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Originally Posted by tbone
Why those four roles? I expect that even without Tolkien, D&D's designers would have of course come up with fighters (how could they not?) and probably wizards of some sort (if not so blatantly Gandalf-ish).
Thieves, it seems to me, definitely owe their FRPG adventuring party slot to Tolkien; would the idea would have come to Gygax & friends without Bilbo?
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Conan was sneaking into the Tower of the Elephant four years before The Hobbit was published. The Fafhrd and Grey Mouser stories were inspired by Conan, and published in various forms from the late 30s as well. I feel fairly confident that the thief or rogue would have been present (though "halflings" may not have) in any case.
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Clerics would be D&D's true original addition, as noted upthread. I imagine they were born largely out of game necessity: some means of keeping HP positive long enough for a fun session.
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My recollection is Clerics were an outgrowth both of Gygax's Christianity plus maybe the need to properly deal with undead by Arneson.