Erekose
Eternal Champion
I've been involved in RPG (and D&D in particular) since I was 15 years old - about 27 year now!?! - and over that period I have been an avid reader of a certain type of fantasy novels.
Principally, Fritz Leiber, Michael Moorcock, David Gemmel, Fred Saberhagen, David Eddings, Jack Vance, Roger Zelazny (and yes Tolkein), as well as the Thieves World Anthologies.
However, I had never read any Conan! A couple of years ago, as a birthday present I was given "The Complete Chronicles of Conan: Centenary Edition". As I was just at the end of my PhD I shelved it as I was suffering from "reading fatigue" and have now only just finished reading it.
All I can say is "wow". While it is clearly a product of its time it has all the elements that make a fantastic fictional world with a great central character. More than this, for many of the stories they read almost exactly like D&D adventures! At least in terms of tone, episodic nature, and the central character gradually becoming a dominant person in the world.
It's ironic that it's taken me so long to get to this insight, but as Conan was recommended reading in the 1st Edition DMG, IMHO you can clearly see how it shaped D&D.
Needless to say I have now bought, "Conan's Brethren", to fill out my knowledge of other REH characters!
Principally, Fritz Leiber, Michael Moorcock, David Gemmel, Fred Saberhagen, David Eddings, Jack Vance, Roger Zelazny (and yes Tolkein), as well as the Thieves World Anthologies.
However, I had never read any Conan! A couple of years ago, as a birthday present I was given "The Complete Chronicles of Conan: Centenary Edition". As I was just at the end of my PhD I shelved it as I was suffering from "reading fatigue" and have now only just finished reading it.
All I can say is "wow". While it is clearly a product of its time it has all the elements that make a fantastic fictional world with a great central character. More than this, for many of the stories they read almost exactly like D&D adventures! At least in terms of tone, episodic nature, and the central character gradually becoming a dominant person in the world.
It's ironic that it's taken me so long to get to this insight, but as Conan was recommended reading in the 1st Edition DMG, IMHO you can clearly see how it shaped D&D.
Needless to say I have now bought, "Conan's Brethren", to fill out my knowledge of other REH characters!
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