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.

 

[gideon_thorne]

Well done!

The check is in the mail, and I'll direct the Trolls to your post

Seriously, when the 19 Yggsburgh Town modules, plus the five for the town's suburbs are completed, I do believe it will be the most detailed urban setting around, the maps showing each building, numbered for encounter information, and lots of adventures and adventure hooks in each one.

Having seen the detail that at least one of the writers, CK-Ghul put in the maps, it's certainly going to be one amazingly detailed design. Certainly going to be fun to put together.

I hope that the Trolls can put the maps together to create a big poster-sized one of the town and its surroundings

I'm going to encourage this. It's going to make a bloody big map though. To do the detail justice it would have to be at least 6x8 feet. Average interior house wall size (8x10) would be better.

 

[Treebore]

I just bought the Yggsburgh module during the Trolls awesome sale and I haven't gotten it yet, or the 4 other things I bought, inllcuding the Essentials boxed set (to see how your ideas of game design have changed, if nothing else).

So my question is, with your health issues and all the other complications of putting something like this together, with ghost writers, and what have you, can you give any kind of estimate on how long it will take for us to see the whole thing finished? Two years? Less than 20 years? Any kind of estimate?

Another thing I have been wondering about, have you created enough material and given enough "direction" that this will be completed even if your health deteriorates badly enough to make you stop working? From other posts you have made it sounds to me like you have, but I never caught a "straight answer" about this possibility.

FYI, I am sensitive to the health issue, since I myself have issues that leave me wondering if I will live long enough to see it finished. I should, even if it takes 20 years, but you know how unexpected complications happen. With just life in general, let alone health problems. I have been living like this since 1993, and I turn 40 on the 10th. I hope to make it to at least my 90th B-day, despite the odds. Since I have already beaten as bad as 3 in 10,000 I am feeling pretty confident.

I hope my candor doesn't bother or offend you.

 

[Treebore]

Having seen the detail that at least one of the writers, CK-Ghul put in the maps, it's certainly going to be one amazingly detailed design. Certainly going to be fun to put together.






I'm going to encourage this. It's going to make a bloody big map though. To do the detail justice it would have to be at least 6x8 feet. Average interior house wall size (8x10) would be better.

I love the idea of a wall sized poster, but that would have to be expensive! Have to admit, I am asking myself how much money I would be willing to pay for such a thing. Full color on really good strong poster paper being assumed, thinking the $50 to $75 range isn't causing me any pain. Especially if all the Trolls, Gary, and as many of the people involved as possible, sign and number them! Or maybe do a separate signed certificate kind of deal.

Anyways, I'll keep imagining such a map with your gorgeous cartography work. I better go get a drool bucket first!

 

[Col_Pladoh]

Just out of curiosity, Gary, (and seeing as you enjoyed developing LF) have you considered doing expansions for it covering Eastern and Middle Eastern cultures? I know LF touches on this lightly, but much of it seems very grounded in western culture. While this doesn't preclude its use otherwise, I, for one, would love to see similar treatments done for the eastern part of the world.

Tom

No. I have not, mainly because so much ot the historical material for those cultures and societies is in a language other than English. I would particularly love to do material covering the Chinese and Indian cultures and their social organization, also a Persian treatment.

Cheers,
Gary

 

[Col_Pladoh]

Having seen the detail that at least one of the writers, CK-Ghul put in the maps, it's certainly going to be one amazingly detailed design. Certainly going to be fun to put together.

Having a mix of designers doing the modules will mean that the "flavor" ot the town, as set forth on the CZY book, will have many neighborhood/district characteristics that will give the whole the same ambience as an actual town has.

I'm going to encourage this. It's going to make a bloody big map though. To do the detail justice it would have to be at least 6x8 feet. Average interior house wall size (8x10) would be better.

Huzzah!

I am all for that, although I would settle for a 4' x 6' size

Cheers,
Garu

 

[Col_Pladoh]

I just bought the Yggsburgh module during the Trolls awesome sale and I haven't gotten it yet, or the 4 other things I bought, inllcuding the Essentials boxed set (to see how your ideas of game design have changed, if nothing else).

So my question is, with your health issues and all the other complications of putting something like this together, with ghost writers, and what have you, can you give any kind of estimate on how long it will take for us to see the whole thing finished? Two years? Less than 20 years? Any kind of estimate?

I wrote the whole of the CZY book before I began to have serious health problems. It is sufficient wo serve as the basis for the detail modules, and rest assured I fed the designer team a whole slug of additional material, bith by group email and on the TLG board topic specifically for the design team. I lost about 12 wanna-bes along the way, so the 25 separate modules are being designed by about 18 writers..sufficient to vary the districts and give each some unique neighborhood "feel".

