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.

 

[haakon1]

D&D Movie

I find myself watching the D&D movie on TV. Never watched it before. Half-way through I can honestly say this. I wish I had woke up earlier to catch "Man Who Would Be King" instead. Awful movie.

Yeah, there was some painful stuff in there.

Best D&Desque movie: LOTR, 13th Warrior, Willow, Braveheart, Conan the Barbarian, or "other" (Adventures of Robin Hood, Princess Bride, Holy Grail, etc.)?

They're all great, but I think 13th Warrior is closest to a D&D adventure, at least as I like to play it.

 

[haakon1]

TSR got into trouble when it stopped serving the needs of its consumer base. In 1982 it made over $16 million gross, with about 25% of that pre-tax profit, and long term debt was about $1 million--easily payable with an average month's receipts. at that time DRAGON was not making any profit. GenCon paid for itself, but dislocated production for a week or two. Adventure modules were profitable SKUs.

Fascinating . . .

I'm guessing part of the problem (with why we don't get modules anymore from WOTC, just "crunch" and other useless crud) is that they are thinking the 2nd Edition financial model. That was all about "add-ons" to the operating system of the game (Complete Book of Postal Employees) and about lots and lots of settings (Birthright 37th Age!). Trouble is, that stuff divides the small audience into tiny shards, instead of getting us all to buy and play Hommlett.

 

[haakon1]

Editions

Was 1Ed AD&D perfect? No. Was 2Ed? Nope. 3/3.5? Not even close.

Everybody has their own opinion, probably largely based on the happy times when they were playing it. Whatever edition, it's all D&D to me . . . which means fun!

My unasked for opinion:
AD&D: A perfect game if you knew to ignore the dumb stuff like Weapon Speed Factors, but people wanted something new.
2nd Edition: Nice idea in reorganizing the AD&D books, shame about wimping out on deleting half-orcs and assassins, etc. My least favorite.
3rd Edition: Wow, really cool in integrating the rules into one consistent rule set, but it's true it's overly complex. Also annoying to learn new rules when you had all the AD&D ones memorized. (Price of a longsword, duh 15 gp -- wait, was it 25 gp? See, I'm starting to forget!) Shame about how it becomes unplayable at about 12-15th level.
3.5: Marginal improvement on 3.0.

 

[Col_Pladoh]

Fascinating . . .

I'm guessing part of the problem (with why we don't get modules anymore from WOTC, just "crunch" and other useless crud) is that they are thinking the 2nd Edition financial model. That was all about "add-ons" to the operating system of the game (Complete Book of Postal Employees) and about lots and lots of settings (Birthright 37th Age!). Trouble is, that stuff divides the small audience into tiny shards, instead of getting us all to buy and play Hommlett.

What can I say?

My manner of operating TSR differed radicaly frm that of the Blume brothers who took over management of the company and ran it into the ground. Then Lorraine Williams directed things so that it was, to the best of my knowledge, at least over $30 million in debt when WotC acquired TSR. I do believe that the method of doing business by Wizards is not one that best serves the D&D game audience or the game itself, but time will tell.

 

[haakon1]

In new D&D arriving at that level takes a mere few months, and that PC is nothing compared to the half-dragon/half-vampire multi-prestige class one that the kid next door stomps around the campaign world with

I hate that stuff too, but that's why it's good to be the DM. In my 3.5 campaigns, everyone is the normal races, with two exceptions: a centaur and a lizard man, both "AD&D approved" races in Rogues Gallery. I'd allow near-human stuff like a selkie or an ogre, but never something dumb . . . and half-anything but orc or elf strikes me as dumb.

Oh, and no "spikey" armor. The armor illustration in the 3e PHB kept me from playing for like an extra 6 months. My Osprey books provide armor illustrations, if I ever need them.

My point, other than blathering on, is that: the DM is still in charge in an edition, and can make it right. Some might argue their edition is already right, but that's up to the DM to decide.

 

[ColonelHardisson]

Oh, and no "spikey" armor. The armor illustration in the 3e PHB kept me from playing for like an extra 6 months. My Osprey books provide armor illustrations, if I ever need them.

Hey, it gives giants some mighty sore hands when they grab a PC!

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

"We're being chased by fire giants!"

"Throw the spikey-armored halflings, gnomes and dwarves off the back of the cart...that'll slow 'em down!"

 

[ColonelHardisson]

"We're being chased by fire giants!"

"Throw the spikey-armored halflings, gnomes and dwarves off the back of the cart...that'll slow 'em down!"

See? Sounds like a plan to me!

 

[Zudrak]

My point, other than blathering on, is that: the DM is still in charge in an edition, and can make it right. Some might argue their edition is already right, but that's up to the DM to decide.

From the 1st edition PHB, p.8:
"Rules not understood should have appropriate questions directed to the publisher; disputes with the Dungeon Master are another matter entirely. THE REFEREE IS THE FINAL ARBITER OF ALL AFFAIRS OF HIS OR HER CAMPAIGN."

That should have been repeated verbatim in 3.Xe. Too many players have become rules lawyers and want to quote books at the table rather than roleplay -- when it's a roleplaying game to begin with. If someone wants to quote books all day, they should join a Shakespearean fan club. There has been a shift of power at the gaming table that could have been avoided by keeping those two above sentences in the PHB. DM's have to do a lot and becoming targets for player abuse (both in the game and of the game) should not be one of the challenges.

[Edit: I should have mentioned that the caps were in the book and not added by me for emphasis.]

 

[BOZ]

"We're being chased by fire giants!"

"Throw the spikey-armored halflings, gnomes and dwarves off the back of the cart...that'll slow 'em down!"

caltrops, yay!