HEMA1999'S PROFILE

The immediate predecessor of Dungeons & Dragons was a set of medieval miniature rules written by Jeff Perren. These were expanded by Gary Gygax, whose additions included a fantasy supplement, before the game was published as Chainmail. Dave Arneson used Chainmail to run games where players controlled a single character instead of an army, an innovation that inspired D&D. Developed with Arneson's help from his modified version of Chainmail for his Blackmoor campaign, Gygax wrote "The Fantasy Game", the role-playing game (RPG) that became Dungeons & Dragons (D&D).

Many Dungeons & Dragons elements also appear in hobbies of the mid- to late twentieth century (though these elements also existed previously). Character-based role playing, for example, can be seen in improvisational theatre. Game-world simulations were well-developed in wargaming. Fantasy milieus specifically designed for gaming could be seen in Glorantha's board games among others. Ultimately, however, Dungeons & Dragons represents a unique blending of these elements.

The theme of D&D was influenced by mythology, pulp fiction, and contemporary fantasy authors of the 1960s and 1970s. The presence of halflings, elves, dwarves, half-elves, orcs, dragons, and the like, often draw comparisons to the work of J.R.R. Tolkien. Gygax maintained that he was influenced very little by The Lord of the Rings (although the owners of that work's copyright forced the name changes of hobbit to 'halfling', ent to 'treant', and balrog to 'Type VI demon '), stating that he included these elements as a marketing move to draw on the popularity of the work.
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