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]

Re: Re: You Aint Seen Nuthin' Yet

I'd be very interested in a CD-ROM compilation. I very much doubt there's enough material there for a DVD, and most people still don't have DVD players in their computers.

Cheers!

Merric, I've flagged TLG about this. When the line is complete there will be over seven volumes in it, so a DVD might be in order.

Cheers,
Gary

 

[mythusmage]

Have you received a copy of the final ms. for LIVING FANTASY from the Trolls? There's likely material therein that you'll want to refer to for your project, Alan

Cheers,
Gary

I haven't even gotten the FM for the WB from the Trolls. Feel free to pass on the following info to the goofs.

Alan Kellogg's Very Own Snailmail Address!

Alan Kellogg
333 G St Apt 607
San Diego CA 92101

As to the compilation...

After thinking about it, I suspect an HTML version would fit on two or three CDs. PDF would require a DVD, thanks to the extra coding required. Either way would be useful for those folks who need but a few pages from the books at that night's game.

And a little factoid for the good folks reading this thread:

Consider roads. The state of a nation's roads can tell you a lot about the country itself. The late Zairian dictator Mobuto Sese Seko deliberately kept the roads of his country in very poor condition, in the belief that well maintain roads would allow his enemies to better organize against him. Once he died there was no way any possible successor could extend his control over the now re-named Democratic Republic of the Congo, with the result that the DRC is a diplomatic fiction.

The old Soviet Union wasn't quite as bad, but roads were kept primitive the better to stymie any anti-government coup. With the result that even today Russia is having to spend billions of rubles on upgrading her roads and rail.

A nation with healthy trade will tend to have good roads. Well designed, well maintained, with lots of traffic. (Which raises its own problems) If the party comes from a country with bad roads and they find themselves in one with good roads, emphasis the difference. Stone instead of dirt. Good drainage instead of long stretches of mud. Smooth, easy travel instead of tedious plodding. Actually making their destination ahead of time, and without getting hassled by brigands and bandits instead of an endevour involving delays, bandit attacks, and stray critters of the baneful sort.

Well kept roads also mean a wealthy nation. A prosperous, populous nation with lots of opportunity for trade and adventure.

Adventure? The more trade a nation engages in, the more opportunity for theft and brigandage. The more prosperous a nation is, the larger its population grows. The larger the population grows, the more land it needs, both for housing and to support itself. The more land it needs, the more human habitation spreads out into the wilderness. In the real world we have black bears wandering into American suburbs, in your fantasy setting they might be basilisks instead.

And how does the party get to where the basilisks are scarfing down on lap dogs and house cats? By taking the roads.

 

[Darrin Drader]

Wow, I can't believe this thread is still alive and kicking (and please don't take that as any kind of a tie-in with the GG is dead hoax). Gary, you rock!

BTW, I recently bought and printed a copy of the Temple of Elemental Evil. I had it a few years ago but had to hawk it when I needed some cash. Love your stuff. Keep it coming!

 

[Col_Pladoh]

Alan Kellogg's Tour de Force

Mythusmage,

An excellent bit of commentary there in all seriousness. I've flagged Steve. I'd send you unedited MS doc files of my mss., but they won't work on your computer. Besides you'd then begin editing them

Cheers,
Gary

 

[Col_Pladoh]

Wow, I can't believe this thread is still alive and kicking (and please don't take that as any kind of a tie-in with the GG is dead hoax). Gary, you rock!

BTW, I recently bought and printed a copy of the Temple of Elemental Evil. I had it a few years ago but had to hawk it when I needed some cash. Love your stuff. Keep it coming!

Thanks Darrin

The ToEE was a fun adventure to DM...I never did get to play it, of course. If you happen upon THE HERMIT, give it a read, and I suspect you'll find it to your liking. It isn't as long as ToEE, but it has all sorts of different challenges for the party undertaking the mission, different play environments too.

Cheers,
Gary

 

[Dinkeldog]

Q&A with Gary Gygax continuation thread

Continued from here.

 

[Dinkeldog]

Please continue this here.

 

[Col_Pladoh]

Okay

It seems that it is fated to be a long-term thread, and I'm still game.

Cheers,
Gary

 

[diaglo]

is Gary still in season?

what type of game are you?

fowl: lame duck, mother goose, worried hen, chicken little

bovine or similar: mad cow, bull, steering committee, wild moose

sheep: baa


okay enough off topic.

and i don't feel like reading the entire old thread. even though, i posted there before.

Questions for Gary: How did you find time to organize games for yourself and your friends, while juggling a company? a family? and other interests/responsibilities?

What would you consider from your own experience to be a healthy balance?

 

[Darrin Drader]

The ToEE was a fun adventure to DM...I never did get to play it, of course. If you happen upon THE HERMIT, give it a read, and I suspect you'll find it to your liking. It isn't as long as ToEE, but it has all sorts of different challenges for the party undertaking the mission, different play environments too.

Thanks for the recommendation. I actually have it already, but haven't had the chance to read it over yet. I'm looking forward to the big mega-adventure you've been talking about recently. I also picked up a copy of Necropolis. It was good to have a copy of that adventure the I can run. I tried but could never get into Mythus.