Sunday, January 31, 2021

Giants in the Oerth

 So, my presentation (via Zoom) about fantasy fiction's influence on the creation of D&D went well.

If you missed the live event last Thursday, here's the link to a You Tube recording of the whole event. 

It starts with a welcome to the event, followed on an explanation of what D&D is for those who are new to the game. Then I do my bit, followed by a Q&A.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5Kynx0NZQA

I enjoyed putting my piece together and hope those who like me are interested in both fantasy fiction and roleplaying games will find it worthwhile. If there's anything I didn't cover in the Q&A let me know via Comments and I'll do my best to answer it here.

--John R.







2 comments:

Zenopus Archives said...

I enjoyed the talk! The "fantasy worlds crossroads" image shown above is a neat find.

Thank you for answering my question about the influence of Lord Dunsany. Based on your dissertation topic I had thought you might enjoy a chance to talk about him.

One thing I noted a few years ago is that the "Sunsany" typo is not in the first printing of Monsters & Treasures (OD&D Vol 2), which means that Gygax originally had it correct and the error only crept in later, though I'm not certain in which printing it first appears.

John D. Rateliff said...

Dear Zen.

Thanks for listening in and taking part in the Q&A/Chat --most of which I did not see till afterwards. Judging by the discussion it was definitely a good group.

I'm always ready to talk Dunsany, and I don't get to change all that often, so thanks again there.

My reference copies of 1st ed D&D aren't from a coherent set but were put together digest by digest as opportunity occurred. In retrospect I shd have checked Acaeum, but it wasn't an essential point.

Given 'Tolkein' and 'Sunsany' I conclude that Gygax may have been a creative genuis but not a good proofreader. Then again I suppose we all have our off days.

--John R.