Conan the Barbarian

The fantastic Conan short stories from the 1930s by Robert E. Howard were a major source of inspiration for D&D: evil sorcerers, pitch-black dungeons, labyrinthine lost cities, thieves' quarters, monsters, the hunt for treasure in ancient ruins. 

There are good sources online for Conan, a Wiki, and a site for d20 conversions. I'm focusing only on the published short stories that were written by REH alone, not on those that were later written, sometimes based on fragments of his.

Conan and D&D

In spite of them being a big inspriration for D&D, D&D is a bad system for creating Conaneseque play experiences, even more so for the more modern "super-heroic" versions of D&D than for OD&D. 

• In D&D, players have access to spellcasting. In the stories, the evil high priest or sorcerer is always the opponent, Conan at best has questionable allies that have some access to it. Sorcery is a sinister force, to be overcome with a clean sword stroke. 
• In D&D, spells are easily used and direct. Most magic in the stories is wrought trough use of magical artifacts or  through alchemical substances, rather than spells. Sorcerers dominate or mesmerize, or call and control monsters to do their bidding. There are few direct spell effects like fireball or teleport. Instead wizards summon a whirling cloud to fly in, or a winged demon to ride on.  
• In D&D beasts are weak. Most monsters in the stories are essentially dire beasts, with the occasional demon thrown in. Huge, poisonous snakes; sabertooth tigers; gorillas ("grey apes"), and a dinosaur. The latter is called a "dragon" by Conan, but is is just a huge stegosaurus, without treasure, flight, intelligence or fire breath. And these beasts are deadly opponents, it always is a close shave with death if Conan has to fight one, and he generally tries to avoid them.
• D&D has level-based hit points. In Conan there is a scene where he does not dare attack a guard equipped with a crossbow, as he is unarmored and a single hit could kill him. In another a single sling stone knocks him out cold. In fights against beasts, Conan often has one shot at a killing blow to not be crushed to death. In D&D a high level character just can take such attacks, shrug them off, and kill the offender. Conan at the height of his power is overcome by a dozen common harbor rogues and half a dozen armored city guards are too much for him to fight through. In D&D, a lord could mow down a dozen common men.

Gygax developed D&D stats for Conan himself, the abilites inelegantly are modeled as mix of fighter and thief (at inflated levels). Later the Barbarian class was created to make this easier. In 5e, Barbarians have a danger sense (though it does not work blind as it does for Conan in the 2014 version - this will change 2024), but still no stealth. One can fix that with the Criminal background, however, this ability, alongside perception and climibing skills, is depicted to come from barbarian life in the wilderness. 

Runequest, a skill based, non-class based system with fixed hit points, would be a much better fit.

Conan's World

Here is my take on the major kingdoms and empires of Hyperborea, based on the decriptions in the stories. I think the major point to learn here is how by playing on tropes from movies, on stereotypes and on ancient history,  with names that resonate real world cultures, you can convey a lot in little space, and brings people, cities and cultures to live.

REH himslelf wrote an essay about the "Hyborean Age", on how these cultures later evolved into the ancient world ones (Egypt, Babylon, the Mongols, Huns, Semites etc.), after the southwest broke of at the Styx/Nile to create Africa, so one can note how the relative neighborhood of these cultures on the map matches those of the European, African and Asian continents, but I think in the stories, he pretty much riffs of of the ancient cultures of earth directly. 

Map credit: GURPS book on Conan, from hyborea.xoth.net

The tech levels of these cultures consequently vary widely from savages to bronze age, to ancient mesoptoamian and hellenistic all the way up to medieval (with chainmail, knights and plate armor). 

Northern and Middle European

Vanaheim, Asgard: Norse myths with giants, so Icelandic, Norwegian, Danish Viking culture. Vanir (Red-haired), Aesir (Blond-haired).

Hyperborea: the home of powerful witches. Cult: Louhi, Bori

Cimmeria: nordic, white, barbarians. Feels close to Germanic tribes. Cult: Crom  

Pictish Wilderness: similar to Scotland, before civilization. Cult: Animistic.

Brythannia: blonde, white skinned folk. Medieval Britain.

Nemedia: Medieval, knightly warfare. He has it as proto-Ireland, I think Germany. Cults: Mitras, Ibis

Aquilonia: Central European Medieval, knightly warfare. Has provinces Potain, with Knights that feels a bit like northern Italy, Gunderland with Piketiers and the  Bossonian Marches with Archers that feel a bit like Swizerland and Poland. Could be Aquitaine/Aragon in sourthern France/Northern Spain, but lacks sea access. Cult: Mitras. Capital Tarantina.

Border Kingdoms: No specific country, and I think no stories set there. Could be smaller countries, like Austria, Boehmia, Slowakia etc.

Mediterranean (he has the issue that this sea is missing, instead he has the Vilayet)

Argos: Southern European, Greece or Roman.   

Zingara: Pirates. A feel of Andalusia in Spain, Cordoba and the Barbary coast. Cult: Isthar, Mitra, Bel

Corinthia: Asia Minor like City States. Name echoes Corinth. Cult: Anu, Isthar, Bel?

Barachan Isles: Carribean

Middle Eastern

Shem: Olive skin, blue-black beards, hawk noses. Semitic Peoples and Cultures. Think Lebanon, Palestine. Cult: Ishtar, Bel, Set, Pteor, Nergal, Asthoreth. 

Koth: Mesopotamian formerly Archeron, feels Assyrian with king Strabonus. Cult: Isthar, Bel, Set. 

Ophir: Shamu sounds Mesopotamian, so Babylon (North/South switch with Assyria)? Cult: Isthar, Bel

Zamora: Dark-skinned, dark-haired; thieves, assassins, spies. Mixed Arabs, Scicilians. No coast, normal for a melting pot like this, but explained as on the border between the Mesopotamian, steppe and central powers.

Khauran, Kohjara: examples for small kingdoms, like Syria.

Asia

Kozak Steppes: Balkans, Huns. Name echoes the Kosaks.

Tauran: middle Eastern, Mogul Empire. 

Eastern Desert: Arabia. 

Hyrkania: Mongol Empire.

Kushan: a small Balkan country. 

Iranistan: the name says it all. 

Isles of Pearl: 

Oriental

Meru/Himelians: Himalayah. 

Kithai: China. "Cathay"

Kambuja: Capital Angkor. Cambodja. Cult: Ganesha 

Uttara Kuru:

Vendhya: India.  

Ghulistan: Afghanistan 

Kosala: 

Misty Isles: Spice Islands in the Indian Ocean.

African

Stygia: Tawny folk. Egypt, Cult: Set, Derekto. Capital Luxor, main city Khemri.

Kush: black kingdoms south of Egypt.  

Darfar: black cannibals, filed teeth. Dafur.

Keshan, Punt, Zembabwei, Black Kingdoms: various black Afrikan kingdoms

Southern Isles: ?

Stories

Here are the stories in publication order in synopsis, with the magic, monsters and opponents encountered. Stars are how well I liked them (* least, ***** most).

