Forum:Jack Vance

This is a look at the influences of the late fantastical writer Jack Vance on the game of Nethack. It has been asserted that Vance's writing was "highly influential on Dungeons & Dragons (but not NetHack itself so much)." Although the assertion seems valid, there is scope for further exploration of links between Vance and The Game.

1. The Roguelike mechanic of permadeath would surely have appealed to Vance
2. Likewise, the many modes of YASD are also in keeping with the writer's mordant style
3. The encyclopedia concept parallels Vance's frequent use of world-building footnotes
4. Pages identifying Vance origins as at this time are The Eyes of the Overworld, Sandestin, Vecna, and Writings of Jack Vance.
5. I suspect that such links as there are, are more in the domains of style and tone, less obviously in the content.
6. One obvious departure is that Nethack does not use the 'fire and forget' Vancian magic.
7. Vance lays claim to the grue

Wikid (talk) 21:02, 4 August 2019 (UTC)