TSR Q&A with Gary Gygax

Col_Pladoh · Jan 24, 2004

mistere29 said:
What's up with www.egarygygax.com. You got the new domain name but no content was ever moved to the site?

When the old URL was lost to pirates we set up the new one, www.egarygygax.com but...

I am so busy I haven't the time to devote to the new website, and so it has languished. There is a willing webmaster, but there's no chance I can spend much time and effort on the project, so it is in limbo awaiting something of a response from me. I guess I'd better see about getting something simple up and maybe a blogging section...

Gary

Col_Pladoh · Jan 24, 2004

Sir Elton said:
Gary,

I would like to know something. Rewinding back to 1986 as well (when I was 12 and I got the basic set), I noticed that you could explore gothic horror themes with the selection of monsters in D&D. In other words, some of the monsters are clearly associated with horror (Golems, vampires, zombies, ghouls, lycanthropes like the Loupe Garou). So it is possible to play D&D with a high horror bent. Did you think about this when you put D&D together?

Indeed I did, Sir Elton. As a longtoime fan of HPL and the horror genre, I included it in the broad basis for play. This was picked up well by another designer in the Ravenloft modules, too

As a DM I did only one pure horror adventure, one where the PCs were young Boy Scouts who were lost, came upon a deserted mansion out in the country. The players had a great time, and Jim Ward then asked my permission to use the general theme for The Mansion of the Mad Dr. Ludlow, that being given gladly.

I'd have done more, but there were so many things to deal with that I vener got the chance. That's why the original genre for the Dangerous Journeys RPG system was horror, Unhallowed.

Cheers,
Gary

Col_Pladoh · Jan 24, 2004

mistere29 said:
Gary, i read in an old interview

"by creating the village of Hommlet and the temple [sic] of Elemental Evil to test some ideas I had about random dungeons, and outdoor terrain so forth."

Could you eleaborate a bit on this. Was the pre-Metzner draft largely designed by the random tables in the dmg?

Howdy!

The village and main temple areas were carefully mapped before I began adventure sessions in the area. The random generation was used mainly in developing the land around the village and some of the side areas surrounding the main rooms I had done for the temple dungeons.

As a side note, the random tables worked quite well, but they took too long. I found that it was easier and quicker for me to just bash ahead as usual and put in whatever I liked at the moment.

Cheers,
Gary

Col_Pladoh · Jan 24, 2004

grodog said:
Gary, another question from TSR's early days for you.

In the original, separate editions of the Dungeon Geomorphs and the Outdoor Geomorphs--Walled City, you provided some wonderful examples of dungeon- and city-based encounters (tricks, traps, monsters, city businesses and NPCs, etc.). These were all later dropped from the collected edition of the Dungeon Geomorphs (product 9048, with the red kid-in-the-candystore cover illustration as he populates his dungeon), and the Outdoor Geomorphs were never collected/reprinted (possibly because of low sales/interest?).

Was the material you included in the original geomorphs all drawn from the Greyhawk campaign? The Walled City mentions the Lake of Unknown Depths, so that seems a sure fit, but what about the dungeon geomorph encounters? Also, do you know why your original material from the separate geomorph sets was not included with the reprint?

Thanks again, as always

When it was apparent to me that the players would appreciate some assistance in design, the geomorphs, I simply sat down and drew (and wrote) up the material. I used some familiar names, but none of the material I did was taken from anything other than my imagination at the time.

The decision to include what was in the reprint was not in my perview, so I can't say why Brian or Kevin did as they did. As I recall, I wasn't receiving any royalties for the geomorphs, so I don't remember sales figures, but at least initially all the sets did quite well. shops wanted higher price points and fewer SKUs, though. and thus the form of the reprinted material.

Cheers,
Gary

Col_Pladoh · Jan 24, 2004

gordonknox said:
Hello Mr. Gygax,

I would just like to get your opinion on the "L" series of 1st edition modules. I really enjoy them, even the lost L3. Did you play in these campaigns?

Also, have you heard anything on the revamping and resurrection of L4 and L5?

Thank you,

gk

Feel free to address me as Gary if you like.

