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]

Where is the archive?

Go to the page where it lists all the forums. Scroll way, way down. It should be the second-to-last forum listed.

 

[Mighty Veil]

Wow. Reading page 3's Gary responses from his response of my Canadian Maple Leaf post to Gord. I haven't been this surprise about AD&D's roots since Gary said he wasn't a LotR fan. And not so much D&D is based on LotR.

I didn't realize D&D didn't base itself on Christian beliefs. Hindu, huh? Never would of guessed that. I still don't understand this Theosophy one. But Solars are the sun, and planetars are the planet. This new view of them makes them seem more like cosmic elementals than angels (reminds me of the show Andromeda). Very spiritual.

You know Gary. Had you used "Paradise Lost" as inspiration. I bet a neat D&D cosmology , different then the current one, there could have been. I just HATE what 2e's Planescape did to it. I was thinking of buying the new Demonweb Pit adventure till I learned it used 2e's cosmology.

 

[Deuce Traveler]

Gary, now that Dungeon and Dragon magazines are ceasing printed publications, I was thinking back on some things I thought that you had written before. Was it true that the magazines were under threat of the axe during the early 80s also?

 

[haakon1]

Since we have arch-devils, why not arch-angels?
. . .
The only thing that has stumped me thusfar is in individualizing them sufficiently. Perhaps I am a creature of the mythologies to which I am accustomed, but the angelic hosts always seemed so... homogenous.

Or archangels, perhaps? Getting your theology from parochial school instead of the Monster Manual helps with understanding the Monster Manual, methinks.

Archangel Michael/St. Michael is a great one to look into. Gabriel is the other heavy hitter.

If you want a non-religious intro to Catholic/Christian tradition on angels, the blasphemous but silly comedy movie "Dogma" might be good. If you are religious or easily offended, definitely not for you.

The scene in the bar towards the end is so perfect, just like how a stereotypical D&D would use religion . . .

 

[haakon1]

“Celebration of Celene” (Fantasy short story published in Michael Moorcock’s Elric, Tales of the White Wolf anthology) White Wolf, Inc., 1994

Any connection with Greyhawk's Celene?

 

[haakon1]

Gary, now that Dungeon and Dragon magazines are ceasing printed publications, I was thinking back on some things I thought that you had written before. Was it true that the magazines were under threat of the axe during the early 80s also?

Nod. Seems quite sad to me.

 

[lamproswc]

Go to the page where it lists all the forums. Scroll way, way down. It should be the second-to-last forum listed.

thanks!

 

[BOZ]

Gary, now that Dungeon and Dragon magazines are ceasing printed publications, I was thinking back on some things I thought that you had written before. Was it true that the magazines were under threat of the axe during the early 80s also?

hmm, glad to see they at least kept going until now!

 

[Col_Pladoh]

Wow. Reading page 3's Gary responses from his response of my Canadian Maple Leaf post to Gord. I haven't been this surprise about AD&D's roots since Gary said he wasn't a LotR fan. And not so much D&D is based on LotR.

I didn't realize D&D didn't base itself on Christian beliefs. Hindu, huh? Never would of guessed that. I still don't understand this Theosophy one. But Solars are the sun, and planetars are the planet. This new view of them makes them seem more like cosmic elementals than angels (reminds me of the show Andromeda). Very spiritual.

You know Gary. Had you used "Paradise Lost" as inspiration. I bet a neat D&D cosmology , different then the current one, there could have been. I just HATE what 2e's Planescape did to it. I was thinking of buying the new Demonweb Pit adventure till I learned it used 2e's cosmology.

As a Christian I stayed well away from basing any of the D&D game on scripture.

The Deva, Solarm and Planatar are benign and rather angelic in their purposes.

No Milton, but I did use a bit of Dante's Inferno is developing the denizens of the Nine Hells.

Cheerio,
Gary

 

[Mark CMG]

Will you be doing anything special for the last print issue of Dragon or Dungeon magazines?