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.

 

[BOZ]

i don't know how many of those appeared in the original original OD&D (1974, diaglo time) before 1E OAD&D, but i know that there are a fair number of overlapped creatures from AD&D and basic D&D, which systems debuted at very close times to each other.

 

[Gray Mouser]

i don't know how many of those appeared in the original original OD&D (1974, diaglo time) before 1E OAD&D,

All of them, which was kind of my point. The Thoul, as far as I know, debuted in the Moldavay Basic set. At least I haven't found it in my perusal of the OD&D pamphlets, anyway.

but i know that there are a fair number of overlapped creatures from AD&D and basic D&D, which systems debuted at very close times to each other.

Right, but not the Thoul...

Gray Mouser

 

[Krieg]

All I can say is that I know Tim Jardini. I'll send the URL of this thread to my son Ernie to see if he can confirm or deny the authenticity.

Cheers,
Gary

Thanks! I'm sure the info would be a big help for the folks on the board who have expressed interest in the book.

 

[Geoffrey]

Gary, how far do you think that a RPG can be modified and yet still remain the same game? I've seen, for example, many published "magic systems" out there that purport to be able to replace the magic systems in various FRPGs. So, if someone were using the Lejendary Adventure rulebooks to run a game, and kept the basic structure intact (combat, movement, character creation, etc.), BUT replaced LA's entire magic system with that of another, would you still consider it LA? Or would it be another game?

 

[weasel fierce]

Of curiosity, as it appears you have made somewhat of a move from rules-heavy (or maybe more accurately, heavily defined, such as AD&D and Mythus), to light and rules-easy (your own D&D game, you speak of, as well as LA).

Did anything in particular bring around this change, or was it always there, and you just offered more detail for those who wanted (enough rope to hang from..)

It is sort of interesting, as I have known many gamers go through seemingly the same phases. First they play the basics, then they add tons of detail, options and "crunch", and eventually many fall back to a "barebones" gaming approach.

Cheers
Ivan

 

[Col_Pladoh]

Gary, how far do you think that a RPG can be modified and yet still remain the same game? I've seen, for example, many published "magic systems" out there that purport to be able to replace the magic systems in various FRPGs. So, if someone were using the Lejendary Adventure rulebooks to run a game, and kept the basic structure intact (combat, movement, character creation, etc.), BUT replaced LA's entire magic system with that of another, would you still consider it LA? Or would it be another game?

Any substantial change--combat system or magic system--makes the game entirely different in regards its play, even though legaly it is a deravitive of the original.

Cheers,
Gary

 

[Col_Pladoh]

All of them, which was kind of my point. The Thoul, as far as I know, debuted in the Moldavay Basic set. At least I haven't found it in my perusal of the OD&D pamphlets, anyway.

Right, but not the Thoul...

Gray Mouser

Pardon...

The thoul was listed in the encounter tables of OD&D but nowhere described

Cheers,
Gary

 

[Col_Pladoh]

Of curiosity, as it appears you have made somewhat of a move from rules-heavy (or maybe more accurately, heavily defined, such as AD&D and Mythus), to light and rules-easy (your own D&D game, you speak of, as well as LA).

Did anything in particular bring around this change, or was it always there, and you just offered more detail for those who wanted (enough rope to hang from..)

It is sort of interesting, as I have known many gamers go through seemingly the same phases. First they play the basics, then they add tons of detail, options and "crunch", and eventually many fall back to a "barebones" gaming approach.

Cheers
Ivan

Hi Ivan!

The answer to the above is a general yes

I did go from bare bones to much fleshier creations. A good part of that development was to enable otherrs to manage or feelk happy with. The DJ Mythus system was the culmination of that, and I never played it with all the rules. It was designed to function on about 20% of the entrie mechanics and rules offered.

When I wrote the LA game system I decided to keep it as lean as possible, leave details desired by one or another GM up to them, just include what was necessary to generally run the same game system, what could be applied for the mlst part to other genres as well.

In short, I wrote the game pretty much the way I enjoy GMing or playing...except for all the combat modifiers that i generaly ignore even when I am, running a dungepn crawl

Cheers,
Gary

 

[Gray Mouser]

Pardon...

The thoul was listed in the encounter tables of OD&D but nowhere described

Cheers,
Gary

Heh, very sneaky Colonel!

Gray Mouser

 

[Henry]

I have to ask, though, is the second G hard or soft? I have the sinking feeling I've been mispronouncing your name for the last 17 years...

To save Gary some time, both are "hard" G's. I still enjoy the story Gary used to tell about the young kid who tracked him down at a con in the 80's and thanked "Mr. Jy-jax" for Dungeons and Dragons.