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.

 

[DreadArchon]

Gary,

Do you have any particular sources of inspiration for devious traps, or do you just come up with them on your own?

(Thought of anything particularly good lately?)

 

[Col_Pladoh]

Gary,

Do you have any particular sources of inspiration for devious traps, or do you just come up with them on your own?

(Thought of anything particularly good lately?)

Who can say, what with so many nasty traps having been included in movie serials that I used to watch at the theater on Saturday afternoons as a lad. I believe that I have thought most of them up on my own, but...

The Fantasy Life book contains a fairly extensive list of traps, many of which can be alaborated on. As for creating more if late, no. I spend such creative effort in figuring out ways of avoiding those Jim Ward puts into his MA game compaign :\

Cheers,
Gary

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

Just to toss out another suggestion for a good "starter" Scotch whisky: McClelland's single malt. They're not labelled by age or distillery but they're all 5 year singles, one from each of the four different whisky regions of Scotland: Highland, Lowland, Speyside and Islay. Because of the distinct water quality, the Highland has the softest, least 'medicinal' flavor and is actually quite good if taken with a few drops of spring water and allowed to breathe for about 10 minutes. The Highland label is actually made at Glen Garioch.

For those who are just "testing the waters" I'd suggest getting a bottle of McClelland's Highland single malt. At $20 it's a great deal.

Great reccomendation!

I bought a fifth of Highland single malt and it is quite excellent. A different flavor than the Cutty Sark and Dewar's I've drank before. I've been on a scotch kick lately and I think it is replacing Irish whisky(Bushmills) as my whisky of choice. I've been putting it in a tumbler with some ice and enjoying it that way.

 

[Col_Pladoh]

Great reccomendation!

I bought a fifth of Highland single malt and it is quite excellent. A different flavor than the Cutty Sark and Dewar's I've drank before. I've been on a scotch kick lately and I think it is replacing Irish whisky(Bushmills) as my whisky of choice. I've been putting it in a tumbler with some ice and enjoying it that way.

Try skipping the ice and adding only a few drops of springwater

Actually, I enjoy Kentucky and Tennesse Bourbon, Canadian, Irish, and rye whiskies. Variety is the spice of life. I confess that well-aged single malt Scotch is tops though.

Cheers,
Gary

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

Try skipping the ice and adding only a few drops of springwater

Actually, I enjoy Kentucky and Tennesse Bourbon, Canadian, Irish, and rye whiskies. Variety is the spice of life. I confess that well-aged single malt Scotch is tops though.

Cheers,
Gary

I too like all kinds of whisky, I just think that the Irish and scots do it the best. I used to hate the "scotch" flavor, the peat I guess? Now I find it to be quite nice and it adds a lot to the experience.

 

[Col_Pladoh]

I too like all kinds of whisky, I just think that the Irish and scots do it the best. I used to hate the "scotch" flavor, the peat I guess? Now I find it to be quite nice and it adds a lot to the experience.

It seems historically likely that the Irish taught the Scots how to make whiskey

Cheers,
Gary

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

It seems historically likely that the Irish taught the Scots how to make whiskey

Cheers,
Gary

A smart people those Irish.

 

[Col_Pladoh]

A smart people those Irish.

At least when it comes to a drop or two to drink...


Gary

 

[erc1971]

[Quote: Philotomy Jurament

I HATED that module (Castle Greyhawk). I was overseas when it came out, but I special-ordered it based on the title. When it arrived, I started reading and couldn't believe it. They'd turned Castle Greyhawk, the premier dungeon of the setting, into a joke. Now, I have nothing against humorous dungeons, but to have a whole thing be a joke was too much. I suppose I was expecting something else, so the disappointment was intense. In any case, between Castle Greyhawk and modules like "Puppets," "Childs Play," and "Gargoyle" it seemed to me that TSR was sending a pretty un-subtle message, which was "Greyhawk is a joke."

Maybe I'm reading too much into that, I don't know. I do know that I quit buying TSR's Greyhawk material. ]


I feel the exact same way. Shortly after Gary left TSR, the came out with "From the Ashes". Our whole gaming group saw it as a way to destroy everything Gary put into the world, and re-do it in thier vision.

To this day, Greyhawk is by far my favorite fantasy setting (for many many reasons), and I still play using the original Greyhawk setting, and the revised version that came in the boxed set (of which, I laminated the maps, and affixed them to the wall of my gaming room). In fact, I am currently running a C&C game set in Greyhawk - the Great Kingdom is about to bring several years of uneasy peace with The Iron League to an end, starting a great war in which I will suck the PC's into, mwhahahaha!

Eric

 

[Sir Elton]

To this day, Greyhawk is by far my favorite fantasy setting (for many many reasons), and I still play using the original Greyhawk setting, and the revised version that came in the boxed set (of which, I laminated the maps, and affixed them to the wall of my gaming room). In fact, I am currently running a C&C game set in Greyhawk - the Great Kingdom is about to bring several years of uneasy peace with The Iron League to an end, starting a great war in which I will suck the PC's into, mwhahahaha!

Eric

Good for you.