TSR Q&A with Gary Gygax

grodog · Jan 25, 2004

Thanks for the replies on the geomorphs, Gary.

FYI, some folks are talking about Fritz Leiber and his rumored involvement with ghost-writing D&D rules and running D&D games over at http://www.enworld.org/forums/showthread.php?t=75019

IIRC, Fritz and Harry designed the 1975 TSR Lankhmar boardgame, but I've never heard that either played D&D or helped to write the rules....

grodog · Jan 25, 2004

double-post

Manzanita · Jan 25, 2004

I think it's great that your sons Ernie and Luke became active in the games you created. I'm curious if your daughters ever played. If not, I wonder if you have any thoughts on that.

By the way, Grodog, when are you going to update your CY175 campaign log on your website?

Thanks
Grant

Bob the Reaver · Jan 25, 2004

Hello Gary,
Please excuse me if this question has been asked before.

I was wondering about your apperance on the Futurerama television show. I was very excited to see your likeness on this exellent comedy. I guess I was wondering about whether or not you had a chance to meet any of your co stars during the recording. Al Gore Mr Hawkings etc.

A few days ago I belive I read somewhere that Dnd spawned a billion dollar buisness (the Rpg industry in the past 25 years?). We owe alot to you Mr. Gygax. I live and breathe the fantasy of imagination's. I belive it all started with my first set of dnd books. Thank you very much.

Col_Pladoh · Jan 25, 2004

talinthas said:
hey gary, i've always wanted to know this- Why did you release the 1st edition AD&D monster manual before the other two books?

I decided to create the MM as the initial part of the new AD&D system because it would be usable by all the D&D players, and the entry information in the book would whet appetites for the new rules. It was also the easiest one to put together, since I had been doing penciled-in new system stat sheets for all the old monsters, as well as writing up a lot of new ones. I had a box in my office, and I'd toss the rough stat sheets into it each day. Mike Carr would collect them and type them up--or have someone else do it, so in no time at all there was sufficient material for the MM even as I was developing the whole of the material for the system, beginning on the PHB.

Cheers,
Gary

Col_Pladoh · Jan 25, 2004

grodog said:
Thanks for the replies on the geomorphs, Gary.

FYI, some folks are talking about Fritz Leiber and his rumored involvement with ghost-writing D&D rules and running D&D games over at http://www.enworld.org/forums/showthread.php?t=75019

IIRC, Fritz and Harry designed the 1975 TSR Lankhmar boardgame, but I've never heard that either played D&D or helped to write the rules....

Welcome Allan

Thanks for your heads up on regards to Fritz. I went on over to that thread and posted a couple of messages to set thhings straight. You are correct, of course, about Fritz and Harry not being RPGers, not doing any rules writing. Rumors surely do become odd over time...

Cheers,
Gary

Melan · Jan 25, 2004

Greetings!

Gary, how did TSR release the Empire of the Petal Throne game? Was it solely M.A.R. Barker's creation (which seems to be my guess - it is too well edited for a TSR product of that age.

), or did TSR do most of the rules? Also, what do you think about the system therein as an alternative approach to OD&D?

Col_Pladoh · Jan 25, 2004

Manzanita said:
I think it's great that your sons Ernie and Luke became active in the games you created. I'm curious if your daughters ever played. If not, I wonder if you have any thoughts on that.

By the way, Grodog, when are you going to update your CY175 campaign log on your website?

Thanks
Grant

Well Darn!

Here i thought that most everybody knew that the first two play-testers for the D&D game were my son Ernie and my daughter Elise. They played the first dungeon adventurte, were joined the next day by Don Kaye and Rob Kuntz.

Elise played for a few months, then lost interest. Her younger sisters, Heidi and Cindy, got into D&D later on. those two used to make Luke DM for them when he was very young, tell him what treasure that they found. When he complained to me about that I set him straight, and shortly after that his sisters quit playing, the greedy power gamers

As I have often said, I am a biological determinist, and there is no question that male and female brains are different. It is apparent to me that by and large females do not derrive the same inner satisfaction from playing games as a hobby that males do. It isn't that females can't play games well, it is just that it isn't a compelling activity to them as is the case for males.

Cheers,
Gary

Col_Pladoh · Jan 25, 2004

Bob the Reaver said:
Hello Gary,
Please excuse me if this question has been asked before.

I was wondering about your apperance on the Futurerama television show. I was very excited to see your likeness on this exellent comedy. I guess I was wondering about whether or not you had a chance to meet any of your co stars during the recording. Al Gore Mr Hawkings etc.

A few days ago I belive I read somewhere that Dnd spawned a billion dollar buisness (the Rpg industry in the past 25 years?). We owe alot to you Mr. Gygax. I live and breathe the fantasy of imagination's. I belive it all started with my first set of dnd books. Thank you very much.

I wish...

The fact is that although I urged the producers of the Futurama Show to give me a larger part, make me a regular on the program, and in any case fly me out to the West Coast, it was in vain. I got the script and then spoke my lines over a clean telephone line from Milwaukee

Thus I met no one in person--although David X. Cohen and I did spend a fair bit of time chatting before it was time for me to be recorded speaking my part.

I had to do a second recodding session a couple of weeks after the initial one, a new script being furnished because Davic Duchovney was out of the episode and VP Al Gore replacing him in the role of team leader. That actually got me a couple of extra lines too

Cheers,
Gary

Col_Pladoh · Jan 25, 2004

Melan said:
Greetings!

Gary, how did TSR release the Empire of the Petal Throne game? Was it solely M.A.R. Barker's creation (which seems to be my guess - it is too well edited for a TSR product of that age. ), or did TSR do most of the rules? Also, what do you think about the system therein as an alternative approach to OD&D?

Howdy

When Phil Barker got ahold of D&D he realized the system was perfect for use in expressing a game based on his fantasy world creation, Tekumel. Phil lifted large sections of the D&D game and was planning on publishing, but I heard about it and put the breaks onto that. I informed him that if TSR was the publisher, fine, otherwise, he had better devise new rules. The Good Professor was happy to agree,so we did a deluxe RPG, the EPT game that all the guys at TSR really loved.

You are right about the ms. Phil sent it in, and it was near perfect--same with his War of Wizards game. Those mss. made us very happy, of course

As for the EPT system, I really liked it for Tekumel, but we never adopted it for our regular fantasy adventuring. As it's been a coulple of decades since last I played it, more I can't venture.

Cheers,
Gary

TSR Q&A with Gary Gygax

grodog

Hero

grodog

Hero

Manzanita

First Post

Bob the Reaver

First Post

Col_Pladoh

Gary Gygax

Col_Pladoh

Gary Gygax

Melan

Explorer

Col_Pladoh

Gary Gygax

Col_Pladoh

Gary Gygax

Col_Pladoh

Gary Gygax

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