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.

 

[old school gamer]

Heh,

As a busy designer that does not care to "borrow" ideas from others doing like work, I can speak only to the CoC game. I enjoy that a good deal, although I have not had the opportunity to play in many years.

Of course I played and generally enjoyed all of the RPGs that TSR published.

I add that the Lejendary Adventure FRPG is not class and level based, but to the best of my knowledge and belief does not resemble any of the other FRPGs also not class and level based. The LA game system is the one I now prefer to all others.

Did you ever play Marvel SuperHeroes?

 

[Geoffrey]

Have you ever considered making an LA basic (something cut down in complexity and length that kids could understand more easily. Perhaps with a Dungeon like presentation map/playing board.

While I'm not trying to speak for Gary, this might be the sort of thing you're looking for:

http://www.trolllord.com/newsite/lejendary/3350.html

 

[Geoffrey]

Gary, I understand that the world of Aerth is a fleshing-out of what was in part undeveloped and/or implicit in your original Greyhawk campaign world. How did the counter-earth of Phaeree figure into your original D&D campaign world? Did you always envision most of the non-human critters (elves, giants, dragons, etc.) as being "away from home [i. e., Phaeree]" when on Oerth? Or was Aerth's Phaeree a later conception? In either case, it is a most intriguing way of presenting a solid ecology for a fantasy world. It allows for a magical "alternate Earth" setting, allowing it to remain humanocentric and answering the question, "How can these monsters be here without totally screwing-up the world's ecology?" [Answer: The monsters aren't native to the campaign world. They are interlopers from another world, arriving here through magical gates.]

And once again let me congratulate you on your Epic of Aerth book. It is simply packed with good stuff. It allows one (with ease and facility) to incorporate ANYTHING he reads (mythology, legendry, fantasy or horror fiction) or watches (fantasy and old Universal studios films, etc.) into the campaign world. There is a ready-made slot for everything, whether the various lost worlds of A. Merritt, Posnansky's Tiahuanaco, Chinese gods, Cthulhu, or what-have-you. I truly believe that the Epic of Aerth book is one of the classics of FRPG books, ranking up there with your AD&D Dungeon Masters Guide.

Also, regarding your Castle Zagyg products: How high a level of characters can reasonably adventure in the depths of the castle's dungeons?

 

[Col_Pladoh]

Greetings Gary,
You wrote: -The LA game system is the one I now prefer to all others.-

I haven't played LA extensively, nor have I been following its development recently, though my group did play early last Srping. I have a few questions that I hope you don't mind answering:
1. When might we see a new release of the core system, and are you working on any revisions or major changes? Or, have you moved on completely to C&C?

2. Have you worked out a way to make begining characters weaker, starting out in LA is like starting out around 6th or 7th in 1E. I miss the feeling that I'm starting out not much better then the average guy, it allows me to develop my PC more somehow.

3. Have you ever considered making an LA basic (something cut down in complexity and length that kids could understand more easily. Perhaps with a Dungeon like presentation map/playing board.

Thanks in advance, and have a great day!

A revised, mostly expansions of material and a few rules clarifications, edition of the core rules will be coming from Troll Lord Games in hardback format in the coming months.

As a matter of fact i play very little C&C and mostly run an LA compaign when I RPG.

The LA game Avatar is deliberately more able than a beginning PC so that the full scope of adventure possibilities is open to participants. Any Lejend Master can easily reduce the beginning capacity of Avatars by limiting the percentage multiplier of chosen Abilities and making the default one a mere 5 score if so desired. Merit awards will need to be increased at first and then cut back. Something like 300-400 per hour of active play should provide sufficient progress towards original starting capacity.

While I do not think that the LA game is at all complex, there is the LA Essentials boxed set produced by Troll Lord Games, and also the LA Quickstart Rules available as a free download.

 

[Col_Pladoh]

Did you ever play Marvel SuperHeroes?

