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]

Hi, Gary! Thanks for answering my previous question about detail and materials. You only missed one part: if another referee took up your prepared notes for a game, how much sense would they make to him?

Well blast! sorry to have missed that. If the Gm was familiar with my style, imaginative, and enjoyed winging play, the notes would serve well, as they did for Rob Kuntz. Otherwise, they would be disappointing at best. Imagine: "5-8 bugbears, guard with m s +2 damage, each 10-60 g; c trapdoor/trap with spikes in NW leads to niche with 1-2 random magic items."

I have another question for you, this one relating to the early games in the '70s. How did you deal with "missing" players? That is, did adventuring parties typically leave the dungeon at the end of every game session, or did they decide to stop the game in the middle of the adventure, to resume it the next time the game was on? If the latter, how did you handle characters for those players who couldn't make it to the game? Since you've told us that you often had a score of people crammed into your basement to play D&D, such a solution must have caused a lot of problems.

Generally, parties left the dungeon at the end of a session so PCs could get their experience point awards, resupply, and heal. that was a must i insisted upon for large groups. If the party was of small size and wished to remain active in any location awaiting the next session, then the usual manner for managing a missing player was that he was ill and able only to move along with the others, not do any other sort of action.

When I suggest to players that the party will want to leave the dungeon before we wrap up the game for the evening, I usually get bewildered looks. Such an attitude is apparently not the trend among gamers today.

Instruct, do not request

How did you handle this back then? How do you handle it now?

See above, and this is one area where I have not changed much...

Cheers,
Gary

 

[Col_Pladoh]

Im curious as to, in the early D&D games, how much character and personality did the players put into the PC's ? How much did they differ in personality, or was the PC mainly a mechanical way to interact with hte game ?

The main thrust for most players back then was the action, so a few PCs were unnamed, and we referred to them rather caustically as "Joe's fighter," or "Bob' cleric."

The core group, the regulars, were much more concerned with developing their PCs, interacting with each other and some NPCs in character.

How much involvement did you have with the creation of the Moldway/Cook or Mentzer D&D rules ? Im personally a big fan of Mentzer's D&D, and still play it from time to
time. My players tend to be fans of a bit more character detail though, so its mostly AD&D 1 (with some elements of 2nd edition)

Moldvay and Cook worked under the Blumes afgter 1981, so I had little input in their work.

Frank Mentzer worked directly under me. He would sketch out what he planned, and I would comment. He then would move forward as agreed to, the creative part then as he saw fit knowing the game and my style.

In AD&D, I wonder about the bard's connection to druids. Where did the inspiration for this come from ?

Historically, bards were a class of druid. We don't know much at all about what the druids did in their religious practices, but we know their organization into three branches--the priests, lawyers (ovates), and bards.

Likewise the Rangers use of magic user spells, as opposed to more nature based magic. Was the ranger originally intended as something else than the foresting, robin hood type ?

Ask the originator of the class, Joe Fischer. I polished his original material for The Strategic Review, and all the readers loved it the way it was, to it remained in that general form for the AD&D game.no sense in fixing something that isn't broken as far as most players go.

Do you have a webpage or similar, where the changes you have made to oD&D could be found ? Im sure there's a lot of people who would love to have a shot at "gygaxian" D&D

No, that game is the property of others, not me.

Did you ever have players who wanted to play their character as a different class than what they had picked ? How did you handle such situations ?

Yes. I made them create now PCs.

Do you ever use alternate means of earning XP, such as story or objective goals (i.e. party earns 1000 xp for reaching the heart of the dungeon, where the artifact lies or some such) or rewards for good roleplaying ? How much of the earned XP do you recommend coming from such sources, as opposed to killing and looting XP (traditionally the main source of experience points)

I gave XP awards for clear thinking, use of spells, clever solutions to problems, and sometimes for repartee. Determining what constitutes good roleplaying is situational and subjective. Most other awards are based on action and easy to determine. Basing XP awards thus means no players felt discriminated against. Besides, all of the players scorned amateur theater and loved hack & slash, so it was quite difficult for me to have them enjoy much in the way of yakking unless i worked very hard to make a scenario that was interesting to them and demanded roleplaying that came naturally because of the circimstances established.

