TSR Q&A with Gary Gygax

ScottGLXIX · Nov 10, 2003

Gary, I know you aren’t a big fan of psionics. I always thought the psionic hermit from the Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth was a cool encounter though. I’m curious, did you ever have a regular, or semi-regular, PC in your campaign that possessed psionic abilities?
Scott

Col_Pladoh · Nov 10, 2003

ScottGLXIX said:
Gary, I know you aren’t a big fan of psionics. I always thought the psionic hermit from the Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth was a cool encounter though. I’m curious, did you ever have a regular, or semi-regular, PC in your campaign that possessed psionic abilities?
Scott

Howdy

You are right about "psionics" in AD&D. The system wasn't really set up to handle them properly. No player in my group had them, not did I ever play a PC possessing them in AD&D.

However, in the LEJENDARY ADVENTURE game there is a Psychogenic Abilty that world well, and my one active character possess that capacity, and it is very useful much of the time.

Cheers,
Gary

Flexor the Mighty! · Nov 11, 2003

Hi Gary.

I was wondering what you thought of the "5% principle" combat, saving throw, and xp charts in Dragon 80. It says it was written by you and Len Lakofka. I was thinking of using them but was interested in your opinion on them.

P.S. if a monster has 8+8 HD, like a Balor, does it have 8d8+64 or 8d8+8 hp? What column would I use on the attack charts?

Col_Pladoh · Nov 11, 2003

Flexor the Mighty! said:
Hi Gary.

I was wondering what you thought of the "5% principle" combat, saving throw, and xp charts in Dragon 80. It says it was written by you and Len Lakofka. I was thinking of using them but was interested in your opinion on them.

P.S. if a monster has 8+8 HD, like a Balor, does it have 8d8+64 or 8d8+8 hp? What column would I use on the attack charts?

My memory is pretty good, but not that good! Heh-heh-heh. Dragon #80? that's going way back... My copy is archived and there's no way I can review the material and refresh my memory, so a cogent response is not possible.

As for the second part, the 8+8 HD, that was meant as 8d8+8 hp, but for big monsters like demons I was using d10. I used the 9 HD column for 8+8, but one could reasonable use the 10 HD column.

Cheers,
Gary

Flexor the Mighty! · Nov 11, 2003

Alas! It was a unified matrix that had all clases and HD of monsters together. It was in the Leomund's Tiny Hut section. Oh well playtesting is the only way to find out how good it works. Supposedly it gives a slightly better chance to hit for PC's and it gives more 5% increases in hit probability to non fighters instead of having them wait 3-5 levels to get a 10-15% increase.

Ok, so a Balor would be 8d10+8 HP or an average of 52 hp, while the dreaded Pit Fiend is a 13 HD badass with an average of 72 hp, and a better attack table. Methinks you have a bias towards LE and devils at the expense of CE demons. Reading some of the stories about how you stuck it to your players maybe you lean towards LE while you DM? =)

Col_Pladoh · Nov 11, 2003

Flexor the Mighty! said:
Alas! It was a unified matrix that had all clases and HD of monsters together. It was in the Leomund's Tiny Hut section. Oh well playtesting is the only way to find out how good it works. Supposedly it gives a slightly better chance to hit for PC's and it gives more 5% increases in hit probability to non fighters instead of having them wait 3-5 levels to get a 10-15% increase.

Ah, that rings a tiny bell. I seem to recall that, and I thought Len was being too generous to non-fighters, for they already have other advantages.

Ok, so a Balor would be 8d10+8 HP or an average of 52 hp, while the dreaded Pit Fiend is a 13 HD badass with an average of 72 hp, and a better attack table. Methinks you have a bias towards LE and devils at the expense of CE demons. Reading some of the stories about how you stuck it to your players maybe you lean towards LE while you DM? =)

Actually, I was quite TN in my role, unless the party was being stupid or annoying. Then I would become CE in regards to random encounters, or LA in regards adhering to the doom that they brought upon themselves.

Of course the time Rob and I were sharing a bottle of Southern Comfort as we DMed Ernie' magic-user and Mark Ratner's paladin was more of a CE exercise that anything else, mainly because I saw it as a chance to relieve Ernie's PC of the two vorpal blades he had acquired.. I don't think I've ever been forgiven for that adventure...

Cheers,
Gary

Mystery Man · Nov 11, 2003

Hello,

I'm curious and apologize if this has been asked before; what is your formula for creating an adventure/campaign? Do start with just a sketch of an idea and let your players do with it what they will or do you have a plan? To what level do you flesh out your NPC's before gameday? When you get stuck for an idea how do break out of it?

That should be enough for now.

