D&D General A shorter Appendix N

[Krachek]

I would add an appendix L for material of the last 10 years, movie,Tv show, anime.

 

[Reynard]

Strange, I would have enhanced it, adding more authors that were not there. Robin Hobbs, David Edding, Terry Goodkind, Margareth Weiss and Tracy Hickman, Douglas Niles to name but a few.

Why? None of those authors influenced OD&D.

EDIT: LOL. I wasn't paying any attention to the dates.

 

[S'mon]

Lovecraft wouldn't make the cut either, to be honest.

Lovecraft seems far more influential on modern D&D than on 1e AD&D, to me. I'd say the 1e influence is pretty much entirely filtered through RE Howard.

 

[mach1.9pants]

Lovecraft seems far more influential on modern D&D than on 1e AD&D, to me. I'd say the 1e influence is pretty much entirely filtered through RE Howard.

Yeah there seems to be very little Lovecraftian horror in 1E core 3 books. I'd be interested if someone knows of a list of what the Appendix N books appears in core 1E rules. As pointed out above a LOT of Tolkien, but he is the most influential author on mainstream fantasy. The fire and forget spells from Cugel, for example. A lot of the books seem inspirational, as in they are fantasy, but no acutal effect in the rules. I'm not denigrating those books, but it would be interesting to see what actually made it to the rules!

 

[darjr]

This thread is awesome.

I've read quite a few of the Appendix N and even E sources.

I have found a nice book that tries to give you a taste.

Appending N. The Eldritch Roots Of Dungeons and Dragons
edited by Peter Bebergal.

Featuring tales by Poul Anderson, Frank Brunner, Ramsey Campbell, Lin Carter, Lord Dunsany, Robert E. Howard, Tanith Lee, Fritz Leiber, H. P. Lovecraft, David Madison, Michael Moorcock, C. L. Moore, Fred Saberhagen, Clark Ashton Smith, Margaret St. Clair, Jack Vance, and Manly Wade Wellman.

the inside jacket is a blue dungeon and the key to it are the chapters.

 

[Lord Shark]

Yeah there seems to be very little Lovecraftian horror in 1E core 3 books. I'd be interested if someone knows of a list of what the Appendix N books appears in core 1E rules. As pointed out above a LOT of Tolkien, but he is the most influential author on mainstream fantasy. The fire and forget spells from Cugel, for example. A lot of the books seem inspirational, as in they are fantasy, but no acutal effect in the rules. I'm not denigrating those books, but it would be interesting to see what actually made it to the rules!

For one example, 1E thieves' ability to read spell scrolls (with a chance of reversed effect) is derived from The Eyes of the Overworld. Cugel steals Iucounu's spellbook and casts some spells by reading directly from it, but then has a spell backfire when he mispronounces a word.

 

[mach1.9pants]

This thread is awesome.

I've read quite a few of the Appendix N and even E sources.

I have found a nice book that tries to give you a taste.

Appending N. The Eldritch Roots Of Dungeons and Dragons
edited by Peter Bebergal.

Featuring tales by Poul Anderson, Frank Brunner, Ramsey Campbell, Lin Carter, Lord Dunsany, Robert E. Howard, Tanith Lee, Fritz Leiber, H. P. Lovecraft, David Madison, Michael Moorcock, C. L. Moore, Fred Saberhagen, Clark Ashton Smith, Margaret St. Clair, Jack Vance, and Manly Wade Wellman.

the inside jacket is a blue dungeon and the key to it are the chapters.

Sadly not available in Kindle for us not US

 

[darjr]

Sadly not available in Kindle for us not US

Yup, I bought the hardcopy. Sorry I should have said. I think it's weird that it's not in Kindle, or other digital formats.

 

[Mordhau]

The High Crusade by Pohl Anderson might be a good one to add to your list. It was definitely an inspiration for some classic modules like Expedition to the Barrier Peaks. I haven't read The Guns of Avalon. I always get it confused with The Guns of Navarone.

I'm also enjoying the Appendix N Book Club hosted by Tenkar at Tenkar's Tavern.

It's a weird choice, if only because it's the second book of the Amber chronicles (although I can sort of see why one might single that one out).

One really ought to begin with Nine Princes in Amber which is the first of the initial five book series (which really should probably be seen as forming a single novel).

 

[Lyxen]

Lovecraft seems far more influential on modern D&D than on 1e AD&D, to me. I'd say the 1e influence is pretty much entirely filtered through RE Howard.

1e had the Cthulhu Mythos as part of the DDG, at least until they were caught up by the copyright, and I must say that we used this, although sparingly. We much preferred our Cthulhu as part of CoC.