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.

 

[haakon1]

[*]1 yard: I've heard it said that this was the length of a man's belt.
[/list]

The old-style measurements are therefore much more natural than metric.

I was discussing this with my wife, who's Singaporean. I'm American (though I lived in England for 3 years). I showed her how a long stride is a good estimate of a yard. She showed me the way she knows a meter -- arm fully extent, other arm cocked out a bit -- and we both measured the room. (We just bought a tape measure, since we're moving.) It turns out we're both able to estimate the size of a room within +/- 10% or so this way.

I like both systems. English comes more naturally -- especially for feet or inch sized stuff -- but metric is cool for converting systems, like knowing a kg is a liter of water. Of course, a pint's a pound the world around.

 

[Nagora]

I was discussing this with my wife, who's Singaporean. I'm American (though I lived in England for 3 years). I showed her how a long stride is a good estimate of a yard. She showed me the way she knows a meter -- arm fully extent, other arm cocked out a bit -- and we both measured the room. (We just bought a tape measure, since we're moving.) It turns out we're both able to estimate the size of a room within +/- 10% or so this way.

Henry VIII defined the yard as the distance from his nose to his furthest fingertip while standing a la crucifix. This works very well (most people measure from the middle of their chest rather than their nose but you do see both still).

A cubit is half a yard and is easily measured with the elbow to fingertip as mentioned earlier.

I like both systems. English comes more naturally -- especially for feet or inch sized stuff -- but metric is cool for converting systems, like knowing a kg is a liter of water. Of course, a pint's a pound the world around.

One Imperial gallon = 10 Imperial pounds weight.

1 acre = 1 chain x 1 furlong.

 

[Col_Pladoh]

Wow. And here were thinking you were the original creator being silenced by IP and legal issues being held over your head buy guys in suits. Nah. You're just vindictive. I love it. My respect for you has shot up through the roof! That's just great.

Whoa!

Rather than vindictive, better righteously indignant at the manner in which I was treated. Now if Peter Adkison was still the CEO of WotC, and he asked me to contract for such work I would happily agree.

So let's talk product then:

Aerth = Epic of Aerth book
Learth = Chronicles of the Lejendary Gazeteer

Any other stuff I should add to my shopping list?

Sure

There are actually two additional books from Hekaforge Productions covering the Learth:

Noble Kings & Dark Lands

The Exotic Realms of Hazgar

There are two more books to come so as to complete the core setting. I am also ready to send two LE world supplement books to Troll Lord Games:

The Key of Sand dealing with the Banir Wastes

Maledicted dealing with a strange area of the Banir Wastes

If you are a fan of the AD&D system you might wish to check out the Castle Zagyg, Yggsbubrgh book from Troll Lord Games. It is for the Castles & Crusades game system and the work covers the "Eastmark," an area of some 1,500 square miles with the main feature the Free Town of Yggsbrgh, a community of c. 40,000 inhabitants. Now in progress (two actually in print) are 24 modules detailing the 19 districts of the town and the five suburban areas; also there will be three boxed sets of modules detailing the Castle Zagyg grounds, upper works, and score or so of dungeon levels. The first of those sets is slated for release next spring.

Cheerio,
Gary

 

[Col_Pladoh]

My favorite measurement is the cubit (and no, I'm not joking). A cubit is the length from your elbow to the tip of your middle finger (so everyone's cubit is somewhat different). But it is very easy to measure cubits as long as you have at least one arm.

My hand spread with fingers apart measures nine inches from thumb to little finger, a perfect one-half cubit...and also handy on the military miniatures gaming table

Cheerio,
Gary

 

[Col_Pladoh]

I haven't bought Learth yet (though I'm going to), but let me say that the Aerth book is one of the all-time masterpieces of FRPG products. It is a fantasy version of Earth, so ANYTHING you read in mythology, legendry, or weird stories has an instant place in Aerth.

Thank you sir!

I did spend the better part of three creative years putting that work together.

Cheerio,
Gary

 

[Col_Pladoh]

Gary, I'm sorry for this question. Please don't hesitate to throw up your hands, say that you can't possibly remember, and have a good laugh.

The FOREWORD of the Fiend Folio states that the book was completed in August 1979--just a few months after you finished the Dungeon Masters Guide. Yet the Fiend Folio's publication was delayed until 1981.

