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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ranger19k" data-source="post: 5552895" data-attributes="member: 98621">I read it. I learned a lot.  Thanks for posting.  I don't really care one way or another, but I thought that Scurvy Platypus's points on Vancian magic were pretty astute.  The Gygax letter shows a deep dislike (and some poor understanding) of Tolken's Middle Earth, something that makes it clear that he thought that it was a poor basis for creating a fantasy gaming world out of.Interesting food for thought.  I had always assumed that "of course" D&D was directly Tolkenesque, but the commentary at the bottom of the webpage makes a good point about how the popularity of the books at the time and how Gygax was attempting to woo other fantasy gamers to his game could have contributed to the Tolkenesque PC race choices in OD&D.  Since that seems to be the most direct link between the two, I guess I'm willing to reconsider my original assumption.  Divine and Arcane magic are a big part of the game, and they do not work in any kind of Tolkenesque way.Not that I think that there isn't any Tolkien influence, but maybe not as strong an influence as I had originally assumed.Thanks Vegepygmy for making me think a bit, and I will now get out of Waterbob's thread since I have nothing useful or new to share about the Tumble Skill.</blockquote>