sevenbastard
Legend
WOTC is avoiding controversy and so it makes sense they don't include a list of media, Lots of older fantasy has issues.
D&D (2024) No Appendix N Equivalent?
- Thread starter Cadence
- Start date
I think the difference between you two highlights (one of?) the reasons for its removal.
Nerd rage is a real big problem for companies like WotC. No matter what they put in a new Appendix N, someone will be angry. Include too many new things, people will complain there's not enough of the classics. Include a lot of old stuff, people will use it to say they're stuck in the past. If an older author is problematic (like, for an example that shouldn't be controversial to call problematic, Lovecraft), it will become a point of contention. But if someone like Lovecraft was in Appendix N before and is now removed, that will also be a point of contention. And if a modern author got exposed as problematic while books were in print, that's yet another issue to deal with.
Sometimes, the only winning move is not to play. FWIW, as a customer I would love a new Appendix N, but if I were an editor there I'd probably cut it out, too.
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John Lloyd1
Rigidly defined areas of doubt and uncertainty
In my defence, I already have the 2014 inspirational lists. I do like the older books as well.
abirdcall
(she/her)
For you or anyone else interested you can read the chapters here:
1.00
The inn was dark and empty when the traveller arrived. It appeared suddenly, rising above the gentle hills and valleys of autumnal grass that blew in the wind, green, orange, and even purple in places. The rolling plains were deceptive from afar. At first the many hills and divots seemed gentle...
wanderinginn.com
I love the audiobook but this is good for people who want to look at words I think.
EzekielRaiden
Follower of the Way
Honest question: Do we need an Appendix N?
It seems to me more productive to tell people to make lists of the media THEY find foundational and awesome, and to then use that as inspiration for their own content. Even better, perhaps we could set up some kind of....internet-based dispatch record thing. Then people could share what media they found inspiring, so that others could then be exposed to things they hadn't seen before, recommended by those who directly and personally enjoyed it, rather than an impersonal list complied and trimmed by editors who have probably never read/watched three quarters of the entries.
Sadly, no such internet dispatch record thing exists. Would be super cool for discussing TTRPGs with others though!
It seems to me more productive to tell people to make lists of the media THEY find foundational and awesome, and to then use that as inspiration for their own content. Even better, perhaps we could set up some kind of....internet-based dispatch record thing. Then people could share what media they found inspiring, so that others could then be exposed to things they hadn't seen before, recommended by those who directly and personally enjoyed it, rather than an impersonal list complied and trimmed by editors who have probably never read/watched three quarters of the entries.
Sadly, no such internet dispatch record thing exists. Would be super cool for discussing TTRPGs with others though!
abirdcall
(she/her)
You say that and yet...
Lovecraft the person had terrible, harmful views. He was highly xenophobic which makes his horror stories, which are about xenophobia even more horrific. There is a realness about them that is instructive in the ways that xenophobia manifests and the harm it does. Something that makes horror really good is realizing the horrible views that are buried deep in ourselves that we like to pretend we don't have when xenophobic instincts are part of us.
He is long dead so supporting the work is not actually supporting him and the creation of more work by him. It does support derivative works though which have been made by good people who further explore those themes.
I argue that if that genre is interesting to someone it is good to start with a few of his stories (which are mostly quite short).
John Lloyd1
Rigidly defined areas of doubt and uncertainty
The 2014 Players handbook and DMG both had inspirational reading sections. I have also seen them in other RPGs.
Chaltab
Legend
Not just that; even a curated inspirational reading list can quickly become unfortunate because of things not public knowledge at the time of publication. You never know if a fantasy author is gonna be the next Rowling or Gaiman.
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