1. The Phoenix on the Sword****: 8,823 words. Tarantia, capital of Aquilonia. Traitorous nobles & bard, baboon-demon, Toth-Amon, evil sorcerer (dependend on his serpent ring). Serpent ring, magic Sword (endowed by Epemitreus the sage through dream).  
2. The Scarlet Citadel*****: 15,446 words. Aquilonia, Ophir (Plains of Shamu), Koth (Korsemish, the captial, especially Tsotha-Lanthi's dungeons). Treacherous armies of Amalrus of Ophir with Strabonus of Koth, Tsotha-Lanthi the Wizard, eunuch, giant poison snake, gibbering mouther, bottomless pit in darkness, hell-plant, ursurping prince. Ally: Pelias the Wizard. Spells: animate dead, scrying/crystal ball, summon monster (giant demon-bat), polymorph.
3. The Tower of the Elephant****: 9,726 words. Zamora, City of Thieves. Lions, a poisonous giant spider. Yak-Sotha, the imprisioned Elephant God; Yara, evil high priest
4. Black Colossus*****: 14,346 words. Ruins of Kutchemes, Kingdom of Kohjara. Giant poison snake, Natohk's spirit shadow, Natohk's desert nomad army,  polymorphing winged ape demon, Thugra Khotan, 3000-year old evil re-awakened sorcerer-king a.k.a. Natohk the Veiled One,. Spells & Items: Firepowder, morale-boosting spell, sticks to snakes. 
5. The Slithering Shadow****: 12,897. Xuthal, Ruined City in the Deserts of Kush. Opium-drugged citicens, Thalys the Stygian Witch, Thog the shadow demon. Healing potion wine. It feels as if this city (plus Red Nails) inspired B4, The Lost City. Cool story, weak name. (Title turns out to not be Howard's Original. He had named it "Xuthal of the Dusk").
6. The Pool of the Black One***: 11,252 words. Isle of the Black one. Black humanoids. Magical transforming pool with leashing out water tentacle. Sleep poison fruit. 
7. Rogues in the House****: 9,676 words. Corinthia. Rogue, Grey Ape-Man, Nabonidus the Red Priest. Lens systems, Portcullis, ironglass drop-walls & poison dust, no spells.
8. The Frost Giant’s Daughter**: 3,284 words. Vanaheim. Frost Giants, Atali, daughter of Ymir.
9. Iron Shadows in the Moon**: 12,123 words. Vilayet Sea. Lord Shah Amurath, Pirates, Grey Ape, animated iron statues.
10. Queen of the Black Coast**: 11,334 words. Argos, Sea, River Zarkheba. Bêlit the Pirate Queen & Pirates, giant water serpent, black lotus, hyena-weres, winged ape-demon.
11. The Devil in Iron***: 12,292 words. Island of Xapur, City of Khawarizm on the Vilayet Sea. Giant poisonous snake, ironskinned Demon-God Koshatral Kel, Lord Jehungir Agha.  Moonsilver Dagger. Time Magic (restored Ruins, inclusive of inhabitants). 
12. The People of the Black Circle***: 30,890 words. Vendhya (capital Ayodhya, provice Peshkauri), Afghulistan (Khyber pass, Yimsha - the Mountain of the Black Seers in the Himelians). Wazuli tribesman, Khemsa the Wizard, Rakshasas (defeated by destryoing artifact powering them). This is the story with by far the most wizards and spells being slung. Death Curse (using a lock of hair), Cloudkill, Hypnotism/Dominate, Black Ball/Poison Spider, Crimson Cloud (Fly), Hold Person, Polymorph any Object, Wall of Force, Rip out Heart, Polymorph Self; lava and stone block traps; disintegration bubbles, earthquake horn, magic girdle (of spell resistance). 
13. A Witch Shall be Born**: 16,337 words. Khauran. Salome the Witch, Zhaug the Frog-Demon. Crystal of Communication. Too long for the action.
14. Jewels of Gwahlur**: 17,167 words. Keshan, palace of Alkmeenon, forbidden valley. Crushing Stone Trap, Thutmekri the Stygian rogue, Ape-creatures. Feels constructed, with the Jewels lost.
15. Beyond the Black River**: 21,799 words. Pictish Wildernss (Conajohara, Fort Tuscelan & Velitrium). Pictish warriors, sabertooth tiger, giant snake, leopard, panther,  Zogar Sag the Witchdoctor and his swamp devil (a Will'-o-Wisp like demon, half man, half bird).  Shamanistic conjurations and geas/suggestions. 
16. Shadows in Zamboula***: 12,146 words. Zamboula in southern Turan. Cannibals, Baal-Pteor - huge fighter, Totrasmek evil arch priest, Aram-Baksh the Innkeeper. Hypnotic Powers, Illusions. Magical Charming Ring Star of Khorala. Originally called "The man-eaters of Zamboula". 
17. Red Nails*****: 30,946 words. Xuchotl, south of Sukhmet. Dinosaur, Spectral Skull Shaman, citicens of Xuchotl, giant snake, Olmec the prince, bear trap, Tascela the ageless witch, Tolcemek the Adept.  Dominate, Steal Youth; Spectral Skull (similar to Flameskull), Pipes of Madness, Rod of necrotic lightning. This is one of the most influential stories, the maze-like, 4-level plus catacombs city being the poster child for OD&D dungeons with factions and empty rooms. 
18. The Hour of the Dragon***: 72,375 words. Aquilonia, Nemedia, Argos, Zingara, Stygia. Armies of Nemedia, "Child of Darkness" paralyzing Cold-Demon, Soldiers & Jailers, Nemedian Adventurer, Tracking Raven, Nemedian Soldiers, Grey Ape, Executioner, Courtiers, Ghouls, Rogues, Giant Snake, Priest of Set, Vampire, Kithan Monk/Wizard, Xatlotun the Wizard from Archeron, Armies of Nemedia once more. Black pestilence wind, cleansing wind, Earthquake collapsing Cliffs, "Rending the Veil" Scrying past and distant events, Prophecy, Knock, "Black Hand of Seth" (Inflict Wounds?),  Death Dust, Control Weather, Heart of Ariman. The hunt after the heart, wich always narrowly eludes Conan feels forced. Maybe this could have been short story like Scarlet Citadel, if all that had been cut out, and the story had gone directly to overcoming Xaltoun after Conan's escape. Of course, this way we get more fights, shady dealings, world-building and evil sorcery.  Published as "Conan the Conqueror".

REH had chapters around 2,700 to 3,500 words, on average 3,089 words. 

Out of 18 stories, 10 times his main antagonist is some kind of evil sorcerer or evil priest (there is no clear difference in these stories between them), with one more case where the wizard is dead but his minions remain, so nearly two thirds. In the remaining cases, it directly is a demon, god-like creature or supernatural weirdness like the black pool on the island or the statues that animate in moonlight, or the demon Thog (where a witch is thrown in for good measure).  There is no story where it only is "swords" against "swords" of rogues and fighters. It always is swords vs sorcery. 

I find it interesting that the publication order of the stories has nothing to do with the timeline in which they happen in-world. Howard starts out with Conan being king of Aquilonia in the first story, (at the end of his career, apparently re-purposing another story) to then goes over his adventures first as a thief, then as a pirate, mercenary and leader of pirates and mercenaries. Here is a scholary discussion of the timeline of Conan stories. 

In brief: 

Conan starts out in Cimmeria, travels into the North (Frost Giants Daughter), attemts to loot a Nemedian treasure house and is caught (God in the Bowl, unpublished), and after that decides to learn how to become a thief, traveling to Zamora (Tower of the Elephant). Eventually he must leave, and travels via neighboring city states (Rogues in the House), finally decides to try something else. This ends his "thief" phase. 

He hires on as a mercenary joining the "Free Companions" that plunder Koth, Zamora and Turan, until they are destroyed by the Turan army under Shah Amurath, whom he slays fleeing to the Vilayet Sea (Shadows in the Moonlight). He wins a pirate ship and crew, loses them again (off screen), and becomes a mercenary for the Hyrkanian army and learns to use a bow, fighting a losing fight against king Yezdigerd of Turan. This ends his phase as a simple mercenary. 

Traveling back west he enlists for the mercenary army of Almaric of Nemedia as a mercenary captain, which supports queen Yasmela of Khoraja, and gets to lead the army against the re-risen sorcerer-king Natohk (Black Colossus). Leaving her service in the resulting peace, he travels to Argos, has a run in with the law and must flee the city by sea. The merchant ship is captured by pirate queen Bêlit, who takes him as her consort and together as pirates they plunder the coast, until she and the crew perish in an expedition to the lost city of Zarkheba (Queen of the Black Coast). 

He leaves, hires again with Almaric, who is fighting a rebel war against King Strabonus of Koth. As the rebels are destroyed by the Stygian black plage, Conan flees into the southern desert, where he encounters the forgotten city of Xuthal (Xuthal of the Dusk). He returns North via Darfar and Lake Zuad, and hires as a captain of the guard in Khauran (A Witch Shall be Born). After saving the queen, he remains a leader of Zuagir raiders, plundering Shemitish City-States and Turanian outposts, until Turan fields an army against them. He moves North, joining the kozaki bandits and working his way up through the ranks there until he becomes the hetman of the kozaki. Making an alliance with the pirates of the Vilayet, he continues plundering Turan, who set an unsuccessful trap for him (The Devil in Iron). Finally the spy Kerim Shah manages to betray him and have his troups destroyed (of screen).

Conan moves on to Afghulistan, where he becomes a war chief of the Afghuil hill tribes, plundering Turan and Vedhya. Yedzigerd of Turan enlists an archwizard to kill the king of Vendhya and Conan helps Vendhyas devi Yasmina to take revenge (People of the Black Circle), and realizes the hill tribes cannot challenge these strong empires. He travels to Zamboula, where he squanders his wealth (Shadows in Zamboula), and flees the city with a sack of gold and a magical ring which he hopes to sell to the queen of Ophir.  

Some unpublished adventures later as a Barachan pirate plundering Argos, Zingara, and Stygia, he escapes a trap in Tortage in a leaky rowboat and joins Zingaran freebooters, taking over ship and girl (Pool of the Black Ones), until a storm destroys all. 

A wanted man in Argos, Stygia, Zingara, and Turan, he travels to Aquilonia and hires with the military at the Pictish border (Beyond the Black River). After other adventures, he rejoins the "Free Companions", and meets Valeria, whom he follows to the lost city of Xuchotl (Red Nails) and the Black Coast, Valeria returning to the sea. Conan travels to Keshan, to steal fabled juwels (Jewels of Gwahlur), but fails. 

He returns to Aquilonia, and there he raises quickly through the army ranks and leads a regiment of mercenaries. After defeating an invading Zingaran army together with the knights of Potain, count Trocero of Potain challenges king Namedides's rule and supports Conan's bid for the throne. Together they defeat the army of Namedides, March on Tarantia, and, at age 40, Conans strangles Namedides on the Throne to become king. Thus ends the long an varied phase of being a leader of mercenaries and pirates. 

