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Message: <blockquote data-quote="T. Foster" data-source="post: 3289221" data-attributes="member: 16574">Tolkein was not a particularly big influence (and to the extent he was an influence, The Hobbit was moreso than LoTR) on Gygax, at least to hear him tell it;However, Tolkein was THE big (and in many cases only) influence on most of the both existing and potential fanbases for fantasy wargames in the 1970s;Therefore, Tolkein was an influence, but probably not the primary influence and certainly not the only influence, on D&D as published and as played (but not necessarily as envisioned or intended by its co-creator).It's an interesting idle speculation to wonder what would've happened had Gygax not (bowed to pressure/been such a savvy marketer) and not included Tolkein elements (or at least no as many and not as prominent Tolkein elements) in Chainmail and D&D -- would the game have still caught on in the same way it ultimately did? would Tolkein fans lamenting the absence of Tolkein-style fantasy in the game have just added it on their own (creating an even greater perception-gulf between "Gygax's D&D" and "everyone else's D&D" than what developed in real life) or would they instead create/play another more Tolkeinesque spin-off game (and if so would that game have ultimately challenged or even surpassed D&D in a way that MERP was never able to do in real life)?</blockquote>