Cheers,
Gary

 

[Col_Pladoh]

OH-erth, orth, erth or oith? How do you usually pronounce many Greyhawk terms? I usually concider the "O" to be silent (Oeridian being pronounced er-RID-eean). But then, I didn't create the world, I just like to use it

Say it as "Oi-th" as if you were from Brooklyn, and that's the way I pronounce it. That annoys all who take a fantasy world far too seriously

Heh,
Gary

 

[Col_Pladoh]

Mr. Gygax did you invent the RPG?

I suppose that is the case, if you ignore the children's game of "Let's Pretend" that's been around for a lot of centuries. I can state I am the author of the first formal RPG...


Gary

 

[Col_Pladoh]

...
I guess I will have to eventually budget in a con, and Gary's bar tab

That's the proper spirit lad! also keep in mind, the better the booze, the more elequent the tale related

Now I am off to mind another Q&A thread before I pick up where I left off in the developmental editing of a ms.

Cheers,
Gary

 

[SuStel]

If the Gm was familiar with my style, imaginative, and enjoyed winging play, the notes would serve well, as they did for Rob Kuntz. Otherwise, they would be disappointing at best. Imagine: "5-8 bugbears, guard with m s +2 damage, each 10-60 g; c trapdoor/trap with spikes in NW leads to niche with 1-2 random magic items."

Wonderful! This is exactly the sort of thing I was looking for. I am reminded of Judge's Guild's Tegel Manor, which was published in this very… er, manner.

Generally, parties left the dungeon at the end of a session so PCs could get their experience point awards, resupply, and heal. that was a must i insisted upon for large groups. If the party was of small size and wished to remain active in any location awaiting the next session, then the usual manner for managing a missing player was that he was ill and able only to move along with the others, not do any other sort of action.

…

Instruct, do not request

Heh. I tend to use strong persuasion. These days I usually announce this policy before the start of the game, to get past the inevitable eyebrow-waggling of incredulity before the action begins.

Many thanks for the informative replies! Oh, and will the aggrieved relatives of the recently-late Old Guard Kobolds be taking their sweet revenge soon?

 

[Tuzenbach]

Gary,

Thanks for answering my question about "The Tomb Of Horrors" and 'role-playing' equating to death within such. 'Twas very enlightening.


I was curious about something. What are your views regarding magical aging, both in 1E and how the rules currently work in 3E? IMHO, today's rules governing magical aging are nothing more than the RPG version of "Affirmative Action" for all races who's lifespan neither meets nor exceeds 160 years.

Back in 1E, I liked the idea that if the party met with a ghost, it was OK for the humans, half-orcs, and halflings to immediately run from it and have the elves and dwarves deal with the foe. That circumstance made ghosts more frightening and gave long-lived races a certain kind of "specialness". Granted, 1E held that dwarves and elves could advance no further than 10th or 14th level respectively, but that's neither here nor there.

Also, back in 1E I was kind of a 'rules-lawyer'. I had a character who was a Drow (ambidexterity) specializing in darts (ordinarily 4 thrown darts per round but double it due to ambidexterity) who always carried a couple of potions of speed. My view was that if one such potion was imbibed, his rate of fire would increase from 8 to 16. If the second potion was taken, his rate of fire would then jump to 32. In fact, I kept this knowledge to myself until such a time that I was able to single-handedly knock off a 100-hit-point-plus black dragon! Ah, ignorant DM's can be so fun.

Anyway, was it your intention for the Drow's ambidexterity to double his number of attacks? And were potions of speed cumulative with each other to a probable infinity? I only ask because I could never find anything in the rules opposing my theories. And if a Drow lives to be 1000+, who cares about a bit of magical aging, 'ya know?

Again, humble apologies if these sorts of questions were answered in previous Q&A's. But if so, just let me know and I'll go look for them. Thank you!

