Gygax "borrowed" Rules From a Forgotten 1970 Wargame
Posted: Thu Jan 21, 2016 6:36 pm
He probably did, and expanded them a lot. Creativity is always derivative.
His biggest accomplishment wasnt the rules but the setting though. The basic dnd ruleset has been publicly available forever? Just the specific things they designed, including settings, aren't.
This is why Drizzt and Elminster are very important products to WotC.