TSR Q&A with Gary Gygax

This is the multi-year Q&A sessions held by D&D co-creator Gary Gygax here at EN World, beginning in 2002 and running up until his sad pasing in 2008. Gary's username in the thread below is Col_Pladoh, and his first post in this long thread is Post #39.

 

[Geoffrey]

Gary, it is a privilege to have the Master of the Game be so generous with his time and insights. Thank you very much for making this thread possible.

I have two questions:

1. My favorite modules are your D trilogy. In the random encounter tables, ghasts and ghouls show up quite a bit. Since these creatures are once-humans, why is there such a great population of them in these heretofore-undiscovered-by-man caverns? (Also, did you ever develop the other encounter areas on the large-scale [1 hex=1 mile] map included with these modules?)

2. If you could travel back in time to the early 1970s, would you still make it that clerics can turn undead? I ask because of these words you wrote on page 101 of the original version of Necropolis:

'Priests and Priestesses have no extraordinary ability to affect the Netherrealms creatures and beings, spirits, Unliving, Undead, and Unalive in this game system. There will be no mumbled prayer followed by a "Vaporize!" or "Shoo!" removing dangers such as these foes in this tomb! Naturally, clerical personas wield many instruments which are amongst the Susceptibilities of these sorts of creatures and beings, but there are no givens ("gimmes") here. Be sure to keep this in mind--and to gently remind players of this too, if they are veterans of game systems which make this sort of fell minions of Evil lightweights to be brushed aside with the wave of a sacred object.'


Thank you once again for your kindness and generosity!

 

[Col_Pladoh]

Heya! I originally posted this question in this thread and got some very interesting responses, but I figure there's probably not a better person to ask, so:

Is there a mythic/folklore precedent for the drow? I know of sidhe, seelie, and unseelie fae folk; I have also encountered the terms "drugh" and "trow." None of them have a clear correlation to the D&D drow, nor have I seen a readily-identifiable source or set of sources for them the way, say, "dwarves" have. So were there drow before the days of D&D?

-The Gneech

Hola!

An easy answer. I saw the reference in an unexpurgated dictionary, "dark elf." From that I made up the whole of the drow race as the main antagonists for the vasty underdark

Cherio,
Gary

 

[Col_Pladoh]

Gary, it is a privilege to have the Master of the Game be so generous with his time and insights. Thank you very much for making this thread possible.

I have two questions:

1. My favorite modules are your D trilogy. In the random encounter tables, ghasts and ghouls show up quite a bit. Since these creatures are once-humans, why is there such a great population of them in these heretofore-undiscovered-by-man caverns? (Also, did you ever develop the other encounter areas on the large-scale [1 hex=1 mile] map included with these modules?)

2. If you could travel back in time to the early 1970s, would you still make it that clerics can turn undead? I ask because of these words you wrote on page 101 of the original version of Necropolis:

'Priests and Priestesses have no extraordinary ability to affect the Netherrealms creatures and beings, spirits, Unliving, Undead, and Unalive in this game system. There will be no mumbled prayer followed by a "Vaporize!" or "Shoo!" removing dangers such as these foes in this tomb! Naturally, clerical personas wield many instruments which are amongst the Susceptibilities of these sorts of creatures and beings, but there are no givens ("gimmes") here. Be sure to keep this in mind--and to gently remind players of this too, if they are veterans of game systems which make this sort of fell minions of Evil lightweights to be brushed aside with the wave of a sacred object.'


Thank you once again for your kindness and generosity!

Hi Geoffrey,

Welscme once again. As long as there are questions and I have some spare time, I'm delighted to be able to be of such service.

1. Once-human tells the tale. The underdark is not strange to the vile undead creatures you name. Of course HPL had much the same view The lightless world there seemed to me a likely place for such creatures and also likely to have supplies of food.

As for other large-scale maps, I was tinkering with some, developing ideas for more adventures in the depths, but none of my players, and that includes the most able with very potent PCs much cared to explore there, so I scrapped the plan. Can't say if any of the sketch maps atill exist, as so much was lost in my leaving T$R, and in the many moves before then and thereafter I have made.

2. So many of the very most interesting "monsters" were subjected to that rude capacity of turning/destroying that I initially bestowed upon the cleric class that I did indeed come to rue the initial benison gven to that class. My plan for a revised edition of AD&D was such as to limit that power somewhat while adjusting things for the capacity of undead to withstand "turning" so as to make things more challenging for PCs without emasculating the power of the cleric. Alas, that was not to be in AD&D terms, so I did things differently in the DJ system, as you note, and have continued that fine tradition now in the LA RPG

Cheerio,
Gary

 

[jester47]

Hello again Gary, I have returned to puzzle you once more!

yeahright!

You mentioned above that Brian B. was the creator of Vecna. Do you know if there is any way to contact him, if he would mind being contacted and if so how I should contact him?

And for your time I guess I should feed the dragon:

Here's one-

There once was a jeweler named Hasan. One night five of Ali Baba's men broke into Hasan's shop and stole some diamonds. They entered the shop one at a time. The first thief took half the diamonds, and then began to leave. He changed his mind and decided to take another. The second took half of what was left plus another. The third did the same. As did the fourth. When the fifth entered the shop he did so to discover that there were no diamonds left. How many diamonds did Hasan have in his shop?

Enjoy!

Aaron.

 

[Col_Pladoh]

Hello again Gary, I have returned to puzzle you once more!

yeahright!

