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Message: [QUOTE="lunacity, post: 68180, member: 36814"] I used to believe that Gygax was downplaying the influence of Tolkien on D&D for legal reasons, but after reading most of the works listed in Appendix N I came to the opposite conclusion - everyone else is vastly overstating how much of Tolkien is in D&D. The Tolkien-derived elements are actually quite superficial; removing halflings, rangers and LoTR monsters doesn't change the nature of the game. D&D draws far more from picaresque fantasy adventures and pulp fiction - Poul Anderson, Robert E. Howard, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Fritz Leiber, and of course, Jack Vance. Vance and Leiber, especially, read more like novelized D&D adventures than the actual licensed D&D novels - and with Vance, especially, D&D's character would be quite different. Gary actually wrote Jack Vance to ask his permission to use his spells and magic items. Vancian casting also makes much more sense after reading Tales of the Dying Earth! I also believe you're being quite harsh on OD&D - it was the first of its kind. The organization is a mess, but it's a collection of playtested houserules put together by amateur wargamers that had to create everything with typewriters, photocopiers, and literal cutting and pasting. There's also an active OD&D community over at [URL]https://odd74.proboards.com/[/URL] - it still has its adherants. [/QUOTE]

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