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]

Hi Gary!

I have very fond memories of DnD. I started playing with a translated red box. I couldn't wait for the books to be translated, so I decided to learn english. Let just say that with only a partial understanding of english, we interpreted the rules in unespected ways.

I'm curious about your larping experiences. Ever tried to play in one? Organize one? Are there larps in Lake Geneva?

Indeed I LARPed in a realistic game long before there was the D&D game, but I have not since boyhood.

There used to be several score of Vampire the Gathering LARPers playing here in the parks and around town, but a few of the "Good Citizens" worried about such dangerous characters being around at night. so there was an ordinance passed to keep them away. Sadlly it was effective. Before that I would watch them from the dark of my front porch playing in the park across the street

Cheers,
Gary

 

[haakon1]

Howdy

I usdually allowed most PCs and all important NPCs to be versed to some extent in teir alignment tongue. All Clerics know it backwards and forwards.

Cheerio,
Gary

It's interesting for the party to have a secret "code" language that they know and the enemy does not. In recent years, Elvish seems to be the usual 2nd language; it's an interesting choice, because educated enemies often know it too, in my campaigns.

 

[RFisher]

Heh! I still remember when I was first reading my Basic Set & thought it strange that "pegasus" & "medusa" were kinds of monsters instead of individuals. I hadn't yet grasped that the game-world was only inspired by the real-world & its myths & legends. (& somewhat loosely so.)

Given both the beast from the bestiary & the sisters from Greek myth in the melting pot of D&D, calling the snake-haired monsters "medusae" is quite sensible. Heck, the D&D medusae are arguably more inspired by the individual from Greek myth anyway. In Ovid, Medusa was the only Gorgon with snake-hair.

& when it comes down to it, "pegasus" is more pleasing a name to me than "winged horse".

(BTW, I recall reading that perhaps the "gorgon" name for the bull-like beast actually did come from the Gorgons through the cross-cultural grapevine.)

 

[D'karr]

The short answer:

The bull-like, metalpscaled gorgon is taken directly from a medieval bestiary. Ypu might point out that I have medusae as a separate kind of monster.

Do tell your Astute Wife that the critter sown is just one of many taked from medieval bestiaries. the catoblepas and opinicus being a couple of other examples.

When my Pamtheons of Lejend reference book is published later this year, she can take a look at how I treated Greco-Roman mytholigy for RPGing. It is called the "Olympian" pantheon and is the second largest chapter in the work.

Cheers,
Gary

The metal-scaled bull might have been a depiction of the fire-breathing, bull-shaped automatons of King Aeetes of Kolkhis, as depicted in the tale of Jason and the Argonauts.

As one of the tests to prove his mettle and retrieve the golden-fleece, Jason was supposed to yoke the bulls and plow a field with them.

Also the fact that greek coins with a gorgon mask and bull are common makes it not unlikely that somebody in medieval times made a leap of faith and associated the two.

 

[Col_Pladoh]

No quibbles with or further comments to either post, fellows.

Ciao,
Gary

 

[D'karr]

No quibbles with or further comments to either post, fellows.

Ciao,
Gary

Fair enough.

And from Curious Creatures in Zoology by John Ashton, the gorgon

 

[Col_Pladoh]

Fair enough.

And from Curious Creatures in Zoology by John Ashton, the gorgon

The illustration shown on that website looks a good deal like the one I saw in a medieval bestiary, although the head of the latter was more bull-like.

Ciao,
Gary

 

[Keldryn]

The short answer:

The bull-like, metalpscaled gorgon is taken directly from a medieval bestiary. Ypu might point out that I have medusae as a separate kind of monster.

Do tell your Astute Wife that the critter sown is just one of many taked from medieval bestiaries. the catoblepas and opinicus being a couple of other examples.

When my Pamtheons of Lejend reference book is published later this year, she can take a look at how I treated Greco-Roman mytholigy for RPGing. It is called the "Olympian" pantheon and is the second largest chapter in the work.

Cheers,
Gary

Thanks, Gary!

My wife has never played D&D, but she has played a number of Playstation and Super Nintendo RPGs, so she's familiar with the concept behind a lot of the monsters (I think Medusae may have appeared as monsters in some of those games too), but the Gorgon as a bull-like monster was foreign to her. I was pretty sure that I was right about it coming from some real-world source.

Being married, I don't get to be right very often.

 

[Col_Pladoh]

Thanks, Gary!

My wife has never played D&D, but she has played a number of Playstation and Super Nintendo RPGs, so she's familiar with the concept behind a lot of the monsters (I think Medusae may have appeared as monsters in some of those games too), but the Gorgon as a bull-like monster was foreign to her. I was pretty sure that I was right about it coming from some real-world source.

Being married, I don't get to be right very often.

Even if you have never been more correct in your life, it is usually better not to dispute an opinion to the contrary if it is that of your wife :\


Gary

 

[D'karr]

Even if you have never been more correct in your life, it is usually better not to dispute an opinion to the contrary if it is that of your wife :\


Gary

Gary, you got that right.

Pure unadulterated wisdom....