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.

 

[Joseph Elric Smith]

prevalence of half elves? where is tht in tolkien? since in Tolkien you have to chose to either be human or elf's, Oh darn got sucked in by the troll. That Tolkien fans see more Tolkien in D&D then the creator of the game may have some thing to do with what one choses to see.
Ken

 

[Akrasia]

Simply because there are many Tolkien-inspired things in D&D (halflings, orcs, treants, etc.) doesn't mean that Gary has to be a fan of Tolkien's novels (though note that he said that he does like The Hobbit). One might like many of the ideas found in certain novels, but just not be captivated by the stories themselves.

I love Tolkien's works. Indeed, I enjoy reading about Middle-Earth more than any other fantasy setting, given its rich history and wonderful detail.

At the same time, though, I can understand that Tolkien's style in The Lord of the Rings and the Silmarillion is not to everyone's tastes. I can understand why someone might be more partial to Howard and Vance, but nonetheless want to take many ideas/creatures from Tolkien's books for one's games.

 

[PapersAndPaychecks]

Would that be me you're calling a Tolkein fan there? I ask because I'm really not one, and "Tolkein fan" isn't a label I'd accept.

I'm pretty sure there are several half-elves in Tolkein. I could name two of them off the top of my head.

 

[Akrasia]

... BTW, haven't been out to Stanford for some 15 years. A graduating class had me out to speak to them as a guest, and I made the mistake of eating meatloaf in the cafeteria even though they warned me

Cheers,
Gary

We now have a place that serves very good Thai food, and another place that makes decent crepes. You should visit again!

 

[Akrasia]

.... I'm pretty sure there are several half-elves in Tolkein. I could name two of them off the top of my head.

Elrond and Elros were both 'half-elves'. As Ken points out, half-elves in Middle-earth chose to be either 'of men' or 'of elves'. Elros chose to be of men, and became the first king of Numenor, which he ruled for 500 years. (Sure he was mortal, but he still benefited from his elvish blood.) Elrond, in contrast, chose to be 'of elves', and eventually became Lord of Rivendell. All of Elrond's children were considered 'half-elves' (Arwen, Elrohir, Elladan), and were given the same choice, even though they were (strictly speaking) 3/4 elvish.

Anyway, this is a tangent (and I apologize for contributing to it). Gary doesn't care for tLotR (though maybe he liked the movies better?) or the Silmarillion, yet still used many Tolkienesque creatures and ideas in D&D. Big deal.

 

[Joseph Elric Smith]

actual you can't name any because any elf of mixed blood has to choose whether to follow the elven or human nature, hence elros and elrond, elrond chose his elven side and was an elf and his brother chose his human nature and was human. and a child born of a mix is extremely rare, in all of th history of Tolkien, where as in D&D they make up a race, and not an extreme exceptions. as for half orcs, I assume you are referring to the orcs of saruman, which are a special breed designed for conquest, as opposed to he race of half orcs in D&D.
Gee is it really so hard to just accept what an author has to say at face value, instead of some how trying to prove some thing?
Ken

Would that be me you're calling a Tolkein fan there? I ask because I'm really not one, and "Tolkein fan" isn't a label I'd accept.

I'm pretty sure there are several half-elves in Tolkein. I could name two of them off the top of my head.

 

[Col_Pladoh]

The short answer regarding JRRT's work:

I created the D&D game to sell, to get to as many consumers as possible, and the best way to do that was to include races that were favored by the many young Tolkien fans. Dwarves are hardly a main feature of the Rings trilogy, but hobbits, elves, orcs, balrog, and ents (the Anglo-Saxon word for "giant," of course) were. So I included them so as to sell the game. Even though I find the Rings trilogy a bore, found Bored of the Rings great sport, so what? Gamers are able to enjoy their D&D campaign with as much Tolkein flavor as they wish.

A careful analysis of all the races and creatures in the OAD&D game will see how small the percentage of Tolkien-inspired material there is actually within the roster. Of course, I do not count elves as JRRT's creation at all, they being the stuff of much British folklore, as Dwarves are Scandanivian and Germanic. Of all that the Professor wrote about, the hobbits, the balrog, and the ents were all that were uniquely detailed.

Speaking of bored, that's what this tedious subject does to me and quite a few others I should imagine

Cheers,
Gary

 

[Col_Pladoh]

We now have a place that serves very good Thai food, and another place that makes decent crepes. You should visit again!

Thanks for the update

I don't have much reason to travel out to the West Coast these days, but who can say? If we do get to the SF area, I will indeed make a point to visit Stanford once again.

Cheerio,
Gary

 

[PapersAndPaychecks]

Aye, Bored of the Rings was hilarious.

 

[Gray Mouser]

Even though I find the Rings trilogy a bore, found Bored of the Rings great sport, so what?

Hey! I thought I was the only person who had read that book! Heh, pretty funny, imho, and I enjoy JRRT quite a bit

A careful analysis of all the races and creatures in the OAD&D game will see how small the percentage of Tolkien-inspired material there is actually within the roster. Of course, I do not count elves as JRRT's creation at all, they being the stuff of much British folklore, as Dwarves are Scandanivian and Germanic. Of all that the Professor wrote about, the hobbits, the balrog, and the ents were all that were uniquely detailed.

The differences between Tolkienesque Elves and Dwarves and those from mythology (and even other Pre-Tolkien literary works) is quite obvious if one simply reads the racial descriptions/information in the MM, PHB and DMG. I remember reading the PHB when I was about 10 and seeing the height of elves as being about 5' and thinking that Gary had made a mistake! Frankly, now I prefer going with the racial descriptions as written for play. YMMV but as I get older I find myself going more and more by the book for play. Still have some house rules and little unique "flavor" pieces but when I started getting back into RPG's a few years ago I was rereading Gary's stuff and realized that the system as written is excellent.

Gray Mouser