Inspiration, Not Imitation

Make It Your Own
Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson created the world’s first published role-playing game and inspired a new hobby which has arguably changed popular culture. Mr. Gygax and Mr. Arneson drew inspiration from their interests in wargaming, history and fantasy fiction. The games they played, the books they read and the movies they watched all influenced what they created. They borrowed from many sources, combined those elements, added some genius of their own and created something new, exciting and fun that has lasted for decades and brought joy to many, many people.
There are recognizable bits and pieces in the game Mr. Gygax and Mr. Arneson co-created. It is easy to identify this monster as something drawn from classical mythology, or that monster as similar to one found in a certain work of fantasy fiction. Elves, dwarves and hobbits, which are included in the very first printings of the Little Brown Books have their counterparts in the fiction of J.R.R. Tolkien. The archetypes of the game’s iconic character classes are inspired by various characters drawn from myth, legend and lore. The game’s widespread appeal owes much to its flexibility and adaptability and to its inclusion of so many tropes drawn from varied sources.
The game created by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson may have been the first to introduce players to the new way to game, but other creative game designers soon borrowed the concept of “role-playing” and more closely associated their specific game features with a particular world or setting. Hence we have Middle Earth Role Playing, Star Wars d6, Ghost Busters, King Arthur Pendragon, Buffy The Vampire Slayer and the list of games aimed at play in a specific setting, often incorporating a licensed property in the title, becomes quite long. Yet the original game remains more popular than ever.
So what does the world’s most popular role-playing game imitate? Everything and nothing.
It is inspiration, not imitation that has been key to the success of D&D. Like a set of child’s building blocks, the game provides tools, and inspiration, for each person to create something uniquely their own. The creation may indeed draw inspiration from other sources, but it isn’t limited by what has already been. It is open-ended in possibilities, with just enough familiarity to feel comfortable. Why play someone else’s stories when you can create your own?