The Origin of the Fireball

D&D historian extraordinaire Jon Peterson has just posted a new article which deals with - amongst other things - the origins of D&D's fireball spell. It goes back to before D&D, and before Chainmail (the game from which D&D evolved in the 1970s) to a two-page ruleset which predated it, and which includes dragons, orcs, fireballs, and ents used to replay epic battles from Lord of the Rings. Of most interest is how wizards "can cast a fire ball" up to 24" as a burst effect. It even has a saving throw (a roll of 5-6 on a d6).

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The article is, as always, a fascinating read. Check it out here.

 

[Morrus]

Note what may be the origin of "saving throw" in there, too.

I did!

 

[trancejeremy]

"Saving throw" was in use in wargames for quite some time though. It was used in games that didn't have hit points, when you were attacked, a figure made a saving throw or died.

Do a google search for it and it will turn up mentions of it in Donald Featherstone's book, "Wargames" from 1962

 

[halfling rogue]

Tolkien. Still the king.

 

[pemerton]

When dragons get angry they can use their breath weapon twice.

AD&D had "emotion" mechanics, too - eg dragons got bonuses when fighting to defend their young. This has mostly dropped out of more recent editions (other than barbarian rage).

 

[Ranes]

Very interesting piece. I haven't heard mention of The Courier for decades.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

I did!

Reading comprehension > me.

Great article. Wish Gary were around to comment.

 

[Mistwell]

They located the original author (Mr. Patt), he's acknowledged he wrote the article, and the author of this article (Peterson) is communicating with him and will report what he has to say at a later date apparently.

 

[Scrivener of Doom]

Notice also too that the unarmoured movement rate is 12", matching that of AD&D.

 

[TKBrawner]

"Wizards, due to their superior powers and agility, are great fighters"

Well, it looks like 3/3.5E was closer to the source material than OD&D/1E!

 

[Celebrim]

Since I know of no other place in the Middle-earth stories where bursts of fire are cast by a wizard, the origin of the D&D fireball must be this very passage:

"He gathered the huge pinecones from the branches of his tree. Then he set one alight with bright blue fire, and threw it whizzing down among the circle of the wolves. It struck one on the back, and immediately his shaggy coat caught fire, and he was leaping to and fro yelping horribly. Then another came and another, one in blue flames, one in red, another in green. They burst on the ground in the middle of the circle and went off in coloured sparks and smoke."

-The Hobbit, Chapter 6: "Out of the Frying-Pan Into the Fire"

In that passage, Gandalf's flaming missiles don't explode. Instead, Gandalf's magically ignited pinecones seem to the in the story act more like napalm, creating magical flames that cling to whatever they ignite.

There is no passage in which Gandalf casts a fireball, but the closest passage is in "A Journey in the Dark" just before Moria is entered, when the Fellowship is attacked by wolves.

"Naur an edraith amen! Naur dan I ngaurhoth!", [Gandalf] cried.
There was a roar and a crackle, and the tree above him burst into a leaf and bloom of blinding flame. The fire leapt from tree-top to tree-top. The whole hill was crowned with dazzling light.

A close reading of the text shows that Gandalf was able to set things that were combustible on fire, but not to conjure flame in midair the way a D&D evoker does. Nevertheless, Gandalf is (up to that point) one of the flashiest Wizards in literary history and I do think he sets the stage for the now common trope of the Wizard juggling fire.

Gandalf seems to use fire specifically to counter wolves, perhaps because they fear it, or against Undead (like the Nazgul) because presumably they are specially injured by it. In most situations, Gandalf appears to prefer conjuring flashes of lightning. Since Chainmail gives the Wizard a lightning bolt spell, we can I think assume that at that point Gandalf still remains the archetype of a D&D wizard.