Now Conan is king of Aquilonia. He survives an assassination attempt by dissenting nobles (The Phoenix and the Sword), then is betrayed by Ophir and captured (The Scarlet Citadel), but escapes and returns in time to save his kingdom. He again is captured and defeated through black magic by an ancient sorcerer raised from the dead, and his kindom is conquered, but he but escapes with the help of the seraglio girl Zenobia, wins it back and makes her his queen (The Hour of the Dragon). Here the stories of Conan end.

Theatre of the Mind

Theatre of the Mind

The reason for not using gridded combat and miniatures was that the game was one of imagination. All the technical stuff like rules, gridded movement and so on kicked you right out of that imagination, and out of the flow of action.

No miniatures or grid

Gary never used maps or minis: maps and minis were Dave Arneson’s thing. Gary ran games in his office, which was provided with chairs, a couch, and file cabinets. While playing, Gary would open the drawers of the file cabinet and sit behind them so that the players COULD NOT SEE HIM. They only experienced the Dungeon Master as a disembodied voice. [29]

No, as far as I am concerned miniature figurines are more of an impediment to the imagination required for RPGing than they are a help...save in combat situations. However, as RPGs are not meant to be accurate/realistic combat simulation exercises, the use of miniatures tends to cause an erroneous focus to the play. [11]

We left tabletop miniatures battles behind in favor of the RPG. When mass-combat took place the DMs I played with, as well as me personally, abstracted the battles to contests between the principal figures, did quick attrition of the ordinary forces, and then used morale to determine when one side or the other broke. The reason for that is that the players did not want to wargame thay wanted to engage in RPGing.  [11]

I don't usually employ miniatures in my RPG play. We ceased that when we moved from CHAINMAIL Fantasy to D&D. I have nothing against the use of miniatures, but they are generally impractical for long and free-wheeling campaign play where the scene and opponents can vary wildly in the course of but an hour. #1721

When we began playing D&D all the time nobody cared much about using figurines, we seldom if ever did then, although there was a considerable demand for a D&D line, so eventually Grenadier was granted the license to produce the official line for them, [11]

I am lucky to get a half-hour's prep time, so I use scratch paper and dice on the table top to indicate the position of figures. When all is said and done, the RPG is an exercise of imagination, and no embellishments need be added...although illustrations are most helpful to the GM. [35]

No screen, props, music

I seldom use a screen, but I don't leave notes in view of the players--the map sometimes, but not other written material. #2055

I usually don't use any other props, but once in a while I will slip something in if I think it will liven things up. The exploding scroll tube is a good example of what I mean. #2864

I never use music as it is already quite difficult to manage to speak and retain the players' attention. #8068

Immersion

What I attempt is to have the party behave as would real persons in a confused situation. [11]

Persistence of deeds

After reading a lot about the campaign world and style of the Great Greyhawk and Blackmoor campaigns, I've come to realize that persistence was one of the major implicit ideas that made the game world real: the idea that what happened in play with any group, changed the world for all groups.

The castle, with several groups playing in it [7] was a living thing. If one group slew monsters, plundered treasure or destroyed a wall, the monsters would be dead, the treasure gone, the wall demolished for the others. If you wasted time, some other party might take advantage of you and get to the treasure first. This experience must have made it feel much more a real place to the players, than a typical "adventure" that just provides a story around the characters. You would run into houses or keeps other players had built, could meet them sometimes even as NPCs. 

Hundreds of different players with yet more PCs adventured in city and castle, blasted buildings, created constructions, wiped out walls, closed passages, created new ones, trashed monsters, brought in others, and who can say what else! [15]

James Ward: I didn't find out until years later that Terry Kuntz set up a flunky hiring building in Greyhawk. Characters were constantly looking for flunkies to help in the battles. I hired one of those myself in a dwarf and raised him up to sixth level. Later I found out Terry's characters were hired by others and went back and told Terry about places in the dungeon that were worth raiding. [30.3]

The dungeon, city and rules were constantly changing and expanding. The OD&D rules are chock full of advise how to modify the dungeon [1] to keep things interesting. Gary (and later Rob) generally did not "reset" the dungeon by restocking the monsters and treasures for the next group -- what was gone was gone, but they modified the dungeon constantly by adding new levels, rooms, or changing existing ones or bringing in new monsters in longer-deserted regions.

When the setting was in constant use, we never restocked, just drafted new side and deeper levels, as it was assumed that the depredations of the cruel PC parties kept the monsters away in fear and loathing  [6 #3827]

When the encounter was eliminated I simply drew a line through it, and the place was empty for the foreseeable future. [2]

In later days, Gary ran his first level of the original dungeon at conventions, and his kobolds caused numerous total party kills against players only used to balanced encounters. The kobolds, in a self-reinforcing loop, got stronger from this each time, and even deadlier for the next group. Here is a detail evolution in a post from Gary [17]:

I have run OD&D games every year at several cons for the last five or so years. I start them at 2nd level and use the old dungeon levels. So far about eight parties have been taken out by some kobolds on the 1st level. New RPGers seem to have not learned to run away when in doubt. 
The first to fall used a sleep spell to get eight of the kobolds, but the six remaining ones used javelins to kill two PCs, then closed and in hand-to-hand killed all but two or the remainder of the party. One was about to kill another PC, while a second charged the m-u of the group, who turned to flee, finally. Too late, a javelin got him. Each group that died thus added to the kobolds:

1st TPK brought 12 more kobolds
2nd TPK gave them armor class of 6
3rd (near) TPK gave them all +1 HP
4th TPK added +1 damage
5th TPK added 4 2nd level and 2 3rd level kobolds
6th TPK gave them tactical manouvering and a 4th level leader
7th TPK upped AC to 5
8th TPK gave them unshakable morale

At JanCon this year the Old Guard Kobolds joined battle with a group of 8 PCs and wiped them out. I haven't decided how that will add to their combat ability, but I am considering a kobold shaman with at least two 1st level spells.

Even though in his home campaign, his group of 5th level characters then finally killed the buggers, he argued that this had been an alternate version of the castle, and bringing in the best from history, the Old Guard Kobolds with all the above advantages and with the shaman added show up in the first level of the published Castle Zagyg [7]. Essentially the idea here is the same -- even over years of play: what happened happened, and will be part of the world.

Another example is that the home game group, real-world decades later, found the hidden level where Erac had perished, and revived him. 

In the words of the author of  blog of holding: I’m still not sure what player skill is in OD&D, and I still think it has something to do with battle tactics, trapfinding procedures, and gaming the DM. But I’m also starting to think it has something to do with respecting the gameworld as a world.

Variety for Campaign Longevity

Variety in challenges and activities

Gygax believed the key to an enjoyable game was variety in activities: 

• fights and action ("roll-play"), 
• talk and interaction ("role-play"), and 
• problem solving and exploration 

Fixation on a single aspect of the RPG form makes for tedious play to my thinking. All combat, all exploration, all yakking, all problem solving, all any single thing is downright dull. Balanced play is about half of the favored aspect, with the others having lesser time in the adventure session--sometimes hardly any, although they should then dominate a near-future session. #6459

Forget the business about role-playing. It is as boring as rule-playing and roll-playing are when made the focus of the game. Notice that I stress game, as that's what is the main operative word in the description of the activity. The majority of persons engaged in RPG activity love to go on dungeon crawls, so the ToH was designed to challenge the best of that lot. #2359

As false to the game form as the pre-scripted "story," is play that has little more in it than seek and destroy missions, vacuous effort where the participants fight and kill some monster so as to gain more power and thus be able to look for yet more potent opponents in a spiral that leads nowhere save eventual boredom. So pure hack and slash play is anathema to me too. [36]

What he thought to be a detraction of the fun was

• focus on and arguing over rules ("rule-play")

Over some decades of gaming, the creation of some number of RPG systems, I have come to the point where I prefer a rules-light system [...]. I do not like to rule-play, and as a GM I find long lists of stats and the like tedious. Such things tend to get in the way for my style of play, including as a PC. While I do enjoy plenty of roll-playing (after all I am a military miniatures player too), centering the game on combat seems fatuotous to me. I want a game that facilitates all of the elements of the RPG. #535

Most people enjoy roll-playing and role-playing, but rule-playing is a complete bore #8523

He felt that discussing rules was never enjoyable, and a focus on rules only limited the imagination. It is focused on artificial simplifications that never can do a situation believable justice. It also is less likely to be objectively resolved in a stress sitution for the characters. In my opinion, the best way to resolve these issues is to have the DM make a call, accept it, take a note of it, and research it after the game to agree how to handle it going forward if it comes up again. 

Variety in Adventure Type

There also was variety in the environments -- mixing up dungeon delving with wilderness exploration, with city adventure and intrigue.

Mix up the adventure settings so that play is not always in the same dort of place. A town adventure leads to a wilderness trek, that brings the party to a subterranian setting for example. From there they might have a waterborne or aerial mission.  #6966

Variety in Genre 

Beyond even the kind of adventures, when people got bored with the medieval fantasy he leavened it with adventuring in other genres -- from Science Fiction or Planetary Romance on Barsoom or Vance's Planet of Adventure, to settings inspired by movies like King-Kong, or books like Alice in Wonderland, even to adventures in contemporary New York City. In this, the backdrop stayed the medieval fantasy campaign, but he had about one session in ten with such other environments, to keep it fun. 

