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.

 

[reiella]

Fun clarification, chat is currently going on. The website is misprinted with it being from 8pm central. It started at 7 central.

 

[Dahak]

Re: Re: Questions for Gary

As for the sequel to NECROPOLIS, as I mentioned before, it's in the hands of the gods. I need to be able to open some MAc+ files, find the maps I made around 1994 for a potential CRPG, then see how much work is involved in changing the adventure from a computer base to a paper one.

Hi Gary!

Was the CRPG in question the Dangerous Journeys game that was advertised back in some of the old DJ books as coming for the Turbo Grafx 16/Turbo Duo game console? I remember debating about buying the console at the time, in anticipation of the game's release (thankfully I did not).

 

[Eternalknight]

Gary, here are a few questions as I won't be able to make the chat.

1) How long did it take you to write the original version of D&D? Or, in other words, when did you come up with the idea and how long did it take to get it into print?

2) I have been reading your Up On A Soapbox colums in Dragon and really enjoy them. Your commentry on some of your gaming sessions brings back memories about when i first started playing. Unfortuneatly, I can't seem to get that same 'feeling' now when i DM. Any advice?

3) Would you consider D&D (in any of its incarnations) as your favourite game? If no, which game would be your favourite?

 

[Thanee]

I just wanted to add, that I really liked the way you answered the questions here (i.e. taking the time to read and answer pretty much everything, especially the fun and ... inappropriate questions )!

Very cool!

Bye
Thanee

 

[Voadam]

original MM question

Is there a story or myth behind why rakshasas can be instantly slain by a blessed crossbow bolt? I have never come across one and it seems an odd enough specific vulnerability to be based off of a real myth.

 

[Col_Pladoh]

Yesterday afternoon I tried to get on here and answer the last few posts,but for some reason I was unable to--the computer kept crashing when I tried to enter my responses, so...

Here's another one:

Of all the published D&D related items you've written (novels, rulebooks, adventures, etc), do you have any particular favorites? What was the most fun to write? The least?

As I have mentioned, some projects are really a breeze to write, as inspiration rush makes the work seem to create itself.Others are done with much labor and many revisions. The end effect is usually greater satisfaction when the latter sort of project is finished, so that in balance, all come out with about the same level of enjoyment.

I admit to having a lot of fun wwriting the giants and drow series, but that was mainly because of anticipation of DMing the adventures for my group and the play-test group at TSR. The novels were a lot of fun to write too, particularly the Gord short stories, as that form of writing seems to demand more than a novel does.

Because I do love games and writing, I must admit I love all the work I do. However, writing modules is becoming more and more a chore because I do not want to repeat anything that has been done before by me, so creating something that is different and fresh is commensurately more difficult.

Gary

 

[Col_Pladoh]

Re: still more questions

Gary

1. What are your favorite fantasy movies? And would you like to see a film based on a popular D&D module/adventure?

2. One of the primary limitations to the cleric class or related classes has been the prohibition of edged weopons. This was based, to my knowledge, upon the prohibition among medieval priests against spilling Christian blood (I don't think they had a problem with spilling infidel blood). I believe the Pope Julius was known to charge into battle with mace and beat opponents to death.

However, did you ever feel it was a bit unrealistic to extend this to all priests, including evil priests, not to mention the general concept that it was/is ok for a priest to bash an opponent to death (somehow without spilling blood) but not to use edged weopons?


That's all I can think of.

Good luck in your future gaming and publishing. I really hope you somehow return to writing material for WoG. I'd most like to see you do more drow material, though other authors and done much of that already.

Cheers

John Semlak

Right to the chase here!

1. My favorite fantasy films are the Harry Potter one and the LotR movie, in that order. There are a lot of movies that I feel have a great fantasy theme, even though they are not in that genre. For example, KING KONG and THE DEEP. Anyway, now that we have two exceptionally well done and profitable fantasy major motion pictures, more such films can be expected, and I don't man only more Harry Potter ones and the other two Rings films.

2. In seeking clear class distinctions I did indeed proscribe m-us from the use of the sword, and clerics too. This made the archetypes distinct, balanced the character classes, and worked well enough for game purposes, methinks.

As for unrealistic, heh! Let's talk about magic and monsters in that term... Actually, when initially writing the cleric class, I did not contemplate much interest in PCs of evil sort. Of course I often had my evil cleric NPCs using proscribed weapons, so I am not all bunched up about changes in the matter--save for game balance. If something new is allowed, then some compensating restriction is likely in order.

