2 ms·
"The most immediate influences upon ADBD were probably de Camp & Pratt, REH, Fritz Leiber, Jack Vance, HPL, and A. Merritt;" I'm not familiar with most of thes
by AtlasBarfed 5y ago
"The most immediate influences upon ADBD were probably de Camp & Pratt, REH, Fritz Leiber, Jack Vance, HPL, and A. Merritt;"
I'm not familiar with most of these, but it seems to me AD&D is basically entirely Tolkien aside from the level and pervasive nature of magic. The monster manual seems the biggest giveaway.
The races (halflings instead of hobbits, the elves are 99% tolkien elves), overall tech level and setting, etc are straight Tolkien.
Can anyone comment as to how much the other authors used the same tropes for elves / orcs / dragons / etc?
Edit: As mentioned above, Vancian magic, and the Tolkien lawsuit/complaints would explain the de-emphasis.
Also, I second the "Stan Lee" component.
Also, what are the EL comics referenced in App.N?
- wolverine876 5y agoRemember that Tolkien was a scholar in Medieval languages and also studied more modern folklore to some degree, and drew much material from those sources. Some elements in D&D might come from the same sources or from more recent writers who drew from the same myths. That is, similarities between D&D and Tolkien are not all due to Tolkien's influence. While Tolkien is clearly an influence, there are many, many others too; to a degree AD&D seems to me to be a collection of all the myths Gygax knew or found. There is much in the Monster Manual that isn't in Tolkien (the medusa, demons and devils, etc.). Apparently some creatures in the Monster Manual came from a bag of plastic toys, which the authors used for inspiration and created backstories.