Spot in in regards to having PCs adventure in different environments. I believe that keeps them, and the GM alike from growing complacent, or bored. Ernie's PC read a curse scroll and got sent to Barsoon--ERB's Mars, of course.  #1842

Actually, the scope need not be restricted to the medieval; it can stretch from the prehistoric to the imagined future, but such expansion is recommended only at such time as the possibilities in the

medieval aspect have been thoroughly explored. [1, Introduction].

These days, rather than breaking the versisimilitude of the world by doing this, I'd rather just play some other system for variety. In our student days, we alternated D&D with Call of Cthulhu, or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. And even back then there were Traveller, Boot Hill and so on.

Rules-Light Play

The original D&D rules were very light, and left a lot of undefined space that allowed the DM to adjucate outcomes on the fly without wasting time to look up the rule or a player being able to cite a rule to the contrary. Gary also was not above ignoring any rules, to keep the game flowing. 

Why was this so, and was this a good thing?

Immersion

The number one, biggest advantage to simple rules and ad-hoc adjucation is that you do not have to spend time to look something up. This means the immersive play experience is not interrupted.  

Digging around in rules books is much the same as having the film break or the TV station experience transmission difficulties during an exciting program...a loss of the unagined participation. #7881

When I am DMing AD&D, I tend to ignore rules that get in the way of the flow of the game. #272

Generally, I just DMed on the fly, so to speak, and didn't use the rules books except for random encounters, monster stats, and treasure. when hand-to-hand fighting occurred I usually did that seat-of-the-pants rules--asking what the character was doing and deciding on the chance for success based on the circumstances. #692

[T]he only time [Gary] consulted the rules was when he gave out experience points for killed monsters and treasures. He made moving through his dungeon come alive. We could easily imagine the sights, sounds, and even the smells as he described the chambers and the corridors. [30.2]

A good DM has read the rules, knows the spirit of the game, and is aiming at captivating his player audience with the fantastic experience of the campaign, so he can make up what is necessary on the spot.  #7881

The rules-light game facilitates freedom for all participants to exercise imagination and innovation without undue constraint. That encourages gaming rather than rule-playing. In short, I believe it encourages creativity in all participants, and allows greater immersion in the game milieu, not the mechanics that form the game #1298

The main assumption to follow is that a credible fantasy game does not seek to simulate reality beyond that stage necessary for the participants to immerse themselves in it. [11]

My belief is that the rules for an RPG should facilitate the enjoyment of the game for all concerned. If they get in the way then they are no good. #530

The lack of rules lead to endless Q&As, and to the publication of more comprehensive rules in AD&D. Later editions added more and more tables and rules, but also unified core mechanics, so it was much simpler to remember them. I think many players and DMs undervalue the insight Gary had about how important pacing is.

Players need to trust the DM - no adversarial DMing 

For immersion to work, the players need to trust the GM that he will not screw them over in his ad-hoc rulings. The GM needs to at least listen once if the players bring forth a good argument why a chance could be much different. Then they need to halt, or the game will derail into arguments killing immersion and flow just as sure as looking up rules. This is why Gary points out the absolute authority of the GM and light rules together.

The original games of D&D and AD&D were about imagination, choosing an archetype to use as a vehicle for role-playing adventure, innovative play and PC group cooperation. The sole arbiter of such play was the DM, and rules lawyers were anethma #6741

Play is mainly reliant on rules. I ignored those I write when DMing if the game called for that, and in all added what was logical in terms of the game environment to play. Thus much of adventuring was not "by the book," but rather seat of the pants play by DM and players alike. #85

If the players aren't lost in known rules they tend to have more fun that way, and the sense of wonder comes back... #892

I’d like to move back to the days where players didn’t feel like they had to be protected from the whims of the referee. When we went into Greyhawk dungeon, Gary wasn’t the adversary. He was the referee who had set up the scenario. The referee is simply describing the action. The referee is not your opponent. [...] I could run an entire evening’s adventure with nothing but the notebook containing the dungeon, the hit charts, and the saving throw table. If I don’t remember a rule, I wing it [39]

• Absolute authority of the DM, rules lawyers given the boot
• Rule books seldom used by a competent DM #7878

Do not let the rules get in the way of play; be the arbiter of the game so that the adventure continues on without unnecessary interruptions, and the immersion of the players in the milieu remains complete. Do not make the group face impossible challenges, and keep the rewards as reasonable as possible (that is modest), so that there is always someting more to seek after.  #6966

There are many tongue in cheek comments, for example the GM "cursing the thoroughness" of the players as a player finds hidden treasure in the OD&D play example, and while I think these were meant in good fun, this is not entirely clear without the nonverbal cues, and may have also mislead novel GMs into an adversarial stance.

CAL: Empty out all of the copper pieces and check the trunk for secret drawers or a false bottom, and do the same with the empty one. Also, do there seem to be any old boots or cloaks among the old clothes in the rubbish pile?

REF: (Cursing the thoroughness of the Caller!) The seemingly empty trunk has a false bottom . . . in it you have found an onyx case with a jeweled necklace therein. The case appears to be worth about 1,000, and the necklace 5,000 Gold Pieces. Amidst the litter the searcher has located a pair of old boots, but there is nothing like a cloak there.

Other Reasons

There are other reasons, why OD&D was simplistic. As AD&D shows, too simplistic for players with more experience who knew the few original rules inside out. Maybe a good approach hence is to provide a very simple core rules set, and then add optional rules that individual GMs and Tables can adopt if they want to increase complexity, like 5e has done with encumberance. (Of course, with house ruling and DM authority, any rule essentially is optional. But it nudges the discussion, if the rule book says so). 

Realism

This is the second most important reason for simple elegant rules. Rules are needed or outcomes would be arbitrary. If there are no rules at all, how would you decide who survives a sword fight, and who does not? How would you decide if the thief manages to sneak by unnoticed? Rules, especially simple ones, are helpful as they provide a framework to estimate outcomes and hence allow players to make meaningful decisions. A game without rules may be improv theater, but it is not a role playing game that presents a simulated world with challenges. 

Rules however are always an abstraction and hence can lead to illogical outcomes. For example, in 5e two archers are as likely to hit hit each other when they cannot see each other, as they would in plain sight, because as per the rules, the advantage of being unseen when attacking and the disadvantage of not seeing your target cancel each other. These two rules in isolation are howerver pretty believable. In such cases, to not lose versisimilitude, you need to overrule the book.  

When no manageable amount of rules can do justice to all situations, judgment is required to resolve situations where the rules make no sense or lead to unbelievable outcomes. And if you understand you have to ignore the rules occasionally anyways, why not keep the rules simple, so they are easy to remember? In this case it is not necessary to have detailed rules or tables for everything, and try to cover every eventuality, combinaton of factors or corner case. 

Someone must have the authority to decide when and how a rule be overruled, or you get endless discussions of what is realistic or not. This is the DM, who intially was called the "Referee". Gary was not only extremely knowledgeable he also was the author of the rules, which gave him great authority. With such a setup from playtests, there was no need for complex or comprehensive rules. 

Play is mainly reliant on rules. I ignored those I write when DMing if the game called for that, and in all added what was logical in terms of the game environment to play. Thus much of adventuring was not "by the book," but rather seat of the pants play by DM and players alike. #85

To my mind a rules-light system should be one that sets forth rules and mechanics that are uncomplicated and sufficiently intuitive so that after GMing the system for a dozen or so sessions there is no need to consult the rules save for unusual circumstances. The GM and players alike can manage from past experience. If something unusual comes up that rules do not cover, intuitive ruling based on the overall system should be simple. #8078

Being old and cranky, I have grown tired of arguing over rules, so I figured that doing a system that had as few rules as possible, just enough to facilitate easy play, and with mechanics that were "forgiving" in that they allow for some and just about any addition alteration without throwing the system out of kilter was the way to go. That way the GM can play the fast and easy way or add whatever else is enjoyable to him and his group without difficulty. #853

As for rules, nonsense. The name of the game is roleplaying, not ruleplaying. the Game master is there to handle all the thousands of situations where rules are UNNECESSARY. Knowledge, logic, reason, and common sense serve better than a dozen rule books. What is the first word I used in stating what a GM needed instead of rules? I'll remind you: "Knowledge." [11]

When hand-to-hand fighting occurred I usually did that seat-of-the-pants rules--asking what the character was doing and deciding on the chance for success based on the circumstances. #692

Origin in Chainmail 

Intitially, OD&D was played essentially with chainmail combat rules. Chainmail was designed for tabletop battles between armies, so rules needed to be simple and resolution quick. The level of detail for combat of modern D&D versions would have made for unbearably slow resolution for dozens of combatants. In OD&D, all character classes had d6 as hit dice, and all weapons and nearly all monsters dealt d6 damage.  There were no skills or feats. There were just 3 classes. Even using d20 to determine hits or misses against armor was presented as an "Alternative Combat System", the default was Chainmail. 

