# Gaming with Gygax



## Rel

I know that a great many of you have heard me talk about this and I grew very nearly tired of retelling it upon request at GenCon.  But der_kluge asked and so I figure I'll type it out once and for all rather than continue to repeat it when asked.  Below is the entire (long) story.  I note that this is told from my viewpoint only and so of course my focus will be my part in it (plus, I'm a glory hog like that).

So first up we mostly have Henry to thank for this experience.  He approached Gary many months ago about the possibility of running a game for the ENW mods at GenCon and Gary was nice enough to agree.  We've all been stoked about it ever since but felt that it would be best to keep quiet about it.  I could no longer contain myself when I got to GenCon on Wednesday though and when a few folks asked where we were headed I told them, "I'm not at liberty to say but suffice it to say that the game is going to be run by somebody whose name rhymes with 'Mary Myrax'."  That got some raised eyebrows.

We start to head over to the Hyatt from the Embassy and we pass diaglo on the way.  Piratecat, a far more heartless bastard than anybody ever gives him credit for, says, "Hey David!  Guess where we're going!"  You should have seen the look on diaglo's face when he finds out that EGG is about to run a game of OD&D 1974 and he's not in on it.  Afterwards somebody said, "Rel didn't have the balls to tell him."  Not true.  I didn't have the HEART to tell him.  That's why I keep the heartless Piratecat around.

Anyway, so we go to the Hyatt and I pop over to the desk so we can call up to Gary's room and tell him that we're there.  The clerk behind the desk checks and...Gary's not checked in yet!  So I try to retain my composure and ask can we leave him a message and she says sure.  I ask for the message to read, "EN Mods waiting..." with my phone number added.  Then the woman says, "So, 'Eee En Mods', is that your...'character'?"  I'm thinking, "I don't USUALLY hit pregnant women but..."

Anyway, we're all CERTAIN at this point that the game will be cancelled.  Gary must have had some kind of delay and it's just not going to happen.  We all immediately begin ripping Piratecat for gloating to diaglo before the chickens were hatched as it were.  But just then, in walks Gary.  He's sorry that he got delayed and invites us up to begin immediately.

So we get down to gaming and we've got Henry the Cleric, Hypersmurf the Fighting Man, el-remmen the Magic User, Piratecat the Elf, I'm playing a Dwarf and I think that Eridanis was playing another Fighting Man but I'm not 100% sure.  We rolled 3d6 but, in a move that would have HORRIFIED diaglo, Gary let us arrange them as we liked.  It mattered little for me because my rolls SUCKED.  I had one 14 and one 11.  The rest were all under 10.  My Dex was 6!  I distinctly recall that all hit points were 1d6 per level (with our characters being 2nd level) and that Hypersmurf rolled a pair of 2's leaving his Fighting Man with half as many hit points as el-remmen's Magic User.

Gary was very easygoing about us buying equipment so my Dwarf had Plate Mail, a shield, an axe, 50 feet of rope and, of course, a flask of oil.  Piratecat had a mule.

Gary doesn't mess around with a bunch of "You all meet in a tavern" crap.  We walk right up to the ruin of the castle and there are dungeon entrances at each corner and one in the middle.  There is a guy outside selling "Dungeon Carts".  "For what?" we ask.  "To put your loot in."  "I'll take one!" says I (being optimistic).  Piratecat declines a Dungeon Cart.  He has a mule.  We roll randomly and enter from the northwest corner.

So we enter the dungeon and the hilarity begins IMMEDIATELY.  Henry (God bless im'!) has taken the liberty of buying a pad of graph paper and is going to map for us.  He draws a little staircase in the center of the page.  Gary leans over and says, "You're entering in the Northwest corner.  You might want to start mapping in the northwest corner of the page.  Henry erases his little staircase and redraws it in the northwest corner of the sheet of paper.

"You descend the stairs and come to a corridor.  It leads 30 feet west."  So right away we go off the first sheet of graph paper and Henry pulls off another one and keeps mapping.

"The passageway hits a T intersection and you can see north and south about 30 feet."  We peer off the top edge of the second sheet of graph paper and Henry maps us onto our third sheet in the first minute and a half of the adventure.  Hilarious.

So anyway, we explore and listen at doors and I go through one and fall down a 10 foot pit.  And something inside me says, "Oh.  My.  God.  You've just fallen down Gary Gygax's 10' PIT!!  You've been dreaming about this since you were 11 years old!!"  (I'll thank the cads among you to not ruin my sense of wonder with your filthy double entendres, no matter how easy a target I've made of myself.)  After that we are using Piratecat's 10' pole to prod the floor more carefully.

After a number of twists, turns, empty rooms and "doors that open easily", we find a beetle.  Woot!  We kill it and take its stuff!

We later find a Gnoll that we tried to charm and take its stuff but if made the save and ran away.  We chased it into a room full of bandits with crossbows.  They shoot me.  I have 3 hit points.

Me:  "Hey Cleric, can I get some healing?"
Henry:  "I'm saving it for a desperate situation."
Me:  "Like what?"
Henry:  "Like if I get hurt."

With friends like these...

So anyway, we managed to fight and defeat the bandits with crossbows thanks to brash heroism and a rather considerable amount of Sleep Spell/throat slitting combo from the Magic User.  It occurs to me as I type this that overuse of this tactic might be the whole reason the Paladin was even invented.  Anyhow, we kill them and take their stuff.  And we also killed the Gnoll and took his stuff.

(A note about the taking of the stuff:  When I go on vacation, I like to take it easy.  And part of taking it easy means not doing any more math than is strictly necessary.  So I was extremely greatful for Piratecat handling the treasure tracking wherein he would routinely simplify things for me by saying, "Let's see, 80 Gold Pieces so that's 10 gold each for the five of you.  Let's move on."  Elves rock.)

So as the dust settles from the fight with the bandits, we become aware of a horrible noise by virtue of Gary saying, "You hear a horrible noise..."  But this was no ordinary horrible noise.  It was coming from Piratecat's mule (remember, he bought a mule).  And this horrible noise was understandable given that "...it appears that your mule is being eaten by something LARGE and GELATINOUS."

In this moment, I look across the table at Piratecat and our faces are bathed in the PURE JOY that can only come from Gary Gygax attacking with a Gelatinous Cube.  I think my joy might have been very slightly more pure because it was Piratecat's mule.  This theory is supported by Piratecat snapping out of his joyous face bath and saying, "Quick!  Save the mule!!"

I asked Gary if there is any clearance above the Cube and he said that there was about 2 feet between it and the ceiling of the dungeon.  So I said, "I want to light my flask of oil (remember, I bought a flask of oil) and throw it so that it breaks on the ceiling ABOVE the Cube and rains fire down on top of it."  Gary looks at my character sheet.  He looks at my 6 Dex.  He looks me in the eye.  "Well you can try but you're going to have to hit AC 2."

NATURAL.  20.  BABY.

It's as though we are the U.S. Olympic D&D team and we've just beaten the French for the Gold Medal.  We're jumping out of our seats.  We're high fiving.  People are taking pictures of my d20.  I'm grinning like an IDIOT.  An idiot who JUST KILLED GARY GYGAX'S GELATINOUS CUBE!!

The mule didn't make it.

We finally calm down and get on with the exploration that takes us east and south and then west (we went west because Henry prayed for guidance from St. Cuthbert and he said, "Go West young man!").  We turned some skeletons, went down some stairs and found a dead end.  We camped.

While camped we were encountered by wandering orcs who did NOT attack us and the skeletons from upstairs who DID attack us.  We killed the skeletons.

And we took their stuff.

Then, with our mule dead, our Dungeon Cart nearly full and with Wednesday night wearing on, we retreated from the dungeon with much treasure and no fatalities (apart from the mule and I'll tell you straight out that I'd have traded three of those Poxy Elves to have that faithful mule back).  In the capper for the evening, for the first time EVER in a Con game, I got XP.  In fact, thanks to me accidentally taking a shield off the bandits that turned out to be magical, I got more XP than anybody in the party!  Woot!

We had our picture taken with Gary, he signed our character sheets and books in some cases.  Then was when we found out that that night was HIS 20TH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY.  Gary was playing D&D with a bunch of geeks in his hotel room on his 20th wedding anniversary!!  And she was right there the WHOLE TIME and was the most gracious, charming and delightful woman that you could ever hope to meet.  Unbelievable.

At the very end, Hypersmurf gave him a copy of the Empire game, from (I believe) the Greyhawk novels, that he had had manufactured, with acrylic tile playing pieces and a nice wooden box to keep it in.  It seemed to be very well received and I thank Hyp for offering up a gift that shows the kind of gratitude I feel toward Mr. Gygax for giving me a memory that I will cherish forever.

Thank you, Gary, from the bottom of my heart.  And thank you also to the other Mods who played.  It is an honor and priveledge to call you fellow mods and friends.  Except Piratecat who tried to screw us out of the treasure.* 




*He couldn't help it though.  He was playing a Poxy Elf!


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## Radiating Gnome

Awesome.  V. jealous.


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## Rhun

Great story! I too am quite jealous.


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## Hairball

Congrats.  Rank me amongst the very jealous as well.


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## Ankh-Morpork Guard

Rel...Mods...while that is beyond awesome.

I hate you all.


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## EricNoah

Great story.  Thank you for sharing, and Gary -- thank you for your continued presence at EN World!


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## T. Foster

Fantastic! That story with the map (and how Gary blatantly suckered you into it) is hilarious


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## Gentlegamer

As I read, I kept waiting for the kobolds to appear and slaughter the party.


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## Mark Hope

One true game.  Beautiful story.


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## Delta

LOL at the mapping anecdote. That's really fantastic.


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## KenSeg

You guys deserve the fun with all you do for us here on EnWorld.  Of course, poor Diaglo will now be planning your assasinations.

The comment by Henry had me spewing coke on my keyboard. You owe me a new keyboard Henry!   

-KenSeg
gaming since 1978


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## messy

Rel said:
			
		

> NATURAL.  20.  BABY.




awesome moment, awesome story  love it!

messy


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## Shadeydm

Awsome story, 5 out of 5 stars!


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## sniffles

Fantabulous storytelling, Rel. Had me grinning all the way through.


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## Mark

At least you did not name the mule diaglo.


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## Rhuvein

Great post. Thanks for sharing.


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## Rel

Mark said:
			
		

> At least you did not name the mule diaglo.




I think that Piratecat is going to put that in the category of "missed opportunity".


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## Dinkeldog

Nah.  Mules aren't that stubborn.  

But now I'm mourning my inability to go even more this year.  Congrats on the shield, Rel.


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## jasin

Awesome.


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## Piratecat

Rel said:
			
		

> *He couldn't help it though.  He was playing a Poxy Elf!



What the smelly dwarf said was true; my hero's name was "Sesquip the Poxy." It just seemed right.

I started the game by telling Gary "This is Hypersmurf, our local rules expert. His job tonight is to correct all of your rulings. Meanwhile, the rest of us are going to act out our characters and not bother to explore." "Good," says Mr. Gygax, warming up his dice. "That'll make it a much shorter game!"

And it turned out that Gary was running us through the first dungeon he ever created. And using his original d20 to do it.

When the gelatinous cube attacked, he chuckled and said "I love wandering monsters."  I did too. Except when it killed my mule, dammit. But that was okay; when we were attacked by the skeletons later, I used a still-slimy mule bone to attack them, since I only had sharp weapons otherwise.

My other moment of wonder was when I was about to listen at a door and pulled out my ear trumpet. "Don't want any ear seekers!" I said. Gary laughed and said, "I got tired of my players listening at every. Single. Door." 

We got to meet Gary's sons and grandson, and we made sure to get Mrs. Gygax a box of chocolate and a card as thanks for letting us co-opt her husband on their anniversary. It (and getting to tell Diaglo!) was a glorious way to start the con.


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## Rel

Dinkeldog said:
			
		

> But now I'm mourning my inability to go even more this year.




We so wished you could have been there.  It was the kind of fun and joy that only increased with the sharing.


