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.

 

[Gentlegamer]

Heh...

No need to apologize, for that was what i was doing as a preamble to my response

Right you are about none of those protagonists being of archetypical sort, Ordered in LA game terms. Also, as most authors deal with characters who spring full-glown into story action, reflecting any such figure with much accuracy in the LA game means an Avatar that has progressed beyond the initial stage, had more than five abilities and higher scores in those initial ones. Conan's Physique Ability is well above 100, even as he was presented by REH as a young man

Cheers,
Gary

Would any of the LA abilities you attribute to him represent Conan's "sixth sense" abilities? Or would some kind of "psionic" ability with passive powers be added?

 

[Col_Pladoh]

Sometimes you remind me a little too much of that mischeivious lil' imp in the red robe and long white hair from the cartoon. Yeah, you know of whom I speak

Heh...

More properly, the character in question, Dungeon Master, should reming you of me

Cheers,
Gary

 

[Col_Pladoh]

no... it's supposed to be "roll initiative and die!"

oh, wait, either way is fine.

Ha!

Jim Ward's PC usual cry to opponents: "Surrender AND die!"

Cheerio,
Gary

 

[Col_Pladoh]

Would any of the LA abilities you attribute to him represent Conan's "sixth sense" abilities? Or would some kind of "psionic" ability with passive powers be added?

I was afraid you'd ask about that sort of thing... :\

Actually, Avatars are usually given a Knack (beneficial) and a Quirk (detrimental) by random roll or by Lejend Master choice. There are 100 of each listed in the Lejend Master's Lore book, and another 100 Knacks and 10 Quirks to be given for the LM in an upcoming supplement. Anyway, to the point, special features of a literary protagonist such as Conan can be replicated by means of selected, or newly created, Knacks. It is possible for any avatar to have several of each, even though each human Avatar begins play with only one Knack and one Quirk.

Additionally, there is a Psychogenic Ability that has many powers, and intuitive sensing of danger/attack is amongst them. However, a hero such as Conan needs Abilities of other sorts, not prowess of the mind, so that is why I suggest the assignment of Knacks to cover such things. One of his Quirks would be spendthrift and abnother would likely be womanizing.

Cheers,
Gary

 

[Gentlegamer]

I was afraid you'd ask about that sort of thing... :\

Actually, Avatars are usually given a Knack (beneficial) and a Quirk (detrimental) by random roll or by Lejend Master choice. There are 100 of each listed in the Lejend Master's Lore book, and another 100 Knacks and 10 Quirks to be given for the LM in an upcoming supplement. Anyway, to the point, special features of a literary protagonist such as Conan can be replicated by means of selected, or newly created, Knacks. It is possible for any avatar to have several of each, even though each human Avatar begins play with only one Knack and one Quirk.

Additionally, there is a Psychogenic Ability that has many powers, and intuitive sensing of danger/attack is amongst them. However, a hero such as Conan needs Abilities of other sorts, not prowess of the mind, so that is why I suggest the assignment of Knacks to cover such things. One of his Quirks would be spendthrift and abnother would likely be womanizing.

Cheers,
Gary

Very interesting . . . I suppose Cugel would have a Knack and a Quirk that each revolves around luck (good and bad, respectively).

 

[Col_Pladoh]

Very interesting . . . I suppose Cugel would have a Knack and a Quirk that each revolves around luck (good and bad, respectively).

Actually, I assigned Cugel Luck Ability at low score. I believe his main Quirk would be Gullibility. I am not sure what his primary Knack would be; likely something to do with a bonus when faced with a life-threatening situation needed to be avoided.
His Pretense Ability covers his dissembling and glibness

Cheerio,
Gary

 

[Gray Mouser]

Colonel,

I was wondering how common adventures in places besides the City of Greyhawk and its surrounding environs were in your original campaign. IIRC, you have mentioned that Hommlet was designed as a "base" to introduce new characters to the campaign but what about PC's going on trecks across the Flanaess? For example, did anyone ever make it over to Zeif, Ket or the other more westerly realms or were things pretty much centralized around the Nyr Dyv?

