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.

 

[Aeolius]

Now I had better hurry on to manage a few more posts before returning to creative writing...

Care to add to a PbP, then? No? Well, I do have a creative writing outlet in my lobi.com message boards.

 

[Col_Pladoh]

Care to add to a PbP, then? No? Well, I do have a creative writing outlet in my lobi.com message boards.

Just what i need...



Gary

 

[DM_Rocco]

Gary,
Hi, it is good to here from you. I have two questions, okay, three, and I apologies in advance if you answered them already, I read some of the threads, but you have so much and I wanted to get my question in before you had enough of giving answers.

First, I loved the Gord the rouge series, but I have not seen a novel from you in a while, of course I really haven't looked all that hard (sorry, I have authors, like Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman who pump out books on a frequent basis and I never saw another book from you after this series), but do you have now, or are you planning in the future, to write a new series of books? Maybe with Gord in Demi-God mode?

Second, Tomb of Horrors was, and still is, my favorite AD&D module. I know that someone else created a Return to the Tomb of Horrors and that you really do not like to create modules for 3.0 or 3.5 because of design issues, but in the back of your mind, are you floating around the idea of a similar adventure, full of deadly tricks and traps and strange and wonderful creatures that will make players beg for mercy before they even go through it? Would you, if you were playing the new 3.0 or 3.5 D&D rules, change anything to reflect the current game environment if you were running players through the Tomb of Horrors today? I am asking the tail end of this because I am going to run my current players through this in a month or two and would like some advice for updating it to the newer rules.

Three, okay, the lame question, is Mordenkainen your character that you play or just a high level mage you use as an NPC? Do you have any stats for him or the rest of the circle of eight for 3.0? Do you maybe know where I can find them? Told you it was lame.

So, that is pretty much it except for one last piece of business. I just wanted to say thanks for creating such a wonderful game. It nearly broke my heart when you announced in Dragon magazine that you would be "moving on" from TSR, I loved your articles and modules but most of all your game in general. It may sound crazy, but the game opened my mind for creativity and I think because of that I started to do better in school, especially when words like assassin would come up on spelling tests (true story). I took a long 10 year break from AD&D back when they had this failed thing called 2nd edition, but I like 3.0 and 3.5. It is not the same as old school (it has a lot more bells and whistles now) but it is still the same game at heart and myself and (if I may speak for the others on this sever and those who indulge world wide) others would just like to give a big heart felt thanks.

"Brool"

Thanks for your time,
DM_Rocco​

"Hey, you there, fetch me that gem encrusted skull from amongst that pile of bone and ash." - Robillard to his Half-Ogre henchmen.
"Duh, OK." - Last words from Grogg, son of Grogg, as he reached for the Demi-lich's skull. - The Tomb of Horrors

 

[Andrew D. Gable]

Hey Gary.

Question that really has little (okay, nothing) to do with DnD at all. Two years ago or so, I read a little piece in the newspaper which was talking about the British military during WWII. I recall that it mentioned a guy who was on a British sub - though I forget his first name, his last name was Gygax. And I remember saying to myself, this guy almost HAS to be related to Gary, 'cause honestly I've never heard the Gygax name anywhere else. So would you have had any relatives in the British Navy during WWII?

That's really a dumb question, isn't it?

 

[LordVyreth]

Hey, it's great to be able to talk with a founder of an entire medium of entertainment. Even though we don't see eye-to-eye on 3rd ed (I still think it has a place for archetypes, and doesn't really encourage killing things and power gaming any more than usual,) I'd like to echo the thanks of many here, both for making the game we all love and for still being in touch with your admirers decades later. I only hope I can say the same when I'm rich and famous!

I had a few questions for you. First of all, have you seen any of the more famous parodies of D&D? You know, like the Gamer's movie, the Dead Alewives radio show, Knights of the Dinner Table, Nodwick, and so on? If so, what are your opinions of them?

Second, there has been a fairly lively series of debates on the Wizards boards lately about alignment. A lot of people seem to be very vocal on the issue of alignment, and exactly what a good alignment creature can do to evil or potentially evil creatures. Some even went so far as to suggest it's right to kill all babies of a typically evil race like, say, hobgoblins, just because they'll probably grow up to be evil. Others suggest that detect evil should suffice for immediate punishment, especially for paladins. This could mean a paladin has the right to kill every greedy merchant and pickpocket he sees, just because he detects them as evil, without even witnessing the crime. What is your opinion on how a paladin should react in these and similar situations, or any good creature in general? I could post the links to the debates if you want.

I think that's it for now. I was going to ask about the prostitute table, but I think that was covered pages ago.

Vyreth

 

[LordVyreth]

Oh, one more quick question. Is talking about your campaign to Gary for the purpose of advice and opinions considered pandering to a degree that blows chatting about your character to random vendors at a Con out of the water, or not?