And incidentally to those reading this, I was just glancing over my comments about Piratecat in the story above and wanted it to be perfectly clear that they are all tongue in cheek.  I absolutely adore Piratecat (in a largely platonic way) and I got to spend more time at GenCon with him this year than ever before.  Spending half the day with him yesterday (plus brunch with Morrus) was a sheer delight.  My affection for him is such that if anything were to ever happen to him...I'd even be willing to marry his widow.*




* Kindly don't mention that part to my wife just yet though.


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## Umbran

Dinkeldog said:
			
		

> But now I'm mourning my inability to go even more this year.




You and me both.  They get to play with E.G.G., we get to ride herd on the rush from a major news announcement.  Apparently in a past life, I just wasn't that nice a person, or something.

And hey, even better than the shield - P-cat didn't name the mule, "Rel"...


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## Hjorimir

Outstanding, Rel. Outstanding.


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## Dinkeldog

Rel said:
			
		

> My affection for him is such that if anything were to ever happen to him...I'd even be willing to marry his widow.




Yeah, but I could marry her, and she could still date.


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## Evilusion

Great story. Just knew the mule was going to die once I saw you could buy dungeon carts at the front door. LOL


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## soulcatcher78

I have not laughed that hard in a week, thank you!

Natural 20 baby, rofl


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## Desdichado

No, seriously, Rel.  Can I hear that story one more time?  

Sounds like tons o' fun.


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## Rel

Dinkeldog said:
			
		

> Yeah, but I could marry her, and she could still date.




I think we've found our solution!


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## Odhanan

This is ... -awesome-. 

You just made me so jealous, guys! 

I'm glad you enjoyed it. Gary, that's great you did this. Great.


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## Mark Hope

Piratecat said:
			
		

> ...
> 
> And it turned out that Gary was running us through the first dungeon he ever created. And using his original d20 to do it.
> 
> ...



Just when you thought the story couldn't get any better.  Perfection itself.



(Hey lookie - 1000 posts.  No finer thread for it   )


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## Herobizkit

Pardon my ignorance, but what's a "Poxy" Elf?


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## Rel

Herobizkit said:
			
		

> Pardon my ignorance, but what's a "Poxy" Elf?




Poxy is an addendum that can be added to any Elf's name to make it funnier.


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## Piratecat

Poxy: worthless and contemptible; very distasteful. From chickenpox or smallpox.

But in truth, it's just trying to live up to the example set by Ycorl Rixie and Gleep Wurp the Eyebiter.


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## SavageRobby

That was a fantastic story. Glad you guys had fun (well earned!), and thank you for sharing your fun with the jealous masses.


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## Erik Mona

Thank you so much for this story. Truly remarkable. Gary Gygax is a treasure.

I had the honor to sit next to Gary for about an hour and a half on Friday as he signed copies of his new Planet Stories novel, The Anubis Murders. Pretty much the whole time, gamers approached him to thank him for changing their lives for the better. People talked about how they met their wife because of Dungeons & Dragons, how it helped them to read and imagine as children, and how the game brought them to some of their best friends. 

It was amazing. Everyone had a story, and everyone was humbled to get the chance to shake his hand. Gary was gracious as could be, happy to share a story about Dave Trampier painting himself onto every face of the 1e Player's Handbook (except for the guy in the middle on the back cover, who is Gary himself!). Happy to listen to stories about favorite characters or campaigns.

Not happy, as it happens, to sign Daigle's , but I suppose every man has his limits.

The best moment by far was, an hour into this parade of happiness and humility, a guy comes up and looks over our Planet Stories line. "Would you like to have a book autographed by Mr. Gygax?" I asked. 

The guy looks at the book, looks at Gary blankly, and says "I'm not familiar with your work. I'll have to look it up."

Gary crumples his face a little bit and, with a gruff chuckle, says "Try DUNGEONS & DRAGONS!" 

Nimrod flashes a defeated look and slinks off into the crowd, his eyes on the floor where they belong.

So many amazing things happened at this Gen Con that I've already forgotten half of them. But I'll remember that hour and a half with Gary Gygax for the rest of my life.

--Erik Mona


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## T. Foster

OK, enough mushy stuff -- let's get down to serious business: I want to know much more about these dungeon carts. How much did you have to pay for it (100 GP like the "cart" listed in the rulebook? that seems like a lot)? How much loot did it carry? How were you able to get it down (and, perhaps more importantly, back up) the stairs? Did two people have to pick the thing up and carry it? How fast were you able to move while dragging it? We Gary-deprived OD&D gamers need to know!


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## Piratecat

Rel said:
			
		

> Me:  "Hey Cleric, can I get some healing?"
> Henry:  "I'm saving it for a desperate situation."
> Me:  "Like what?"
> Henry:  "Like if I get hurt."



Incidentally, fate struck him down for his brashness. He had two healing spells, each of which cured 1d6+1. He used both on himself.

Spell 1? He rolled a 1.
Spell 2? He rolled a 1!

So two spells cured only 4 hp, which isn't much when you kick open a door and find yourself staring at a whole lot of crossbows...


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## Rel

Piratecat said:
			
		

> Incidentally, fate struck him down for his brashness. He had two healing spells, each of which cured 1d6+1. He used both on himself.
> 
> Spell 1? He rolled a 1.
> Spell 2? He rolled a 1!
> 
> So two spells cured only 4 hp, which isn't much when you kick open a door and find yourself staring at a whole lot of crossbows...




See, clearly me geeking out about sitting next to Gary was throwing me off my game.  Cuz if I'd been ON my game then I would have said, "Henry, St. Cutbert called and he said to tell you 'PWND!"


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## Olgar Shiverstone

I am so jealous ... where's that EN World mod application again?

Actually, I'm doubly jealous, not knowing that Gary would be there signing stuff.  My 1974 Vol I OD&D rulebook is autographed by Dave Arneson, and I want to get Gary's signature on it, too.  Had I know he was scheduled, I would have sent it on with an EN Worlder.


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## Princesskeyblade

Everytime you tell that story I laugh louder.....


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## shilsen

Rel said:
			
		

> So anyway, we explore and listen at doors and I go through one and fall down a 10 foot pit.  And something inside me says, "Oh.  My.  God.  You've just fallen down Gary Gygax's 10' PIT!!  You've been dreaming about this since you were 11 years old!!"  (I'll thank the cads among you to not ruin my sense of wonder with your filthy double entendres, no matter how easy a target I've made of myself.)




All right. I promise never to mock you for falling down Gary Gygax's 10' pit. However...



> After that we are using Piratecat's 10' pole to prod the floor more carefully.




...can I now mock Piratecat for searching for Gary Gygax's 10' pit by poking things with his 10' pole?

P.S. No damn poxy elf has a 10' pole!


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## blargney the second

That's totally brilliant.  What a great read.


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## DM-Rocco

Rel said:
			
		

> I know that a great many of you have heard me talk about this and I grew very nearly tired of retelling it upon request at GenCon.  But der_kluge asked and so I figure I'll type it out once and for all rather than continue to repeat it when asked.  Below is the entire (long) story.  I note that this is told from my viewpoint only and so of course my focus will be my part in it (plus, I'm a glory hog like that).
> 
> So first up we mostly have Henry to thank for this experience.  He approached Gary many months ago about the possibility of running a game for the ENW mods at GenCon and Gary was nice enough to agree.  We've all been stoked about it ever since but felt that it would be best to keep quiet about it.  I could no longer contain myself when I got to GenCon on Wednesday though and when a few folks asked where we were headed I told them, "I'm not at liberty to say but suffice it to say that the game is going to be run by somebody whose name rhymes with 'Mary Myrax'."  That got some raised eyebrows.
> 
> We start to head over to the Hyatt from the Embassy and we pass diaglo on the way.  Piratecat, a far more heartless bastard than anybody ever gives him credit for, says, "Hey David!  Guess where we're going!"  You should have seen the look on diaglo's face when he finds out that EGG is about to run a game of OD&D 1974 and he's not in on it.  Afterwards somebody said, "Rel didn't have the balls to tell him."  Not true.  I didn't have the HEART to tell him.  That's why I keep the heartless Piratecat around.
> 
> Anyway, so we go to the Hyatt and I pop over to the desk so we can call up to Gary's room and tell him that we're there.  The clerk behind the desk checks and...Gary's not checked in yet!  So I try to retain my composure and ask can we leave him a message and she says sure.  I ask for the message to read, "EN Mods waiting..." with my phone number added.  Then the woman says, "So, 'Eee En Mods', is that your...'character'?"  I'm thinking, "I don't USUALLY hit pregnant women but..."
> 
> Anyway, we're all CERTAIN at this point that the game will be cancelled.  Gary must have had some kind of delay and it's just not going to happen.  We all immediately begin ripping Piratecat for gloating to diaglo before the chickens were hatched as it were.  But just then, in walks Gary.  He's sorry that he got delayed and invites us up to begin immediately.
> 
> So we get down to gaming and we've got Henry the Cleric, Hypersmurf the Fighting Man, el-remmen the Magic User, Piratecat the Elf, I'm playing a Dwarf and I think that Eridanis was playing another Fighting Man but I'm not 100% sure.  We rolled 3d6 but, in a move that would have HORRIFIED diaglo, Gary let us arrange them as we liked.  It mattered little for me because my rolls SUCKED.  I had one 14 and one 11.  The rest were all under 10.  My Dex was 6!  I distinctly recall that all hit points were 1d6 per level (with our characters being 2nd level) and that Hypersmurf rolled a pair of 2's leaving his Fighting Man with half as many hit points as el-remmen's Magic User.
> 
> Gary was very easygoing about us buying equipment so my Dwarf had Plate Mail, a shield, an axe, 50 feet of rope and, of course, a flask of oil.  Piratecat had a mule.
> 
> Gary doesn't mess around with a bunch of "You all meet in a tavern" crap.  We walk right up to the ruin of the castle and there are dungeon entrances at each corner and one in the middle.  There is a guy outside selling "Dungeon Carts".  "For what?" we ask.  "To put your loot in."  "I'll take one!" says I (being optimistic).  Piratecat declines a Dungeon Cart.  He has a mule.  We roll randomly and enter from the northwest corner.
> 
> So we enter the dungeon and the hilarity begins IMMEDIATELY.  Henry (God bless im'!) has taken the liberty of buying a pad of graph paper and is going to map for us.  He draws a little staircase in the center of the page.  Gary leans over and says, "You're entering in the Northwest corner.  You might want to start mapping in the northwest corner of the page.  Henry erases his little staircase and redraws it in the northwest corner of the sheet of paper.
> 
> "You descend the stairs and come to a corridor.  It leads 30 feet west."  So right away we go off the first sheet of graph paper and Henry pulls off another one and keeps mapping.
> 
> "The passageway hits a T intersection and you can see north and south about 30 feet."  We peer off the top edge of the second sheet of graph paper and Henry maps us onto our third sheet in the first minute and a half of the adventure.  Hilarious.
> 
> So anyway, we explore and listen at doors and I go through one and fall down a 10 foot pit.  And something inside me says, "Oh.  My.  God.  You've just fallen down Gary Gygax's 10' PIT!!  You've been dreaming about this since you were 11 years old!!"  (I'll thank the cads among you to not ruin my sense of wonder with your filthy double entendres, no matter how easy a target I've made of myself.)  After that we are using Piratecat's 10' pole to prod the floor more carefully.
> 
> After a number of twists, turns, empty rooms and "doors that open easily", we find a beetle.  Woot!  We kill it and take its stuff!
> 
> We later find a Gnoll that we tried to charm and take its stuff but if made the save and ran away.  We chased it into a room full of bandits with crossbows.  They shoot me.  I have 3 hit points.
> 
> Me:  "Hey Cleric, can I get some healing?"
> Henry:  "I'm saving it for a desperate situation."
> Me:  "Like what?"
> Henry:  "Like if I get hurt."
> 
> With friends like these...
> 
> So anyway, we managed to fight and defeat the bandits with crossbows thanks to brash heroism and a rather considerable amount of Sleep Spell/throat slitting combo from the Magic User.  It occurs to me as I type this that overuse of this tactic might be the whole reason the Paladin was even invented.  Anyhow, we kill them and take their stuff.  And we also killed the Gnoll and took his stuff.
> 
> (A note about the taking of the stuff:  When I go on vacation, I like to take it easy.  And part of taking it easy means not doing any more math than is strictly necessary.  So I was extremely greatful for Piratecat handling the treasure tracking wherein he would routinely simplify things for me by saying, "Let's see, 80 Gold Pieces so that's 10 gold each for the five of you.  Let's move on."  Elves rock.)
> 
> So as the dust settles from the fight with the bandits, we become aware of a horrible noise by virtue of Gary saying, "You hear a horrible noise..."  But this was no ordinary horrible noise.  It was coming from Piratecat's mule (remember, he bought a mule).  And this horrible noise was understandable given that "...it appears that your mule is being eaten by something LARGE and GELATINOUS."
> 
> In this moment, I look across the table at Piratecat and our faces are bathed in the PURE JOY that can only come from Gary Gygax attacking with a Gelatinous Cube.  I think my joy might have been very slightly more pure because it was Piratecat's mule.  This theory is supported by Piratecat snapping out of his joyous face bath and saying, "Quick!  Save the mule!!"
> 
> I asked Gary if there is any clearance above the Cube and he said that there was about 2 feet between it and the ceiling of the dungeon.  So I said, "I want to light my flask of oil (remember, I bought a flask of oil) and throw it so that it breaks on the ceiling ABOVE the Cube and rains fire down on top of it."  Gary looks at my character sheet.  He looks at my 6 Dex.  He looks me in the eye.  "Well you can try but you're going to have to hit AC 2."
> 
> NATURAL.  20.  BABY.
> 
> It's as though we are the U.S. Olympic D&D team and we've just beaten the French for the Gold Medal.  We're jumping out of our seats.  We're high fiving.  People are taking pictures of my d20.  I'm grinning like an IDIOT.  An idiot who JUST KILLED GARY GYGAX'S GELATINOUS CUBE!!
> 
> The mule didn't make it.
> 
> We finally calm down and get on with the exploration that takes us east and south and then west (we went west because Henry prayed for guidance from St. Cuthbert and he said, "Go West young man!").  We turned some skeletons, went down some stairs and found a dead end.  We camped.
> 
> While camped we were encountered by wandering orcs who did NOT attack us and the skeletons from upstairs who DID attack us.  We killed the skeletons.
> 
> And we took their stuff.
> 
> Then, with our mule dead, our Dungeon Cart nearly full and with Wednesday night wearing on, we retreated from the dungeon with much treasure and no fatalities (apart from the mule and I'll tell you straight out that I'd have traded three of those Poxy Elves to have that faithful mule back).  In the capper for the evening, for the first time EVER in a Con game, I got XP.  In fact, thanks to me accidentally taking a shield off the bandits that turned out to be magical, I got more XP than anybody in the party!  Woot!
> 
> We had our picture taken with Gary, he signed our character sheets and books in some cases.  Then was when we found out that that night was HIS 20TH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY.  Gary was playing D&D with a bunch of geeks in his hotel room on his 20th wedding anniversary!!  And she was right there the WHOLE TIME and was the most gracious, charming and delightful woman that you could ever hope to meet.  Unbelievable.
> 
> At the very end, Hypersmurf gave him a copy of the Empire game, from (I believe) the Greyhawk novels, that he had had manufactured, with acrylic tile playing pieces and a nice wooden box to keep it in.  It seemed to be very well received and I thank Hyp for offering up a gift that shows the kind of gratitude I feel toward Mr. Gygax for giving me a memory that I will cherish forever.
> 
> Thank you, Gary, from the bottom of my heart.  And thank you also to the other Mods who played.  It is an honor and priveledge to call you fellow mods and friends.  Except Piratecat who tried to screw us out of the treasure.*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *He couldn't help it though.  He was playing a Poxy Elf!



