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]

Also ... I ... uhh ... guess I should apologize for catalysting so many bad mushroom puns.

I have suspected you did it to get a rhiz-ome out of me...

Ciao,
Gary

 

[Prince of Happiness]

The 'Cube was my cration. It was inspired by the amoeba and gelatin. Perhaps I also had in the back of my mind the old EC Comisc SF story about Mars being covered in dormand gookum, that stuff having devoured all other life forms on the planet. When the crew returns to earth they are feted at a banquet, with a dessert course of strawberry Jello. "Good Grief! It;s dormant gookum!!!"

How I loved those Weird Science, Crypt of Horror, and all the rest of the EC Comics line


Gary

I love that it's a frickin' CUBE! So it just kinda jiggles and wobbles through corridors to snatch up unwary adventurers.

I have two hardcover collections for Tales From the Crypt and Crypt of Horror, but I really, really, really want to try getting my hands on the Weird Science collection. I loved the one where some astronauts are toying with a Mexican "Jumping Bean" and one astronaut is enraged because they're tormenting a poor little worm. Of course he catches hell from his fellows...any rate, they end up landing on some planet, they get chased by aliens and sure enough, end up in some type of giant bean... The black humor in these comics were just wicked!

 

[Mycanid]

The 'Cube was my cration. It was inspired by the amoeba and gelatin. Perhaps I also had in the back of my mind the old EC Comisc SF story about Mars being covered in dormand gookum, that stuff having devoured all other life forms on the planet. When the crew returns to earth they are feted at a banquet, with a dessert course of strawberry Jello. "Good Grief! It;s dormant gookum!!!"

How I loved those Weird Science, Crypt of Horror, and all the rest of the EC Comics line


Gary

Care to share the story of the first time in the game you sprung it on the players?

 

[Col_Pladoh]

I love that it's a frickin' CUBE! So it just kinda jiggles and wobbles through corridors to snatch up unwary adventurers.

I have two hardcover collections for Tales From the Crypt and Crypt of Horror, but I really, really, really want to try getting my hands on the Weird Science collection. I loved the one where some astronauts are toying with a Mexican "Jumping Bean" and one astronaut is enraged because they're tormenting a poor little worm. Of course he catches hell from his fellows...any rate, they end up landing on some planet, they get chased by aliens and sure enough, end up in some type of giant bean... The black humor in these comics were just wicked!

No question, my favorite comic boocs were those done by EX, including both Mad and Panic.

The artists were really good too, IMO especially Wallace Wood and Jack Kurtz.

Cheers,
Gary

 

[Col_Pladoh]

Care to share the story of the first time in the game you sprung it on the players?

there was a group going through the 2nd level, and the fighter scouting ahead walked right into the Gelatinous Cube thinking some spell or gas was makinghis vision blurry. Only after that PC being nearly killed did the others note the "floating" coins and such.

That's about the best I can do recalling the incident after 35 years

Cheerio,
Gary

 

[ghul]

No question, my favorite comic boocs were those done by EX, including both Mad and Panic.

The artists were really good too, IMO especially Wallace Wood and Jack Kurtz.

Cheers,
Gary

Al Williamson was one of my favorites. I had the pleasure of meeting him once, and he signed my Weird Science-Fantasy comic from 1954 that he'd done the cover art for. He was the artist for one of the interior stories as well, Wally Wood doing one of the others. Stephen King often cites the old EC comics as his original inspiration to become a writer, as well as films like Creature from the Black Lagoon.

 

[Col_Pladoh]

Al Williamson was one of my favorites. I had the pleasure of meeting him once, and he signed my Weird Science-Fantasy comic from 1954 that he'd done the cover art for. He was the artist for one of the interior stories as well, Wally Wood doing one of the others. Stephen King often cites the old EC comics as his original inspiration to become a writer, as well as films like Creature from the Black Lagoon.

Yes indeed...

When my wretched half-sister took it upon herself to destroy a whopping great cardboard carton full of my comics and magazines (a Playboy #1 included in there) because she did nin want her two sons reading them, I would gladly have throttled that witch. they were in the attic of my grandparents' house, where I lived and she was temporarily dwelling while her husband established his optomertic practise.

Sorry to grumble over lost comics, but it grates on me after a half-century

Cheerio,
Gary

 

[Mycanid]

A very good morning to you sir!

More butter boletes today ... I will let them grow a bit, yet.

Anyhoo ... a question, if I may.

Iggwilv. What can you tell me about her origins people wise (who thought her up, that is) and how did she manifest herself in early adventures? First I heard of her, of course, was in module S4. Was she always a "background villian"?

 

[Col_Pladoh]

A very good morning to you sir!

More butter boletes today ... I will let them grow a bit, yet.

Anyhoo ... a question, if I may.

Iggwilv. What can you tell me about her origins people wise (who thought her up, that is) and how did she manifest herself in early adventures? First I heard of her, of course, was in module S4. Was she always a "background villian"?

As a matter fact Iggwilv is my creation. She was inspired by Louhi the Finnish uberwitch and Baba Yaga of Russian foklore. I never had her as an active antagonist, more of a behind the scenes manipulator.

Cheerio,
Gary

 

[thedungeondelver]

Gary, this was mentioned over at the acaeum.com so I reckoned I'd ask where you could see it...

How did MAR Barker's EMPIRE OF THE PETAL THRONE come to be published by TSR and what was his relationship with the company during the printing of that first edition of the game?

Also, we note that the game featured a full-color vinyl map, comb-bound rule booklets (A4 sized at that) and that the overall price for EMPIRE OF THE PETAL THRONE was a princely $25.00 back in 1975, which would be the equivalent today of charging $100 or more for a single RPG boxed set. Can you shed a little light on the decision to go ahead with such an expensive product?