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]

And just to clarify, you're referring to the original MA and GW rules, rather than the re-designs that have subsequently been published, right? (With, of course, the necessary caveat that every game has its house-rules.)

And I am very curious from your designer's-eye-view, what is it about the MA rules that you find superior? I've GM'ed both (back in the day), and didn't really have a preference one way or 'tuther.

Thul

You are correct in regards the general comparison--OMA to OGW--although I have played the newer editions of MA and do so now.

GW was designed by a committee, and as far as I am concerned it thus lost the soul of the MA game--the sense of the exotic and bizarre, the whimsey and surreal science fantasy that was and remains the signature of its progenator.

Cheers,
Gary

 

[Elfdart]

And more importantly the effect of helms! You, Gary are the only author I have found who rightly said that intelligent opponents attack the head 50% of the time and that low or non-intelligent opponents have a 1/3 chance.

I should think that any opponent would try for a strike on the unprotected head. Mosquitoes and horseflies know to look for the most exposed area to bite, so anything from that level of intelligence or higher should be smart enough to do likewise. The only catch is, dumb animals make it a point to protect their most exposed areas as much as possible, especially the head.

My experience in the SCA confirms all that you wrote about weapons and helms. Ever since 1979 when I read that note in the DMG I have enforced the rule on PCs not wearing helms. Basically I created a matrix indexing their helm AC and their body AC. Not wearing a helm will get your AC bonus cut in half. Not a smart thing when fighting Against the Giants!

I came up with an alternate way of handling head protection:
http://www.dragonsfoot.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=19963&start=0

The official rule is that if a PC is wearing armor, but no head protection, then intelligent opponents may strike at the AC 10 noggin. That's fine as far as it goes, but I think I have a way to handle head protection that keeps things simple AND takes into account the fact that dumb monsters and animals should also find a bare head too good to pass up.

My solution is to find out what kind of protection the character has on his head (if any) and average it with the armor he is wearing, drop all fractions. If the average is greater or lesser than the base AC of the armor then the Armor Class goes up or down accordingly by ONE POINT.

Type of Head Protection(AC)
None (10)
Padded/ Leather (8) *
Studded/Ring/Hide/Skullcap (7) +
Open Helmet/Mail Coif (6) #
Helmet/Scale or Lamellar Coif (5) ++
Helm/Bascinet (3) **
Great Helm/Tournament Helm (2)

* includes padded or leather coifs, thick cloth headwear, etc.

+ the skullcap is either a small helmet that only covers the top of the head or is an open helmet made of weaker materials than metal, such as boiled leather

# open helmet refers to either a basic Spagenhelm or other simple helmets with little or no protection for the face, sides or back of the head or is a regular helmet made of weaker materials

++ this includes the closed-face Spagenhelm, later model Roman helmets, Vendel-era and similar helmets that offer substantial, but not total defense for the face, sides and back of the head

** assumes the face plate is closed, otherwise treat as a regular helmet

This way of handling it keeps combat abstract (no hit locations to worry about, nor any hassle over whether a creature is smart enough to go for the head) while giving an incentive for PCs who can wear helmets or other head protection to do so.

 

[ColonelHardisson]

Howdy Gary.

I was wondering what you thought of the article about you and D&D in The Believer magazine? I just picked it up last night.

 

[Col_Pladoh]

Howdy Gary.

I was wondering what you thought of the article about you and D&D in The Believer magazine? I just picked it up last night.

Article?

The Believer?


Cheers,
Gary

 

[ColonelHardisson]

Article?

The Believer?


Cheers,
Gary

Yeah. It's what seems to be a literary magazine. The article dealt with the history and societal impact of D&D. It included a section in which the writer of the article and his friend came to your house in Lake Geneva and interviewed you as well as played D&D with you as DM. They even had lunch with you at an Italian eatery somewhere in Lake Geneva (though the writer said you warned them it was expensive). The writer also said he called you this past March (apparently his visit was a year or more ago) to ask you about rumors of you having stomach cancer in the early 1980s, which you dispelled.

I picked this magazine up in a local Borders. There is a line illustration of you on the cover.

 

[Col_Pladoh]

Yeah. It's what seems to be a literary magazine. The article dealt with the history and societal impact of D&D. It included a section in which the writer of the article and his friend came to your house in Lake Geneva and interviewed you as well as played D&D with you as DM. They even had lunch with you at an Italian eatery somewhere in Lake Geneva (though the writer said you warned them it was expensive). The writer also said he called you this past March (apparently his visit was a year or more ago) to ask you about rumors of you having stomach cancer in the early 1980s, which you dispelled.

I picked this magazine up in a local Borders. There is a line illustration of you on the cover.

Ah, yes, I do vaguely recall the interview...I do a lot of them, and so many come to naught Can't recall the Italian restaurant--it seems to me that we went to the Tempura House for lunch. No matter!

Thanks for the heads up, and I'll have to hunt down a copy of that zine and see what was written.

Cheers,
Gary

 

[Ahzad]

Ah, yes, I do vaguely recall the interview...I do a lot of them, and so many come to naught Can't recall the Italian restaurant--it seems to me that we went to the Tempura House for lunch. No matter!

Thanks for the heads up, and I'll have to hunt down a copy of that zine and see what was written.

Cheers,
Gary

Here's a link, to a partial piece of the article.

http://www.believermag.com/issues/200609/?read=article_lafarge

 

[Griffith Dragonlake]

Type of Head Protection(AC)
None (10)
Padded/ Leather (8) *
Studded/Ring/Hide/Skullcap (7) +
Open Helmet/Mail Coif (6) #
Helmet/Scale or Lamellar Coif (5) ++
Helm/Bascinet (3) **
Great Helm/Tournament Helm (2)

Yepper. This is basically what I've used for the last 27 years.

 

[Edena_of_Neith]

Edena_of_Neith here.
Hey there, Gary Gygax. Nice to see you again.

Ok, this is going to freak you out, but it happened in a game I played in (I did *not* run this game), so I wish to ask you how you'd react as a player to the following situation:

You and a group of players get together, and your mutual friend is DMing. The module will be S2, White Plume Mountain.
Unfortunately, NOBODY has any characters above 1st level. The DM will not allow anyone to 'create' higher level characters for the module, because he feels levels must be earned. Instead, he declares you may create many 1st level characters to compensate for your lack of strength. Extra magical items and the like are not handed out as compensation, although you do get the maximum starting gold.
So, put between them, the players muster up a gaggle of around 7 1st level characters, and these will be going through White Plume Mountain.

Let's assume you are going to play in this game (of course, you created White Plume Mountain, and you know exactly what chance 7 1st level characters have in it.)
What is your reaction inwardly? How do you cope with the unfairness of it all? (because, in this case, this is the only DM around. If you refuse to play in his games, you have no alternatives ... and you *want* to play, obviously.)

I had to answer this question for myself. Now, I am curious as to what you'd be quietly thinking inside?

(Incidentally, we made it to that room with the 7 levels that guarded Black Razor. THEN we all died.)

Yours Sincerely
Edena_of_Neith

 

[airwalkrr]

That sounds horrid, Edena. If I were the DM, I would have run your group through some side trek to at least get you up to 2nd level first.