Gray Mouser

PS
I enjoyed the LA descriptions you gave for various literary characters (brief as it was). Sounds like you have a pretty cool, adaptable game there

 

[Col_Pladoh]

Colonel,

I was wondering how common adventures in places besides the City of Greyhawk and its surrounding environs were in your original campaign. IIRC, you have mentioned that Hommlet was designed as a "base" to introduce new characters to the campaign but what about PC's going on trecks across the Flanaess? For example, did anyone ever make it over to Zeif, Ket or the other more westerly realms or were things pretty much centralized around the Nyr Dyv?

Gray Mouser

PS
I enjoyed the LA descriptions you gave for various literary characters (brief as it was). Sounds like you have a pretty cool, adaptable game there

Howdy Gray Mouser!

You hear about the movement in Wisconsin to allow the shooting of feral felines?

To your question: there was a good deal of outdoor adventuring, and robilar, Terik, and Tenser traveled all the way from my world's equivelent of China back to the city of Greyhawk, half the globe's circumference distant.

When I switched to Oerik as the main continent, most of the putdoor adventuring took place to the east and up north around the big lakes. A couple of years back a group from Tennessee visited, and i designed an adventure for them that would indeed take them from Greyhawk all the way west of Zeif, looking for a haunted city there. After eight hours they's not made it much further that Rel mord, so that was the end of the adventure. Pity...

As for the LA game systemit is adapatable to any desired form of FRG play, and the underlying system can be altered with little effort to provide excellent play in other genres, as will be seen in the next couple of years. The first new one is nearly ready for editing and layout, Lejendary AsteRogues Fantastical Science RPG. This is one that I actually used to formulate the mechanics used in the published fantasy game

Cheerio,
Gary

 

[Gray Mouser]

Howdy Gray Mouser!

You hear about the movement in Wisconsin to allow the shooting of feral felines?

Uh, nope.

To your question: there was a good deal of outdoor adventuring, and robilar, Terik, and Tenser traveled all the way from my world's equivelent of China back to the city of Greyhawk, half the globe's circumference distant.

Ah, from the old "slide down to China" room in Castle Greyhawk, right? I'll tell you, I've already stolen that idea for my main dungeon and am waiting for my PC's to discover it

When I switched to Oerik as the main continent, most of the putdoor adventuring took place to the east and up north around the big lakes. A couple of years back a group from Tennessee visited, and i designed an adventure for them that would indeed take them from Greyhawk all the way west of Zeif, looking for a haunted city there. After eight hours they's not made it much further that Rel mord, so that was the end of the adventure. Pity...

That is too bad about the Tennessee group. I think it owuld be great fun to go on a "walking tour" of the Flanaess. Did they bring their own PC's or roll some up when they got their? Did they start at 1st level or did you let them start higher due to toughness of encounters?

As for the LA game systemit is adapatable to any desired form of FRG play, and the underlying system can be altered with little effort to provide excellent play in other genres, as will be seen in the next couple of years. The first new one is nearly ready for editing and layout, Lejendary AsteRogues Fantastical Science RPG. This is one that I actually used to formulate the mechanics used in the published fantasy game

Cheerio,
Gary

Cool, I'll have to check that out. I enjoyed doing a bit of Sci-Fi gaming back in the day ("Space Opera", "star Frontiers", "Gamma World" and a little "Traveller"), although Fantasy is my favorite gaming genre.

Gray Mouser

 

[Col_Pladoh]

Uh, nope.
Ah, from the old "slide down to China" room in Castle Greyhawk, right? I'll tell you, I've already stolen that idea for my main dungeon and am waiting for my PC's to discover it

Just so!

That is too bad about the Tennessee group. I think it owuld be great fun to go on a "walking tour" of the Flanaess. Did they bring their own PC's or roll some up when they got their? Did they start at 1st level or did you let them start higher due to toughness of encounters?

It was indeed a shame thy chaps didn't return as that promisted when they left. They brought their own PCs of around 8th level, but one lost a couple of levels to some wights, so they stopped in Rel Mord to have the clerics there restore them.

BTW, I suspect that they didn't come back because their van caught fire and was totally destroyed on the way home. They did save their dice.

Cool, I'll have to check that out. I enjoyed doing a bit of Sci-Fi gaming back in the day ("Space Opera", "star Frontiers", "Gamma World" and a little "Traveller"), although Fantasy is my favorite gaming genre.

Gray Mouser

The LAR RPG is more like a mix of the 18th century with super science. The space vessels have sails, fire anti-matter cannpns from open decks, the crews wearing "vacsuits."

It is a lot of fun