 

[weasel fierce]

Frank Mentzer worked directly under me. He would sketch out what he planned, and I would comment. He then would move forward as agreed to, the creative part then as he saw fit knowing the game and my style.

Did you ever get a chance to play "his" D&D ?
In that regard, I am also curious as to your thoughts on the races as classes, vs races with classes argument and difference between D&D and AD&D. I personally like, and can see reasonings for both, but was it part of the original idea of D&D, or did it just pan out because the first rules didnt really have a lot of classes, and the cleric and wizard were not appropriate for hobbits and such anyways ?

Historically, bards were a class of druid. We don't know much at all about what the druids did in their religious practices, but we know their organization into three branches--the priests, lawyers (ovates), and bards.


Ask the originator of the class, Joe Fischer. I polished his original material for The Strategic Review, and all the readers loved it the way it was, to it remained in that general form for the AD&D game.no sense in fixing something that isn't broken as far as most players go.

Makes sense, and much obliged. In my own tabletop games, I must admit to using the 2nd edition bard, as I prefer the bard being immediately available, rather than the somewhat clunky multiclass system of 1st edition. I think I will definately run them with druidic magic though, now.



Thanks much for your answers and your taking the time to answer the loads of questions, we throw at you

I do have a couple of additional questions though (its like taxes, there's always another one lurking)


When did the change of the hobbit / halfling from a warrior type to a rogue type take place ? More interestingly, what brought about this change ? Simply differentiating from the dwarf ?

AD&D notes that NPC elf and dwarf clerics exist, and such also made appearances in Mentzers D&D (the gazeteers) but AD&D prohibited players from having a cleric. (untill UA anyway). What was the thoughts behind this, and what prompted the change ?
How do you do it at your table?

I know you are a wargamer or at least used to be. What nationalities or armies do you generally play, when you have a chance ?

Finally, have you ever had Danish beer ?


Cheers!

 

[oldschooler]

Three questions, each spaced a bit so as not to strain the brain too much...


I like your pronounciation of Oerth, sounds like Bugs Bunny. What about a couple of other commonly confusing names: Oeridian and Flanaess? I usually pronounced them er-RIDI-an and flan-ESS, how's about you?

What's your favorite alcoholic drink (assuming it's safe for you to drink of course )? Mine is usually Canadian beer (especially lite or ice varieties) or maybe the odd rum with Coke.

Big one: I have very few players (if any) at any given time. Should they each use more than one character, or should I just cut down on encounter strengths in published adventures? I'd hate to slice the number of critters in, say, Castle Zagyg by half or more! How many characters have you allowed a player to run at one time in the same adventure?

 

[Gray Mouser]

I gave XP awards for clear thinking, use of spells, clever solutions to problems, and sometimes for repartee.

XP for repartee? Heh, the influence of Jack Vance is quite obvious here, Gary. But I'm not sure of Cugel would've gotten much for clear thinking

Gray Mouser

 

[Krieg]

Likewise the Rangers use of magic user spells, as opposed to more nature based magic. Was the ranger originally intended as something else than the foresting, robin hood type ?

To be fair Rangers did receive Druid spells as well as MU ones.

I didn't know that Gary designed any weapons. I think the Rocket propelled grenade was invented quiet a while ago
ken

Grrr, someone beat me to the smartalec punch!

 

[oldschooler]

This isn't an attempt to highjack the thread at all, I merely wish to direct Gary's attention to another, similar, thread I started over at Dragonsfoot (like he's really got the time ):

http://www.dragonsfoot.org/forums/viewtopic.php?p=161453#161453

Sorry for the intrusion, please continue posting away

 

[Col_Pladoh]

Wonderful! This is exactly the sort of thing I was looking for. I am reminded of Judge's Guild's Tegel Manor, which was published in this very… er, manner.

Back in those days it was common to make the erroneous assumption that all the GMs who would use a published adventure were able to manage it by creating details off the cuff as it were.

...

Many thanks for the informative replies! Oh, and will the aggrieved relatives of the recently-late Old Guard Kobolds be taking their sweet revenge soon?

