Gary, it is a privilege to have the Master of the Game be so generous with his time and insights. Thank you very much for making this thread possible.
I have two questions:
1. My favorite modules are your D trilogy. In the random encounter tables, ghasts and ghouls show up quite a bit. Since these creatures are once-humans, why is there such a great population of them in these heretofore-undiscovered-by-man caverns? (Also, did you ever develop the other encounter areas on the large-scale [1 hex=1 mile] map included with these modules?)
2. If you could travel back in time to the early 1970s, would you still make it that clerics can turn undead? I ask because of these words you wrote on page 101 of the original version of Necropolis:
'Priests and Priestesses have no extraordinary ability to affect the Netherrealms creatures and beings, spirits, Unliving, Undead, and Unalive in this game system. There will be no mumbled prayer followed by a "Vaporize!" or "Shoo!" removing dangers such as these foes in this tomb! Naturally, clerical personas wield many instruments which are amongst the Susceptibilities of these sorts of creatures and beings, but there are no givens ("gimmes") here. Be sure to keep this in mind--and to gently remind players of this too, if they are veterans of game systems which make this sort of fell minions of Evil lightweights to be brushed aside with the wave of a sacred object.'
Thank you once again for your kindness and generosity!