First and foremost, the FRPG is not a combat simulation. It is something entirely different. [11]

Anyway, keep in mind that the OA/D&D systems were never meant to be combat simulators, and all wise DMs ignored the few portions that lead in that direction. Damage and hit points in any game are most probably based on game considerations that have nothing to do with actual human or animal frailties, if you will. A 6" knife will kill a person just as dead as a 6' long two-handed sword, for example. [11]

Large Play Groups

In the playtest environment for OD&D there also were often up to 20 players. Such large groups could not bear a detailed system, or combat rounds would have taken forever. While combat was a large part of the game and game rules, realistic or detailed simulation of combat was not. 

For about six months the typical number of players in an adventure session in my basement was 18-22 persons packed in. That was when I asked Rob Kuntz to serve as my co-DM. Getting marching order was very important. Of course most activity was dungeon crawling, so actions were just done in order around the table. Be ready or lose your chance! Stick with the party or else something very nasty is likely to befall your character away from the group. The sessions were fun but somewhat chaotic, lacked most roleplay, and surely didn't allow for a lot of one-on-one time player and DM. #2471

Multiple Genres

The intent for the rules was to support multiple genres. The original campaign adventured a good bit in various sci-fi settings and on modern earth. The more detailed the rules for medieval combat would have been, the less useful for such other environments. The more general, and abstract the rules, the easier you could apply them to laser pistols as well as to swords. 

The rules ommissions in OAD&D were generally done on purpose, so as to not shackle DMs and those writing for the system #522

All of these were grounded in the specific historical evolution or play style of Gary's home campaign. But there are more fundamental benefits of rules light systems, namely that they can be more realistic, and at the same time much more playable than rules heavy ones, at the cost of loss of consistency how a given situation will be handled.

[References: see Greyhawk References]

World Of Greyhawk

This entry contains comments Gary made about the published World of Greyhawk, how it came to be, what the inspirations and backgrounds were, what the plans were would he have remained in charge of it. He himself switched to using that world setting then from the real-world map based one he had used for his home campaign, and set the published modules he wrote and tested for his home campaign there, too. The writeup on Wikipedia provides an excellent overview.

Creation of the World of Greyhawk

When I was asked by TSR to do my World of Greyhawk as a commercial product I was taken aback. I had assumed most DMs would far perfer to use their own world settings. Furthermore, as I was running a game with a large number of players involved, I really didn't want to supply themwith the whole world on a platter. I'll repeat here what has been told before;)

I found out the maximum map size TSR could produce, got the go-ahead for two maps of that size, then sat down for a couple of weeks and hand-drew the whole thing. After the maps were done and the features shown were named, I wrote up brief information of the features and states. Much of the information was drawn from my own personal world, but altered to fit the new one depicted on the maps.

Whatever came out from TSR regarding the World of Greyhawk up through 1985 was from me, with a bit of material added as filler coming from Frank Mentzer after I approved the work.  #1649

When I was asked to create a campaign setting for TSR to market, I did a new and compact "world"--that only in part, of course, as that was all I could fit onto the two maps allowed. So that became the World of Greyhawk. At that point my campaign play gradually moved from the amorphous "real" planet on which Greyhawk was located to the material one published by TSR. Being busy as ever, saving what amounted to duplicate labor was happily accepted. #160

Brian asked me to create a world setting for the A/D&D game as quickly as I could. I took him at his word. First I found out the maximum size map we could print, then hand-drew the double-sized map that appeared in the World of Greyhawk product. [35]

That entailed putting in the terrain features and names, names of states, location and names of major population centeres. The naming part was more work than was placing the map features. That took me about two weeks time. [35]

Writing the material for the whole was fairly easy, as I could look at what I had drawn and let my creative imagination have free reign. Of course having been a DM for many years by that time I was well aware of what sort of variety would please the gaming audience.It was also relatively easy to manage, because I purposely left much of the detail for individual DMs to insert, thus making the setting their own. [35]

As Darlene was working on printable version of the map, I went back and did a bit of further development and polishing to the ms., and that was that. A month of dedicted and constant attention to the project, and finished after about 250 hours work time. Frank Mentzer did some further development, adding his and my later material, for the boxed set version. [35]

I wasn't about to detail a whole bloody world :roll: Besides the amount of effort needed to do that, the time required was not acceptable. TSR wanted a world setting in a month. Thus I asked what the largest map size possible for us to produce was, hand-drew two continent-spanning maps, and while Darlene was converting one to a proper version, I wrote the explanatory material for the other, then did the same for the other map. [35]

As I had other things to do besides the world setting, I devoted myself to the completion of the work so as to be able to return to my other duties...not to mention that it was a project that I was much enthused about designing. [35]

There was no particular competitive reason for the urgency of the design. There was no particular marketing push planned by TSR for the product once it was completed. [35]

The WoG product as published by TSR came into being about two or three months before the date of its printing and sale. Brian said that a campaign setting was needed, so after ascertaining the maximum size map sheet we could have printed, I free-handed the land outlines on those two sheets of paper, used colored pencils to put in terrain features, located the cities, and made up the names for everything. That took me about 1 week. Then I went to work on the text while Darlene made prettier maps out of what I had done. Two or three weeks after the rough maps were done I turned over the text, as there was a big rush to get the product out. [35]

Design Principles

The World of Greyhawk setting was crafted to allow for individualization by DMs, of course, and so was as non-specific and vague in places where the DM was likely to have created his own material. I did intend to expand the world and do some area specifric modules--mostly at the edges of the Flanaess, but that wasn't to be... #4978

The relatively low level of NPCs, and the balance between alignments was done on purpose so as facilitate the use of the world setting by all DMs. With a basically neutral environment, the direction of the individual campaign was squarely in the hands of the DM running it. The Circle of Eight came into the setting when it seemed to me that my PCs were generally too powerful to remain in active play, and they were put into the mix for DMs to use in case they wanted to keep the setting from being dominated by Good or Evil, to a lesser extent Law or Chaos and even true Neutrality. That was done because to my way of thinking dominance by one alignment group tends to restrict the potential for adventuring. #1649

In regards to the timeline for the WoG setting, I had no immediate plan for advancing it as the world was meant to be used by all DMs so desirous, each making it conform to his own campaign needs.

Any special changes added to the setting in "the future" would have been done in modular form so as to be optional. #7346

Decreeing major wars in the Flanaess would have been quite contrary to the design philosophy behind the WoG. It was a template for use by DMs to use in developing their own campaigns based in the milieu. The various alliances and hostilities were set forth, but where they went was meant for each DM to determine as suited his own creative application of the base information. That said, I did indeed find the concept of FtA quite inappropriate #7745

Age of great Sorrow was meant to be the time of the migrating tribes into the Flanaess, as the Oeridians destroyed the older culture and society. I believe I meant the Turmoil Between Crowns to be the time when the Great Kingdom arose. As you likely suspected, those were hooks left for further development...that never got developed.

Inspiration for the World of Greyhawk

Of course a good deal of my wargaming experience, knowledge of history and geography and use of such in other projects came into play in creating the map and the states on it. [35]

Inspiration came from much rading, map making, writing of historical and game materials, and the necessity of producing something that would be lots of fun for everyone. Imagination and creative thought then took over... [35]

Switching to the published Version

Of course as my campaign world was active, had many players, I did not wish to detail it, so I created Aerth, the continent of Oerick, and all that went with it for general use by other DMs. I found I liked it so well that I switched my group's play to the World of Greyhawk soon after I had finished the maps and manuscript. #5479

When I did the map for the World of Greyhawk product I made up 90% of the material on the spot...and liked it better than what I had been doing so switched my own campaign to the newly created world of Oerth. Only the places surrounding the City of Greyhawk came from my original campaign setting. #8253

When I switched to Oerik as the main continent, most of the putdoor adventuring took place to the east and up north around the big lakes. A couple of years back a group from Tennessee visited, and I designed an adventure for them that would indeed take them from Greyhawk all the way west of Zeif, looking for a haunted city there. After eight hours they'd not made it much further that Rel Mord, so that was the end of the adventure. Pity... #3218

Gazetteer

Flanaess: "Flan-AeCE," the stressed syllable almost sounding "ace," the "Ae" like "Ay" perhaps. #1439

Nyr Dyv: "Nir Div," with a punning "Near Dive" when PCs were about to be immersed.

The Egg of Coot is a creation of Dave Arneson's. He has stated that it was drawn from the name of Gregg Scott, a chap who disdained fantasy as "unmanly"--as opposed to the micro-scale armored fighting vehicles he manufactured and purveyed. #3316

The Blackmoor on the Oerick maps is certainly not the same as Dave Arneson's campaign setting. I liked its ring, so put it onto the map as I was making up names for the various states.