I really was dreading reading this, but after I did, i couldn't stop smiling and laughing.  Good stuff.


----------



## Deuce Traveler

Herobizkit said:
			
		

> Pardon my ignorance, but what's a "Poxy" Elf?




It's a half drow, half duegar.  Just kidding.


----------



## psijack

Rel said:
			
		

> Me:  "Hey Cleric, can I get some healing?"
> Henry:  "I'm saving it for a desperate situation."
> Me:  "Like what?"
> Henry:  "Like if I get hurt."
> 
> With friends like these...



I think I've found my Sig!


----------



## mattcolville

A+++ Would buy from this seller again!


----------



## WSmith

I am so jealous that my skin has turned green! Piratecat, what's the ante on this game for next year? I will pay triple.


----------



## rossik

Rel said:
			
		

> I know that a great many of you have heard me talk about this .....





man...that was a great history....

maybe one day u can post a pic, right?


----------



## Oryan77

Rel said:
			
		

> Gary was playing D&D with a bunch of geeks in his hotel room on his 20th wedding anniversary!!



When people talk about roleplaying on their anniversary, I didn't think they actually meant playing D&D


----------



## MerricB

Brilliant!

Yeah, Gary's mentioned that original d20 before. It apparently is really good at killing PCs and making saves for monsters. 

Oh, if only I could visit the states one time...

Cheers!


----------



## Particle_Man

That's awesome!

I would feel jealous, but I think that all of my jealousy is being absorbed by Diaglo in some sort of weird black hole effect, so I am just left for happiness at your good fortune.


----------



## NCSUCodeMonkey

Awesome!


----------



## Olaf the Stout

I think my favourite part was when Piratecat spilled the beans to diaglo.  I could just see the look on his face now.  Of course, I couldn't have been that heartless and I would have taken him along with me.  Still it did make for a funny story.

As for double entendres, I found the bit about Piratecat prodding the floor with his 10 foot pole to be the second funniest part of the thread!

A great story Rel.  It had a lot of LOL moments for me.    

Olaf the Stout


----------



## Fenris

You know, if you had raffled off, or put up for bid a single spot at that table, you could have probably covered Morrus' server bills for several months


----------



## Glyfair

BTW, this thread has caused Erik Mona to post his GenCon experience with Gary on his blog.

(Nothing he hasn't already posted on this thread).


----------



## wedgeski

Ah, jealousy, thou art a fickle mistress. 

What can I say? I would wager that very few memories of my own will ever remain as vivid as that one will for you. Nice one guys, and nice one EGG.


----------



## RabidBob

Piratecat said:
			
		

> And it turned out that Gary was running us through the first dungeon he ever created. And using his original d20 to do it.




Ok, just one question.  Where on earth did you get d20ies in 1838 when he wrote the rules??


----------



## rossik

Glyfair said:
			
		

> BTW, this thread has caused Erik Mona to post his GenCon experience with Gary on his blog.
> 
> (Nothing he hasn't already posted on this thread).





LOL...very funny stuff in there, like this:

The best moment by far was, an hour into this parade of happiness and humility, a guy comes up and looks over our Planet Stories line. "Would you like to have a book autographed by Mr. Gygax?" I asked.

The guy looks at the book, looks at Gary blankly, and says "I'm not familiar with your work. I'll have to look it up."

Gary crumples his face a little bit and, with a gruff chuckle, says "Try DUNGEONS & DRAGONS!" 


very good blog entry


----------



## JediSoth

Awesome story, Rel.

I finally managed to meet Gary this year and found him to be very gracious as he was signing my copy of D3: Vault of the Drow (I later got it signed by cover artist, Erol Otus, too...who though the interior signature of Gary Gygax was ultra-cool).

I was lame, though. I couldn't think of anything cool to say to him while I was standing there. I told him I hoped he had time to game at the con this year and he said he got to play a bit Wednesday night...your game, obviously.

JediSoth


----------



## Bretbo

This thread had me at "An idiot who JUST KILLED GARY GYGAX'S GELATINOUS CUBE!!"


----------



## green slime

green.

The colour of the day, apparently.

A pox upon you all, not just those hideous elvish types.


----------



## grodog

Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to see Gary except in passing at dinner at the Ram on Thursday night, and another afternoon on his way down the street.  And I didn't see Erik either :-(



			
				T. Foster said:
			
		

> OK, enough mushy stuff -- let's get down to serious business:




LOL!   Well-said, Trent!  Similarly, scans of the maps would be nice, too, Henry!


----------



## grodog

MerricB said:
			
		

> Oh, if only I could visit the states one time...




Come next year, Merric---I'd be happy to split a room with you


----------



## Horacio

Wow, that was wonderful. You're lucky, guys, really lucky!


----------



## Piratecat

Photos exist - both of us at the game, and of the maps! Hopefully the mods will post 'em.


----------



## paradox42

I got lucky and met Gary at the Troll Lord booth on Thursday myself; unfortunately I didn't have anything with me for signing so I bought a copy of the Cosmos Builder on the spot and requested an autograph. He was gracious enough to give one, even though he took pains to point out that Richard Balsley wrote it, not him. It was a great honor to meet him of course, but I didn't want to monopolize his time with my stories so I just thanked him for what he did for the hobby, wished him improved health in the future, and then went on my way. Delaying slightly around the booth before I did go, but who could blame me?

I didn't take a photo unfortunately; it seemed somehow intrusive to do so- so I held back.

Running through the *original* dungeon with him using the *original* d20 and getting to kill *the* Gelatinous Cube must have been sheer magic. Congratulations all you mods. 



Spoiler



The period is there instead of an exclamation because I am, in fact, jealous.


----------



## Quartz

You, sir, are an utterly jammy g*t! 

I'm glad you all enjoyed yourselves.


----------



## Eridanis

Piratecat said:
			
		

> Photos exist - both of us at the game, and of the maps! Hopefully the mods will post 'em.



Sitting on my camera at home. I'll make sure to post the one of Gary's dice! El-remmen has the group shot of us together.

This may sound like hyperbole, but as I mentioned before, this was really one of the highlights in my life. Not just playing with the Colonel - which was fantastic, after all these years playing the hobby he helped create! - but being around a table with these guys to do it was what made it really special. If Russ and Al hadn't missed their flight, we would have had players from three continents around the table, playing D&D with the father of the game. To me, that's what ENworld, GenCon, and RPGs are all about. Things don't get cooler than that.

Unless you're Mrs. Gygax, who let her husband do this ON THEIR 20th ANNIVERSARY! She gets big props and thanks from us.

BTW, Rel's AWESOME natural 20 was paid for by all the 1s we rolled for damage during the rest of the game. Its wasn't just Henry's poor healing rolls; I probably did a total of about 10 points of damage with my Fighting Man...


----------



## T. Foster

Eridanis said:
			
		

> Unless you're Mrs. Gygax, who let her husband do this ON THEIR 20th ANNIVERSARY! She gets big props and thanks from us.



Not to take anything away from Mrs. Gygax (whom I've never met but have never heard a single bad thing about, and whom I'm sure has the patience and forebearance of a saint) but she had to realize what she was getting herself into by: 1) marrying Gary Gygax, and 2) doing so in mid-August. I mean, their wedding itself must have occured either right before or right after GenCon 20!


----------



## Rel

T. Foster said:
			
		

> Not to take anything away from Mrs. Gygax (whom I've never met but have never heard a single bad thing about, and whom I'm sure has the patience and forebearance of a saint) but she had to realize what she was getting herself into by: 1) marrying Gary Gygax, and 2) doing so in mid-August. I mean, their wedding itself must have occured either right before or right after GenCon 20!




This was sort of my stance as well.  I mean if you're already making the concession that you're letting your husband go to GenCon (when he's like, ya know, the FATHER of the game) then you're pretty much aware that the weekend won't be ALL about your wedding anniversary.  Nonetheless, she was incredibly kind and gracious to us that evening and I think that speaks volumes about what a wonderful woman she must be.

Way ta go, GARY!


----------



## rossik

Rel said:
			
		

> I killed Gary Gygax's Gelatinous Cube and all I got was some slimy mule bones.




one of the best signatures, ever!


----------



## Scribble

I have one question...

Did he roll dice to determine his reaction upon meeting you, like he did in Futurama?


----------



## el-remmen

I've noticed that Rel has failed to give me credit for all the brilliant stuff that happened in the game, which was how he spent the whole session, failing to give my brilliant magic-user, Eustace the Moderately Charming, his proper credit.

For example, at one point, I grabbed the cart (was the unconscious elf on it at the time? I do not recall) and use it to slam open door after door in an attempt to draw more wandering monsters and other encounters in our direction!