Vyreth

 

[S'mon]

Second, there has been a fairly lively series of debates on the Wizards boards lately about alignment. A lot of people seem to be very vocal on the issue of alignment, and exactly what a good alignment creature can do to evil or potentially evil creatures. Some even went so far as to suggest it's right to kill all babies of a typically evil race like, say, hobgoblins, just because they'll probably grow up to be evil. Others suggest that detect evil should suffice for immediate punishment, especially for paladins. This could mean a paladin has the right to kill every greedy merchant and pickpocket he sees, just because he detects them as evil, without even witnessing the crime. What is your opinion on how a paladin should react in these and similar situations, or any good creature in general? I could post the links to the debates if you want.

I think that's it for now. I was going to ask about the prostitute table, but I think that was covered pages ago.

I was going to ask Gary about this - Alignment, I already asked him about the prostitute table.

I was looking at a 1981 copy of Basic D&D yesterday, thinking about how there were just 3 alignments - Lawful, Neutral and Chaotic. Very Moorcockian (which I like). Most literary fantasy worlds either don't have defined alignments - eg most sword & sorcery settings (Leiber, REH et al) or for high fantasy they have a clear good-evil split (Tolkien & his imitators). The 9-alignment system of D&D seems unique, and has a huge impact on the game with eg the Outer Planes' Great Wheel. Gary, I was wondering why you decided to create the 9-alignment matrix? How did it function in your own play - from the Gord books it seemed like 'Good' forces often came across as sanctimonius hypocrites, with Neutrality preferred. Yet 'good' by definition would seem to be the 'best' alignment. Did you define 'good' as something like 'current American moral values', or was it defined by the moral values of the setting, which for Greyhawk seem close to medieval Catholic Europe?

 

[Col_Pladoh]

Gary,
Hi, it is good to here from you. I have two questions, okay, three, and I apologies in advance if you answered them already, I read some of the threads, but you have so much and I wanted to get my question in before you had enough of giving answers.

First, I loved the Gord the rouge series, but I have not seen a novel from you in a while, of course I really haven't looked all that hard (sorry, I have authors, like Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman who pump out books on a frequent basis and I never saw another book from you after this series), but do you have now, or are you planning in the future, to write a new series of books? Maybe with Gord in Demi-God mode?

After I wrote three short fantasy mysteries set on the Mythus RPG's EArth world, with Magister Setne Inhetep, Wizard-Priest, as the central figure, his associate the lovely Rachele as co-star, I got back to game creation. I've been doing that ever since. When the Lejendary Earth world setting is more developed, it might give me inspiration to pen another yarn or two. Currently, though, I have way too many game projects going to think about narrative fiction

Second, Tomb of Horrors was, and still is, my favorite AD&D module. I know that someone else created a Return to the Tomb of Horrors and that you really do not like to create modules for 3.0 or 3.5 because of design issues, but in the back of your mind, are you floating around the idea of a similar adventure, full of deadly tricks and traps and strange and wonderful creatures that will make players beg for mercy before they even go through it? Would you, if you were playing the new 3.0 or 3.5 D&D rules, change anything to reflect the current game environment if you were running players through the Tomb of Horrors today? I am asking the tail end of this because I am going to run my current players through this in a month or two and would like some advice for updating it to the newer rules.

One thing I don't like to do is rehash something I have already done. I try to make each module, or set thereof, different from others. If you have seen the module titled THE HERMIT, you'll know what I mean. It's not like any other I've done previously. There's a huge one coming from Troll Lord Games late this year, likely as a boxed set. It has some elements like other modules I've done, but it is a whole mini-campaign that takes about a year to complete, and it has just about every sort of RPG challenge possible in it. See what you think when THE HALL OF MANY PANES hits the stands. It is dual system stated, 3.5E and LA game.

Currently I am working on another campaign-base module, another massive design. this one for the new Castle & Crusade Game rules being written by the Trolls using the OGL. It aims to be close to the spirit and soul of OAD&D, so even though I prefer the LA game system for its diversity and ease of creation, I am going along and creating for the C&C work.

Three, okay, the lame question, is Mordenkainen your character that you play or just a high level mage you use as an NPC? Do you have any stats for him or the rest of the circle of eight for 3.0? Do you maybe know where I can find them? Told you it was lame.

Nah! It's a question I get asked a lot. Mordenkainen was my second PC, and I started playing him early in 1974 wanting a magic-iser to balance my fighter, Yrag. I still play Mordie now and again in very high-level scenarios where a mage of over 20th level doesn't over-power the opposition.

Of course I am not about to give out his stats The same is true with all the other PCs of mine that compose the Circle of Eight. I can't give out those of other person's PCs either. If they wish to, that's their call.