Furyondy is sort of an idealized medieval Great Britain with the Norman influence. [35]

The Yeomanry is the idealized English countryside, including the Lowlands of Scotland. [35]

Perrenland is based on the Swiss Confederation where both my father and Jeff Perren's were born [35]

South Province would be Austria, Hungary, or Bulgaria. [GenCon 1998 seminar]

Think of the Great Kingdom as en empire, Aerdi as the core. It is the Great Kingdom because it rules all the other parts outside of Aerdi, just as Great Britain was and is more than England. [35]

Aerdi has Gothic architecture, BTW, while the Great Kingdom has Byzantine... [35]

As the one that conceptualized the character of Ivid V, Overking, I assure you he is demented, malign, and thoroughly evil. Think of the Emperor John Ominer in The Broken Lands by Fred Saberhagen, and then make the mental image more vile and scheming. [35]

With the sad news of Fred Saberhagen's passing fresh in my mind, I must say that the Great Kingdom I pictured as akin to John Ominer's Empire of the East. #7762

[Duchy of Tenh] As I never was privy to any campaign material that was created by Dave, I simply used a name similar to that which had been mentioned by him. #1672

I had the Sulhaut Mountains as the "Lost world" setting in my compaign, although we never did much of anything there as events kept the PCs bust elsewhere. (I wanted to do something fun with the 'Rift as well, but never got there. #3941

As I wrote it Rel Astra is the capital city of the See of Medigia--named for a wargame opponent of mine, BTW, than no one has ever asked about or picked up on, Mike Magida. Perhaps I made the error, or more likely a busy editor inserted the "free city" tab for Rel Astra. One can live with a free city as a capital, of course. London was a free city and the capital of England. [35]

The spell-worker ruling the Valley of the Mage was envisioned by me as a demi-urge in retirement rather akin to Tom Bombadil. #8299

Rift Canyon I alweays envisioned the Roftcanyon as a twilight place full of dangers reminiscent of REH's "Red Nails" short story...plus caves and caverns. There are many ledges and caves along the way down, and one is fortuitous indeed to reach the perils that await at the bottom [27]

[Nerof Gaskal] It is just a name I made up, one that seemed suitable for the persona it identified. Actually, it was inspired by the name of a chap that ran a local butcher shop here in Lake Geneva, Frank Gascal. I suppose that I am attempting to emulate Jack Vance in regards character names. [35]

Peoples

The Flan were not meant to be anything like the American Indians. they were of Hamatic-like racial origin, Negroes if you will. Little is known of them because they were generally absorbed into the waves of other peoples immigrating eastwards through the continent, so their culture was generally lost. #2800

You are correct in regards the Paynims, they being much like the Tiger and Wolf Nomads. All three do have some medium cavalry. The Paynims do not have the long-distance signalling, but have ambush skill. [35]

Additional Continents 

The exact form of the remainder of the globe was not settled upon. I wanted an Atlantis-like continent, and possibly a Lemirian-type one. Likely two large continents would have been added. The nearest would house cultures akin to the Indian, Burmese, Indonesian, Chinese, Tibetan, and Japanese. Another would likely have been the location of African-type cultures, including the Egyptian. A Lemurian culture would have been based off the Central and South American cultures of the Aztec-Mayay-Inca sort.#1094

Yes indeed, Frank spoke truth. As I have said before I did intend to expand the WoG setting to cover the complete planet. In that regard Len Lakofka, Francois Marcela Froideval, and Frank Mentzer were all to be involved in the shape of the added continents and islands. #1992

I had a sketch map of the remainder of the globe, to the east, west, north and south of Oerik. I had planned to have Len Lakofka and Francois Marcela Froideval do parts of the entire world, but that was coming after 1985. So as far as things now stand, there is no remainder of the WoG beyond the original two maps I did. #3699

Len Lakofka had an eastern continental addition as well as the Lendore Isles, so what Iplanned to so was incorporate Francois' and Len's maps with Oerik, complete the lower continent below it, and have a real globe #2819

[Chronicles of the Black Moon] Yes, and yes. His area of Oerth was located to the west, and it included the island of Mephreton.

The would would be a complete globe with more continents and states thereon with contributions from Len Lakofka and Francois Marcela-Froideval. #1082

Pantheon

Only after I had completed the last of the core rules books for AD&D was there time for me to address growing audience interest in the World of Greyhawk and its deities. When the version of that setting was ready for publication, the need for a more detailed pantheon of deities was apparent, so that's when the details were set down. That made Len Lakofka happy too, for I brought in the deities he had been using for his campaign #2732

Pantheons of deities are the usual in authored fantasy, and they suit a role-playing game in that genre well. That is why I adopted the concept so as to have a reason for and empower the clerics in the game.

The World of Greyhawk deities came directly from my creative imaginings, or those of a few others such as Len Lakofka and Roger Moore. #5580

Boccob is a deity, and archmagi are basically mortals or demi-deities. [35]

Erythnul was conceived of a bloody, Nerull as dark and against life. #1762

Erythnul was my conception, and it was inspired by need in the pantheon being created, and the "Demon of Blood & Seed" from Hindu mythology provided the conceptual basis for one of his capabilities.

Kelanan, the Sword Lord, was something I made up out of whole cloth. I do have a fighter PC that kept finding magic swords, totes a number of them around, so there was some inspiration involved from there--he needed a deity [35]

I created the name "Lolth" as a name that seemed "right" for a spider-like demoness. I was not thinking of the mythical Lilith when I made up that name.[35]

Wastri, ah, a favorite of mine. His original appearance was in an early, never fully published (rightfully so) novel called THE GNOME CACHE. In withdrawing to the marshes to live a life of contemplation, Wastri found only that he loves batrachians, that hunting small demi-humans with giant toads was amusing sport, and the only enlightment he received was from the first used to roast prey taken. Perhaps it was a comment on extreme conceits of religious sort.... #341

The giant toads are the steeds of the followers of Wastri, the Hopping Prophet, certainly of Oerth and the pantheon of the Flanaess. #5351

As for Bit T, well, I decided a really nasty and wholly evil deity was needed, so I created Tharizdun from whole cloth. When I wrote the FToT I had that in mind, and from there I developed him into what I hope is a truly dispicable entity. #383

No, the Elder Elemental God I envisaged as an entity of vaguely Chronos-like sort, a deity of great power but of chaotic sort, and not always highly clever in thought and action. Big T on the other hand is the epitome of pure, reasoning and scheming evil. / Eclavrdra, being more of the mold of Tharizdun, would prefer to have as "master" a powerful deity she might hope to influence, thus the EEG. #683

Len deserves the lion's share of the credit, and blame if any, for the Suel deities. I simply did a bit of editing of his work. #8733

Actually many of the Suel, Wee Jas included, were the creation of Len Lakofka #5411

As the deity under consideration here was an invention of Len Lakofka, I can't speak to the source for his creative thinking or to the matter of how her name is pronounced...other than to note that Len said "Wee-Jaz," with a slight stress on the first syllable. #1970

Olidammara is a creation of my own that Len added to his pantheon. #8741

Actually, I can vaguely remember what I envisioned for said deity, Dorgha Torgu. He was based on the Mongolian, so picture a Ghengis Khan-like warrior with a head similarone of the Chinese "General" deities--oni-like, dark blue or bright red, with bulging eyes and protruding tusks and fangs. Garments like those worn by the Mongol leaders, weapons also. [35]

I did the quasi-deities late in the game, so to speak, so only minimal use of them was made by me in the campaign. As the higest level PCs were then in the Evil alignment, they were not at all interested in seeking our such quasi-deities...and getting their butts kicked. [35]

Further Plans had Gary remained in charge of TSR

Had I remained in creative control of the D&D game line at TSR one of the projects I planned was the complete development of of the Oerth world setting, and production of source modules for the various states and outstanding features of the Flanaess--such as the Rift Canyon, the Sea of Dust, etc. #6511

There would be several WoG sourcebooks detailing places such as the Great Kingdom, the "Barbarians (Frost, ice, Snow)," etc.

A major module would be done regarding the area around the Rift and the place proper. Another dealing with the Sea of Dust would be done. Possibly adventures regarding the Scarlet Brotherhood and the Horned Society would be available. Likely a couple of more from Len and Francois would be in the line.

There would be some "portal accessed" adventures, these likely found in a series of modules detailing more of the Underdark and the Sunless Sea. The portals would lead to non-fantasy-genre settings.

In all, for every question answered regarding the world, at least one new one would be created and left unanswered, for my purpose was to have a world that the DM could complete and customize as suited his group.

In all likelihood Castle Greyhawk and the City of Greyhawk would be available products.

That's it off the top of my head--first time I've actually gone to such detail in considering what I would likely have done. #1082

Interestingly, the City of Greyhawk was published as a boxed set by TSR, not the real city, of course, with a nice map, and I bought it, but found it pretty unplayable. A lot of background info, but no outlines of adventures or intrigutes that players could be sucked into.

Yes, when I devised the Scarlet Brotherhood I based the concept on an organization of monks who were augmented by assassins and clerics, with a large number of fighters around, of course.