It was a great time, and I am really glad I got a chance to enjoy a game of the good ole OD&D with that carful of clowns that I love, known as the EN Mods.


Pics to come later. . .


----------



## Piratecat

el-remmen said:
			
		

> For example, at one point, I grabbed the cart (was the unconscious elf on it at the time? I do not recall) and use it to slam open door after door in an attempt to draw more wandering monsters and other encounters in our direction!



Yes, damn your oily hide. Yes, I was. At 0 hit points, too.

Stupid cart. Why didn't the gelatinous cube eat THAT?


----------



## Gilladian

Piratecat said:
			
		

> Poxy: worthless and contemptible; very distasteful. From chickenpox or smallpox.
> 
> But in truth, it's just trying to live up to the example set by Ycorl Rixie and Gleep Wurp the Eyebiter.




I don't think that's the kind of pox they're referring to. Syphillus was often referred to as "pox" in earlier times.


----------



## Rel

el-remmen said:
			
		

> For example, at one point, I grabbed the cart (was the unconscious elf on it at the time? I do not recall) and use it to slam open door after door in an attempt to draw more wandering monsters and other encounters in our direction!




Ok this is actually a massive oversight on my point.  I apologize unreservedly.


----------



## rossik

the best part is the one when the mule dies.....laugh so much, all people in my work was looking at me


----------



## TarionzCousin

"The mule didn't make it."

Hilarious. Thank you so much for posting this. +1 rep.


----------



## (contact)

Gilladian said:
			
		

> I don't think that's the kind of pox they're referring to. Syphillus was often referred to as "pox" in earlier times.




Ah, the "elven pox."  Yes, we've heard the rumors of a _cure disease_ resistant strain.

Great story, Rel-- thanks for posting.


----------



## haakon1

RabidBob said:
			
		

> Ok, just one question.  Where on earth did you get d20ies in 1838 when he wrote the rules??




Platonic solids have been around since Greek times.  Since you're in London, go check out the Imperial Science Museum (or whatever it's called) south of Hyde Park.  I saw some there from like 1838 or 1738!

I bet Gary got some of those and painted numbers on.


----------



## Philotomy Jurament

When I started playing, it was with the Holmes set during the dice shortage (I had the chits -- ha ha).  My dad ended up *making* dice out of matte board.  They were somewhat larger than normal dice, but they worked great.


----------



## Rel

Philotomy Jurament said:
			
		

> When I started playing, it was with the Holmes set during the dice shortage (I had the chits -- ha ha).  My dad ended up *making* dice out of matte board.  They were somewhat larger than normal dice, but they worked great.




Awesome.

I might have to start doing a Foxworthyesque comedy routine at GenCon:

"If you've ever MADE your own dice rather than not game...You might be a D&D geek."

"If you've ever high fived anybody because you killed Gary Gygax's Gelatinous Cube with a Natural 20...You might be a D&D geek."


----------



## Deuce Traveler

Philotomy Jurament said:
			
		

> When I started playing, it was with the Holmes set during the dice shortage (I had the chits -- ha ha).  My dad ended up *making* dice out of matte board.  They were somewhat larger than normal dice, but they worked great.




I like this story.


----------



## el-remmen

Rel said:
			
		

> Ok this is actually a massive oversight on my point.  I apologize unreservedly.




Bah! I was more hoping you'd challenge me!

You're as wimpy as the dwarf you played!


----------



## Rel

el-remmen said:
			
		

> Bah! I was more hoping you'd challenge me!
> 
> You're as wimpy as the dwarf you played!




It's fixin' to be ON!


----------



## Quartz

Hey Rel, I think it's worth posting your story in the other place we both (unless I'm very much mistaken) frequent.


----------



## Rel

Quartz said:
			
		

> Hey Rel, I think it's worth posting your story in the other place we both (unless I'm very much mistaken) frequent.




You mean Circvs Maximvs?  Cuz if you mean someplace else (aside from the Red Garter), I don't frequent it.


----------



## Quartz

Rel said:
			
		

> You mean Circvs Maximvs?  Cuz if you mean someplace else (aside from the Red Garter), I don't frequent it.




The SDMB.


----------



## Thunderfoot

To Rel, PC and the rest of the mods....I hate you more than words can ever tell. (just kiddin')
Of course, that does explain your particularly good moods this year.  As for his anniversary, I can add an addendum to this story.

He took his blushing bride of 20 years out on Thursday night to the Ram, along with a group of friends and family, I know, because I was there, he sat at the booth over my left shoulder.  I didn't approach or say hi, because, frankly, I hate fan-boys that interrupt someone's normal life.  Unfortunately they were leaving, otherwise I was going to buy him a drink and not allow the waitress to let him know from whom it came. 

He did have to deal with a few fan-boys and though he was gracious, I was still somewhat annoyed at their behavior.   On a more cheery note, I got to die along with Gary at Hickman's Killer Breakfast on Saturday morning...he tried to save himself by burrowing underground, it didn't work.  Also killed at that game, Margret Weis, Laura Hickman, Ed Greenwood, three Dead Gentleman and the voice of Tasslehoff Burfoot from the forthcoming _Dragonlance_ cartoon.  So while you may have played with him, I was killed with him (along with 700 other people.)


----------



## Torm

I am envious of all of the mods in the extreme. I tried to talk Henry into weaseling me into a temporary moderatorship just so I could go (knowing, of course, that I would fail). However, Mark (the guy who rode up from South Carolina with Henry) just brought me back the coolest thing next to actually playing in the game described:

Henry took my leather bound 3.5 PHB, DMG, and MM with him to the con, and they are now signed by Gary himself!    

Thanks for the write-up, Rel. I haven't had a chance to talk to Henry since they got back, and it is cool to have your story as added context for my new bragging rights.


----------



## Umbran

Torm said:
			
		

> I am envious of all of the mods in the extreme.




Don't be envious of _all_ of us.  Some few, we happy few, were riding herd on a message board blowing up with 4e announcement drek while these guys were having their little party


----------



## Hussar

Rel said:
			
		

> Awesome.
> 
> I might have to start doing a Foxworthyesque comedy routine at GenCon:
> 
> "If you've ever MADE your own dice rather than not game...You might be a D&D geek."
> 
> "If you've ever high fived anybody because you killed Gary Gygax's Gelatinous Cube with a Natural 20...You might be a D&D geek."





_might_??  

Great story.  Sooooo jealous.


----------



## Nyaricus

Rel, mods, great story. Relish the moments you had there 

cheers,
--N


----------



## Slife

haakon1 said:
			
		

> Platonic solids have been around since Greek times.  Since you're in London, go check out the Imperial Science Museum (or whatever it's called) south of Hyde Park.  I saw some there from like 1838 or 1738!
> 
> I bet Gary got some of those and painted numbers on.



You have it all wrong.  The paint Gary used just wasn't made to last.  Those are the prototypes.


----------



## Hypersmurf

Scribble said:
			
		

> I have one question...
> 
> Did he roll dice to determine his reaction upon meeting you, like he did in Futurama?




No... but at one point, we opened the door on an empty 20x20 room...

Piratecat: "You'd think the guys who built this place could have hired some minions to build some furniture!"
Col Pladoh: "Well, I have a table with 500 random items of furniture on it, but I didn't bring it with me."
White-faced Piratecat: "Oh, n... n-no... n-n-no... I wasn't criticizing...!"

-Hyp.


----------



## Mycanid

JediSoth said:
			
		

> Awesome story, Rel.
> 
> I finally managed to meet Gary this year and found him to be very gracious as he was signing my copy of D3: Vault of the Drow (*I later got it signed by cover artist, Erol Otus, too*...who though the interior signature of Gary Gygax was ultra-cool).
> 
> I was lame, though. I couldn't think of anything cool to say to him while I was standing there. I told him I hoped he had time to game at the con this year and he said he got to play a bit Wednesday night...your game, obviously.
> 
> JediSoth




NOW I am jealous ... Erol Otus was there too? Man ... I missed out.


----------



## Mycanid

Piratecat said:
			
		

> Yes, damn your oily hide. Yes, I was. At 0 hit points, too.
> 
> Stupid cart. Why didn't the gelatinous cube eat THAT?




Bahahahaha!!!!

ROFL!!!


----------



## Mycanid

Rel said:
			
		

> Awesome.
> 
> I might have to start doing a Foxworthyesque comedy routine at GenCon:
> 
> "I*f you've ever MADE your own dice rather than not game*...You might be a D&D geek."...




OMG ... I AM a total D&D geek ....


----------



## Agamon

Wow.  Color me green.  That must have truly ruled.  Great story, Rel!


----------



## diaglo

el-remmen said:
			
		

> Bah! I was more hoping you'd challenge me!
> 
> You're as wimpy as the dwarf you played!




0 hps = dead mang.

you, sir, are dead to me.


----------



## Rel

Quartz said:
			
		

> The SDMB.




Ah.  Nope.  I used to lurk there but I'm not a poster there and never have been.  Feel free to link this thread there or copy it there if you like.  Let me know if you do, I'd love to get to see the reactions of the folks there.


----------



## el-remmen

diaglo said:
			
		

> 0 hps = dead mang.
> 
> you, sir, are dead to me.





Uh oh!

Looks like Gary wasn't playing "the one true game" b/c he let us live into a negative hit points equal to our level.  In this case -2.


----------



## Rel

diaglo said:
			
		

> 0 hps = dead mang.
> 
> you, sir, are dead to me.




The Un-houseruled OD&D players are extinct. Their fire has gone out of the universe. You, my friend, are all that remains of their religion.


----------



## JoeBlank

diaglo said:
			
		

> 0 hps = dead mang.
> 
> you, sir, are dead to me.




Don't let him fool you. diaglo lets us go to -hp in his OD&D game.

So there, diaglo. Now we are even for what you did to my dice bag!


----------



## Henry

A few quotes from that illustrious game that I wrote on the back of my (now-unpacked) character sheet:

*"So far, our spellcasting has been as selfish as it is ineffectual."*
_-Rel, on seeing my cure spells and el-remmen's failed Charm Person on "his future gnoll slave."_

Gary:*"...something gelatinous surrounding the mule..."*
Rel and PCat simultaneously:*"YES!"*

(sound of a breaking door) *"FEAR THE WIZARD!"*
-el-remmen and his dungeon cart

El-remmen:* "Stairs? Is there a wheelchair ramp for the cart?"*
Rel: *"This dungeon is not OSHA-compliant."
*

Hypersmurf has the infamous "northwest" map, and due to a luggage problem, it may not have made it back home yet. 


			
				Gentlegamer said:
			
		

> As I read, I kept waiting for the kobolds to appear and slaughter the party.



By the way, a recent note from Gary:



			
				Gary Gygax said:
			
		

> ...and you did well, missing the Old Guard Kobolds by only some 70 feet to passageway when you were exploring southwards, (If only you had continues south instead of heading east, heh-heh-heh....)


----------



## sniffles

Didn't anyone have Gary bless their d20, or rub their dice against his for luck?


----------



## (contact)

sniffles said:
			
		

> Didn't anyone have Gary bless their d20, or rub their dice against his for luck?




You know, his wife was in the room.


----------



## grodog

grodog said:
			
		

> Similarly, scans of the maps would be nice, too, Henry!




Henry, did you miss this before?


----------



## diaglo

grodog said:
			
		

> Henry, did you miss this before?



Hyp has the map i think Henry said.


----------



## Riggs

Legolasgimli24 said:
			
		

> Everytime you tell that story I laugh louder.....




_EVERY_ time?  I hope this is sarcastic!  

On a funny note, one guy on my team at work I told this to was pretty geeked out by association and was ready to spring it on his gaming buddies today at lunch--but they all had already read about it _and could cite details from it_, such as "...rolled a nat 20 on the greek fire to kill the cube" and one corrected "It was a flask of oil!"  

Nice work, Qdoba boys...


----------



## Henry

Riggs said:
			
		

> ..._and could cite details from it_, such as "...rolled a nat 20 on the greek fire to kill the cube" and one corrected "It was a flask of oil!"




God, what a bunch of geeks! Just because someone gets to game with Gary Gygax..

_*squeal*_

is no reason to get all crazy about it.


