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The Modern History of the Fantasy Fireball
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<blockquote data-quote="talien" data-source="post: 7718606" data-attributes="member: 3285"><p>The <em>fireball </em>is a staple of <em>Dungeons & Dragons-</em>style magic that clearly distinguishes its modern wargaming roots from the fantasy dress it adopted. As such, the history of the <em>fireball </em>spell is a history of D&D itself.</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center">[ATTACH=full]113433[/ATTACH]</p><h3><strong>The Fireball Fantasy</strong></h3><p>Where did the concept of a <em>fireball </em>come from? The <em>fireball </em>has little grounding in fantasy literature, particularly J.R.R. Tolkien's or Jack Vance's works, which were all influential on D&D's evolution. There are some <em>fireball</em>-esque descriptions however. Delta attributes two sources for <em>fireballs </em>in "<a href="http://deltasdnd.blogspot.com/2011/07/more-fireballs.html" target="_blank">More Fireballs.</a>" The first is R.E. Howard's "The Scarlet Citadel" published in 1933:</p><p></p><p>Jon Peterson identifies a possible movie source from 1939 in <a href="http://amzn.to/2k9EyHO" target="_blank"><em>Playing at the World</em></a>:</p><p></p><p>Delta also posits another movie reference, that of Tim the Enchanter in <em>Monty Python and the Holy Grail</em>:</p><p></p><p>That said, the movie debuted in 1975, too late to be the origin of the D&D <em>fireball </em>but certainly going a long way to normalize trigger-happy wizards in fantasy.</p><h3><strong>Fireball in Miniature</strong></h3><p><em>Fireball</em> is commonly acknowledged to originate with the miniature combat rules for Chainmail, D&D's predecessor, as Peterson explains in <em>Playing at the World</em>:</p><p></p><p>In that regard <em>fireball </em>is something of a modern invention. Massive destructive power in a burst is similar to grenades, something that wouldn't be typical of medieval warfare. Peterson points this out as well:</p><p></p><p>But the origins of <em>fireball </em>go much further back than that, as Peterson recently discovered in "<a href="http://playingattheworld.blogspot.com/2016/01/a-precursor-to-chainmail-fantasy.html" target="_blank">A Precursor to the Chainmail Fantasy Supplement</a>":</p><p></p><p><em>Fireball</em>-slinging wizards in <em>Chainmail </em>actually have their antecedent in Patt's game:</p><p></p><h3><strong>Fireball in the Dungeon</strong></h3><p>Having inherited "fire ball" from Chainmail, <em>Original Dungeons & Dragons </em>made an additional tweak that has managed to murder entire adventuring parties for decades:</p><p></p><p><em>First Edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons </em>took things one step further, explaining both volume and temperature:</p><p></p><p>Delta goes into exhaustive detail on the evolution of <em>fireball </em>in the various iteration of D&D <a href="http://deltasdnd.blogspot.com/2011/07/spells-through-ages-fireball.html" target="_blank">on his blog</a>.</p><h3><strong>Fireball's Legacy</strong></h3><p>Peterson continues the thread of <em>fireballs </em>in video games at Gamaustra in "<a href="http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/271708/A_brief_history_of_the_fireball_in_fantasy_games.phphttp://" target="_blank">A brief history of fireball in fantasy games</a>":</p><p></p><p>And from there the concept spread to modern fantasy gaming incarnations:</p><p></p><p>While D&D has largely co-opted a wide variety of fantasy conventions, <em>fireball </em>is one of the ways it shows its modern wargaming roots.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="talien, post: 7718606, member: 3285"] The [I]fireball [/I]is a staple of [I]Dungeons & Dragons-[/I]style magic that clearly distinguishes its modern wargaming roots from the fantasy dress it adopted. As such, the history of the [I]fireball [/I]spell is a history of D&D itself. [CENTER][ATTACH type="full" alt="genesis-3922213_960_720.jpg"]113433[/ATTACH][/CENTER] [HEADING=2][B]The Fireball Fantasy[/B][/HEADING] Where did the concept of a [I]fireball [/I]come from? The [I]fireball [/I]has little grounding in fantasy literature, particularly J.R.R. Tolkien's or Jack Vance's works, which were all influential on D&D's evolution. There are some [I]fireball[/I]-esque descriptions however. Delta attributes two sources for [I]fireballs [/I]in "[URL='http://deltasdnd.blogspot.com/2011/07/more-fireballs.html']More Fireballs.[/URL]" The first is R.E. Howard's "The Scarlet Citadel" published in 1933: Jon Peterson identifies a possible movie source from 1939 in [URL='http://amzn.to/2k9EyHO'][I]Playing at the World[/I][/URL]: Delta also posits another movie reference, that of Tim the Enchanter in [I]Monty Python and the Holy Grail[/I]: That said, the movie debuted in 1975, too late to be the origin of the D&D [I]fireball [/I]but certainly going a long way to normalize trigger-happy wizards in fantasy. [HEADING=2][B]Fireball in Miniature[/B][/HEADING] [I]Fireball[/I] is commonly acknowledged to originate with the miniature combat rules for Chainmail, D&D's predecessor, as Peterson explains in [I]Playing at the World[/I]: In that regard [I]fireball [/I]is something of a modern invention. Massive destructive power in a burst is similar to grenades, something that wouldn't be typical of medieval warfare. Peterson points this out as well: But the origins of [I]fireball [/I]go much further back than that, as Peterson recently discovered in "[URL='http://playingattheworld.blogspot.com/2016/01/a-precursor-to-chainmail-fantasy.html']A Precursor to the Chainmail Fantasy Supplement[/URL]": [I]Fireball[/I]-slinging wizards in [I]Chainmail [/I]actually have their antecedent in Patt's game: [HEADING=2][B]Fireball in the Dungeon[/B][/HEADING] Having inherited "fire ball" from Chainmail, [I]Original Dungeons & Dragons [/I]made an additional tweak that has managed to murder entire adventuring parties for decades: [I]First Edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons [/I]took things one step further, explaining both volume and temperature: Delta goes into exhaustive detail on the evolution of [I]fireball [/I]in the various iteration of D&D [URL='http://deltasdnd.blogspot.com/2011/07/spells-through-ages-fireball.html']on his blog[/URL]. [HEADING=2][B]Fireball's Legacy[/B][/HEADING] Peterson continues the thread of [I]fireballs [/I]in video games at Gamaustra in "[URL='http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/271708/A_brief_history_of_the_fireball_in_fantasy_games.phphttp://']A brief history of fireball in fantasy games[/URL]": And from there the concept spread to modern fantasy gaming incarnations: While D&D has largely co-opted a wide variety of fantasy conventions, [I]fireball [/I]is one of the ways it shows its modern wargaming roots. [/QUOTE]
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