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.

 

[Gray Mouser]

No I don't agree with those wimpy whiners who are afraid of a few living dead There were always plenty of them in the adventures I ran, and likewise in those that I was playing in. For example, in one Jim Ward scenario, the first monsters we encountered were liches attacking us with rods of cancellation. This was likely in revenge for some of the perils Jim had to face with me as DM, such as when a vampire had his PC trapped. Darned if Jim didn't roll well enough to force the vampire to dust-mote form while I couldn't hit his PC no matter what.

LicheS? RodS of Cancellation? As in plural? Holy cow, Gary, what did you do to warrant such a response?!? Running a single lich intelligently is, imo, more than enough to worry even hardened adventurers. BTW, did your PC's make it out alright?

Gray Mouser

 

[Ranes]

Gary Gygax Q&A: part VI

Continued from http://www.enworld.org/forums/showthread.php?t=71486

About three years back I was playing in an OAD&D game and a wind walker was encountered. Damned if I could remember just how to attack the critter effectively, so my PC ran away, managed to escape while it was busy attacking others.

Cheers,
Gary

You... you... so what are your feelings on 'metagaming'?

 

[Col_Pladoh]

LicheS? RodS of Cancellation? As in plural? Holy cow, Gary, what did you do to warrant such a response?!? Running a single lich intelligently is, imo, more than enough to worry even hardened adventurers. BTW, did your PC's make it out alright?

Gray Mouser

Hi Gray Mouser

Well, I sorta kinda neglected to say that the lot of the PCs involved were pretty well able to manage such an encounter. Mordenkainen, Robilar, and Erac's Cousin, amongst the bunch, IIRR. The liches were destroyed without any loss to the party, andwe went on to loot and pillage shamelessly...

Cheers,
Gary

 

[Omand]

Hi Gray Mouser

Well, I sorta kinda neglected to say that the lot of the PCs involved were pretty well able to manage such an encounter. Mordenkainen, Robilar, and Erac's Cousin, amongst the bunch, IIRR. The liches were destroyed without any loss to the party, andwe went on to loot and pillage shamelessly...

Cheers,
Gary

Hello Gary,

I have been lurking on these various threads for ages, just wanted to say it great to see you interacting and answering questions.

And, as no one else seems to have done this, I will link this thread to the next thread in the series:

http://www.enworld.org/forums/showthread.php?t=76849

Cheers

 

[Omand]

Gary,

Here is my question for you. You seem to have a preference for magic-user characters, yes? Or is it simply my reading too much into the posted exploits of your characters?

Cheers

 

[Calico_Jack73]

Hey Gary, I've got an opinionated question for you:

Of all the modules that you've written or played, which was your favorite and why? Also what is your most memorable moment when playing?

Cheers!

 

[Col_Pladoh]

Continued from http://www.enworld.org/forums/showthread.php?t=71486


You... you... so what are your feelings on 'metagaming'?

Depends on the subject matter and the character. Who can say what a PC knws and doesn't know aboit the world he lives in? if it's something that could be known, then there's no metagaming involved.

Also, coming up with new ideas not common to the assumed society should not be labeled as metagaming is the PC is reasonably inteligent.

Getting to the case of the wind walker, the PC I was playing had faced one before, also associated with a broad range of knowledgeable, high-level characters. Thus he (I) should have remembered how to attack the critter. It was a case player NUMBRAINING, NOT A HINT OF METAGAMING THERE

Cheers,
GAry

 

[Col_Pladoh]

Gary,

Here is my question for you. You seem to have a preference for magic-user characters, yes? Or is it simply my reading too much into the posted exploits of your characters?

Cheers

The options for m-us are more interesting to me than are those for most other classes. I have played a good number of fighters, but I prefer to play a PC that can whip out a spell now and again. My highest level PC is Mordenkainen, my last PC, created some five years back, is a gnome illusionist-thief, with about four levels in each class. I had some fun playing a half-orc cleric-assassin, but when he was killed the other (Evil) PCs with him simply looted his corpse and moved on...

In the play-test sessions of the Lost City of Gaxmoor module I played a straight fighter, and it was interesting, but I had to do a lot of improvisational role-playing to make it so, and many of the young gamers there were somewhat taken aback at such thespianism. Worst of all, playing in-character, I boasted to an orc chieftain that he had better comply with the group's demands for the cooperation of his force in our forthcoming attack on another band in the city...or else. That gave DM Luke Gygax all the excuse he needed to have the orcs pack up and steal away, depriving us of their help, and thefeafter our attacking and looting of the lot

Cheers,
Gary

 

[Col_Pladoh]

Hey Gary, I've got an opinionated question for you:

Of all the modules that you've written or played, which was your favorite and why? Also what is your most memorable moment when playing?

Cheers!

Hah, C_J!

That's akin to asking aparentwhich child is his favorite

Also, most of the time I have DMed, not played modules, so it's difficultto answer in the latter context.

I believe that my favorite modules to DM were the G-D series, sans Q1. the whole made a good, long connected story with plenty of variety in location, challenges, and combat.

My favorite short module to play and DM alike is probably the generic The Abduction of Good King Despot, with plenty of problem solving and action packed into a short scenario.

I must say that most recently I really had a lot of fun running the Hall of MAny Panes for my LA group, and because I think it will likewise appeal to D20 fans, it is being done in dual system format. It is a very long module that took us about a year to finish, but the variety of challenges in it is so broad that none if us got bored, me included

Cheers,
Gary

 

[mistere29]

First, a cleric or two with a party means the threat is lessened dramatically.

How often did you adventure with a cleric in the party. I ask because some players seem to think that all adventures are designed so that the cleric's powers are absoutley neccessary. Usally there is a npc cleric in every group if players don't like the class.