You mentioned above that Brian B. was the creator of Vecna. Do you know if there is any way to contact him, if he would mind being contacted and if so how I should contact him?

And for your time I guess I should feed the dragon:

Here's one-

There once was a jeweler named Hasan. One night five of Ali Baba's men broke into Hasan's shop and stole some diamonds. They entered the shop one at a time. The first thief took half the diamonds, and then began to leave. He changed his mind and decided to take another. The second took half of what was left plus another. The third did the same. As did the fourth. When the fifth entered the shop he did so to discover that there were no diamonds left. How many diamonds did Hasan have in his shop?

Enjoy!

Aaron.

As for Brian Blume, it will probably not come as a surprise to learn that I do not have any truck with that individual. When he sees me he heads the opposite direction with some alacrity. He lives here in Lake Geneva. Last I heard he was employed making tools and dies. From there it's up to you. I have no addy info.

Now as to diamonds, is that "Took another" another diamond or another half of the remaining stones? If the "another" is a single stone, we can't be dealing with halves, of course, as there would be odd numbers involved...

Cheerio,
Gary

 

[derverdammte]

As for Brian Blume, it will probably not come as a surprise to learn that I do not have any truck with that individual. When he sees me he heads the opposite direction with some alacrity. He lives here in Lake Geneva. Last I heard he was employed making tools and dies. From there it's up to you. I have no addy info.

I was kind of surprised to hear that you didn't create Vecna, considering that he's one of the most obviously Moorcock-inspired parts of early D&D.

I was curious, though: what direction were you headed with the original Greyhawk? I'm assuming Gord was supposed to be an incarnation of the eternal champion (or something similar), and Mordenkainen's ethically neutral stance also seems similar to what you'd expect from one of Moorcock's characters.

Did you intend Oerth to be part of the Multiverse, or a different, similar construct? I guess my questions could be answered by reading your Gord books, but I've only been able to track down the third, so I wanted to hold off reading that one until I could find the other two.

Now as to diamonds, is that "Took another" another diamond or another half of the remaining stones? If the "another" is a single stone, we can't be dealing with halves, of course, as there would be odd numbers involved...

Cheerio,
Gary

Maybe the thief was also a gemcutter?

 

[Col_Pladoh]

Hi derverdammte...

As I based the Gord yarns directly upon gaming, the cosmos was inteed one of infinite size and alternate worlds. a multiverse. Other than that, though, I don't believe that there are parallels to Moorcock, much as I enjoy his writing. Gord was not "eternal," in that he was born and at some point die.

The series has been OOP for a long time, but it's likely you can findthe six books you need to complete the set on Ebay. I'm not supposed to talk about it, but we do have a deal for the series in graphic novel form, full color interior illos, and the story as written, with text in full where pictures are not supplied. The first installment of the first novel will likely hit in mid-2003, a few months delayed from original projected release. I'm relating all this, because if the graphic novels prove a success, the regular ones will likely then be reprinted, initially in hardback version.

Now, if the thieves are also gemcutters, then what of the chips left brom cleving a stone? Those would have to be even in number

Ciao,
Gary

 

[derverdammte]

Hi derverdammte...

As I based the Gord yarns directly upon gaming, the cosmos was inteed one of infinite size and alternate worlds. a multiverse. Other than that, though, I don't believe that there are parallels to Moorcock, much as I enjoy his writing. Gord was not "eternal," in that he was born and at some point die.

Ah, okay. I was thinking in terms of his being champion of the balance, and at some point (so I've been told) acquiring a black sword, since those are a couple of the archetypal components of being the eternal champion.

By the way, didn't you write a Moorcock pastiche at some point? I heard about it, but I never found out where it was published or collected.

The series has been OOP for a long time, but it's likely you can findthe six books you need to complete the set on Ebay.

SIX books? Yikes! The other three must come after the book I have ("Dance of Demons," I think it's called).

I'm not supposed to talk about it, but we do have a deal for the series in graphic novel form, full color interior illos, and the story as written, with text in full where pictures are not supplied. The first installment of the first novel will likely hit in mid-2003, a few months delayed from original projected release. I'm relating all this, because if the graphic novels prove a success, the regular ones will likely then be reprinted, initially in hardback version.

That sounds seriously cool. I'll have to keep an eye out for it.

Now, if the thieves are also gemcutters, then what of the chips left brom cleving a stone? Those would have to be even in number

I don't know...maybe the thief decided counting gem chips was too much of a problem and swept them under the rug. That's what I'd do.

 

[Remathilis]

Hi, I just joined no to long ago (having been a poster at WotC's boards) but wanted to get a few questions answered.

1.) What was up with the Unearthed Arcana Cavalier class? Negative XP? Stat Increases? Why?

2.) What is your favorite D&D monster, either to throw at PCs or in general?

3.) Have you seen any of the "Return to" series of modules from 1999 (I think)? What was your opinion of the re-makes of the Temple of Elemental Evil, Tomb of Horrors, Keep on the Borderland, and Against the Giants?

4.) Lastly, (and forgive me if you've answered this) if there is one rule/concept you would change in AD&D 1st edition after the fact, what would it be?

Thanks,

Remathilis

 

[jester47]

Now as to diamonds, is that "Took another" another diamond or another half of the remaining stones? If the "another" is a single stone, we can't be dealing with halves, of course, as there would be odd numbers involved...

Cheerio,
Gary

Ah, that would be half +1 diamonds!

Aaron.