----------



## Riggs

I was describing the super-excited state you all must have been in to my team by using the Wendy's commercial about bacon.  The one where all the Beatles/Elvis-type groupies are screaming but with guy faces superimposed....that was you guys, right?


----------



## Rel

Riggs said:
			
		

> _EVERY_ time?  I hope this is sarcastic!
> 
> On a funny note, one guy on my team at work I told this to was pretty geeked out by association and was ready to spring it on his gaming buddies today at lunch--but they all had already read about it _and could cite details from it_, such as "...rolled a nat 20 on the greek fire to kill the cube" and one corrected "It was a flask of oil!"
> 
> Nice work, Qdoba boys...




I'm FAMOUS(er)!!


----------



## Umbran

Riggs said:
			
		

> _EVERY_ time?  I hope this is sarcastic!




Yes, every time.  In very small increments, of course.  But eventually, if the story is told enough, the planet will be shattered by the sonic stresses.  If the story is then told once more  beyond that, the Sun goes nova...


----------



## Riggs

Umbran said:
			
		

> Yes, every time.  In very small increments, of course.  But eventually, if the story is told enough, the planet will be shattered by the sonic stresses.  If the story is then told once more  beyond that, the Sun goes nova...





But I live around Rel, so every time could mean a helluva lot!


----------



## el-remmen

Here are the photos:






This is the group photo after the game. From left to right: Eridanis, Rel, the notorious El-Remmen, Henry, Piratecat, and Hypnosmurf.

Eridanis' daughter (Kate?) and the honorable E. Gary Gygax are in the front row.





Henry working very diligently (if inaccurately) on the map. 





Rel's cube-killing natural 20!


----------



## Rel

Tolja I was grinning!

In retrospect it's probably a good thing that I was wearing my traditional "First Night of GenCon" Rel shirt instead of the...slightly less grandma friendly one that has my CM avatar on it.


----------



## blargney the second

That's a proud poppa.  And a lovely looking baby natural 20 it is!


----------



## rossik

more!!!!

scan the maps!
scan the sheets!
scan the dices!!!



hey, hypersmurf have a hypersmurf statue of wonder?


----------



## Breakdaddy

I was working the Troll Lord booth so was fortunate enough to have gotten to hang out with Gary a bit after the convention hall was closed. He is a great guy. Alas, I did not get to game with him, so you few are lucky indeed to have been able to roll dice with him.


----------



## grodog

diaglo said:
			
		

> Hyp has the map i think Henry said.




Ah, I missed that first time around, thanks diaglo.  I would very much like to have met you at the show, but the timing just didn't work out this year :-(


----------



## Hypersmurf

diaglo said:
			
		

> Hyp has the map i think Henry said.




My last call to the Delayed Luggage Automated Response line told me "We have found an item similar to yours; please call back later to see if we've made a positive identification."

So with luck, before long, I _will_ have the map.

-Hyp.


----------



## diaglo

grodog said:
			
		

> Ah, I missed that first time around, thanks diaglo.  I would very much like to have met you at the show, but the timing just didn't work out this year :-(



ditto.

i was the geek in t-shirt, shorts, sandals, socks, and a hat of d02.


----------



## Henry

diaglo said:
			
		

> ditto.
> 
> i was the geek in t-shirt, shorts, sandals, socks, and a hat of d02.




My first meeting with Diaglo was at this Gencon. I can say with all candor that his hat of d02 is truly unsurpassed, and he lived up to the legacy of killer DM's everywhere. 

In truth, like Crothian, I gained a resurgence of respect for the old Original D&D, thanks to Diaglo and Col_Pladoh. I may well start using it instead of Castles and Crusades for any quick pickup games that I am called upon. People say you can't run D&D without a lot of prep time - I call shenanigans.


----------



## T. Foster

Henry said:
			
		

> My first meeting with Diaglo was at this Gencon. I can say with all candor that his hat of d02 is truly unsurpassed, and he lived up to the legacy of killer DM's everywhere.
> 
> In truth, like Crothian, I gained a resurgence of respect for the old Original D&D, thanks to Diaglo and Col_Pladoh. I may well start using it instead of Castles and Crusades for any quick pickup games that I am called upon. People say you can't run D&D without a lot of prep time - I call shenanigans.



 That's the spirit! Two down -- who's next?


----------



## KidCthulhu

Dinkeldog said:
			
		

> Yeah, but I could marry her, and she could still date.




I can't decide if I'm irritated that I'm being traded off, or flattered that you're both interested.  

Think I'll go for the flattered.  PC used to keep a list of the people who wanted dibs after he died, but it got kind of disturbing, and made him paranoid and afraid to stand on street corners and train platforms.

I'm really jealous, and this sounds like a ton of fun.  "I got killed by an elf"


----------



## wedgeski

Aw, thanks for the photos guys. Living vicariously is no substitute for being there, but it sure helps...

Now just waiting for the map.


----------



## Rel

KidCthulhu said:
			
		

> I can't decide if I'm irritated that I'm being traded off, or flattered that you're both interested.
> 
> Think I'll go for the flattered.  PC used to keep a list of the people who wanted dibs after he died, but it got kind of disturbing, and made him paranoid and afraid to stand on street corners and train platforms.
> 
> I'm really jealous, and this sounds like a ton of fun.  "I got killed by an elf"




You know, in all honesty, my opinion of Kevin is so high that he's one of the few individuals worthy of having you.


----------



## Eridanis

Rel said:
			
		

> You know, in all honesty, my opinion of Kevin is so high that he's one of the few individuals worthy of having you.



STOP TRYING TO GET INT... oh, sorry; wrong board...

Kate's dice rolling was not at her best, but she enjoyed being there. I made sure she shook Gary's hand; it may or may not mean anything to her ten years down the road, but if she gets into gaming, I'll love her to be able to say she rolled dice and shook hands with him.


----------



## Son_of_Thunder

I think I'll wander over to CM and tell you guys what I really think about you. But for Eric's board I'll say I'm extremely jealous and hope to make it to LGGC once in Gary's lifetime (I'd love to play in his house, ya know).

PS - I would've invited diaglo along, but that's just me.


----------



## Jupp

First I had to blink two times and look at the picture again. Then I just had to laugh out loud when I saw Gary's T-shirt. Cannot be more Swiss than that   

For those in the dark: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Röschti

Who did give Gary that gem of a T-Shirt? I did wear something very similar when I was in Oz on vacations last year


----------



## Col_Pladoh

HOORAY!

At last I have read through all the posts here  

My sincere thanks for the many kind words.

I really wanted to DM more, for the group was playing well and having fun...had not yet encountered my special kobolds either  Worse still, I didn't even have time to allot XPS to the group--a fair amount what with treasure, monsters slain, and spells cast--the cure LWs at only half value, a mere 50 each, of course  

Mules and dungeon carts can carry about the same load--say four cubic feet, around 200 pounds--and are guaranteed to attract monsters and get in the way. I LOVE it when they are used!

I not only house rule negative HPs surviving, and a level 2 PC would only be dead at -3 HPs, but I give special bonuses for 15 or higher stst scores. IIRR I posted those over on the DF board con thread, or on my Q&A. If someone absolutely must know I will post them here as well.

The T-shirt was a persent from Gail when we went to New Glarus to heve some röschti. IMO it should be made with shredded raw potato, a bit of onion, plenty of bacon and Emmenthaler, and topped off with raclette, YUM!

Gail is indeed a saint...to put up with me on a daily basis. (I even call her vile names when she skinks me at cribbage or backgammons me while she is gracious in defeat///most of the time anyway   ) We will have an anniversary dinner and a bottle of Champagne this weekend most likely.

Thanks again,
Gary

P.S. the critic on Erik Mona's blog that suggested I was being egotistical for quipping about my having done the D&D game seems to dforget I was the orincipal Guest of Honor at the con, had my pic and bio at the very front of the program book too, and was the Grand Pooh-bah coming down the red carpet in the opening ceremony don'tcha know


----------



## Rel

Thanks for reading, Gary.  I hope you could tell from what I wrote what a joy and thrill I got from playing in this game.  It's one of those things that I will never forget.  And the chance to lord it over mere "hobbyist gamers" is something I could never fully repay.


----------



## Thunderfoot

[fanboy] Gee, some day I hope I can be like Rel...[/fanboy]


----------



## ghul

sniffles said:
			
		

> Didn't anyone have Gary bless their d20, or rub their dice against his for luck?




Heh heh heh... got a good story for you on that note. At the TLG booth, dude shows up not to get something signed, but to have Gary roll his d20. "Okay," says Gary, and he rolls it.

*result: 2*

"Bahahahah!" Everyone laughs at the poor fellow except for Gary. Dude goes to sulk away, but Gary offers him a re-roll. The guy is beaming with excitement, hands Gary back the die. Gary rolls . . .

*result: 1*

At this point I have no choice but to shout "Fumble!" as everyone watching is laughing even more heartily. Then Gary in his cool-as-ice sort of way says, _"I'd suggest you throw that one away."
_


----------



## Rel

Thunderfoot said:
			
		

> [fanboy] Gee, some day I hope I can be like Rel...[/fanboy]




Yeah.  I get a lot of that.


----------



## diaglo

Col_Pladoh said:
			
		

> I not only house rule negative HPs surviving, and a level 2 PC would only be dead at -3 HPs, but I give special bonuses for 15 or higher stst scores. IIRR I posted those over on the DF board con thread, or on my Q&A. If someone absolutely must know I will post them here as well.



huzzah.

diaglo "i killed more pcs than e.gary gygax" Ooi


----------



## WSmith

Henry said:
			
		

> In truth, like Crothian, I gained a resurgence of respect for the old Original D&D, thanks to Diaglo and Col_Pladoh. I may well start using it instead of Castles and Crusades for any quick pickup games that I am called upon. People say you can't run D&D without a lot of prep time - I call shenanigans.




Shenanigans, indeed. Maybe I should come to GenCon next year and run an OD&D game, just  to win over some more converts.


----------



## Korgoth

Totally awesome.  It sounds like y'all had a blast!

Viva Gygax!


----------



## KidCthulhu

Rel said:
			
		

> Yeah.  I get a lot of that.




Which is all fine and good, Rel.  Until he starts with the stalking, and the plastic surgery and the wife stealing.  And I refuse to let anyone stalk you.  

Er, anyone but _me_, that is.


----------



## Rodrigo Istalindir

Henry said:
			
		

> People say you can't run D&D without a lot of prep time - I call shenanigans.




In Diaglo's game, I died in round 2.  By round 3, I had a new character made.  There's something to be said for that.


----------



## Slife

Rodrigo Istalindir said:
			
		

> In Diaglo's game, I died in round 2.  By round 3, I had a new character made.  There's something to be said for that.



Yeah, I've played with indecisive people like that.


----------



## Doug McCrae

I always imagined Hypersmurf having a tiny body but a massive head, like the Mekon from Dan Dare. I'm saddened to discover that he looks fairly normal.


----------



## Rodrigo Istalindir

Fairly normal?  Ok, by our standards maybe


----------



## Rel

KidCthulhu said:
			
		

> Which is all fine and good, Rel.  Until he starts with the stalking, and the plastic surgery and the wife stealing.  And I refuse to let anyone stalk you.
> 
> Er, anyone but _me_, that is.




Ah, Thunderfoot is good people so it's ok.  Or maybe it's Treebore.  Anyway, one of those guys with a "T" username is good people.  I think.

But I'll always have you at the front of the stalker line, KC.  My wait for my delayed flight at the airport just wasn't the same without you this year.

NC Game Day:  Be there, sweetie.


----------



## Col_Pladoh

As a point of order:

When I am a guest at a convention I am there to entertain people and add to the fun they have at the event. thus, unless the game session is advertised as one where the pbjective is to kill the PCs--and I've done a few of those--I try to keep PCs alive. Of course if a player doesn't want to have his character survive, the natural selection process of the game environment will take over...

Now, when a group is really enjopying themselves, playing well too, then it becomes very enjoyable for me to be the GM, do my best to stretch the players' participatory skills increasingly.

If I do make it back to next year's GenCon I do hope I'll have what amounts to basically the same group of Mods again, so the dungeon crawl can be picked up from the base of those steps that lead down to the 2nd level. If the space and seating accommodations make it possible I'll happily expand the group to eight or nine players too. A noisy dungeon cart adds to the anticipation...