Most of the play in my campaign was around the Nyr Dyv and westwards. Thus the Brotherhood's machinations were not central to the action. I was planning to do a module to two featuring them, but that didn't happen, so I have no detailed plots regarding them and their conspiricies. As with many places on the continent of Oerik, they were there for use as needed, a tool for the DM #1433

While I am much impressed with the Australian Aboriginies, and also with the Bushmen of Africa, I never contemplated adding them to the mix simply because their cultures are so far from those used as bases for the milieux of Oerth adventuring. The amount of work necessary to establish the groundwork for play therein would be rather daunting, both for the author and the DM utilizing the material. It would be a simpler matter to manage it for the LA game system, but for D&D I can foresee all manner of lengthy additions to the rules being necessary. BTW, by D&D, I am speaking broadly, and mean AD&D as well. #1131

Stoink, "The Wasps' Nest" as it were. The whole place was designed for feloneous activity, double-dealing, and thuggery. It saddened me a lot to have to forget further development, as was the case with Shadowland and a couple of areas of the Flanaess I had hoped to set adventure modules in--the Rift, Scarlet Brotherhood, and the jungles of Hepmonoland in particular. #4754

Shadowland was a module that Skip williams and I were in process of writing when the trouble came and I left TSR. I suggested thereafter that we complete the work, but Skip demurred. No more need be said... #4355

An agathocacological plane of insubstantial stuff has always fascinated me since I began contemplating additional realms. So the shadows from A. Merritt's Creep Shadow, Creep novel were included in the AD&D game, and new and similar monsters added to the projected plane betweem light and darkness. Skip Williams was going to co-author a long adventure module and sourcebook for the place, but he decided to remain a loyal employee of Lorraine Williams instead. I have my notes, but his are amongst them, so doing such a work now is pretty much unlikely. #8264

[References: see Greyhawk References]

Managing Play Group Dynamics

This blog has endless pages on the more technical aspects of role playing games. But role playing games are played by people -- often slightly nerdy, sometimes socially awkward or immature people. There will be differences in opinion and interpersonal issues you will need to sort out to ensure a good experience for all involved, or the group will fall apart, and the game will end.

The Angry DM has a lot of good and practical advise on this. Here is some by Gygax:

As the principal reason to play a game is entertainment, whatever best provides that for the group engaged in play of the game is what is best for those concerned. What more can be said in that regard?

It needs be noted that the GM is a part of the group and needs to be equally amused and entertained, perhaps a bit more than any other single person therein because of his efforts on behalf of the players. #4329

The DM is there to provide entertainment to the players.You are surely a very consciencious DM, maybe too much so. First, you are at least as important as any other participant, so you must have fun too, or something is wring. If you aren't always having fun, likely someone, or several someones, in the group is causing a problem. Weed out such person or persons, and you and the remainder of the players will likely find the game sessions are uniformly enjoyable. #4951

The DM is omnipotent. You might try to plead your case, especially one of rule interpretation and altering action because of the difference, but if he doesn't want to listen, you loose, Buckwheat! Zip your lip and accept with stoic grace. Should this spoil your gaming enjoyment, thell your DM exactly what is bothering you. If an accommodation can be reached, fine. If not, leave the group and find a DM that is more acceptable to your concept of how one should be. In such case I am sure the DM won't miss you nor you him #7893

I have given the PCs damage for players arguing with me or disrtupting the game.[35]

When a player or players became obstreperous I simply rolled a d6 and informed the miscreants that their PCs had suffered that much damage. Unless they wanted more of the same, all misconduct had to cease. I did roll several d6 damage for a couple of very unruly and rebellious young players. When asked why their characters were taking such damage, I said beacuse they had offended the rest of the group, me in particular, and if they wished to play further they had better note the damage, be silent, and mind their manners. [35]

[References: see Greyhawk References]

Castle Zagyg

This is the only version of Greyhawk Castle authored by Gary Gygax that was partially published.

He had had plans to publish a dungeon that captured the essential elements of the various incarnations of Greyhawk Castle, and as he was public on blogs at the time, he shared some of those plans for what he had in mind. The project took longer than expected, Rob Kuntz dropped out and, sadly, Gary died before he could get it done. It is almost as if there was a curse on it. 

I do not understand why he spent years first detailing a small town as a base of operations, when in his own campaign, Greyhawk City only came into ephemeral being after several levels of play in the dungeon. We might well have more levels had he not done that. 

Embedding The Last Castle in the Milieu

The castle and dungeons are separate and "pure", will not be missed when using the campaign setting or require the campaign setting to be used, all the while forming a natural part of the entire Castle Zagyg work. #4414

So as those 24 modules were in progress the similar detailing of the actual abandoned castle ruins and its subterranean levels went into high gear, basing the work on my previous castle ruins and dungeons developed and revised as my campaign matured...and PCs wreaked havoc in these places #8744

Yggsburgh and the City of Dunfalcon

In order to get to the castle and ruins I thought it best to establish a detailed environment and good-sized community for the setting. Thus Castle Zagyg Yggsburgh and the East Mark. Of course, detailing the big walled town by dividing it into quarters or districts, mapping each and showing the buildings with encounter key numbers and text, giving a bit of color for the sector to assist the GM--and doing the same for the suburban communities--then seemed beneficial in order to give a really detailed urban area. To the best of my knowledge that has not been done previously. #8744

Yggsburgh and its environs are well detailed, but they are sufficiently generic to enable the GM to put them into almost any campaign setting. the area is not specific to any world setting, even that of Greyhawk. [11]

Yggsburgh is a town, not meant to be anything like the Free City of Greyhawk. It is smaller and not near any huge lake #4529

The smaller scale of the Yggsburgh project is to facilitate the presentation of the ruins of Castle Zagyg and its many dungeon levels. As it is likely that there will be a good deal of adventuring activity in the town and surrounding countryside, the urban area has been extensively detailed, while the less-developed land around it has been well-described and provided with additional adventure hooks as befits such a setting. #8279

To make a long explanation short, the introductory portion of the module covers that, placing Yggsburgh on the River Nemo running some miles distant to a major city named Dunfalcon that is on the shore of a large lake... #2416

Literaly translated, dun = gray and a falcon is a type of hawk... #4902

Environs

"This module is large in content but the area of land it covers is relatively small, a bit less than 1,500 square miles, an area of some 44 miles east and west, 34 north and south. With some inclusion of areas “off the map,” that size is sufficient for much adventuring but should be small enough, at most perhaps 3,000 or so square miles if all the border areas described in the adventure text are included, to fit into the campaign world, whatever one is used by the Game Master. The area is likewise suitable to serve as the core for building a complete new campaign world around it should that be desired, a major undertaking to be sure, and not a subject for further discussion here." #2416

The River Nemo could be considered as the Neen, and the Urt river likewise one seen on the World of Greyhawk map. there is also the City of Dunfalcon some miles west to Yggsburgh. The area covered by the Yggsburgh work is up to about 3K square miles if the GM expands the map himself so as to take in the demesnes of the three hostile nobles and the borderlands. That is a miniscule area considering the Flanaess, and yet within it there are hundreds of adventures--given and postulated. The cultural and social information in the work are manifold, meat and drink for the GM inclined to develop detailed material for the campaign. #4488

Rob is working on the second part now, a dungeon-like area that introduces the Mad Archmage before he attained deital prowess.  #2064 

This has been published as Dark Chateau, but has little to do with Greyhawk Castle. 

A Huge Undertaking 

It is, as you suppose, a very major undertaking, the restatement of some 50 or so upper castle and dungeon levels into a module usable by other GMs, with clear and easily read links between levels, fully detailed encounters, instructions as to how some of the "mysteries" of the material can be managed according to the desires of the individual GM.  #4414

There are four man-years of work needed to complete the castle levels and dungeons. If we begin work soon, the first part should be ready in a year, with more coming in the way of additional modules every three months thereafter for about two and a half years. I am not sure when i will be able to commence that work, though, and as I must have the lead, that means Rob can't do anything until I feed him the basic material. [11] 

He vastly underestimated how long it would take him. Six years or so later he had not progressed further than the first level. 