I was thinking about having a division of the Old Guard Trolls come looking for revenge, but that wouldn't be cricket

Cheers,
Gary

 

[Col_Pladoh]

Gary,

Thanks for answering my question about "The Tomb Of Horrors" and 'role-playing' equating to death within such. 'Twas very enlightening.

Glad to be of service.

I was curious about something. What are your views regarding magical aging, both in 1E and how the rules currently work in 3E? IMHO, today's rules governing magical aging are nothing more than the RPG version of "Affirmative Action" for all races who's lifespan neither meets nor exceeds 160 years.

Back in 1E, I liked the idea that if the party met with a ghost, it was OK for the humans, half-orcs, and halflings to immediately run from it and have the elves and dwarves deal with the foe. That circumstance made ghosts more frightening and gave long-lived races a certain kind of "specialness". Granted, 1E held that dwarves and elves could advance no further than 10th or 14th level respectively, but that's neither here nor there.

I don't care to make comparisons between OAD&D and new D&D. I will say, though, that I concur with your evaluation of the aging effects in the original game, and that human and non-long-lived PCs were meant to flee opponents who could age them, that being more fearsome even than level loss!

As for level limits for demi-humans, there was none on the thief aspect, and in my estimation, and such PC that hit the maximum levels possible was either playing for a very long time or in a Monty Haul campaign. It took me five years to work my dwarf fighter, Zigby, to his level limit. He didn't go on all that many adventures as my single PC, but he was there getting half experience on many a big-time foray with Mordenkainen and/or Bigby and the rest.

[QUOTE/Also, back in 1E I was kind of a 'rules-lawyer'.[QUOTE/]
go stand in the corner for an hour

I had a character who was a Drow (ambidexterity) specializing in darts (ordinarily 4 thrown darts per round but double it due to ambidexterity) who always carried a couple of potions of speed. My view was that if one such potion was imbibed, his rate of fire would increase from 8 to 16. If the second potion was taken, his rate of fire would then jump to 32. In fact, I kept this knowledge to myself until such a time that I was able to single-handedly knock off a 100-hit-point-plus black dragon! Ah, ignorant DM's can be so fun.

Anyway, was it your intention for the Drow's ambidexterity to double his number of attacks? And were potions of speed cumulative with each other to a probable infinity? I only ask because I could never find anything in the rules opposing my theories. And if a Drow lives to be 1000+, who cares about a bit of magical aging, 'ya know?

Again, humble apologies if these sorts of questions were answered in previous Q&A's. But if so, just let me know and I'll go look for them. Thank you!

Well...

I suppose that the Drow ambidexterity would extend to hand-thrown missiles, so you were not off base there. An ambidextrous character can attack twice, yes, but of course that means no shield, and a penalty on the second attack is usual, eh? You were well out in left field though claiming speed potions were cumulative. I can't blame you, though, as I have attempted to bulldoze GMs in like manner when i was power gaming

Realistically, a drow character would care about losing 1% of his lifespan on a regular basis, don't you think?

cheers,
Gary

 

[Col_Pladoh]

Did you ever get a chance to play "his" D&D ?

Of course I played in Frank's campaign now and again. His game and style were never radical.

In that regard, I am also curious as to your thoughts on the races as classes, vs races with classes argument and difference between D&D and AD&D. I personally like, and can see reasonings for both, but was it part of the original idea of D&D, or did it just pan out because the first rules didnt really have a lot of classes, and the cleric and wizard were not appropriate for hobbits and such anyways ?

As I have said elsewhere, I don't see any real value in regards my comments on such matters, as the game systems in question now belong to WotC. I did what I did and its now water long gone under the bridge. Whatever you do doesn't need valadition from me.

...

I do have a couple of additional questions though (its like taxes, there's always another one lurking)

When did the change of the hobbit / halfling from a warrior type to a rogue type take place ? More interestingly, what brought about this change ? Simply differentiating from the dwarf ?

See above regarding my comments on such matters.