So, that is pretty much it except for one last piece of business. I just wanted to say thanks for creating such a wonderful game. It nearly broke my heart when you announced in Dragon magazine that you would be "moving on" from TSR, I loved your articles and modules but most of all your game in general. It may sound crazy, but the game opened my mind for creativity and I think because of that I started to do better in school, especially when words like assassin would come up on spelling tests (true story). I took a long 10 year break from AD&D back when they had this failed thing called 2nd edition, but I like 3.0 and 3.5. It is not the same as old school (it has a lot more bells and whistles now) but it is still the same game at heart and myself and (if I may speak for the others on this sever and those who indulge world wide) others would just like to give a big heart felt thanks.

Just FYI, that announcement published in DRAGON Magazine was written by someone other than me.

The very kind closing words are most appreciated. It gives me encouragement to keep on dreaming up material that I hope my fellow gamers will have fun playing as GM or with a character.

Cheers,
Gary

 

[Col_Pladoh]

Hey Gary.

Question that really has little (okay, nothing) to do with DnD at all. Two years ago or so, I read a little piece in the newspaper which was talking about the British military during WWII. I recall that it mentioned a guy who was on a British sub - though I forget his first name, his last name was Gygax. And I remember saying to myself, this guy almost HAS to be related to Gary, 'cause honestly I've never heard the Gygax name anywhere else. So would you have had any relatives in the British Navy during WWII?

That's really a dumb question, isn't it?

Heh!

Indeed, the chap on the sub with the surname of Gygax was almost certainly a relative of mine, although probably very distant. As I mentioned here to another person inquiring about the name, it is Swiss.

There are four "castles" of the Gygaxes in Switzerland, one for each of the four brothers that originally settled there arond the time that Julius Caesar invaded Gaul. My father's family is from Seeberg in Canton Bern. A few of the family have changed the spelling from "Gygax" to "Gegax" (very much the spelling for the German pronounciation of the name) and "Gigax," but they are the same family.

If you check US military naval records, you'll find that a Xerxes gygax was active in the development of the Panama Canal, and his son, Felix Ajax Gygax became a Rear Admiral, was in charge of a sector of the South Atlantic in WWII.
On the other hand, I met a cousin--the youngest son of my grandfather's youngest brother, as I recall, who fought for Germany in WWII.

Cheers,
Gary

 

[Col_Pladoh]

Hey, it's great to be able to talk with a founder of an entire medium of entertainment. Even though we don't see eye-to-eye on 3rd ed (I still think it has a place for archetypes, and doesn't really encourage killing things and power gaming any more than usual,) I'd like to echo the thanks of many here, both for making the game we all love and for still being in touch with your admirers decades later. I only hope I can say the same when I'm rich and famous!

Heh! I am not at all rich, and my fame is that of a large frog in a small pond I only become insufferable after a large convention where lauds are ladled out upon me nearly continuously. About a day thereafter real life returns to burst the bubble and place my feet of clay firmly upon the ground we all walk upon.

I had a few questions for you. First of all, have you seen any of the more famous parodies of D&D? You know, like the Gamer's movie, the Dead Alewives radio show, Knights of the Dinner Table, Nodwick, and so on? If so, what are your opinions of them?

I haven't seen the films, although "The Summoner" clip is a hoot! I enjoy KoDT, dork tower, and Nodwick. Naturally, I don't take myself, or GAMING, TOO SERIOUSLY

Second, there has been a fairly lively series of debates on the Wizards boards lately about alignment. A lot of people seem to be very vocal on the issue of alignment, and exactly what a good alignment creature can do to evil or potentially evil creatures. Some even went so far as to suggest it's right to kill all babies of a typically evil race like, say, hobgoblins, just because they'll probably grow up to be evil. Others suggest that detect evil should suffice for immediate punishment, especially for paladins. This could mean a paladin has the right to kill every greedy merchant and pickpocket he sees, just because he detects them as evil, without even witnessing the crime. What is your opinion on how a paladin should react in these and similar situations, or any good creature in general? I could post the links to the debates if you want.

Alignment was meant primarily as a role-playing tool. (Despite what some of the "mature" and "sophisticated" gamers assert, roleplay was indeed a central feature of the AD&D game from the proverbial get-go.) the player was to be guided by it when role-playing his character, and the DM had the same benchmarks to use in judging the PC's actions.

The debates now make me regret that I ever included the system feature, as it is being taken beyond the pale. Better to have the character's actions speak for their ethics and morality than some letter set.

Rhe main problem seems to be that the players are assuming alignment in a vacuum, without reference to any deities establishing and overseeing the matters concerned with such judgements and actions. Bacause the main system fails to provide properly for deities to be active in such matters, abuses of the most eggregious sort take place. A paladin is supposed to be the architype of the Christian knight. that means focusing on doing right, spreading the word about the faith (in the deity the paladin serves), helping others of goodwill, protecting the weak, etc. Judging others not opposing the paladin is quite out of the picture.

This is a subject that I could write a complete essay on, but it is bootless. Let those who publish the system clean up the mess.

I think that's it for now. I was going to ask about the prostitute table, but I think that was covered pages ago.

Vyreth

The table was done very much tongue in cheek. That's all I'll add.

Cheers,
Gary