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, 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

Howdy!

Indeed, it is logical to assume that most magic items are of fine construction, so when a magic sword is discovered I generally describe it as a beautifully crafted blade, As to the potency of such an item, if the PC examining and testing it has experience with magic weapons of the same sort, the bonus will be realtively easy to determing. Special properties will not be so likely to be discovered by trial and error. For such questions, as well as for examination by those unfamiliar with the class of magic item, I do require that a magical examination of the item be made in order to know exactly what it is.

Cheers,
Gary

 

[rossik]

i see, great point. but do you say to the player , after he tested, "its a +1 sword"?

 

[Transit]

Gary,

(Sorry to interrupt the "+1 sword" discussion - I'm interested in hearing that answer as well, but...)

I've noticed that this seller on Ebay seems to have an inexhaustable supply of 3x5 cards with autographs from "Inventor Dungeons & Dragons Gary Gygax" on them. They aren't signed TO anyone; they just have random phrases like "Magical Moments" or "Fantastic Best" and a signature.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120165750314&ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:US:1

So did you ever spend time signing stacks of 3x5 cards like this, or is this guy ripping people off using a forgery of your good name?

And frankly, if they are genuine, then a 99 cent starting bid is an insult, just an insult I tell ya!

 

[Col_Pladoh]

i see, great point. but do you say to the player , after he tested, "its a +1 sword"?

Sure...

If the PC doing the testing has used a +1 sword before. Otherwise all I say is that the weapon seems siperior to other swords he had weilded.

Cheerio,
Gary

 

[Col_Pladoh]

Gary,

(Sorry to interrupt the "+1 sword" discussion - I'm interested in hearing that answer as well, but...)

I've noticed that this seller on Ebay seems to have an inexhaustable supply of 3x5 cards with autographs from "Inventor Dungeons & Dragons Gary Gygax" on them. They aren't signed TO anyone; they just have random phrases like "Magical Moments" or "Fantastic Best" and a signature.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120165750314&ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:US:1

So did you ever spend time signing stacks of 3x5 cards like this, or is this guy ripping people off using a forgery of your good name?

And frankly, if they are genuine, then a 99 cent starting bid is an insult, just an insult I tell ya!

As a matter of fact I recall signing a few 3 x 5 index cards some years back, and in looking at the pic of the one he has for sale, the writing and signature are definately my own.

As for the bid, I think the $.99 is fair, as I never charge for an authgraph and have doen many hundreds of them just this year. It isn't as if they are rare

Cheerio,
Gary

 

[Geoffrey]

Gary, I am interested in getting the Learth Gazetteer: http://index.rpg.net/display-entry.phtml?mainid=7239

Was it published in book form, or only in pdf? I'm having a bit more trouble finding a copy than I thought I would.

Also, how close is "too close" for you for a fantasy Earth setting? Your Aerth is pretty darn close to the actual Earth. How close could it get? What about (for example) an Earth with geography and history virtually identical to our own, set in circa A. D. 1500, BUT with no gunpowder and with only historically insignificant magic and monsters? By "historically insignificant" I mean that such things tend to be in far, out-of-the-way places, and tend to be encountered only by adventurers specifically looking for them. A fantastical dungeon, for example, filled with all sorts of D&D goodness would fit in the campaign. A horde of gnolls besieging Constantinople, however, would not. The former would be able to escape the historian's eye, while the latter could not.

 

[Col_Pladoh]

Gary, I am interested in getting the Learth Gazetteer: http://index.rpg.net/display-entry.phtml?mainid=7239

Was it published in book form, or only in pdf? I'm having a bit more trouble finding a copy than I thought I would.

Also, how close is "too close" for you for a fantasy Earth setting? Your Aerth is pretty darn close to the actual Earth. How close could it get? What about (for example) an Earth with geography and history virtually identical to our own, set in circa A. D. 1500, BUT with no gunpowder and with only historically insignificant magic and monsters? By "historically insignificant" I mean that such things tend to be in far, out-of-the-way places, and tend to be encountered only by adventurers specifically looking for them. A fantastical dungeon, for example, filled with all sorts of D&D goodness would fit in the campaign. A horde of gnolls besieging Constantinople, however, would not. The former would be able to escape the historian's eye, while the latter could not.

Howdy,

The LA Gazetteer is available in paperback edition from Inner City Game Designs: http://www.fuzzyheroes.com/catalog.php There are two more parts yet to be completed to complete the description of the nations of Learth.

I see no problem with having a fantasy RPG setting very much like our own earth, but to make it more interesting I would surely have both some different and suprising geographical features but also some considerable differences in both technology and history.

Cheerio,
Gary

 

[JohnRTroy]

Just to comment on the differences.

AErth is more of a "pure" parallel to our historical earth, assuming several different things--differences in biosphere (the hollow inner AErth world inside and the subterranean), more continents (Atlantis and Lemuria) and their civilizations affecting history (AEgypt learned from Atlantis), and differences in world history post-middle ages--there's more cross-pollination of traditions from east and west, technology doesn't work and wasn't explored as much, and the Western Hemisphere is pretty much what it would be like with Petty colonies on the West Coast being the only changes, with the indigenous "Indian" empires still existing. Most of the non-humans would reside in the subterra area or on Phaeree (the parallel world where most of your "classic fantasy" races reside), or in isolated areas of society--with gnomes being the chief traders between Aerth and Phaeree. You occasionally have wild creatures wandering the wilderness, and the undead or extra-dimensional creatures bugging people.

Learth is a little looser. History was much different, and while there are some rough historical parallels (Pantheons all based on historical empires, cultures having rough analogs to what we'd expect on Earth), history was much different and resulted in vast empires rising and falling, a common language used throughout the world, and states fitting more classic fantasy. So Learth has more of a Greyhawkish feel to it. We really don't know all that much about the Alfar dimensional matrix, or the subterra realms. There are a lot of Alfar around, still a minority compared to humans, but lots of small tribes, petty kingdoms, etc. Also a lot more "monstrosities" released, such as the Bestalia (humans devolved to beasts), Mamalia (humanoids mutated from animal or insect stock), and Demoniacles (humanoid-nethercreature hybrids).

Which do I like better--it's hard to say. Right now I still give Aerth a little bit of a greater appeal to me, probably because of the details of the Phaeree realm and subterranean realms and the Inner Aerth--and it has a few more details lacking in the other setting. But I like what I've seen of Learth so far as well.

 

[Geoffrey]

The LA Gazetteer is available in paperback edition from Inner City Game Designs: http://www.fuzzyheroes.com/catalog.php There are two more parts yet to be completed to complete the description of the nations of Learth.

Thanks for the link! What is the difference between the Standard Edition and the Author's Edition of the Gazetteer?

John, thanks for your very valuable contrast between Aerth and Learth.

 

[Col_Pladoh]

Thanks for the link! What is the difference between the Standard Edition and the Author's Edition of the Gazetteer?

John, thanks for your very valuable contrast between Aerth and Learth.

The Author's Edition has a page noting it is that...amd my signature.

John is a great fellow and often assists me with my creative projects. His brief aeeay comparing and cintrasting the two world settings is accurate.

Cheerio,
Gary