D&D General Whom has had a greater impact on D&D? Gygax or Greenwood?

[ph0rk]

Interesting tidbit. I was completely unaware of it.

Yep; and the Fiend Folio was out four years before Dragons of Spring Dawning, so Stross's contribution predated Lord Soth.

 

[Umbran]

Oi.

As if there's a reasonable measure of "influence"? More importantly - as if there's even a reason to rank one over the other?

Really - why do they need to be ranked?

 

[Marandahir]

He created Githyanki, Githzerai, Slaadi, and Death Knights, among other stuff

George R.R. Martin created the Githyanki. Charlie Stross "borrowed" the name from GRRM's 1977 Dying of the Light, codified the D&D Gith tropes, and never looked back.

Martin hasn't pursued legal action against TSR or WotC or Hasbro over the years, and somehow WotC has managed to include them in their "Product Identity" list of creatures despite not legally creating the name of the creature they're claiming they made.

 

[Urriak Uruk]

I think there is a distinction to be made between Critical Importance and Greatest Impact.

Oxygen is of Critical Importance to a significant portion of life on this planet.
The KT Asteroid event made the Greatest Impact to mammalian evolution.

Gary Gygax is oxygen. Somebody else..is the KT Asteroid.

Weird analogy, mostly because I don't know what the Critical Importance/Greatest Impact is in relation to (life? humanity?)

Anyway, I still think that both Gygax is of Critical Importance, and of Greatest Impact. He developed the game, he wrote the first books that developed the mainstays of D&D including owlbears, fiends, giants and other classics. He is the architect of both the rules D&D uses, and the majority of campy lore that D&D utilizes.

None of that really diminishes Ed Greenwood's work; if D&D didn't exist, I'm sure the Forgotten Realms would exist in some form in a series of novels or other great work.

But without Gygax, the three core rulebooks of D&D 5E largely fall apart. Not only the PHB and DMG that are literally extensions of his original rules, but almost every original monster in the MM is one created by Gygax.

This is like saying "Who had a bigger impact on cars, Ford or Ferrari?" It's unquestionably Ford, though that doesn't invalidate or detract from Ferrari's success.

 

[R_J_K75]

IDK if Greenwood would even be number 1 for FR.

One could argue RA Salvatore and Eric L Boyd have done more.

Steven Schend and Dale Donovan too. My two favorite FR authors, though Greenwood did some good supplements as well. I didnt vote in the poll as I think the question is kind of asking one to compare apples to oranges.

 

[ph0rk]

George R.R. Martin created the Githyanki. Charlie Stross "borrowed" the name from GRRM's 1977 Dying of the Light, codified the D&D Gith tropes, and never looked back.

Martin hasn't pursued legal action against TSR or WotC or Hasbro over the years, and somehow WotC has managed to include them in their "Product Identity" list of creatures despite not legally creating the name of the creature they're claiming they made.

Martin created the name Githyanki; the race Martin named have little in common with what made it into the Fiend Folio, or with the blending of martial and magic, in particular. The Gish concept (however bastardized it has become) owes far more to Stross than to Martin.

And for all we know Martin has been writing a letter to his lawyers. I’m sure he’ll finish it sometime this decade. Maybe.

 

[Guest User]

Oi.

As if there's a reasonable measure of "influence"? More importantly - as if there's even a reason to rank one over the other?

Really - why do they need to be ranked?

OI....as I imagine you might say Umbran:
If you have no interest in the topic of a thread, avoid the thread, don't cast shade On it.

Now, the point of the thread is less the ranking and more considering the current state of the game, and how important figures like Gygax and Greenwood are.