This week I finished The Dungeon Alphabet by Michael Curtis. The 4th printing of this book was released not long ago. This book is a system-free book of ideas for people running players through dungeons in OSR fantasy roleplaying games. It’s a marvelous book and I recommend it to game Read more
In recent years there has been a lot of talk of mixing heavy metal music (or the heavy metal ambiance) with Dungeons & Dragons. James Edward Raggi, founder of Lamentations of the Flame Princess, has said in interviews that mixing the two was his goal with his RPG company. People Read more
Taking a book off of Tolkien’s bookshelf, I read The Poetic Edda. This rendition was first published in 1908 and edited and translated by Olive Bray. Some nice illustrations from W. G. Collingwood grace the pages. It covered some of the same ground as Kevin Crossley-Holland’s The Norse Myths which Read more
I had a chance to read one of the titles from the list of books that inspired Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. The Princess and the Goblin was written by George MacDonald in 1872. It is written in a fairy tale style but its length and more modern writing Read more
When working on my post on D&D’s Appendix N I thought about other great works whose lists of inspirations are now known. JRR Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings was inspired by ten books. This list of inspirational works was not only compiled but also republished by Leaves of Gold Press. This Read more
In the back of the Dungeon Masters Guide for Dungeons & Dragons first edition there are appendices marked with letters. Number 14 is Appendix N. It is a list of fantasy and science-fiction authors along with some notes from Gary Gygax. Gygax’ notes state that the authors and titles in Read more
The great gamemasters are well-versed in fantasy fiction. A gamemaster can run games without reading but those who do bring a richness to their games that savvy players appreciate. Gary Gygax made it clear in the now famous Appendix N of the Dungeon Masters Guide of the Dungeons & Dragons’ Read more
Much is being written these days about the literary inspirations of Dungeons & Dragons. The fantasy and science-fiction enjoyed by Gary Gygax made the game what it was in its first few iterations. Later editions were shaped by the fiction enjoyed by others. More than 40 years after the game Read more