Gary

 

[Col_Pladoh]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Questions for Gary

Actually, I don't want you to do a qualitative comparison between games. I'm not a raving d20 fanboy (well, not that way, at least) that sees no value in anything printed prior to the turn of the millennium (or close to it). I played AD&D 1t edition for well over a decade. I'm actually interested in what you feel the spirit of older editions was. It doesn't have to entail anything about other games. One could surmise a certain mood or feel for the game based upon the fiction you gave as recommended reading in the DMG. However, older editions/versions of the game seemed to have a different feel from the later AD&D. Can you articulate what that was?

Being close to the matter, it is difficult to write with clear objectivity. About all I can say is the enthusiasm and the love of the game were possibly conveyed to the reader by the style in which I wrote the material. Also, some of the rules and mechanics that were included in the original, removed later on, were actually critical to the "feel" and the "spirit" of the whole work.

That's about all I can relate, Colonel.

This isn't a grilling - Sorry if it seemed like that (I'm certainly no trial lawyer or journalist, and don't mean to come off that way). I'm asking for some artistic commentary from you. Like when Steven Spielberg is interviewed and he tells about what symbolism was used in a film he's made, or why he made particular artistic choices. OK, so maybe not that involved, but along those lines. Does that make sense? It doesn't have to be about the game overall; I'd be interested in, for example, knowing what directly influenced the "Giants" series, or the "Drow" series.

Okay, and I understand. I really don't want to get into long essays on my creative choices either, as I am not all that enthralled with such an approach to what I consider a craft at best

Most of the influences on my creative work were acquired from childhood on--my father's bedtime stories about wizards with magic rings, cloaks of invisibiulity, my mother fairy tales and adventure stories reading to me. I read Bradbury's "The Veldt" in 1948, in BLUEBOOK Magazine, IIRC. That was about the same time I found a copy of Burrough's CAVE GIRL and Howard's CONAN novel. While I read Poe and a lot of military history, from 1950 on I was a devoted SF and fantasy fan, read a book or pulpo zine or two a day. (Back then my reading speed was about 600 words a minute.)

So, to answer directly, the majority of what I used to create back in 1970 and onwards from there was material inculcated and gained over some two or three decades prior. Of course I haven't ceased reading and being inspired. For examplem, one has to love "luggage" in the "Diskworld" books the main inspiration for the adventure material was the D&D game itself, ny love for Dming and playing it.

And that's a fact. The reason I now write mainly using theLA game as a base is because of that very thing. I really am enthused by that system, as I find it brings back the same sort of feel I had back in those early days.

Hope that serves, amogo,
Gary

 

[Col_Pladoh]

O, Great Gygax, who we implore to not let the rust monsters near our vorpal swords...

You've mentioned the weakening of the archetypes in the 3E system - I'm unfamiliar with your Lejendary Adventures game, save that it is 'rules lite', but I was wondering if you used archetypes in that system, or another approach altogether?

Cheers!

good question. Yes indeed, even though the LA game system is skill-bundle-based so as to allow broad lattitude in character creation, I included what are termed in the game "Orders." If a player decides to have an Avatar that belongs to an Order, then the initial four of five "Abilities" (skill-bundles) are prescribed. Orders are archetype characters--the Ecclesiastic, Elementalist, Mage, etc. By doing this I hope to have managed the best of both worlds, all the while having a non-complicated and easy skills system.

Cheerio,
Gary

 

[Col_Pladoh]

Re: Re: Re: Questions for Gary

Hi Gary!

Was the CRPG in question the Dangerous Journeys game that was advertised back in some of the old DJ books as coming for the Turbo Grafx 16/Turbo Duo game console? I remember debating about buying the console at the time, in anticipation of the game's release (thankfully I did not).

Howdy!

No, the bogus lawsuit filed by T$R back in the 90s closed the door on the deal we had with Nontendo/JVC. After that I did a number of CRPG designs, two of which that were oprioned for development but never got into production for reasons not related to the game itself.

Anyway, the material I am speaking of was not one of the two game designs sold, but rather one that was a stand alone product. I never got it far enough along to do a formal proposal to any publisher. After the second CRPG (after the MYTHUS ONE) was accepted, word came on a Monday it was going forward into development, and on Wednesday we were told the company was sold and all projects were being canned, I decided I would return to paper games once again... Thus that design, along with some 20 or so others is lauguishing somewhere in this place, in disk limbo if you will.

Gary