I must note that by next August the initial levels of the _Castle Zagyg_ work will probably be available. The upper levels therein will not be like those I created for my original dungeon--save hopefully in spirit and enjoyment level.

Just a way of saying I had a good time too  

Cheerio,
Gary


----------



## rossik

hey mr gygax, maybe then you could use the kobolds!!!



or you can have a gelatinous cube with mule bones inside!

oh...the cube is dead...


----------



## Col_Pladoh

Ah, the beauty of wandering monsters.

There is an inexhaustable supply of them you see...

Oh yes, please do address me as "Gary," if you will. This is an informal place of exchange of material pertaining to many things, mostly RPGs  

Cheerio,
Gary


----------



## rossik

oh, ok then, gary 

i promise i will stop hitting the same spot, but i was looking for that futurama picture u have, typing gary gygax in google.

found lots of pictures of the real you, but also found this:
http://www.answers.com/topic/gelatinous-cube

so, in a strange way, maybe the mule's destiny to die with a gelatinous cube...  

-and i stop talking about the cube and the mule ................NOW!-


----------



## davethegame

Great story. One thing that hasn't changed in any edition is how much fun it is to roll a natural 20 in a tough situation.

Not to threadjack, but I wanted to share my story about playing with Mr. Gygax (and the title of the thread is Gaming with Gygax, after all!). It was years back at a con near Indianapolis (but not GenCon) that was having its first year. Guests of honor included Gary and my dad. I was living nearby at the time for college, and so my dad called me up and asked if I wanted to come. Partly it was to keep him company, and partly because he remembered years ago at another convention where he casually talked about hanging out with Gary- to which I said "You never told me you were friends with Gary Gygax!" to which my dad responded, "You never asked!"

So anyway, I eagerly agreed to go to the con. On Day 2, there was a panel where the guests were Gary and my dad. And I was the only one who showed up for the panel. I still think that's crazy- the con was just so poorly run, they couldn't get anyone to attend a small panel with Gary Gygax and Jack Chalker! 

But it was lucky for me, because I got to listen in on an hour long talk between the two, telling stories about sneaking into graveyards during science fiction conventions to the real origin of D&D (Gary and his friends were playing a game with a neighbor who had polio when they were kids.)

Right there would have been an awesome story to tell for years to come, but it got better. Gary's son who had accompanied him to the con (whose name I don't remember, sorry!) came to remind him of the game of Lejendary Adventures he was scheduled to run. Gary said, "Well Jack, thanks for entertaining me. How about I entertain your son?"

I probably sat there for a few minutes with my mouth open.

The game had been scheduled in advance, and Gary was gracious enough to add me into what turned out to be an already overbooked game. Unfortunately, because of the sheer number of people, not a whole lot ended up getting done in the adventure, which started out in a very detailed town (mapped out on graph paper... how classic is that?) and eventually moved to some mysterious caves outside of town. We got through one fight in the caves before having to call it quits, but I still had a blast.

One thing that has stuck in my mind was embarrassing myself- I was talking to Gary's son in character, and I said something like "This place is boring, let's kick up some trouble." Gary overheard that and took it as me complaining, and said "Bored, eh? More of a hack and slash guy? We'll get to that." I felt like a huge ass, and tried to say that I wasn't bored with the game, but he already was moving onto other people in the (15 or so member) party.

Anyway, the whole experience other than that one moment was great, and I made sure to derail the next Friday's D&D game for a long time while I told the story, and it remains one of my favorite experiences of all time. About a year later, my father passed away, and I wrote Gary to tell him (finding him through ENWorld, actually). Gary was kind enough to write back with some stories and condolences, which really helped me get through it.

So any stories I hear about Gary running games for people who appreciate it always make me smile.


----------



## Col_Pladoh

The GC is more flat-sided than is shown  

Ciao,
Gary


----------



## Col_Pladoh

Hi Davethegame,

Jack and I went back to the early 1960s when we both were subbers to Ted Paul's SF fanzine, _Kipple._ (Do you like Kippling? Don't know; never tried it.) L. Sprague de Camp also belonged to that company of readers. It was a place of lively exchanges for sure, although not so likely as were some of the _Diplomacy_ zines I subscribed to such as Boardman's _Graustark_ or Walker's _Nehwon._

Anyway, it was a great shock when I learned of your father's death. He and I had had such a fine time discussing many things at that con--the name of which eludes me as well, but I believe it was in Ft. Wayne. I know that you must still miss him very much. His being at the con saved the whole from being a washout,m made it a memorable time for me 

IIRR, Alex did most of the combat sequences in the LA game you participated in, but I took over to bring real action to the conclusion as the party was retreating from the cave entrance and an enraged wild boar of huge size came charging forth along the line of the strung-out adventurer party.

In concluding, the GM for the "realistic" games was James "Slim Jim" Rasch who was recovering from rheumatic fever when he was age 18 and his brother John and I were but 9. It is easy for me to remember his age because I carelessly gave him a sympathy card on his 16th birthday. As Jim was two years younger than my brother Hughie, I can affix both John's and my age at the time as well, for my brother was 9 years older than I.

Cheers,
Gary


----------



## rossik

great story, davethegame...

and a very nice memory to keep,indeed


----------



## davethegame

Thanks Gary for filling in the details. I looked on my shelf and found the program: it was called JanCon, which I kept hearing as GenCon. Not surprisingly, the con seems to have disappeared since... 

Thanks again, and tell Alex I said hello!


----------



## Xyxox

This one goes down as the best number one thread on any message board in internet history.

I've participated in message and bulletin boards for more than two decades and nothing, not a single discussion thread or posting, comes close to this thread.

There should be some eternal flame burning somewhere in this thread, it's that classic about what message board interaction should be about.

Kudoes to the mods who played, to Gary for GMing, and to Diaglo for being a good sport, too!


----------



## Phaedrus

I must echo Xyxox! I'm sitting here reading this on a Friday night with a big grin on my face and my heart full of joy. Thank you, Gary, for this game and to all my fellow gamers for making this such a great hobby.


----------



## Piratecat

Dave, just a brief word of appreciation. Your dad's works have brought me great delight, especially as I was growing up and first discovering science fiction. I can't thank him, so I hope you don't mind being my proxy.



			
				Col_Pladoh said:
			
		

> If I do make it back to next year's GenCon I do hope I'll have what amounts to basically the same group of Mods again, so the dungeon crawl can be picked up from the base of those steps that lead down to the 2nd level. If the space and seating accommodations make it possible I'll happily expand the group to eight or nine players too. A noisy dungeon cart adds to the anticipation...



I'm grinning so widely my face hurts. Thank you!


----------



## Thunderfoot

Rel said:
			
		

> Ah, Thunderfoot is good people so it's ok.  Or maybe it's Treebore.  Anyway, one of those guys with a "T" username is good people.  I think.
> 
> But I'll always have you at the front of the stalker line, KC.  My wait for my delayed flight at the airport just wasn't the same without you this year.
> 
> NC Game Day:  Be there, sweetie.



I think I was complimented...but I am unsure.


----------



## el-remmen

*FEAR THE WIZARD!!!!!!*


. . . and his cart.

You got me excited for next year's GEN CON already!


----------



## TarionzCousin

Umbran said:
			
		

> Don't be envious of _all_ of us.  Some few, we happy few, were riding herd on a message board blowing up with 4e announcement drek while these guys were having their little party



Demand a raise...



			
				Col_Pladoh said:
			
		

> If I do make it back to next year's GenCon I do hope I'll have what amounts to basically the same group of Mods again, so the dungeon crawl can be picked up from the base of those steps that lead down to the 2nd level. If the space and seating accommodations make it possible I'll happily expand the group to eight or nine players too. A noisy dungeon cart adds to the anticipation...



...and a spot in next year's game!

I hope the Dungeon Cart is available in 4E.


----------



## Hypersmurf

Piratecat said:
			
		

> Dave, just a brief word of appreciation. Your dad's works have brought me great delight, especially as I was growing up and first discovering science fiction. I can't thank him, so I hope you don't mind being my proxy.




Ditto - my parents had a lot of Chalker on the shelves when I was a kid, and I still borrow them from time to time.

-Hyp.


----------



## Piratecat

el-remmen said:
			
		

> *FEAR THE WIZARD!!!!!!*
> 
> 
> . . . and his cart.



Err. This time can Sesquip the Poxy, heroic elf, get OUT of the damn cart first, please? 

I want to fight Tucker's Kobolds!


----------



## Rel

Piratecat said:
			
		

> Dave, just a brief word of appreciation. Your dad's works have brought me great delight, especially as I was growing up and first discovering science fiction. I can't thank him, so I hope you don't mind being my proxy.




Ditto to this for me too.  I have this very clear image in my mind about discussing the Soul Rider books with a friend of mine.  Good books and memories.

Thanks for taking the time to read and post in the thread, Gary.  Now that the dust has settled and the loot is tallied, this game stands out as the highlight of my GenCon.  And trust me when I say that I had an AWESOME GenCon.

I'm already starting to fund to go next year!


----------



## el-remmen

Piratecat said:
			
		

> Err. This time can Sesquip the Poxy, heroic elf, get OUT of the damn cart first, please?
> 
> I want to fight Tucker's Kobolds!




Only 'cause you said "please", but I liked the idea of the elf being the hood ornament of the cart (glad I thought to pick one up when the adventure started ).  How about this?  If Sesquip dies you bequeath me his head to use as an ornament on front of the cart and we have ourselves a deal!


----------



## Rel

el-remmen said:
			
		

> Only 'cause you said "please", but I liked the idea of the elf being the hood ornament of the cart (glad I thought to pick one up when the adventure started ).  How about this?  If Sesquip dies you bequeath me his head to use as an ornament on front of the cart and we have ourselves a deal!




Hey!  This is MY dungeon cart you're decorating with elf heads here!  I just let you drive it because...I can't see over the dashboard.  :\ 

Still, having more Elf heads on it will only increase my "Dwarf-cred" back in town so I endorse your plan.


----------



## Col_Pladoh

davethegame said:
			
		

> Thanks Gary for filling in the details. I looked on my shelf and found the program: it was called JanCon, which I kept hearing as GenCon. Not surprisingly, the con seems to have disappeared since...
> 
> Thanks again, and tell Alex I said hello!



You've got it amigo

Cheers,
Gary


----------



## Col_Pladoh

Xyxox said:
			
		

> This one goes down as the best number one thread on any message board in internet history.
> 
> I've participated in message and bulletin boards for more than two decades and nothing, not a single discussion thread or posting, comes close to this thread.
> 
> There should be some eternal flame burning somewhere in this thread, it's that classic about what message board interaction should be about.
> 
> Kudoes to the mods who played, to Gary for GMing, and to Diaglo for being a good sport, too!



ENW Mods...

Take a bow!

 
Gary


----------



## Col_Pladoh

Phaedrus said:
			
		

> I must echo Xyxox! I'm sitting here reading this on a Friday night with a big grin on my face and my heart full of joy. Thank you, Gary, for this game and to all my fellow gamers for making this such a great hobby.



*Gary takes his bow, smiles, exits stage right*

 
Gary


----------



## Piratecat

Rel said:
			
		

> Still, having more Elf heads on it will only increase my "Dwarf-cred" back in town so I endorse your plan.



You both suck. If I wasn't at 0 hit points, I'd kick your butts.


----------



## Col_Pladoh

Piratecat said:
			
		

> Dave, just a brief word of appreciation. Your dad's works have brought me great delight, especially as I was growing up and first discovering science fiction. I can't thank him, so I hope you don't mind being my proxy.
> 
> I'm grinning so widely my face hurts. Thank you!



Jack Chalker was a fine writer and a hale fellow for sure.

As for the grin, isn't that a part of the RPG experience?

 
Gary


----------



## Col_Pladoh

el-remmen said:
			
		

> *FEAR THE WIZARD!!!!!!*
> 
> 
> . . . and his cart.
> 
> You got me excited for next year's GEN CON already!



 

If that doesn't work out there are always the two mini-cons here in Lake Geneva  

Cheerio,
Gary


----------



## Rel

Piratecat said:
			
		

> You both suck. If I wasn't at 0 hit points, I'd kick your butts.




