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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Dungeoneer" data-source="post: 6256379" data-attributes="member: 91777">I just finished Chapter 2, which explores the literary fantasy influences of the first edition of D&D. In typical Jon Peterson fashion, this includes a survey of the entire canon of Western fantasy literature. My major complaint here is Peterson's attempt to find a literary precursor to just about every class, monster, power and item. At one point he scratches his head over the fact that there are few literary antecedents for the way D&D treats magic rings as sources of protective magic. What, Gary Gygax couldn't have an original idea or come up with something out of his own head to fill a mechanical niche? Obviously Gygax and Arneson were heavily influenced by literary fantasy but that doesn't mean that EVERYTHING in the game comes from a book. I was interested to learn that Arneson's Blackmoor campaign used a component-based magic system totally different from the highly incomplete 'Vancian' system that showed up in the first edition of D&D. I think it's quite a pity that Arneson didn't have more influence over Gygax in this regard as his system sounds much more interesting to me. I find the entire Vancian magic system to feel extremely gamist. Furthermore, almost no fantasy works besides 'The Dying Earth' use a system that is remotely similar. I don't know why Gygax decided to model his magic rules on such an obscure source. I think that D&D players only accept Vancian casting because it was their 'first magic system'. Seen from the outside, one might be inclined to question it.</blockquote>

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