Col_Pladoh · Nov 11, 2003

Mystery Man said:
Hello,

I'm curious and apologize if this has been asked before; what is your formula for creating an adventure/campaign? Do start with just a sketch of an idea and let your players do with it what they will or do you have a plan? To what level do you flesh out your NPC's before gameday? When you get stuck for an idea how do break out of it?

That should be enough for now.

Howdy MM,

Can't honestly say I have any formula at all for running a campaign adventure or planning a module. When I need to be creative I just sit and ponder some odeas, try to decide what would be challenging and fun to play, and then pick some point and begin putting down information. Sometimes that means an outline of the whole work, other times it's details of one area from which I build "outwards."

As a case in point, when i did the "Giants" series, I began with only the hill giants fort, but as that developed, the concept of a larger adventure came, so that by the time I had finished G!, the springboards for G2 and G3 were well in mind, and the whole of the underworld to follow as well.

The HALL OF AMNY PANES module came from considering what would be an interesting "mini-adventure" that would logically become a year-long campaign with the characters totally committed to it. So in creating it I did the backstory introduction, and conclusion first, then worked through the rest of the material as ideas came to mind.

Cheers,
Gary

Manzanita · Nov 12, 2003

Omba and B1

Hi. Gary - it's so nice of you to take your valuable time to answer all these geeky questions. I have to ask a couple too, if only to see the 'Howdy Grant' response from The Man.

I recently reread J.D. Salinger's short story The Laughing Man, which features a dwarf named 'Omba.' I couldn't help noticing the similarity to your dwarf Ombi in G3 and The Gord the Rogue series. Coincidence?

Also, I've enjoyed your numerous modules immensely. There is one, The Keep on the Borderlands, that I've had the urge to DM lately, as it's for 1st level PCs, but I've been struggling with its premise. It just seems a little strange to have all those different monster groups living in such close proximity in those caves. It just doesn't have quite the epic sense of so many of your others. I have such good memories of playing it as a kid, I just wonder if it still makes sense to you as written.

Thanks
Grant

Col_Pladoh · Nov 12, 2003

Howdy Grant

Manzanita said:
Hi. Gary - it's so nice of you to take your valuable time to answer all these geeky questions. I have to ask a couple too, if only to see the 'Howdy Grant' response from The Man.

Heh, and the salutation gets that out of the way, eh?

As for answering "geeky questions," I suppose, but my doing that means I am an even bigger geek than those posing them. Fact is that I am a gamer from crown to sole, and I enjoy most things about gaming, so this is fun for me.

I recently reread J.D. Salinger's short story The Laughing Man, which features a dwarf named 'Omba.' I couldn't help noticing the similarity to your dwarf Ombi in G3 and The Gord the Rogue series. Coincidence?

Sheer coincidence indeed, as I missed the Salinger short story you note. Back when I first introduced the villainous dwarf I had a reason for naming him "Pbmi," but darned if I can recall that now, a quarter-century later. I do recall with considerable enjoyment the players' ire at not being able to do for him with their PCs, though. They disliked him so much that I just had to keep bringing him back.

Also, I've enjoyed your numerous modules immensely. There is one, The Keep on the Borderlands, that I've had the urge to DM lately, as it's for 1st level PCs, but I've been struggling with its premise. It just seems a little strange to have all those different monster groups living in such close proximity in those caves. It just doesn't have quite the epic sense of so many of your others. I have such good memories of playing it as a kid, I just wonder if it still makes sense to you as written.

Thanks
Grant

The B2 module was written to introduce newbies to the wonders of D&D adventuring. It is not "ecologically correct," but it is fun and entertaining, packed full of new and different challenges. Just between you and me, it makes as much sense as most things in the D&D game such as massive flying dragons that breathe various deadly things. Those who swallow the camel of the entire concept, then strain at gnats of particular monster or situation seem to be be losing much of the basis for playing. However, that sort of thing happens as one becomes familiar with the fanciful and begin to qualify the experience by comparison to reality. As you note, modules for more experienced players have more rationalization for setting and encounters.

The short answer is, if you enjoy DMing the KEEP ON THE BORDERLANDS, then why not use it? If the players question anything, make up something on the spot to answer the challenge

Cheers,
Gary

TSR Q&A with Gary Gygax

ScottGLXIX

First Post

Col_Pladoh

Gary Gygax

Flexor the Mighty!

18/100 Strength!

Col_Pladoh

Gary Gygax

Flexor the Mighty!

18/100 Strength!

Col_Pladoh

Gary Gygax

Mystery Man

First Post

Col_Pladoh

Gary Gygax

Manzanita

First Post

Col_Pladoh

Gary Gygax

Similar Threads

Related Articles

Latest threads

AD6_gamerati_skyscraper

Recent & Upcoming Releases