A module containing many dungeon levels is perforce huge, a very lengthy and demanding project is properly planned out. The only time I have done a mega-dundeon was for my gaming group. Of course a version of that work in now underway, and it includes the upper castle works as well as many subterranean levels. [11]

The whole of the combined material Rob and I put together would be far too large for publication, 50 levels or so. What I have done is gone back to my original design of more modest scope, because I doubt the work will need to accommodate groups of 20 PCs delving on a daily basis.  #1628

The Castle Was Only Written Up in Sketchy Notes, Most of It Was Improvised

As Rob learned from me, he too DMed by the proverbial seat of the pants method. A single line of notes for an encounter was sufficient for either of us to detail a lengthy description, action, dialog, tricks or traps, and all the rest. As this is not the stuff of modules, we will have to do the same thing as we go over each encounter on the map, actually recording our otherwise extemporized details for the reader. #1628

This will be a lot of work, as we both used very sketchy encounter notes, a single line was typical, for "winging' was the favored approach to all adventures. #1643

That means a lot more text and explanation, for I winged encounters, and as Rob learned from me, so did he.   #1995

Rob and I both DMed on the fly, made only short and often cryptic notes, and thought very much alike, so handing the "castle" back and forth as co-DMs was never a problem. The old material would be basically unusable my most others, of course, encounter notes consisting of only one line from which we created reams of information out of whole cloth on the spot;  #4414

Now you understand why the Castle Zagyg project is such a major design undertaking. If we handed over the binders containing the maps and the notes don't think even the ablest of DMs would feel empowered to direct adventures using the materials...unless that worthy was someone who had spent many hours playing with Rob and me as DM.  #4660

The Castle Was Changed By Play and Reconstructions

To be frank, the castle changed over the years, so "original" is moot. As levels were added by me, new and different things were introduced. When after a couple of year's of time Rob became my co-DM there was a massive alteration in the upper works of the castle, a whole, massive new 1st level was created, and then the level plan for the expanded lower levels of the dungeon was created anew, with the original levels of my making incorperated with those of Rob's dungeons, plus a number of new ones we created to fill the whole scheme. #1628

The maps will have to be re-drawn from originals. The latter were altered as we merged dungeons, and as PCs interacted with the complex. At one time Robilar, Tenser, and Terik converted the first level of the dungeons to their base. In short the original upper and lower parts of Castle Greyhawk changed many times over the years they were in active use.  #1628

Additionally, as that complex was explored and exploited, we created new levels and changed things. In all, the original work was one that was in progress, continually in flux of change.  #1995

The New Work Will Be a BEST OF in the Spirit of the Old Castles

The most interesting and demanding features of levels will be retained.  #1628

What we will do is to take the best of the lot and put that into a detailed format usable by anyone, no "winging-it' required. Note that it is "Zagyg's Castle", so no tedious explanations of how the denizens of the place got there will be needed. #1628

Again, what our challenge is going to be is to cull the extraneous, take the best, and re-create the details we made up on the spot. Of course the most famous things will be there, along with most of the best parts that are not well-known through story and word of mouth.  #1628

The salient features of the original dungeons will be retained, of course. If the work proves to be sufficiently popular we can always supplement the base with add-ons too, just as we did with the campaign material through opening new split and side levels, placing transporters into dungeon areas to move PCs to separate adventure areas akin to those published as separate modules--DUNGEONLAND, LAND BEYOND THE MAGIC MIRROR, and ISLE OF THE APE. #1643

The major features from the original levels he and I designed will be included in the re-design of the castle, just as my original work was incorporated into the huge new dungeon complex Rob and I created by combining our respective castles.  #1995

We will do our best to make the printed version not only true to the spirit of the underlying material, but also accommodating for GMs who wish to have "living" dungeons.   #1995

Our mission is to keep the number of levels presented to a reasonable quantity while covering all the major places and features of the original models. #2064

Of course into the new maps will go the most interesting and remarkable features of the original dungeons Rob and I did separately or jointly. #3249  

So we need to do a lot of re-working and explanatory material even as we reduce the sprawling levels into a more managable and publishable form. As we do that we will most assuredly retrain all of the best material--map ideas, encounters, oddities, and so forth within the revised level plans.  #4414

Meantime, I am collecting all the most salient feature, encounters, tricks, traps, etc. for inclusion on the various levels. So the end result will be what is essentially the best of our old work in a coherent presentation usable by all DMs, the material having all the known and yet to be discussed features of the original work that are outstanding..I hope #4660

None of the traps were such that clever play could avoid their worst effects. I'll say nothing more, as Rob and I are working on updated dungeon levels now that are based off of those original ones you mention above. The whole will not consist of as many levels as we had, but there will be plenty [11]

 

I think this last one is meant to say the opposite: that clever play could NOT avoid worst effects, which would be in line with Garys believe that clever play should be rewarded.

The Final Castle Would have Been Similar to the Old Castle, Smaller than the Merged Castle

Of course, the expanded work's multiple levels will have to be cut back. Having six second level maps is not only impossible for a published work but quite unnecessary for a normal campaign.

Remember, when Castle Greyhawk was in its heyday, groups of 10 or more PCs would adventure in it several times a week, many of the players in each group different from the previous ones. #1628

In short, we'll cut the size back to something in the range of 20 levels, a bit larger than my original work but a lot smaller than the combined material Rob and I used to entertain player groups of 10-20 persons several times a week. #1643

Quantifyng will eat up much time and space, not to mention the re-drafting of old level maps to fit the new configuration we have outlined. #1643

We will use my original scheme of the dungeons, altering them as need be for coherant presentation to a general audience of GMs.  #1995

The original material for the castle and dungeon levels beneath it will be revised and detailed using the old maps and encounter notes. That is the most difficult part of the prohect, as we will have to work from my model of 13 levels, that expanded to about 20 by me, then to over 40 when Rob joined forces with me as co-DM.  #2064

There will be "side levels" that are difficult to find too. #3249 

I have laid out a new schematic of castle and dungeon levels based on both my original design of 13 levels plus sideadjuncts, and the "New Greyhawk Castle" that resulted when Rob and I combined our efforts and added a lot of new level too. From that Rob will draft the level plans for the newest version of the work. #4660

Plan of the layout

from mail by Gary forwarded by Steve Chenault

Part III Upper Works - Castle Ruins

Part IV Beneath the Ground (first three levels)

Part V  The Laboratories, Menagier, Museum (five levels)

Part VI The Deeps (six levels)

Part VII The Caverns - grotto, maze (six levels)

Part VIII Zagig's Way - Lightless Lake, Inferno (three levels) [Numbers below added]

• 1 Storerooms
• 2 Cellars
• 3 Dungeon
• Arena
• 4 Laboratories
• 5 Menagerie
• 6 Museum 
• Catacombs
• Upper Crypts - access Lower Crypts
• 7 Lairs 
• Lower Crypts 
• 8 Labyrinth 
• Warrens  - access from the Labyrinth, accessing the Lower Crypts above, the Vaults below
• 9 Endless Rooms 
• Grand Mausoleum - no entry to the Vaults
• Vaults - no entry to either Endless Rooms or Mausoleum
• 10 Maze
• 11 Grottos (small caves) 
• Pools of Chaos*, normal connections Burrows and Caverns, transporter pools to various other dungeon level locations on a one-way basis.
• 12 Caves 
• Burrows - connecting to the level below, and Caverns
• 13 Caverns
• 14 Lightless Lake
• 15 Little Inferno
• 16 Zagyg's Zone (or some such name).

The Floor Plans Would have been Made New

The plan is to create entirely new maps, so none of the areas in the castle and dungeons will ever have been previously explored. #3249 

Of course there won't be transporter gates to existing modules, but we will probably have them with suggested destinations. #4516

The Storerooms, level 1 of the dungeon, seem to be embedded in a new "mouths of madness" and upper works setting, but they seem to match very closely the map of the old first level of the expanded dungeon, matching descriptions on many points, and matching an older map. So I think, alternations and adjustments to the maps would have been minor.

Mysteries Would Have Remained Mysteries

Finally, we will not give all away. Where there are great mysteries involved, such as the Great Stone Face and the Disappearing Jeweled Man, we plan to offer the GMs several possible answers :D Overall, the PCs adventuring in the dungeons will encounter the same challenges as faced the original delvers in 1972 and onwards, that Robilar discovered and Mordenkainen met. #1995

Rob Dropping Out 

As Rob adventured a lot in my original castle, I in his, and we also co-DMed groups, we knew each others style, and what the castle should "feel" like, what the mysterious areas were all about, etc.

Working without him means I have to a great deal additional explanatory material for the growing list of special encounters I have on hand, expend a lot of time communication with another writer or team of same, carefully content edit each piece of the project. #6182

As a matter of fact, Rob Kuntz and I have parted company since he reneged on his agreement to co-develop the Castle Zagyg campaign project material, doing so in a most ungentlemanly manner. I was taken aback at that since he originally approached me to do the work and then agreed to terms set forth in a written agreement, accepted an advance payment. All I can assume is that he is going through some rough personal times. [11]

Large parts of the text actually written by Stephen Chenault of Troll Lord Games

When I was developing Castle Zagyg for Gary, I was unabashed in my efforts to include CAS elements to the whole, including Tsathoggua-like gargoyles in the ruins in front of the castle; also, in "The Storerooms" a certain sorcerer who sequestered himself behind a series of illusions, and if the illusions were overcome (I'm looking at you, Ro(a)bilar!"), the sorcerer would place a geas on the intruders, directing them to confront the hill giant of the Storerooms (which could be an insurmountable task for low level PCs); and lastly (to my recollection), in the basement of the castle proper their was a summoning chamber carved of yellow ivory. Well, these are the CAS elements that immediately spring to mind, and Gary was not opposed to any of these, though I think he may have passed (i.e. post March 2008) before I developed the yellow ivory summoning chamber. Anyway, he may not have been as big a CAS fan as Rob is, but he certainly did not dislike him. [42.5, CAS = Clark Ashton Smith, RJK's favourite fantasy author]

[References: see Greyhawk References]