No, as I've never been into superhero RPGs. Akthough I have nothing against it, the genre just doesn't grab me.

 

[Col_Pladoh]

Gary, I understand that the world of Aerth is a fleshing-out of what was in part undeveloped and/or implicit in your original Greyhawk campaign world. How did the counter-earth of Phaeree figure into your original D&D campaign world? Did you always envision most of the non-human critters (elves, giants, dragons, etc.) as being "away from home [i. e., Phaeree]" when on Oerth? Or was Aerth's Phaeree a later conception? In either case, it is a most intriguing way of presenting a solid ecology for a fantasy world. It allows for a magical "alternate Earth" setting, allowing it to remain humanocentric and answering the question, "How can these monsters be here without totally screwing-up the world's ecology?" [Answer: The monsters aren't native to the campaign world. They are interlopers from another world, arriving here through magical gates.]

And once again let me congratulate you on your Epic of Aerth book. It is simply packed with good stuff. It allows one (with ease and facility) to incorporate ANYTHING he reads (mythology, legendry, fantasy or horror fiction) or watches (fantasy and old Universal studios films, etc.) into the campaign world. There is a ready-made slot for everything, whether the various lost worlds of A. Merritt, Posnansky's Tiahuanaco, Chinese gods, Cthulhu, or what-have-you. I truly believe that the Epic of Aerth book is one of the classics of FRPG books, ranking up there with your AD&D Dungeon Masters Guide.

Also, regarding your Castle Zagyg products: How high a level of characters can reasonably adventure in the depths of the castle's dungeons?

I always assumed that the strange creatures in the D&D fantasy world were natives of another world. This is implicit in most folklore and fantasy alike. I simply did not elucidate that until I write the Mythus rules and detailed its world setting Aerth.

So thank you for the very kind words in regards my creative efforts in prresenting RPG concepts.

In the Lejendary Earth (Learth) world setting I have included the concept of alternate worlds for the non-himan races and most monstrous creatures as well, and added another concept I have not actually spent a lot of time explaining, 3D space anamolies. The setting for the LA game-based novel Eye of Glory is a land that is on Learth but anomoloys. the surface area it takes ip on the planet is only about 1/100th of its actual size, and entering the place is possible only in a special location or two, rather as one must assume Shangri-la exists and is accessed.

Cheers,
Gary (in haste to have a pre-dinner cocktail )

 

[RFisher]

As it is a role-playing game, fixation on combat is also misguided. It was never meant to be a combat simulation.

Strange that I read so many things that try to tell me that oD&D was mostly still a wargame & hardly worth being called a role-playing game at all.

(But then, I somehow suspect that if those same people had played at your sand-table pre-D&D they might have come away saying that it wasn't a proper "wargame". (^_^))

 

[Reynard]

Gary:

A friend of mine let me borrow "Best of Dragon" Vol II (as I am on a bit of an old dragon magazine binge right now) and I just read your essay on D&D's Vancian magic system and why it was created the way it was.

Pure awesome.

Thanks.

 

[Col_Pladoh]

Gary:

A friend of mine let me borrow "Best of Dragon" Vol II (as I am on a bit of an old dragon magazine binge right now) and I just read your essay on D&D's Vancian magic system and why it was created the way it was.

Pure awesome.

Thanks.

I am pleased that you enjoyed the article.

The "memorize then fire and forget" principal for casting spells Jack Vance assumed in his fantasy stories seemed perfect to me for use by D&D magic-users. IT required forethought by the player and limited the power of the class all at once. I still like the concept even though I have gone to a manical energy point system in the Lejendary Adventure RPG.

Cheerio,
Gary

 

[rossik]

Hi gary, long time since i read your replys

my question is about magical weapon with "+"

when a player find a +1 short swort, for exemple, do you allways describe it as a very good sword?
and when that player uses the sword, do you tell him to add +1 or do you keep to yourself, till the player "pay" for some spell to identify, or till the player uses that sword a lot..or something else?

tx