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.

 

[Col_Pladoh]

Me too. I was even going to guess 24th Michigan.

According to Wikipedia, we're right. But who knows for sure?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Brigade

As the other poster noted, there was an Iron Brigade of the East, one so known before the one we are familiar with was named thus.

Cheers,
Gary

 

[Col_Pladoh]

Long may you reign at the gaming table!

I remember fondly asking questions about whether this new game was evil as I had vaguely heard, being assured it was not, and creating a paladin, who walked warily under the murderholes and past the arrowslits of the Keep on Borderlands . . . 25 years ago this summer.

Thanks you the thousands of hours of fun and many closer friends your game has brought me, Gary.

Have a good birthday . . . even though D&D is just a game, so is baseball, and you're our Babe Ruth, Abner Doubleday, and Cal Ripkin rolled together . . . I'd say Jackie Robinson too, but I'm not convinced D&D has had much effect on civil rights.

Welcome!

BTW I was at Wrigley Field with my pal Dave Dimery when Jackie Robinson played his first game there. I can'r recall how old I was thenbut likely somewhere between age 10 and 13.

As an aside, my father saw the Tinkers to Evers to Chance combination, as well as Honus Wagner and Ty Cobb play. He had othing good to say about the St. Louis "Gas House Gang"


Gary

 

[Col_Pladoh]

Gary,

I just got my copy of CZ: Yggsburgh via UPS - I wanted to say thank you for bringing this project back to us! It is a wonderful setting and I will look forward to the Castle and Dungeons to come!

Cheers!

John Maddog Wright

"Sometimes you've got to know when to roll 'em... know when to run!"

Pleased that you like thework, I put a lor of effort into it...and had fun writing and playing it too.

The detail modules being done for the town and its suburban areas, including a new one opposite the new bridge over the Urt River will add alot of individual flavor to things in Yggsburgh and vicinity,


Gary

 

[John Drake]

Well Gary, just wanted to wish you a Happy Birthday ahead of time, just in case I'm too busy to do so on the proper day. Have a good one!

 

[dcas]

*shakes head* Some children have no idea of how much mythology and folklore have influenced the game. Yes, the Tolkien influence is there, but if anything, it seems was other designers in the early 80's that tended to strengthen the Tolkien influence (not that that is a bad thing, given that D&D can encompass a fairly broad take on fantasy).

Could be in part because they have no idea of how much Tolkien was influenced by mythology and folklore. It goes without saying that two works heavily influenced by the same folklore are going to be similar.

 

[Col_Pladoh]

I believe I have related this anecdote before, but here goes again:

When attending an I-Con at SUNY on Long Island, I took part in a panel discussion dealing with modern fantasy. I can not recall the actual name given to the topic.

A young and certanly junior editor for a major NYC publishing house must have decided to take me down a peg or two, for early on in the session, she saked pointedly: "Why did you steal your D&D dwarves from Tolkien?"

I looked at her directly, with aplomb, and responded: "My Dear Young Lady, I'll have you know that I "stole" my dwarves from the same source the Professor did...Norse mythology."

Thereafter that twit had very little to say.


Gary

 

[Treebore]

You have. I read it in the archives of this thread. Relatively early in the archives, meaning the first couple that were archived.

 

[haakon1]

As the other poster noted, there was an Iron Brigade of the East, one so known before the one we are familiar with was named thus.

Generally, folks (at least in modern times) mean the westerners -- mostly Wisconsin boys, also known at the time as the Black Hat Brigade. The 24th Michigan was attached to that Iron Brigade, at least for part of the war.

 

[Col_Pladoh]

You have. I read it in the archives of this thread. Relatively early in the archives, meaning the first couple that were archived.

Nothing like repeating a story...even if it was germane to the discussion :\

Cheers,
gary

 

[Col_Pladoh]

Generally, folks (at least in modern times) mean the westerners -- mostly Wisconsin boys, also known at the time as the Black Hat Brigade. The 24th Michigan was attached to that Iron Brigade, at least for part of the war.

Agreed!

That is why I thanked the original poster for revealing the information regarding the original brigade of that name, the Iron Brigade of the East.

As I had about a dozen relatives on my maternal side of the family in the Union Army, I naturally focused on the Western Iron Brigade. One of my great-great uncles was wounded around Shreveport, and my great-grandfather was captured put in a confederate prison camp.

That said, I do believe the "War of Northern Aggression" is an apt name for the ACW...

Cheers,
Gary