Diaglo called and said to tell you that you were dead.

But I told him that no OD&D character is dead untly GARY GYGAX says he's dead.




There is an "I don't want to go on the cart." joke here somewhere and I'm frankly a little disappointed in you people for not finding it for me.


----------



## Henry

*Map for the game.*

Hypersmurf has generated this WONDERFUL cleaned-up example of the map from our adventure (known to me as "The Tripartite Map." ) with comments. I hope you have as much fun reading it as I did reminiscing over it today.


----------



## ghul

Henry said:
			
		

> Hypersmurf has generated this WONDERFUL cleaned-up example of the map from our adventure (known to me as "The Tripartite Map." ) with comments. I hope you have as much fun reading it as I did reminiscing over it today.




That's great! Thanks for sharing.  

--Jeff T.


----------



## T. Foster

Henry said:
			
		

> Hypersmurf has generated this WONDERFUL cleaned-up example of the map from our adventure (known to me as "The Tripartite Map." ) with comments. I hope you have as much fun reading it as I did reminiscing over it today.



Hi Henry,

Thanks a ton to both you and Hypersmurf for posting that fantastic map. I love how complex and open-ended it is; it really brings home the idea of the scale of the place. A couple questions:

1) where were the paper-breaks on this map compared to your original?

2) what is that "hump" in the south wall of the room where you fought the beetle? An archway? A normal opening just that doesn't have a door? Or something else?


----------



## thedungeondelver

Col_Pladoh said:
			
		

> If that doesn't work out there are always the two mini-cons here in Lake Geneva
> 
> Cheerio,
> Gary





Yeah, and run some OD&D for us poor beleaguered types who can't make GenCon!


----------



## Hypersmurf

T. Foster said:
			
		

> 1) where were the paper-breaks on this map compared to your original?
> 
> 2) what is that "hump" in the south wall of the room where you fought the beetle? An archway? A normal opening just that doesn't have a door? Or something else?




The hump was an archway, yes.

THe paper-breaks... well, if you place the entrance stair at the northwest corner of one piece of graph paper, you can see that there will be a couple of squares that extend northward onto another piece of paper, and after that, the entire dungeon is bisected east-west on two pieces.

We entered through the northwest tower, y'see, and Gary said "You may as well start in that corner of your paper"...

-Hyp.


----------



## Col_Pladoh

thedungeondelver said:
			
		

> Yeah, and run some OD&D for us poor beleaguered types who can't make GenCon!



At the last LGGC I ran three sessions of LA adventures for around 20 different gamers. Damned if i can remember what I ran at Winterdark, but it would be no problem to do an OD&D dungeon crawl as I did at this GneCon.

Cheerio,
Gary


----------



## thedungeondelver

Col_Pladoh said:
			
		

> At the last LGGC I ran three sessions of LA adventures for around 20 different gamers. Damned if i can remember what I ran at Winterdark, but it would be no problem to do an OD&D dungeon crawl as I did at this GneCon.
> 
> Cheerio,
> Gary





The missus and I attended the Sunday afternoon LA 'crawl and that was a lot of fun - 'twas I who had the cheese quirk! 

Hope we get in to some OD&D next year.

-Bill S.


----------



## grodog

Henry said:
			
		

> Hypersmurf has generated this WONDERFUL cleaned-up example of the map from our adventure (known to me as "The Tripartite Map." ) with comments. I hope you have as much fun reading it as I did reminiscing over it today.




Awesome.  Thank you Hypersmurf and Henry


----------



## grodog

Col_Pladoh said:
			
		

> At the last LGGC I ran three sessions of LA adventures for around 20 different gamers. Damned if i can remember what I ran at Winterdark, but it would be no problem to do an OD&D dungeon crawl as I did at this GneCon.




Well, Gary, if you're planning to run some OD&D I'm sure we could drum up some players.  If you'd also like the chance to play some OD&D, I'm sure we could arrange that too


----------



## Col_Pladoh

thedungeondelver said:
			
		

> The missus and I attended the Sunday afternoon LA 'crawl and that was a lot of fun - 'twas I who had the cheese quirk!
> 
> Hope we get in to some OD&D next year.
> 
> -Bill S.



Yuppers Bill, I recognize yout nic.

As a sometime turophile--currently with a refrigerator drawer filled with many fine imported and domestic aged cheese varieties, including some of goats' and sheeps' milk sort--the canned goop is anathema...unless shot into those little baked cones and eaten in quantiry whilest drinking ordinary beer  

Cheers,
Gary


----------



## thedungeondelver

grodog said:
			
		

> Well, Gary, if you're planning to run some OD&D I'm sure we could drum up some players.  If you'd also like the chance to play some OD&D, I'm sure we could arrange that too





You.  You shaddap.  _I'm_ first in line, sonny.


----------



## thedungeondelver

Col_Pladoh said:
			
		

> Yuppers Bill, I recognize yout nic.
> 
> As a sometime turophile--currently with a refrigerator drawer filled with many fine imported and domestic aged cheese varieties, including some of goats' and sheeps' milk sort--the canned goop is anathema...unless shot into those little baked cones and eaten in quantiry whilest drinking ordinary beer
> 
> Cheers,
> Gary





Turophilia!  Thank you.

I myself don't have that much cheese in my refrigerator -

At least I don't have that many things that started _out_ as cheese...


----------



## grodog

thedungeondelver said:
			
		

> You.  You shaddap.  _I'm_ first in line,
> sonny.




LOL.  Well, perhaps we can *both* participate in such shenanigans, then we'll actually be able to play in a game together, too, Bill


----------



## Col_Pladoh

grodog said:
			
		

> LOL.  Well, perhaps we can *both* participate in such shenanigans, then we'll actually be able to play in a game together, too, Bill



Oooo, GOODY!

TWO PCKs for the price of one  

Cheers,
Gary


----------



## WSmith

Col_Pladoh said:
			
		

> Oooo, GOODY!
> 
> TWO PCKs for the price of one
> 
> Cheers,
> Gary




I would find it an honor for my PC to gracefully die...ah, I mean play, alongside Allan's and Bill's, (that is, if I was invited, of course) if that would please Gary to have a trifecta PC kill count!  

As to the map, Hypersmurf, Thanks for posting. Is it me or is the text blurry? Maybe it is my resolution.


----------



## Hypersmurf

WSmith said:
			
		

> As to the map, Hypersmurf, Thanks for posting. Is it me or is the text blurry? Maybe it is my resolution.




You may find your browser is resizing it - the map itself is larger than most screens, and at full-size the text should be crisp.

-Hyp.


----------



## thedungeondelver

WSmith said:
			
		

> I would find it an honor for my PC to gracefully die...ah, I mean play, alongside Allan's and Bill's, (that is, if I was invited, of course) if that would please Gary to have a trifecta PC kill count!
> 
> As to the map, Hypersmurf, Thanks for posting. Is it me or is the text blurry? Maybe it is my resolution.





I call dwarf fighter!


----------



## Col_Pladoh

Hypersmurf said:
			
		

> You may find your browser is resizing it - the map itself is larger than most screens, and at full-size the text should be crisp.
> 
> -Hyp.



Yuppers!

I enlarged it until the text was crear and clean.

Cheerio,
Gary


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## Col_Pladoh

Good Grief  

I forsee a party of 20 or so...shades of DMing in my basement back in 1973-4. I'll ask son Alex to assist with the monster attacks, as he loves to be on the delivery end of slings and arrows. Back to character sheets done on 3c5 index cards for the lot of you!

 
Gary


----------



## Hypersmurf

thedungeondelver said:
			
		

> I call dwarf fighter!




You want to multiclass?

-Hyp.


----------



## WSmith

Col_Pladoh said:
			
		

> Good Grief
> 
> I forsee a party of 20 or so...shades of DMing in my basement back in 1973-4. I'll ask son Alex to assist with the monster attacks, as he loves to be on the delivery end of slings and arrows. Back to character sheets done on 3c5 index cards for the lot of you!
> 
> 
> Gary




Talk about ambiance! A 3x5 character sheet! I am glad to know I am not the only to use this method.


----------



## Col_Pladoh

Hypersmurf said:
			
		

> You want to multiclass?
> 
> -Hyp.



 

Right on!

Cheers,
Gary


----------



## WSmith

Hypersmurf said:
			
		

> You want to multiclass?
> 
> -Hyp.




I am sure dungeondelver meant to say "I call dwarf *fighting man!*" In the 1981+ version, a dwarf is a dwarf and fighter is a fighter. In the coveted 1974 3-book edition, a dwarf can only be a fighter, eh...fighting man... and can only advance to 6th level. Supplement I and beyond made some other changes, though, (dwarves could actually be paladins if you can believe it.   )


----------



## thedungeondelver

WSmith said:
			
		

> I am sure dungeondelver meant to say "I call dwarf *fighting man!*" In the 1981+ version, a dwarf is a dwarf and fighter is a fighter. In the coveted 1974 3-book edition, a dwarf can only be a fighter, eh...fighting man... and can only advance to 6th level. Supplement I and beyond made some other changes, though, (dwarves could actually be paladins if you can believe it.   )





Hmph.  I just figured we'd be using *SUPPLEMENT I: GREYHAWK* where dwarves can be thieves!


----------



## Gentlegamer

If you're going to play pure OD&D, don't limit your racial choices to dwarf, elf, hobbit . . . ask Gary if you can play a dragon or goblin or lizard man or some such, as suggested in the rules themselves.


----------



## Slife

No, obviously what dungeondelver meant was he wants to fight *against *dwarves.


----------



## Crossroads

Awesome thread! Got out my OD&D books to give them a read-through. Very inspiring!

What rules were used for combat?

Any references to Chainmail 2d6 or was it the alternative system all the way?


----------



## diaglo

WSmith said:
			
		

> Talk about ambiance! A 3x5 character sheet! I am glad to know I am not the only to use this method.



you should have been in one of the sessions i ran at Gen Con.


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## diaglo

Col_Pladoh said:
			
		

> Good Grief
> 
> I forsee a party of 20 or so...shades of DMing in my basement back in 1973-4. I'll ask son Alex to assist with the monster attacks, as he loves to be on the delivery end of slings and arrows. Back to character sheets done on 3c5 index cards for the lot of you!
> 
> 
> Gary





20 is optimal.


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## WSmith

diaglo said:
			
		

> you should have been in one of the sessions i ran at Gen Con.




Salt in the wound, my friend...


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## WSmith

thedungeondelver said:
			
		

> Hmph.  I just figured we'd be using *SUPPLEMENT I: GREYHAWK* where dwarves can be thieves!




Shoot. Sorry about that. Sometimes I forget about thieves as I venture little beyond Vol I-III. I am so closed minded like that.


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## grodog

Rob and I ran tables of 10 for the Bottle City and Warlocks Walk events at GenCon, and went well, overall, but I can't imagine doing so without a co-DM.  And to think that I ran groups of up to 15 players BITD without blinking:  I must be losing my touch


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## Col_Pladoh

thedungeondelver said:
			
		

> Hmph.  I just figured we'd be using *SUPPLEMENT I: GREYHAWK* where dwarves can be thieves!



Thieves?

What are those? I can't find the term in any of the three OD&D booklets...  

 
Gary


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## Col_Pladoh

Gentlegamer said:
			
		

> If you're going to play pure OD&D, don't limit your racial choices to dwarf, elf, hobbit . . . ask Gary if you can play a dragon or goblin or lizard man or some such, as suggested in the rules themselves.



Sure, and I'll personally select the encounter area where the remainder of the party of PCs will run into such a character. Ptherwise, the unusual PC can join the group and likely provide some early XPs for them!

Cheers,
Gary


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## Col_Pladoh

Crossroads said:
			
		

> Awesome thread! Got out my OD&D books to give them a read-through. Very inspiring!
> 
> What rules were used for combat?
> 
> Any references to Chainmail 2d6 or was it the alternative system all the way?



The d20 to hit, d6 for damage, and THAC0 to make it easy to determine if a number rolled hit the AC of the target.