The last of the 25 town modules should becompleted in the spring of next year.

As for the abandoned Castle Zagyg and its dungeon levels, Rob has completed all the maps for the castles' levels and is working on the encounter text to send to me for develpment. I expect it to arrive in August. Rob is working fron a set of notes, level outline,and list of special encounters he is familiar with so create the underground portion. As each of those modules is done he will send them to me for developemt. The lot should take about three years to complete. If it so happens I am incapacitated, or deceased, I believe Trigee will seek the developmemental assistance of my sons Ernie (and possibly Luke) as well as a designer and co-writer I have worked with frequently, Jon Creffield.

Another thing I have been wondering about, have you created enough material and given enough "direction" that this will be completed even if your health deteriorates badly enough to make you stop working? From other posts you have made it sounds to me like you have, but I never caught a "straight answer" about this possibility.

See above and judge for yourself. I am currently quite able to spend a few hours a day developmentaly editing such material as needed. (In fact, I am doing a bit of that on my own work, the Lejenadry AsteRogues Fantastical Science genre expansion for the LA game, engaged in it for the sheer fun of it!)

FYI, I am sensitive to the health issue, since I myself have issues that leave me wondering if I will live long enough to see it finished. I should, even if it takes 20 years, but you know how unexpected complications happen. With just life in general, let alone health problems. I have been living like this since 1993, and I turn 40 on the 10th. I hope to make it to at least my 90th B-day, despite the odds. Since I have already beaten as bad as 3 in 10,000 I am feeling pretty confident.

I hope my candor doesn't bother or offend you.

Whoa, Treebore. That's both bad and good news, eh? May you continue to beat the odds, prosper into a ripe old age. The docs have no idea how long I have, but as with you, I plan for many a year yer, even as I am greatful for each new day My 69 birthday anniversary is only about three weeks away

Rest assured your candid questions were not in the least offensive to me.

Cheers,
Gary

 

[Treebore]

Hopefully 3 years or less? Sounds good to me. I hope it works out that way, barring real life stuff.

Glad I didn't offend.

 

[Deuce Traveler]

I lost about 12 wanna-bes along the way...

Since some of us here are interested in getting ourselves involved in the RPG publishing world at some point (and at least all of us have something we dabbled with through a third party publisher), can you tell us how you separated the men from the boys?

 

[Col_Pladoh]

Since some of us here are interested in getting ourselves involved in the RPG publishing world at some point (and at least all of us have something we dabbled with through a third party publisher), can you tell us how you separated the men from the boys?

First, I didn't demand much in the way of credentials, assuming willingness, GMing experience, and some considerable general direction from me would suffice to enable those that were seriously committed to the task to succeed, possibly after some re-writing and polishing. This is how I went about keeping the group on track, weeding out those unable to perform:

Set a deadline. Communicate with the design group regularly. Require responses be made to periodic requests for progress reports. Also, state that failure to comply with a required response means being dropped from the project.

I made sure there were standby designers, several of whom proved to be able.

As it happemed, mainly because of being at this for so long, I spotted about 80% of those that proved duds at module writing, so I wasn;t caught flat-footed. Thankfully, a handful of the designers actually took on two modules, and one eager creative fellow, Jeff Talanian, has one in and several more working.

Cheers,
Gary

 

[John Drake]

Hi there Gary
Since the recent topic is that of modules and design, I was hoping to get some insight or an opinion from you ( but I'm really hoping for both! ) . So, being a gamer who started out with classics like B2 and the Giant series, Needle, and the like, I have a great fondness for the adventure module. But I've noticed that production of these items is not quite what it once was back in the 80's and 90's. I realise there are some out there (like Rob Kuntz's stuff from Pied Piper, his freelance stuff and of course yours as well), but by and large it ain't what it used to be. Why do you think that is?
Personally, I love them, great for reading and I always found it helped me design my own dungeons/scenarios, using them as a guideline as what one should or should not do and excellent source of inspiration. I've heard arguments that state that since adventure modules are for the DM only, it therefore limits the sales (profit margin) so they're not worth producing . I don't totally believe that (although of course, I could be wrong), because I've always been in groups that had multiple DM's, and we change it up every few weeks or so, taking turns running games. Anyway, just wondered if you had any thoughts or input on the subject, as I haven't a clue about the industry really! Thanks! It's very much appreciated. Ciao!