That said, I am not able to give you a cogent response, as I never DMed the L series, played a PC in only one or two of them.

As you might expect, my main DMing efforts were always centered around the World of Greyhawk and the various dungeon areas set by me therein so as to both serve my group and keep on supplying module material. Writing adventure modules has always been a demanding task to me, unlike winging like material for active players, putting it on paper is a chore. Coming up with new and different things, not having one module like any of the others (I hope) means a lot of extra time and effort.

Cheers,
Gary

Geoffrey · Jan 24, 2004

Hello Gary!

How is HALL OF MANY PANES coming along? When can we expect to walk into our local game store and be blown away by seeing this grand-daddy of all adventures on the shelf?

I can't think of a better time to start a Lejendary Adventure campaign!

BTW, how closely is HALL OF MANY PANES going to be tied into the Lejendary Earth? Will it be easy to use in a homemade campaign setting?

Col_Pladoh · Jan 24, 2004

Geoffrey said:
Hello Gary!

How is HALL OF MANY PANES coming along? When can we expect to walk into our local game store and be blown away by seeing this grand-daddy of all adventures on the shelf?

I can't think of a better time to start a Lejendary Adventure campaign!

BTW, how closely is HALL OF MANY PANES going to be tied into the Lejendary Earth? Will it be easy to use in a homemade campaign setting?

Geoffrey, funny you should ask that just now. I have the 500+ page final manuscript for the Hall of Many Panes even now, and am about 150 pp. into its final check and minor edit. I'll be turning it back to the Trolls in a few weeks, and meantime they are lining up the interior art, the cover being set.

I am told the product will be launched at Origins (or if it slips possibly GenCon).

The module begins on virtually any world, but it subsumes the pantheons active on the Lejendary Earth world--mainly the Celtic, but also the Egyptian. Otherwise, most of the actual play activity takes place in an off-world location, so placement isn't a problem.

Cheers,
Gary

redwing00 · Jan 24, 2004

I'm sorry to bring back up a question I've already asked, but i'm still a little curious. You answered WHY you put gnomes into the game, but I'm just wondering WHERE you got them. I know there are gnomes all throughout mythology, but each description varies from culture to culture. Did you take the gnome from one particular culture or combine traits from each culture? Why do you think gnomes would have appealed to gamers (when you introduced them, since there are already to "short" races: dwarves and halflings)

another question: you answered in my previous question that dwarves and elves came from myth and folklore. Again, each description varies by culture. Which did you draw from? I'm assuming Norse, but I'm not quite sure.

Thank you Gary!

Col_Pladoh · Jan 24, 2004

redwing00 said:
I'm sorry to bring back up a question I've already asked, but i'm still a little curious. You answered WHY you put gnomes into the game, but I'm just wondering WHERE you got them. I know there are gnomes all throughout mythology, but each description varies from culture to culture. Did you take the gnome from one particular culture or combine traits from each culture? Why do you think gnomes would have appealed to gamers (when you introduced them, since there are already to "short" races: dwarves and halflings)

another question: you answered in my previous question that dwarves and elves came from myth and folklore. Again, each description varies by culture. Which did you draw from? I'm assuming Norse, but I'm not quite sure.

Thank you Gary!

Happy to respond, Redwing00

Gnomes in myth were created as one of the four elementals, that of earth. I took what I recalled from fairy tales and folklore about mine spirits to create a unique race for the D&D game. Yes, there were already halflings and dwarves, but i made the gnomes sufficiently different so as to allow another choice for character race. I have used it in a PC, he being a gnome illusionist-thief.

Inspiration for the D&D dwarves came from the Norse mythology, legends, and fairy tales. Elves came mainly from folklore and fairy tales.

I have read all the Andrew Lang (various colors in the titles) save the Yellow Book of Fairy Tales, Andersen, and Brothers Grimm fairy tales as well as many a book on folklore and legends.

Halflings were mainly drawn from JRRT's fiction, of course.

Cheers,
Gary

talinthas · Jan 24, 2004

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?

TSR Q&A with Gary Gygax

Col_Pladoh

Gary Gygax

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Gary Gygax

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Gary Gygax

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Gary Gygax

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Gary Gygax

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