Cheerio,
Gary


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## thedungeondelver

Col_Pladoh said:
			
		

> Thieves?
> 
> What are those? I can't find the term in any of the three OD&D booklets...
> 
> 
> Gary





  The three booklets it is then!  Put me down as a "dwarf"


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## Crossroads

Col_Pladoh said:
			
		

> The d20 to hit, d6 for damage, and THAC0 to make it easy to determine if a number rolled hit the AC of the target.
> 
> Cheerio,
> Gary




Thanks for answering my question, Gary.

I've been scouring the web at many fine sites dedicated to "old school D&D" with regards to combat. It's a treat to find people dedicated to discussing their interpretation of those rules, providing insights and examples of combat from Chainmail, Swords and Spells, and even the AD&D round by round combat example posted on this board.

But it's not only the rules - it's the ideas behind the development, history, and implementation that I find most fascinating.

Best regards and thanks for sharing here and elsewhere,

Crossroads


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## GwydapLlew

As soon as I heard about Gary's passing, I had two emotions. One was sadness, because he helped so many people discover worlds that never existed before. The second was joy, because of the look on all of our faces when you told (and told) (and re-told) this story last year. I never had the fortune to meet him, but what I've seen and read of him, this is exactly the sort of stories he would enjoy.


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## JohnRTroy

I found myself coming here again during GenCon week.  

I feel very sad that this campaign couldn't be continued this year.  

I am very greatful however that Gary got to meet the ENWorld Mods and play a kick-ass game with them.  It turned out to be a very good opportunity.

"Natural 20 Baby" indeed!


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## Rel

JohnRTroy said:


> I found myself coming here again during GenCon week.
> 
> I feel very sad that this campaign couldn't be continued this year.
> 
> I am very greatful however that Gary got to meet the ENWorld Mods and play a kick-ass game with them.  It turned out to be a very good opportunity.
> 
> "Natural 20 Baby" indeed!




I'm just now home from GenCon and this is the very first post I am responding to.

It was bittersweet reflecting on this game and Gary's absense this year.  While he is sorely missed I couldn't help but smile at watching all the fun people were having (myself included) and considering that none of us would be there together were it not for Gary.

I thought that the posthumous lifetime achievement ENnie was a fitting tribute and I think I got a little something in my eye when we gave him a standing ovation.  I was glad to see Dave Arneson get his award while he is still around to accept it.


----------



## Angrydad

It amazes me just how many people have been influenced, knowingly or otherwise, by EGG and his marvelous creation in the last 30+ years or so. There are the obvious people who play D&D or some variant, but then there's HORDES of computer and video game nerds who owe Gary a big debt. Basically any RPG in any format owes Gary some royalties. 

I know that my life would be very different were it not for my brush with D&D at the age of 10 (thanks, Kat!). My imagination continues to thrive to this day because of this game. Some of my greatest memories are of fictional characters created by my brother and I or some of our friends and the absurdity that ensued.


----------



## 1auxy

New here @ EnWorld and Rel's sig. was a must click...so glad I did!

I just finished reading through all of the posts, and this was definitely one of the best threads in gaming msg. board history.

I'm starting a new campaign in 2 weeks and this has got me wanting to run a rules light game again...too much fun.

Thanks for the post!


----------



## Piratecat

I'm sitting here missing Gary, and remembering this game. I'm glad he knew how much fun he inspired!

But I'm _still_ pissed about my mule.


----------



## Mark

He was a lot of fun.  I was fortunate enough to game with him one time in the seventies at a Gencon.  It's a long time ago, and I was very young, but I recall their were a lot of character deaths.


----------



## Ulrick

Speaking of Character Deaths from the 1970s...

This Friday night I'm running the AD&D Tomb of Horrors at a local gaming convention. I'm doing this partly out of remembrance of Gary, partly because I want younger players to experience an old school module that isn't based on combat, but mostly because I want to hear the wailing and gnashing of teeth as one PC dies after another. However, I told the players that they would receive certified bragging rights if they beat the module. 

This module is a classic! Part of Gary's legacy and an inspiration to all ratbastard DMs!


----------



## Eridanis

Rel said:


> I thought that the posthumous lifetime achievement ENnie was a fitting tribute and I think I got a little something in my eye when we gave him a standing ovation.  I was glad to see Dave Arneson get his award while he is still around to accept it.




Prescient words, my friend. Unfortunately.


----------



## Rel

Eridanis said:


> Prescient words, my friend. Unfortunately.




Indeed.  I'll always feel honored to have met the fathers of the game in person.


----------



## Odhanan

*raises thread*

Discussing this game on the K&K Alehouse, Some pictures of Gary with the DM's map were posted by Philotomy:

Original picture of Gary
Detail of the map

I then compared the players' map provided by Henry with this detail, and then sparsely keyed it for reference: 






*Players' Map*





*Keyed DM Map Detail*

I just thought some of you might want to see this. For memories, or otherwise.


----------



## Rel

Wow!  That's so cool!  Thanks a ton for posting that.

I gotta say that Henry did a damn fine job of mapping!  I also gotta say that the "Henry Mapping for Gygax" story is among my very favorite gaming experiences of all time.  I laugh every time I think about it.


----------



## Odhanan

Rel said:


> Wow!  That's so cool!  Thanks a ton for posting that.



You're welcome, man. I thought you might get a kick out of it. 



Rel said:


> I gotta say that Henry did a damn fine job of mapping!  I also gotta say that the "Henry Mapping for Gygax" story is among my very favorite gaming experiences of all time.  I laugh every time I think about it.



The three-sheets of paper detail is hilarious. Probably why there are discrepencies between the players' map and Gary's, upon scrutiny. That's what I'm guessing anyway?


----------



## Lidgar

Good timing to resurrect the thread. The thread on mules being game breakers immediately brought to mind the slimy mule bones from this jaunt. 

Ah muley, where art thou dungeon cart?


----------



## Bullgrit

> Keyed DM Map Detail



Oh God, how I would love to play D&D through a dungeon like that. Alas, the love of a megadungeon is a rare thing nowadays.

Bullgrit


----------



## grodog

Bullgrit said:


> Oh God, how I would love to play D&D through a dungeon like that. Alas, the love of a megadungeon is a rare thing nowadays.




You coming down to North TX RPG Con next weekend, Bullgrit?  There'll be plenty o' mega-dungeon fun there!


----------



## mach1.9pants

*MEGA DUNGEON* should always be in caps and bold, like when you say it you should always use your deepest scariest voice...


----------



## Piratecat

On the anniversary of Gary's passing, a quick note to say thank you. The man did a kindness to us, and there aren't words for how much we appreciate it.

Still cranky about my mule, though.


----------



## Rel

Piratecat said:


> On the anniversary of Gary's passing, a quick note to say thank you. The man did a kindness to us, and there aren't words for how much we appreciate it.
> 
> Still cranky about my mule, though.




Absolutely agree.  I'll always hold this moment dearly as the highlight of my gaming career.


I'm speaking of the mule of course.


----------



## grodog

And thank you guys for sharing the info, story, and maps!---they've come in quite handy in identifying the level that you guys were playing on 

And, don't forget that GaryCon's in just a few weeks:  good times to be had there, for sure!


----------



## diaglo

grodog said:


> And thank you guys for sharing the info, story, and maps!---they've come in quite handy in identifying the level that you guys were playing on
> 
> And, don't forget that GaryCon's in just a few weeks:  good times to be had there, for sure!




truth.

see you then.


----------



## TarionzCousin

Rel said:


> Absolutely agree.  I'll always hold this moment dearly as the highlight of my gaming career.
> 
> 
> I'm speaking of the mule of course.



At least you aren't rubbing it in by reminding Piratecate of it at every opportunity, or having slimy mule bones as your avatar for years. That might almost be considered going too far...


... almost.

Piratecat 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





 Rel


----------



## Hussar

TarionzCousin said:


> At least you aren't rubbing it in by reminding Piratecate of it at every opportunity, or having slimy mule bones as your avatar for years. That might almost be considered going too far...
> 
> 
> ... almost.
> 
> Piratecat
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Rel




Y'know, I always wondered what the hell that avatar was.


----------



## TarionzCousin

Hussar said:


> Y'know, I always wondered what the hell that avatar was.








Now we need to figure out what your avatar is: the four elements on a brass plate?


----------



## Rel

TarionzCousin said:


> At least you aren't rubbing it in by reminding Piratecate of it at every opportunity, or having slimy mule bones as your avatar for years. That might almost be considered going too far...
> 
> 
> ... almost.
> 
> Piratecat
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Rel




Well it's hardly my fault that nothing else precious to him has been more recently consumed by a Gelatinous Cube.


----------



## Hussar

TarionzCousin said:


> Now we need to figure out what your avatar is: the four elements on a brass plate?




Nailed it in one.  One of the kind folks at En World drew this up for me for my priest's holy symbol.  Very cool.  The character has long been consigned to the dustbin of gaming history, but the symbol is still there.


----------



## Rel

Hussar said:


> The character has long been consigned to the dustbin of gaming history, but the symbol is still there.




Kind of like the mule!



(Somebody stop me before Piratecat bans me!)


----------



## kitsune9

Cool story.


----------



## Henry

grodog said:


> And thank you guys for sharing the info, story, and maps!---they've come in quite handy in identifying the level that you guys were playing on
> 
> And, don't forget that GaryCon's in just a few weeks:  good times to be had there, for sure!




Dish, man! Where the  were we? I've always wondered.

And have a good time at Garycon! One year I will be there.


----------



## Piratecat

Rel said:


> Well it's hardly my fault that nothing else precious to him has been more recently consumed by a Gelatinous Cube.



You mean like a fellow moderator?

'Cause believe me, THAT CAN BE ARRANGED.


----------



## Rel

Piratecat said:


> You mean like a fellow moderator?
> 
> 'Cause believe me, THAT CAN BE ARRANGED.




I was almost ready to call your bluff when I noticed that you made it to "Grandfather of Assassins".


----------



## grodog

Henry said:


> Dish, man! Where the  were we? I've always wondered.




Check the thread @ KNIGHTS & KNAVES ALEHOUSE • View topic - Gygax Castle Greyhawk Map for the scoop, Henry (short answer:  you were on level 3).  



Henry said:


> And have a good time at Garycon! One year I will be there.




Thanks, I shall:  I almost didn't make it this year.  Anytime you make it up there, let me know and I'll save a seat in whatever Castle Greyhawk game of mine you'd like


----------



## Tav_Behemoth

grodog said:


> I almost didn't make it this year.




Glad you did, looking forward to seeing you & everyone at GCIV!

Hearing Piratecat's account of Gary's dungeon was perhaps the high point of a fantastic FalCon experience. I've recently been fortunate enough to play with Michael Mornard, who was an original player in both Gygax and Arneson's group; fellow player Paul is collecting some of the stories here.


----------



## Rodrigo Istalindir

Bump.  Just because everyone needs to read the first post today.


----------



## Piratecat

I was headed here to do exactly that - thanks!


----------



## Rodrigo Istalindir

If I do it, it's not attention whoring!


----------



## Rodrigo Istalindir

Just to keep Piratecat from attention whoring again.  The things I do for that guy.


----------



## GM_Chris

Gygax really looked like an evil DM 
There was a story about how he wrote tomb of horrors so that he could kill people's favourite characters. I think he requested the names and address of their GMs as well.


----------



## Scott DeWar

bump, for the high value of this thread!


----------



## Rel

Raising a glass to Gary tonight.  These are memories that I'll carry with me all the rest of my days.


----------



## Henry

Rel said:


> Raising a glass to Gary tonight.  These are memories that I'll carry with me all the rest of my days.




Me too, bud. I was actually going to start a new thread about memories of Gary today, but saw this.

For the short time I knew him, I was most struck by how he genuinely enjoyed chatting with every gamer he came across. Man wasn't shy with his opinions, but he always seemed genuinely pleased to chew fat, even if he had completely different opinions.


----------



## Rel

Henry said:


> Me too, bud. I was actually going to start a new thread about memories of Gary today, but saw this.
> 
> For the short time I knew him, I was most struck by how he genuinely enjoyed chatting with every gamer he came across. Man wasn't shy with his opinions, but he always seemed genuinely pleased to chew fat, even if he had completely different opinions.




Completely unrelated but I hope you're coming to Camp NC Game Day in April.  Let me know if you need any info.


----------

