Day Four - Holy Christmas!
Before we get to today's main event, there is a prize I must award here at The Tavern:
Steven Wells - email me at tenkarsDOTtavern at that gmail thing and I'll get that $10 RPGNow GC to you.
So, what does Jolly Tenkar and the Lesser Gnome have for you today?
Death & Taxes
Not just any Death & Taxes mind you, but THEE Collector's Version of Death & Taxes
Just like the one pictured below:
Let me attest to a simple fact. Once you open the box you'll never get all the shit back in. It's packed tighter then... something. It's like a Box of Holding or a Portable Hole, but the charge wears off after you open it ;)
Edit - the Lesser Gnome will ship to Canada and Europe
You need to follow the link to the Lesser Gnome webpage and follow the instructions. Already have a copy? The Lesser Gnome has you covered. Want to buy a copy? The Lesser Gnome has some bonuses in store for you.
Well, what are you waiting for?
Oh, and if comment on this very post here at The Tavern and answer the following question - What... does Gygaxian mean to you? (the answer matters less than your creativity, but the gift receiver will still be chosen randomly ;) you'll have a chance to snag another $10 RPGNow GC. Entries close for the GC when the next OSR Christmas Post goes live - probably on Wednesday, as I'm working a double Monday into Tuesday.
Don't forget to click on the OSR Christmas pic in the upper right corner to bring you to all of the OSR Christmas posts. There are other offerings from earlier that are still collecting entries, so you may have a Very Merry OSR Christmas!
I think of the adjective normally around erudite language.
ReplyDeleteYep, I remember it was 1979 when I first saw and played Galaxian. Such a fun archade game and....what?.....who?....um....never mind.
ReplyDeleteEveryone refers to High Gygaxian, but where's the Low and Mittel Gygaxian? It's an interesting mix of florid and descriptive language, rules with varying degrees of constraint, and a certain wide-open feel despite the rules... Contradictory and obfuscatory in the best possible way, maybe that's what Gygaxian is to me.
ReplyDeleteGygaxian conjures up images of someone concerned with minutiae. The pole arms section of the AD&D manual comes to mind.
ReplyDeleteTo me, Gygaxian means big, bold, and verbose.
ReplyDeleteAny extremely deadly trap, puzzle, or predicament in a Dungeons & Dragons adventure. Named for Gary Gygax, creator of D&D and known to create some exceedingly lethal adventure modules, especially the traps. Oh yeah borrowed that from the Urban Dictionary, but it forgets the wonderful language Gygax used in the 1st ed. books.
ReplyDeleteGygaxian immediately conjures images of frail humans stomping through dark, cramped corridors towards something that they will die to. In a word: dungeon.
ReplyDeleteGygaxian? Wasn't that a video game in the 80's?
ReplyDeleteProse, Gygaxian, High
ReplyDeleteTo me Gygaxian refers to the old ways of gaming. Characters died and weird stuff happened. Adventuring as a character was full of fear and wonder because no one but the DM knew what a water weird was.
ReplyDeleteGygaxian? Why, the word is the very antithesis of woe! It is the scent of the DMG and the color of wood paneled-basements. Gygaxian was the language of the drow magocracy, who built dark fanes beneath shadowed ziggurats. It was the secret tongue of the sun-scorned servitors of Zuggtmoy, who carved twisting dungeons beneath the earth to hold their dragon-guarded treasures. It was the language of the runes carved on the shafts of the guisarmes, the bardiches, and the Bohemian ear-spoons.
ReplyDeleteIn short, the language of the Dungeon Master.
A Lethal adventure with death waiting around every corner for the unprepared or foolish.
ReplyDeleteA Lethal adventure with death waiting around every corner for the unprepared or foolish.
ReplyDeleteGygaxian means jumping into a Sphere of Annihilation in the Tomb of Horrors and loving every soul-crushing minute of it!
ReplyDeleteGygaxian to me means adventure, all of the dice and be clever or die.
ReplyDeleteGygaxian meens a roleplaying game with too many fiddly parts and independent game mechanics. But it was still fun as hell to play.
ReplyDeleteGygaxian means purple prose, great ideas, jumbled rules and fun.
ReplyDeleteGygaxian is that feeling you get when your are sitting at the table as an eleven-year-old and the DM says, "you are in the dungeon."
ReplyDeleteGygaxian is the waxing verbosity of the DMG, full of bon mots and much lexicological goodness.
