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.

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

Hey there Gary I've got a question for you.

What parts of 1e did you house rule when you still played it? I read in an old issue of Dragon that you used a different hand to hand combat system. Was it the same one that was published in Dragon? Any other changes?

 

[Col_Pladoh]

Hey there Gary I've got a question for you.

What parts of 1e did you house rule when you still played it? I read in an old issue of Dragon that you used a different hand to hand combat system. Was it the same one that was published in Dragon? Any other changes?

Whoa, and I have to think hard about those questions. Generally, I just DMed on the fly, so to speak, and didn't use the rules books except for random encounters, monster stats, and treasure.

when hand-to-hand fighting occurred I usually did that seat-of-the-pants rules--asking what the character was doing and deciding on the chance for success based on the circumstances.

I did not use psionics, generally ignored weapons vs. armor type and weapon speed.

When an opponent was helpless I always allowed an immediate kill if of lower level; otherwise a successful hit killed, a "miss" doing double damage anyway.

That's about all I can think of

Cheers,
Gary

 

[BigFreekinGoblinoid]

Gary, I have another question for ya:

What does your "average" work-day look like? Do you typically write for 8 hours? How many projects do you typically work on at the same time? Do you ever get burned out doing so much writing?

Thanks!

Here is Gary's morning routine:

http://www.homestarrunner.com/sbemail54.html


Cheers Gary!

 

[Col_Pladoh]

Here is Gary's morning routine:

http://www.homestarrunner.com/sbemail54.html


Cheers Gary!

That was a very odd cartoon...

The popcorn bag looks like something my wife would have on her hand. I don't care much for the stuff unless it's carmelized and has peanuts added

And there was no mug of coffee and a Camel smoking in the ashtray

Heh,
Gary

 

[BronzeDragon]

Well, this has probably been asked before, but the prospect of wading through almost 700 posts to find the answer is, shall I say, not very entertaining...

What product do you rank as your WORST?

I always hear people ask to writers what they think is their best product, and it starts to get old pretty fast. I always wanted to know which piece the authors really wanted to be able to erase their names from.

Let me establish only one condition for the answer : the product must have been printed.

Thanks in advance...

 

[Col_Pladoh]

Well, this has probably been asked before, but the prospect of wading through almost 700 posts to find the answer is, shall I say, not very entertaining...

What product do you rank as your WORST?

[snip]

Thanks in advance...

To be asked this is uique, actually. I would rank my "The Gnome Cache" story--thankfully never completed in DRAGON Magazine--as one that needed to be re-written.

Much flak has been generated about CYBORG COMMANDO, and I write very little of it, but the portion that was published needed reworking and more play-testing, plus the addition of the two other parts of the whole game.

Otherwise, I am generally happy with my published work, as is proper for an author. If one doesn't like something, it should not be sent to a publisher

Cheers,
Gary

 

[MerricB]

...or it shows how desperate you were at the time, Gary?

(Flicks through Tomb of Horrors... "Call that a trap? Huh! If it can't even kill Robilar, it's not worth putting in..." )

Gary, is there a type of product you enjoy writing the most? (Novel, adventure, rules supplement, core rulebook, book of advice, etc.)

And going back to one of those dark memories from oAD&D, might I trouble you about the assassin?

It's one of those things that I've always seen debate on amongst 1E people: does the assassination ability work against any old monster/opponent the assassin happens to surprise in a dungeon or elsewhere, or is it only usable against the poor innocent soul that the assassin has been hired to kill?

Or is it somewhere in between? Something that requires planning, or something that can be done on the spur of the moment?

Cheers!

 

[Col_Pladoh]

...or it shows how desperate you were at the time, Gary?

Desperate? No, just very much immersed in writing the Gord the Rogue novels. New Infinities needed the sales income from them, of course, and they sold very well, so I was constrained in what I created.

(Flicks through Tomb of Horrors... "Call that a trap? Huh! If it can't even kill Robilar, it's not worth putting in..." )

Gary, is there a type of product you enjoy writing the most? (Novel, adventure, rules supplement, core rulebook, book of advice, etc.)

Noppers! More of a mood and inspiration thing...although modules are not usually on top of my favorite s list, because designing a new and entertaining one is very demanding. The last one I did, HALL OF MANY PANES, took about six months to complete.

And going back to one of those dark memories from oAD&D, might I trouble you about the assassin?

It's one of those things that I've always seen debate on amongst 1E people: does the assassination ability work against any old monster/opponent the assassin happens to surprise in a dungeon or elsewhere, or is it only usable against the poor innocent soul that the assassin has been hired to kill?

Or is it somewhere in between? Something that requires planning, or something that can be done on the spur of the moment?

Cheers!

As you suggest in closing, the assassin character was meant to have some limitation, the need for planning the kill. Of course, a totally unexpecting victim seen and assessed needs little in the way of thought and preparation...

Cheers, Merric,
Gary

 

[MerricB]

Desperate? No, just very much immersed in writing the Gord the Rogue novels. New Infinities needed the sales income from them, of course, and they sold very well, so I was constrained in what I created.

What a pity. Having to create material that sold well.

I've always greatly valued the Gord books as an insight as to the types of adventures that entertain you, Gary - there's also a certain inspiration from reading a novel that I don't get from reading a module, and I'm very glad that the Gord books were written.

Cheers!

 

[Mark]

Any favorite in the Super Bowl, Poppa G?