AD&D notes that NPC elf and dwarf clerics exist, and such also made appearances in Mentzers D&D (the gazeteers) but AD&D prohibited players from having a cleric. (untill UA anyway). What was the thoughts behind this, and what prompted the change ?
How do you do it at your table?

Ditto.

I know you are a wargamer or at least used to be. What nationalities or armies do you generally play, when you have a chance ?

I liked any Ancient period force, any Medieval one (especially one with horse archers--and
I still have several hundred 40mm Hauser figurines)).I had Brunswickers for Napoleonics, but I happily played any command from Austrian to Russian, English or French. As for WWII I had a fair number of US troops and AFVs, including a lot of conversions--all lost when Don Kaye died.

Finally, have you ever had Danish beer ?

Cheers!

Yes indeed, and I like Danish beer as it has flavor and some bite to it. I thorughly dislike all light and American popular beers with no character, and flavorless pilsners brewed anywhere are not to my taste.

I generally drink Samuel Adams Bosten Ale, Guniess Stout, Samuel Smith Porter or Nut Brown Ale, or several of the offerings from a local brewery, New Glarus Brewing that offer a good ale (Fat Squirrel) and many special sorts throughout the year.

Cheers,
Gary

 

[Col_Pladoh]

Three questions, each spaced a bit so as not to strain the brain too much...

I like your pronounciation of Oerth, sounds like Bugs Bunny. What about a couple of other commonly confusing names: Oeridian and Flanaess? I usually pronounced them er-RIDI-an and flan-ESS, how's about you?

Close enough

What's your favorite alcoholic drink (assuming it's safe for you to drink of course )? Mine is usually Canadian beer (especially lite or ice varieties) or maybe the odd rum with Coke.

See above regarding beer. I am much given to premier grand cru class French wines, top of the line champaign included. As for the rest, as with cusine, my taste is far reaching, running from fine Armagnac through Rakki to whiskies of all sorts. What I am not much fond of are the sweet liquors, although I do like virtually all sorts of rum.

All that said, I can't abide more than a few drinks, and my usual intake is a glass of wine before dinner and one with the meal. On special occassions I'll have a cocktail or similar apertif before that and a digestif after a major dining experience

Big one: I have very few players (if any) at any given time. Should they each use more than one character, or should I just cut down on encounter strengths in published adventures? I'd hate to slice the number of critters in, say, Castle Zagyg by half or more! How many characters have you allowed a player to run at one time in the same adventure?

I allow the players to decide the matter. If they enjoy playing two or three PCs and manage that well, why not? I used to do that a lot, as I couldn't schedule my RPG time to suit the group, so I'd have solo-games DMed for me, often as i did other work.

Cheers,
Gary

 

[Col_Pladoh]

XP for repartee? Heh, the influence of Jack Vance is quite obvious here, Gary. But I'm not sure of Cugel would've gotten much for clear thinking

Gray Mouser

But imagine the awards Cugel would receive for amusing the GM!!!

Heh,
Gary

 

[Gray Mouser]

But imagine the awards Cugel would receive for amusing the GM!!!

Heh,
Gary

Heh, true enough. Speaking of Vancian Role-Playing, I was wondering if you've ever played the Dying Earth RPG? I personally have not, although from what I have read about it the game sounds like it would be a fun time if you had a group of Vance fans playing.

Gray Mouser

 

[Gray Mouser]

Hey Gary, I picked up my first issue of Dungeon last year when Rob published an updated version of Maure Castle. It credits both Rob and yourself for the adventure but I was wondering if you had gotten a chance to revisit the place of Mordenkainen's petrification with said Archmage and his comapanions or if you simply helped Rob update the manuscript but didn't engage in any play testing.

BTW, the "Swords and Sorcery - in Wargaming" essay was quite good. Glad they republished it as I was 3 when it first appeared

Gray Mouser

 

[Gray Mouser]

Colonel, I was just thinking. My first D&D adventure in The Keep on the Borderlands still has a place in my memory. Do you recall your first D&D adventure? The PC you used? The setting/scenario? How about the first time Mordenkainen was taken out for a spin? Any recollections there?

Gray Mouser