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]

You should have my e-mail address still if you are interested in coming to play, if not, here it is:
c.e.rocco@comcast.net

Now that I think of it, I may have given you my old address last time, oh well, cheers

Well...Email addy noted, but...

Maybe we can meet halfway, say in Minoqua, Wisconsin, at the Baker's House. That way we could get Frank Mentzer in the game too, meanwhile chowing down on excellent baked goodies

Cheers,
Gary

 

[Col_Pladoh]

ROFLOL

I know, I know...

If I haven't anything nice to say, I should say nothing at all...


Gary

 

[Deogolf]

Well...Email addy noted, but...

Maybe we can meet halfway, say in Minoqua, Wisconsin, at the Baker's House. That way we could get Frank Mentzer in the game too, meanwhile chowing down on excellent baked goodies

Cheers,
Gary

(Renfield voice-over)

Did somebody say baked goodies (when you say the Baker's House, you've said it all!!).

 

[Devall2000]

Gary, do you let PC's sleep in their armor without being penalized? If not, what penalties to they incur for sleeping in armor?

thanks,
Jamie

 

[Col_Pladoh]

(Renfield voice-over)

Did somebody say baked goodies (when you say the Baker's House, you've said it all!!).

Certainly superior to a cat fed on birds fed on spiders fed on flies, eh?

And address me as "Master, Renfield!"

Heh,
Gary

 

[Deogolf]

Certainly superior to a cat fed on birds fed on spiders fed on flies, eh?

And address me as "Master, Renfield!"

Heh,
Gary

Sorry, Master! I always serve the Master! (grovel, grovel)

 

[Col_Pladoh]

Sorry, Master! I always serve the Master! (grovel, grovel)

Then where is Mina Harker?


Gary

 

[Hiryu]

Not much to add to your exposition, other than to say that Concordant Opposition is Balance. The Oriental concept of Yang and Yin is good example of the True Neutral concept.

How I would love ID political parties with the D&D alignments, but that's a no-no

Cheers,
Gary

Dear Sir Mr. Gygax Colonel Sir

In the intrest of initiating a friendly discourse on the validity and merit of the aforementioned theories, with a focus on the significance of alignments a propos of the.... aww, to hell with it, I was not born for speaking High Gygaxian. Not in english, anyways.

In any case, I am a Taoist and I must say your previous statement is not entirely true. Even Taoism, which focuses on the balance and opposing forces of the universe and their equal importance still leans towards a certain morality to follow. This is true also for Zen and Budhism. Of course, I don't dispute the very real possibility of True Neutral individuals, even in real life, but a vast mayority of humanity leans on a bias either towards the Yin or the Yang, so to speak.

This is why I allow druids of any neutral (non-chaotic) alignment. Like so:

Lawful Neutral Druid: They believe in their religion and the tasks set on them by their ethos. No questions asked. They live to serve nature and to follow the laws of their coven to the letter. In actuality, it is more possible the druidical hierachy would be ruled by those Lawful Neutral members of the coven than the wiser True Neutral.

Neutral Good Druid: They follow the laws and beliefs of the coven, but are not hesitant about breaking them if they believe such an action will further the cause of nature. As with all druids they believe in the balance in all things, but feel that everyone has a place in that balance, and theirs lies on the 'good' end of the scale. These are most likely druids that belong to covens where alliances have been forged with 'civilized' settlements. They could believe there is hope for having civilization and nature coexisting in harmony or teaching non-druids to respect and honor the land.

True Neutral Druid (aka, Classic Druid™): They are the wisest and often oldest of the coven. While they may or may not govern the druid order (out of lack of intrest to lead, etc.), they are so rare that other druids come to them in search of wisdom and advice. They have an outlook dificult to comprehend for those who do not share it, but always come up with the simplest and most efficient answers to ensure the best overal result. These may be sometimes questionable by usual moral standards, since for the true neutral what is best for the individual may not be the best for his species, let alone nature.

Neutral Evil Druid: They follow all the laws and beliefs of the coven as long as it furthers the cause of nature, and like Neutral Good druids, they too believe they have a place in the natural order. However, in the case of Neutral Evil druids this takes shape on a hatred for all things 'civilized' that borders on xenophobia. To these druids any form of road, farming or settlement is an insult to nature and may take steps to destroy them, including those folk who support/enjoy such lifestyles. For this reason they may live in small nomadic communities, murdering anyone who is caught entering, hunting in or cutting wood in their forest. No trial, no questions, it just happens. It's their forest, their domain and will do everything to protect their lifestyle.

In many ways, this is also quite constant with Taoism itself. "The good man is the bad man's teacher, and the bad man is the good man's business".

First time I reply to the Gygax Q&A, yay! I just had to throw in my two pesos on this one, no agreeing required. Specially not when it comes to something as subjective and interpretation-dependant as alignments.

Regards:
J. C. Corona

PS: If you ask me, all political parties are Chaotic Evil–and there is not a single Lawful politician, let alone Good.

 

[Col_Pladoh]

Well, J.C.

In my view you have an imperfect understanding of alignments as they apply to the game. However, it is a waste of my time and energy to d9ispute your assertions...profitless on all counts.

I will reiterate that government is generaly based on what? Why LAW, of course.

Gary

 

[haakon1]

Of all that the Professor wrote about, the hobbits, the balrog, and the ents were all that were uniquely detailed.

Halfling and treant are clear, but what's a balrog in D&D? One of the devils, I suppose, or perhaps you left it out entirely?

I've been wondering something since the good old '80s . . . it seems to me that your map of Greyhawk and Tolkien's map of Middle Earth hook up to each other. Your Sea of Dust backs up nicely into his Nurn and Mordor, with your Sulhaut Mountains becoming his Ered Lithui (Ash Mountains), and your little lake and river on the Dry Steppes (in 3e labelled Lake Udrukankar and the Rumikadath River) fitting in nicely a tributary to the Sea of Rhun.

Is that just me, or did you or someone at TSR intend them to fit together?