The D&D General - A shorter Appendix N thread by @Doug McCrae has a core reading list to capture the heart of the literature that influenced early D&D. And a few posts into it @Ralif Redhammer gives an even more concise one, given here:
Anderson, Poul: THREE HEARTS AND THREE LIONS;
Howard, R. E.: "Conan" series
Leiber, Fritz: "Fafhrd & Gray Mouser" series; et al
Moorcock, Michael: STORMBRINGER; STEALER OF SOULS;
Tolkien, J. R. R.: THE HOBBIT; "Ring trilogy"
Vance, Jack: THE EYES OF THE OVERWORLD; THE DYING EARTH; et al
There are, of course, a ton of others throughout the various editions of D&D, and the first post in the above thread has links to the various early lists (including the 1e Appendix N). And then there are the lists in Moldvay Basic, Pathfinder, and 5e. (Are there some in 2e, 3e, or 4e? ). Going back to Gygax, there are four other books/series he said in 2007 that he would recommend Gary Gygax’s 2007 additions to Appendix N – Yore .
But what would you pick? What inspires your D&D?
The rules
For non-books see: D&D General - Appendix EN+ :. What movies, books, and comics inspire your for D&D?
Anderson, Poul: THREE HEARTS AND THREE LIONS;
Howard, R. E.: "Conan" series
Leiber, Fritz: "Fafhrd & Gray Mouser" series; et al
Moorcock, Michael: STORMBRINGER; STEALER OF SOULS;
Tolkien, J. R. R.: THE HOBBIT; "Ring trilogy"
Vance, Jack: THE EYES OF THE OVERWORLD; THE DYING EARTH; et al
There are, of course, a ton of others throughout the various editions of D&D, and the first post in the above thread has links to the various early lists (including the 1e Appendix N). And then there are the lists in Moldvay Basic, Pathfinder, and 5e. (Are there some in 2e, 3e, or 4e? ). Going back to Gygax, there are four other books/series he said in 2007 that he would recommend Gary Gygax’s 2007 additions to Appendix N – Yore .
But what would you pick? What inspires your D&D?
The rules
- The six books/sets of books listed above are already in, so no need to mention them. It's ok to add other series by those authors though.
- The thread is looking for books that inspire your Dungeons and Dragons play or DMing, not necessarily the game as a whole.
- You can add one story, book, part of a series, or series by an author or author team.
(Unrelated series by the same author are different entries!) - If you can't stand adding just one, you need to wait 24 hours before adding another - no more than 3 total.
For non-books see: D&D General - Appendix EN+ :. What movies, books, and comics inspire your for D&D?
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