Now here's my question: Since the Fiend Folio was finished in 1979, how is it that there are a number of pieces of art in it dated by the artists as 1981? And all of these late-dated pieces are by artists from the U. S. (such as Erol Otus and Bill Willingham). During the two-year delay, did you and/or others decide, "Well, since this thing is delayed anyway, we might as well add more art to the book in the meantime"?

Shirt answer:

I received the ms, for the work in the year indicated. Art has nothing to do with with a completed ms., it is window dressing even in a bestiary and managed by the line editor(s).
TSR simply sat around on the ms. for a couple of years.

What really irritated me about it is that I told Schick to kill some of the truly silly monster entries, gave him some of my own work to replace them, and the fool included the crap likely just to be a pain as he knew he was leaving the company then.

Cheers,
Gary

 

[Col_Pladoh]

...


One Imperial gallon = 10 Imperial pounds weight.

1 acre = 1 chain x 1 furlong.

1 US gallon is eight pounds weight, so the Imperial gallon is 25% larger, or the US gallon is 80% the volume of an Imperial one

The measure for an acre you give is per side of a square acre.

BTW, a section is one-quarter of a square mile, 160 acres.

Cheerio,
Gary

 

[haakon1]

Henry VIII defined the yard as the distance from his nose to his furthest fingertip while standing a la crucifix. This works very well (most people measure from the middle of their chest rather than their nose but you do see both still).

Henry VIII was an unusually large man, though -- I've seen his armor. But perhaps girth and arm length are unrelated. And I assume the codpiece was exaggerated on purpose!

Yard = one long step works for me, and it makes it easy to measure stuff. <shrug>

One Imperial gallon = 10 Imperial pounds weight.

"So a pint's a pound the world around" is actually only true in the US and our outlying possessions? Thank God for Guam.

 

[haakon1]

BTW, a section is one-quarter of a square mile, 160 acres.

And as you surely now, Gary, a section is what you could get for free from the US government for settling the American West, after the Homestead Act of 1862.

I believe the requirements to stake your claim were building a 10' x 12' dwelling and living there 5 years (or was it 4), before you got the title. I think you had to make your living off the land, but I'm not sure if that was a legal requirement or just what everyone did with 160 acres of Nebraska.

So I figure 160 acres is a full-sized American semi-arid farm, what a man could work (with some horses) and run a few cows on, with a "back 40" and so on.

And I figure 40 acres is a decent sized small farm in a developed area with more rain, from the short lived policy of giving freed slaves "40 acres and a mule" at about the same time. I believe that happened in the areas the Union Navy took in 1862 -- the Sea Islands off Georgia and South Carolina, and maybe parts of Louisiana?

But I wonder how many acres a typical medieval peasant farmed? I'm guessing there's no real answer to that, as it would vary with geography (a lot smaller plots with productive land in the Netherlands or the Thames Valley, a lot bigger with rocky soil in Norway or dryer land in Poland).

 

[Col_Pladoh]

And as you surely now, Gary, a section is what you could get for free from the US government for settling the American West, after the Homestead Act of 1862.

I believe the requirements to stake your claim were building a 10' x 12' dwelling and living there 5 years (or was it 4), before you got the title. I think you had to make your living off the land, but I'm not sure if that was a legal requirement or just what everyone did with 160 acres of Nebraska.

So I figure 160 acres is a full-sized American semi-arid farm, what a man could work (with some horses) and run a few cows on, with a "back 40" and so on.

And I figure 40 acres is a decent sized small farm in a developed area with more rain, from the short lived policy of giving freed slaves "40 acres and a mule" at about the same time. I believe that happened in the areas the Union Navy took in 1862 -- the Sea Islands off Georgia and South Carolina, and maybe parts of Louisiana?

But I wonder how many acres a typical medieval peasant farmed? I'm guessing there's no real answer to that, as it would vary with geography (a lot smaller plots with productive land in the Netherlands or the Thames Valley, a lot bigger with rocky soil in Norway or dryer land in Poland).

I belueve the requirement for a homestead was working the land for five years.

More likley a 40 acre plot was suitable for dirt farming a cash crop such as tobacco.

Any farm that raised large livestock would need at least 80 acres, even in well-watered areas with fertile soil.

Cheerio,
Gary