Gygax

Col_Pladoh

Gary Gygax

Col_Pladoh

Gary Gygax

Col_Pladoh

Gary Gygax

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