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.

 

[ColonelHardisson]

That cover it?

It certainly helps! That gnome enclave in Lost Caverns and the Tharizdun module has always been interesting to me as a DM. They seem like both a good base for PCs, but also seem to have the potential for a lot of campaign hooks. It's the most detailed gmomish settlement I can recall for D&D. It might amuse you to know that the HackMaster version of the Caverns has the gnome settlement also, basically intact, with the heading "If it's not Gnomish, it's crap!" They speak with thick Scottish accents, and their personalities basically riff on an old Mike Myers Saturday Night Live skit about a shop of all-Scottish products, in which the proprietor invariably dismissed any other product thusly: "If it's not Scottish, it's CRAP!" I kinda dig that take on it, coupled with your thoughts.

Now, since we know what you think about dwarven women and beards, the question is begged: do gnomes have big noses?

 

[Col_Pladoh]

...

Now, since we know what you think about dwarven women and beards, the question is begged: do gnomes have big noses?

Did W. C. Fields enjoy imbibing spiritous liquor? "Godfrey Daniel! Who put lemonade in my lemonade?!"

Ciao,
Gary

 

[Frank Mentzer]

As a DM I was not prepered to present such a campaign...

Yeah, Immortals is pretty far Out There.
If anyone's interested, we're talking about it now and then on Dragonsfoot.org.

-- da riter

 

[Col_Pladoh]

Yeah, Immortals is pretty far Out There.
If anyone's interested, we're talking about it now and then on Dragonsfoot.org.

-- da riter

Heh, and noppers...

I spent the day giving an interview, then running the Teeth' module, Frank, so I am way behind in clhecking email and doing some needed work in regards to business matters.

I'll email you about some additional map details and the like tomorrow or Monday. The party (4 only) actually made it to the end and got zapped then by the biggie Had a lot of fun DMing it as there's so much to wing

Cheers,
Gary

 

[Orius]

It was an error, although I probably could create a rationale for mummies drawing their energy from the positive plane is pressed...

I thought it might be related to animated objects deriving their motive force from positive energy myself. It seems somewhat inconsistant that mummies were listed as being animated by positive energy, but then old school D&D always had some strangeness like this anyway, so I shrugged it off.

 

[Col_Pladoh]

I thought it might be related to animated objects deriving their motive force from positive energy myself. It seems somewhat inconsistant that mummies were listed as being animated by positive energy, but then old school D&D always had some strangeness like this anyway, so I shrugged it off.

Strangeness in a fantasy creation is a desirable thing

Why some folks want scientific accuracy in a FRPG is qite beyond me. After all, "There are some things that mankind is not meant to know," seems a logical statement when applied to a game dealing with the supernatural.

All that aside, the "Positive" was just a mistake

Cheers,
Gary

 

[Orius]

Why some folks want scientific accuracy in a FRPG is qite beyond me. After all, "There are some things that mankind is not meant to know," seems a logical statement when applied to a game dealing with the supernatural.

Some science does help things from getting too weird, and players do seem to have a preference for more or less "normal" worlds, that is terrestrial planets that more or less resemble Earth. Personally, I don't like to go too far on the weirdness angle as it can confuse and distract players, but I also don't worry too much about whether a world is scientifially accurate or not.

All that aside, the "Positive" was just a mistake

That's not the worst error I've seen in D&D products over the years. I think the biggest (and funniest ) occurs in the Encyclopedia Magica (a 2e compilation of magic items that had appeared over the years). The editors used a search and replace word processor funtion to replace the term "mage" with "wizard", and were careless with it. One section has the word "damage" altered to "dawizard" for a good portion of the book.

 

[Elfdart]

Da Wizard casts da spell at da monsters!

 

[Jdvn1]

Gary, do you still roleplay? If so -- what games? Do you GM or play?

 

[Elfdart]

I had a house rule:

Only humans, gnomes, half-elves, wood elves and half-Euroz (Greyhawk!) were allowed, and only one PC in four was allowed to be demi or semi-human. I got sick of all-elf parties and the stereotypical ways demi-humans (elves, halflings, dwarves) were played. Edmund Wilson was right about LOTR showing "a poverty of invention", and watching players ape that poverty of invention was annoying.

We got back to the humanocentric gaming of the old days. The only thing missing was art by DAT!