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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Doug McCrae" data-source="post: 3906887" data-attributes="member: 21169">D&D has always taken ideas from whatever was current in gaming, fantasy and pop culture. Monks come from the TV show Kung Fu which ran from 72-75. Shambling Mounds are from 70s monster comics. The Soulknife in the XPH is derived from Psylocke of the X-Men. Tome of Battle was inspired by OTT wuxia and anime (and most probably the Streetfighter video game). Dragon Shaman and Knights were inspired by the shaman and warrior classes in WoW.It's never an exact copy though. D&D added its own elements such as multicoloured dragons and beholders. And the precise combination of stolen material combines to make something new.Just as Star Wars ripped off Jacky Kirby's Fourth World, Dambusters, republic serials and golden age sci-fi to create something original. Light saber style weapons existed in sci-fi pre-Star Wars. The most likely source seems to be an Asimov series of books from the 50s. And yet Star Wars made the light saber its own. No one would associate the concept with Asimov now. D&D has almost managed to do the same thing with Vancian magic.To some degree, 4e seems to be moving back to traditional mythological and folkloric concepts with its devils as fallen angels and the Feywild (though you could argue that Birthright's Shadow World is the initial source) but there will be a lot of late 3e elements too - fighters who can do more than just hit things, monsters that change halfway through the encounter.All in all I'd say its business as usual for D&D as far as inspiration is concerned.</blockquote>

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