D&D General Whom has had a greater impact on D&D? Gygax or Greenwood?
As much as I love Ed Greenwood and the original Grey Box Forgotten Realms, there have been so many more people working, designing and expanding on the Realms that I don’t think his impact on the game can be compared to Gary Gygax.
As beloved as the Realms have become over the years, they didn’t necessarily revolutionize the genre, nor did they really stretch much boundaries within the game or the hobby. A setting like Eberron, much shorter-lived than the Realms, probably has had as much impact on the game as its elder setting, if not more.
While Gygax wasn’t alone in inventing the game, he was a primary driving force behind it for many years when nothing else existed and all the rules had to be invented.
Still, Ed Greenwood would make it into any top 10 list or Who’s Who of the D&D stars & constellations. Just not above EGG.
As beloved as the Realms have become over the years, they didn’t necessarily revolutionize the genre, nor did they really stretch much boundaries within the game or the hobby. A setting like Eberron, much shorter-lived than the Realms, probably has had as much impact on the game as its elder setting, if not more.
While Gygax wasn’t alone in inventing the game, he was a primary driving force behind it for many years when nothing else existed and all the rules had to be invented.
Still, Ed Greenwood would make it into any top 10 list or Who’s Who of the D&D stars & constellations. Just not above EGG.
Considering there would be no game called D&D without Gygax, I am guessing that he's the correct answer for "impacting" the game.
G
Guest User
Guest
Early 2e, especially in terms of Monster design essentially Adopted/Emulated
Ed Greenwood's Ecology articles in Dragon.
To refer to the Forgotten Realms as "Just a setting" is akin to referring to the
Marvel MCU as "Just a bunch of movies".
Yes, the FR is "just a setting". Just the most popular, and widely used setting for several decades now. Kids whom have picked up the game independently of their parents, know what the Forgotten Realms is, from the 5e modules. Those same kids, don't have any real idea who Gary Gygax is.
On Thanksgiving, I watched on Zoom, some nieces and their friends play D&D.
(technically I was playing as well, but watched and listened more than I acted).
One of the kids called the DM a "Gygaxian DM" and meant the phrase as a
DM that does not give out much loot.
Apparently that was the misrepresentation she had received from certain internet posts.
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Cool. I read that book and named one of characters after it.Hiya!
I almost said "Other", but then I re-thought about the question. Arneson 'created' the idea of a small group of 'heroes' (not as in "heroic", but as in "leaders of military forces as per Chainmail miniatures wargame), going on an 'adventure' into a dungeon/cave/ruin. But...to be honest...he didn't really "take it far". He was, iirc, more interested in the initial concept and as a sort of "well, we have several people that want to wargame, and only one table...lets do Dungeons & Dragons tonight".
Also, iirc, it was Gygax that really saw the potential and started really going whole-hog into fiddling and refining the rules, expanding them, and trying to solidify the concept of the game.
So that is why I give it to Gygax. Arneson was the spark and initial flame, but Gygax was the one that brought out the bellows.
Greenwood? Er...no. I mean, I'm sure he's a great guy and all that, I do like listening to him and what he has to say, and he does have a solid footing for "heroic stories of epic epicness" and all that, but, honestly, he just wrote a setting and teeny-boppers (re: 14 year olds, give or take) really latched onto all the over-the-top "heroes and villains". I see current Forgotten Realms as the "Marvel/DC Super-Heroes version of a fantasy world".
(and yes, I do have rules and have played in games where we use Marvel Super Heroes Advanced Set in a fantasy setting of my best friends creation called 'Urshurak'; and yes, before you ask, it's VERY fun!)
^_^
Paul L. Ming
Enrico Poli1
Adventurer
EGG is first.
Then the Hickmans. The Hickman Revolution meant that your characters felt as in a novel or in a movie.
I think that Mike Mearls deserves the third place. He single-handedly saved the game with 5e.
Greenwood invented a great campaign setting.
Then the Hickmans. The Hickman Revolution meant that your characters felt as in a novel or in a movie.
I think that Mike Mearls deserves the third place. He single-handedly saved the game with 5e.
Greenwood invented a great campaign setting.
Lanefan
Victoria Rules
1. Gygax
1a. Arneson
3. Wesely
4+ - take yer pick of a bunch of well-known names past and present: Hickman, Weis, Mentzer, Kask, Holmes, Williams*, Cook, Mearls, Greenwood, Baker, and that's but a few; many others could just as easily be listed here.
* - Skip. NOT Lorraine!
1a. Arneson
3. Wesely
4+ - take yer pick of a bunch of well-known names past and present: Hickman, Weis, Mentzer, Kask, Holmes, Williams*, Cook, Mearls, Greenwood, Baker, and that's but a few; many others could just as easily be listed here.
* - Skip. NOT Lorraine!
