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.

 

[Marshal Lucky]

I thought banshees (the AD&D version) were treated as undead in the Special category.

You could make them more like the ones in Gaelic folklore, where each family has its own banshee that shrieks when a family member is about to die. This would be great if any of the PCs have characters of noble birth.

 

[Geoffrey]

I thought banshees (the AD&D version) were treated as undead in the Special category.

The "Special" category is defined on page 76 of the DMG as including "Evil creatures from the lower planes such as minor demons, lesser devils, mezzodaemons, night hags, from 1-2 in number."

 

[Col_Pladoh]

Thanks, that makes things a little less scary. I read 8 man-sized folks as "entire party", but I suppose if they were strung out single file as parties tend to be they probably violated the "20 feet" limitation on the rope's ability to entangle.

It wasn't until years later we used miniatures. Could have helped us out a lot in visualizing the problem.

As ever, you rule. Thanks again for the time,
AB

Appreciate the laud.

As a matter of fact I was often too vague in detailing such information as I was so used to making a ruling on the spot based on the circumstances. Attempting to cover every case seemed too complicated to me, too much an imposition on the DM's prerogatives.

Cheerio,
Gary

 

[Col_Pladoh]

Mr. Gygax,

I was just watching Code Monkeys on G4, and in the promo for next week they said you're on! Did you actually contribute voice talent / dialog, and how was that, if so? And how did it compare to doing Futurama? And when you did Futurama, were Nichelle Nichols, Al Gore, and Stephen Hawking actually there at the same time recording, or was it done separately and edited together?

Apologies if that last one has been asked and answered elsewhere and I missed it, and for questions that aren't directly game related.

Short Answer:

Yes indeed, I recorded the VO for my part on that episode about a month ago.

As with most "guest" voice overs, I recorded on a studio separate from the regulars and any other guests.

That said, I do enjoy doing such work, and I volunteered to be a reqular on Futurama, pointing out that they could give me more lines, fly me out to CA 1st class, and put me up at a bungalow at the Beverly Hills Hotel. David merely layghed.


Gary

 

[Col_Pladoh]

Gary, I have two AD&D monster questions:

1. Why can't clerics turn groaning spirits?

As noted by another poster, the Banshee is a "Special" undead monster and is turned accordingly. A Banshee is not a normal human undead so is to be treated as a special sort of evil spirit entity.

2. You've noted that you did not use psionics in your AD&D games. What did you do, then, with the monsters listed below? Did you just not use them?

brain mole
cerebral parasite
intellect devourer
shedu
su-monster

Obviously I ignored tham as they affect only characters with psionic ability

And with mind flayers, did you consider their tentacles and mind blast enough (while simply not using their psionic abilities and psionic attack/defense modes)?

Thanks!

Yup. The mind blast is a pretty potent attack form, especially when there are multiple attackers uning it.

Cheers,
Gary

 

[Griffith Dragonlake]

Arduin?

Hi Gary,

Just out of curiosity, have you ever taken a look at the Arduin Grimoires writen by David A. Hargrave? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arduin

I'm sure you must have heard of them back in mid to late '70s.

If so, what are your thoughts?

 

[Col_Pladoh]

Hi Gary,

Just out of curiosity, have you ever taken a look at the Arduin Grimoires writen by David A. Hargrave? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arduin

I'm sure you must have heard of them back in mid to late '70s.

If so, what are your thoughts?

I saw them when they were originally published.

Ever see my magic item "The Vacuous Grimoire"?

Baby fat indeed

Cheerio,
Gary

 

[Tarek]

I got some useful lessons from reading the Arduin Grimoires; despite the completely disjointed setting, it did teach me something about building a campaign world.

Namely, that local/regional "color" is a good thing when used in moderation, and that descriptions of items and places should avoid grammar intended to elicit excitement and excessive exclamation points. Leave it to the players, and do not attempt to dictate how they feel by beating them over the head saying "be excited about this!"

In some ways, the Arduin Grimoires are worth reading, mostly as an example of what not to do when setting up a long term campaign.

There's no way I could use the actual setting, and most of the material within... okay, all of the material within... failed to fit anywhere in any of my campaign worlds, so I sold the books shortly after I acquired them.

edit: Well, I THOUGHT I'd sold them all, but there's one that I just unpacked. Considering that I don't remember packing it when I moved, I must wonder whether the curse is real...

 

[Griffith Dragonlake]

I saw them when they were originally published.

Ever see my magic item "The Vacuous Grimoire"?

Baby fat indeed

Cheerio,
Gary

A hah! That explains a lot:

Vacuous Grimoire: A book of this sort is totally impossible to tell from a normal one, although if a detect magic spell is cast, there will be a magical aura noted. Any character who opens the work and reads so much as a single glyph therein must make 2 saving throws versus magic. The first is to determine if 1 point of intelligence is lost or not, the second is to find if 2 points of wisdom are lost. Once opened and read, the vacuous grimoire remains, and it must be burned to be rid of it after first casting a remove curse spell. If the tome is placed with other books, its appearance will instantly alter to conform to one of the other works it is amongst.

I never owned any copies of the Arduin Grimoire myself but one of my players in the late '70s loaned me his copy and I swear I must have had to make those two saving throws! Needless to say I never allowed any of the material into my game. The player in question did indeed try and run an Arduin module (undoubtedly because he failed both saving throws ) but the other players and myself did not enjoy it in the least. In the end we all agreed it was a waste of time and money. Although the critical hit effect of chopping off the buttocks of the opponent does have a certain appeal, albeit juvenile.

 

[erc1971]

Gary,

I have a Greyhawk question.

I am referring to the Greyhawk Campaign Setting Boxed Set that was released in '83...

On pages 63 and 64 of Guide to Greyhawk book there is a listing of deities for this setting. Throughout the years I have been gathering all info I could find on Greyhawk deities and collecting them in a binder for quick reference. However, I have not been able to find any information on a few of these deities beyond this list. I have searched high and low in a variety of TSR products and have found zero information. I was wondering if you might know where I could find more detailed information on these deities?

The deities in question are:
Cyndor, Allitur, Atroa, Berei, Bleredd, Delleb, Geshtai, Joramy, Kurell, Lirr, Myhriss, Sotillion, Telchur, Velnius, Wenta, Zodal, Rudd, and Zuoken.

Thanks,
Eric