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]

Hey Colonel, I was wondering about the setting for the Lejendary AsteRogues RPG. Is earth going to be involved in anyway or is it set "A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away"?

Gray Mouser

the Inner planets are all nations--Imperial Venus (think of Spain when it was a world power...with its penal colony on Mercury), Earth (burocratic nightmare), Luna (rather Victorian British plus Egypt and India as at the height of the British Raj), Mars (rather a frontier world like the USA mixed with Swiss Cantons), the many inhabited asteroids and the new outer planets being free nations, Uranus and Neptune. Most of the large asteroids and planetary moons are colonies of an inner planet, and the great space stations are mostly owned by planetary governments, although some are independent, associated with asteroids.

The really bad guys are the Venusians, Asteroids Cartels Association and the system-wide fanatical religious sect known as the Drozabs. Well, the Trasps, the Trans-Saturnian Astreoid Belt pirates are nasty too.

All grades of gray besides the black, and whatever white the LM wishes to add as independent asteroid states in the belts or as space stations.

Cheers,
Gary

 

[Col_Pladoh]

Speaking of good stories. Whats your opinion, good, bad, or indiferent on the Thieves World anthologies? Which, btw, have started up again with some new and several old authors.

I found most of the stories rather unexciting, a very few that were worth my reading time...

Cheers,
Gary

 

[Gray Mouser]

Thanks for the info, Colonel. The new game/setting sounds great!

Gray Mouser

 

[Col_Pladoh]

Thanks for the info, Colonel. The new game/setting sounds great!

Gray Mouser

Welcome

there is an advanced Terran base on Pluto that has discovered two more planets beyond its orbit. Of course the outermost one of the pair will be the place where humans meet alien interstellar travelers planning to invade the solar system, but that's a later development to be covbered in a module I should think.

cheers,
Gary

 

[MarauderX]

Colonel -

I was wondering what your take was on spell casting in a game design. Do you prefer the fire-and-forget method as is still in use with many systems today? There seems to be a growing popularity of a magic-point system to model movies and the like. There have been several products that have followed up on the opportunity already. Would you prefer to see a spell-point system as more of a standard used in the future?

Thanks, and hope you are doing well!

~MX

 

[Col_Pladoh]

Colonel -

I was wondering what your take was on spell casting in a game design. Do you prefer the fire-and-forget method as is still in use with many systems today? There seems to be a growing popularity of a magic-point system to model movies and the like. There have been several products that have followed up on the opportunity already. Would you prefer to see a spell-point system as more of a standard used in the future?

Thanks, and hope you are doing well!

~MX

Heh...

All those familiar with my last two systems will know that I have moved to an energy point system, a must for any FRPG taht does not use classes and levels

The Lejendary Adventure game even allows the use of the heavy duty sorts of castings by relatively inexperienced casters, but the veteran ones take the short, fast-to activate, low-grade ones

Cheers,
Gary

 

[MarauderX]

Heh...

All those familiar with my last two systems will know that I have moved to an energy point system, a must for any FRPG taht does not use classes and levels

The Lejendary Adventure game even allows the use of the heavy duty sorts of castings by relatively inexperienced casters, but the veteran ones take the short, fast-to activate, low-grade ones

Cheers,
Gary

Well, that answers that, and I feel like a moron for asking and not know the Lejendary system. Thanks once again.

 

[Col_Pladoh]

Well, that answers that, and I feel like a moron for asking and not know the Lejendary system. Thanks once again.

No Way, Amigo!

That was a fair question, and no doubt. Not knowing a system of mine or some other designer is pretty common. After all, a gamer has only so much time and money to spend on the subject

Cheers,
Gary

 

[Gentlegamer]

Gary, I have received my copy of LA Essentials. Be prepared for a slew of questions on this system!

 

[Col_Pladoh]

Gary, I have received my copy of LA Essentials. Be prepared for a slew of questions on this system!

Okay

But do check out www.lejendary.com before asking too many here. Likely they'll be answers on the game's main website...

Cheers,
Gary