ReplyDeleteBombastic prose and ecological considerations in fantastical venues. =)
ReplyDelete"Gygaxian" refers to the prose style we all had to work so hard to unlearn when we got into writing classes.
ReplyDeleteThere have been decades of people trying to put together an ecology of a fantasy world, where the existence of dragons makes logical sense. But Gygaxian ecology just "is." Although fairness dictates I should express "is" with multiple syllabic words largely gleaned from 20's to 50's pulp and fantasy fiction.
ReplyDeleteWhat... does Gygaxian mean to you? Generally something to be avoided. Not because it's intrinsically bad - I have very fond memories are of Greyhawk - but just because it comes with so much baggage. Somehow invoking Gygax is an invitation to argument. Meh. I just want to play.
ReplyDeleteGygaxian to me means a megadungeon adventure with sparse notes and lots of improvisation. Deadly and at times odd.
ReplyDeleteGygaxian means to me wordy detailed prose that makes you all warm inside. Because you have found your friends.
ReplyDeleteGygaxian used to mean exploring a dungeon that responded to what the players were looking for out of the adventure, both dangerous and fun.
ReplyDeleteNow I think it's moving into cursed territory where it starts out as something meaningful but ends up being corrupted by politics and greed.
To me, Gygaxian means it has a dias and bas relief.
ReplyDeleteGygaxian means that style of gaming/writing that makes it seem desirable to present a chart for the random generation of prostitute personalities that contains the words "doxy," "trollop," and "trull."
ReplyDeleteTo em, Gygaxian means needlessly complicated.
ReplyDeleteGygaxian has always symbolized the specific universe and ecology of AD&D and Greyhawk (as opposed to Forgotten Realms and other things) for me.
ReplyDeleteGygaxian (guy-gax-ian) -adjective - 1) an adjective used to add a hint of versimilitude about the world over just enough knowledge for it to sound plausible.
ReplyDeleteGygaxian - The Golden Age of RPGS. Where Dungeons are vast/expanding/dangerous and Dragons make even named level characters wet their britches. It is one of those words that makes seasoned gamers pause and pay respect to a man who revolutionized the imagination of Role Playing.
ReplyDeleteCrazy thesaurus written prose...sand boxes...nonsensical treasure piles on weird monsters unable to use it.
ReplyDeleteCrazy thesaurus written prose...sand boxes...nonsensical treasure piles on weird monsters unable to use it.
ReplyDeleteGyagaxian means first and last names with matching consonants. E.g. Bartolomeus Baxter, or Tin Tinabulous.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteIf I'm asked what Gygax's work is like, that's one thing, and close to the other answers. But the term Gygaxian itself will always be purple prose that sounds like a pulp author is writing stereo instructions. That sounds like a terrible idea, but it worked.
ReplyDeleteAnd since I'm rolling on each entry, d10/d6, high-low (a favorite roll because the curve isn't symmetrical): 2
Gygaxian means an focus on a lived in, evolving world with dungeon ecology and internal consistency that still somehow ends up with Flumphs half the time. That and canid - not reptilian - kobolds, despite the fact they lay eggs. And piercers. And cloakers. And Mimics. And . . . crap. Okay, okay! Wizards did it, alright! Melf and Tenser and those lot! JUST SHUT UP AND ROLL YOUR DICE!
ReplyDeletePlayer skill vs character skill
ReplyDeleteUntil Recently: Gygaxian = Pertaining to classical RPG mindsets and playing styles, ie, D&D and the OSR.
ReplyDeleteRecently: Gygaxian = Draconian tactics, ie, legal subterfuge.
What... does Gygaxian mean to me? That first night in college back in the fall of 1979 when four of us gathered around a table in the lounge and began playing this "cool new game." Only much later did I become aware we had ventured into B1. Gaming used to be like that, no one knew the details but the DM. Nowadays players start hammering Google with searches as soon as you blurt out the first description. That is NOT Gygaxian.
ReplyDeleteGygaxian - the term brings to mind images of an adventure which is not balanced around a party, but designed to be dangerous and make the players think or else suffer the consequences. Also, treasure hoards are designed so that you find the powerful magic item that works best against the monster that was guarding it. (Which is why it is always best to let the thief go in first to skim the magic from the trove before charging in blindly)
ReplyDeleteGygaxian, true old school gaming in the vein of OD&D through AD&D. Deadly encounters (save or die), no attempt at "balance". Live by your wits or die horribly. A thinking person's game.
ReplyDeleteGygaxian: Wand in the woodpile. Also, "the antithesis of weal"
ReplyDelete