Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Subcreation and the Invention of the Monster Manual
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Tyler Do'Urden" data-source="post: 8220500" data-attributes="member: 4601"><p>Today I learned...</p><p></p><p>That <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jorge_Luis_Borges" target="_blank">Jorge Luis Borges</a> wrote a Monster Manual 15 years before D&D came out.</p><p></p><p><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Imaginary-Beings-Penguin-Classics-Deluxe/dp/0143039938/ref=asc_df_0143039938/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312114682054&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=15733995844195938583&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9019657&hvtargid=pla-449783839322&psc=1" target="_blank">The Book of Imaginary Beings</a></p><p></p><p>Should I be surprised that the mind that wrote <a href="http://art.yale.edu/file_columns/0000/0066/borges.pdf" target="_blank">Tlön Uqbar Orbis Tertius</a> created a pre-RPG monster manual? Probably not. And if you haven't read the aforementioned story before, FOLLOW THE LINK AND READ IT RIGHT NOW. Heck, if you have read it before, go read it again.</p><p></p><p>I find that story more than a bit prophetic. Indeed, is our hobby not one of building our various Tlons and inhabiting them, mentally if not physically? I find it fascinating that despite this, <a href="http://ofblog.blogspot.com/2010/07/borges-month-borges-on-tolkien-from.html" target="_blank">Borges had little grasp of Tolkien</a> - a subcreator whose fictional world has taken on a reality in the minds of so many others (including myself . Of course, Tolkien would have told him that he was not looking to forge a false reality over our own like a kind of twisted little demiurge, but to honor it through enchantment - indeed, this is the difference, in Tolkien's own legendarium, between the fallen Melkor and the noble Aulë - the proud creator of falsehoods vs the humble subcreator of enchantments. Yet Tolkien is ever wary of the dangers inherent in this - Sauron and Saruman both started their careers in Aulë's service, after all. </p><p></p><p>Are our creations of Aulë or of Melkor? Are they Middle Earth or Tlon? I look at the way computer games, fantasy and paranoid delusions have all conquered our world... </p><p></p><p>and wonder.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Tyler Do'Urden, post: 8220500, member: 4601"] Today I learned... That [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jorge_Luis_Borges']Jorge Luis Borges[/URL] wrote a Monster Manual 15 years before D&D came out. [URL='https://www.amazon.com/Imaginary-Beings-Penguin-Classics-Deluxe/dp/0143039938/ref=asc_df_0143039938/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312114682054&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=15733995844195938583&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9019657&hvtargid=pla-449783839322&psc=1']The Book of Imaginary Beings[/URL] Should I be surprised that the mind that wrote [URL='http://art.yale.edu/file_columns/0000/0066/borges.pdf']Tlön Uqbar Orbis Tertius[/URL] created a pre-RPG monster manual? Probably not. And if you haven't read the aforementioned story before, FOLLOW THE LINK AND READ IT RIGHT NOW. Heck, if you have read it before, go read it again. I find that story more than a bit prophetic. Indeed, is our hobby not one of building our various Tlons and inhabiting them, mentally if not physically? I find it fascinating that despite this, [URL='http://ofblog.blogspot.com/2010/07/borges-month-borges-on-tolkien-from.html']Borges had little grasp of Tolkien[/URL] - a subcreator whose fictional world has taken on a reality in the minds of so many others (including myself . Of course, Tolkien would have told him that he was not looking to forge a false reality over our own like a kind of twisted little demiurge, but to honor it through enchantment - indeed, this is the difference, in Tolkien's own legendarium, between the fallen Melkor and the noble Aulë - the proud creator of falsehoods vs the humble subcreator of enchantments. Yet Tolkien is ever wary of the dangers inherent in this - Sauron and Saruman both started their careers in Aulë's service, after all. Are our creations of Aulë or of Melkor? Are they Middle Earth or Tlon? I look at the way computer games, fantasy and paranoid delusions have all conquered our world... and wonder. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Subcreation and the Invention of the Monster Manual
Top