Appendix N Archives - Vintage RPG

Jack of Shadows

Stu Horvath — Mon, 04 Mar 2024 05:00:00 +0000

This week on the Vintage RPG Podcast, we’re talking about Roger Zelazny’s 1971 novel Jack of Shadows. Gygax included the novel — a high-concept blend of fantasy and science fiction — in Appendix N, but it isn’t one that gets talked about all that often. Perhaps because it is such an unrelentingly ugly book, featuring a protagonist who embraces his dark side and never lets go, to the sorrow of everyone around him, and even unto the end of the world as he knows it. This one is DARK. And yet, because it is Zelazny, still incredibly readable and entertaining. That dude could write.

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Appendix N (2021)

Stu Horvath — Fri, 17 Feb 2023 10:00:00 +0000

Funny thing: I’m not really a big fan of fantasy fiction. I’ve always liked Leiber, and I appreciate a fair amount of Howard and Moorcock, and I was really into Tolkien for a spell, but for the majority of my life, I mostly enjoyed fantasy in the context of RPGs. I’ve read far, far more horror fiction. In recent years, I’ve been trying to read more science fiction and fantasy. I find sci-fi easier, honestly, especially since I find the modern fantasy genre’s obsession with world-building and complex magic systems tedious in the extreme. It was not always so! As Appendix N, edited by Peter Bebergal, illustrates, fantasy can be short, zippy and still work when it implies a world instead of painstakingly detailing one.

The idea here is to present a taste of the fiction from Gygax’s Appendix N in the Dungeon Masters Guide. Gygax mostly recommends novels, which is a bit of a complication for an anthology of short fiction. Gygax’s list is also not entirely sensical, too. Why on earth did he only list volume three of Swords Against Darkness? Why did he mention Lin Carter’s World’s End books and not the Thongor books, or just the third volume of Fred Saberhagen’s Empires of the East series? And no Clark Ashton Smith at all? Bebergal addresses these odd oversights with his selections — my favorite in this regard is the reprinting of Frank Brunner’s “Sword of Dragonis,” a gorgeous 1971 comic story. Gygax cops to being influenced by comics, but doesn’t get into specifics, so Bebergal shows us something from the period that could have been on Gygax’s mind.

It’s a fantastic, clarifying anthology. Perhaps less useful for finding the secret source of D&D and more for getting a full and varied look at the fantasy of that moment. It should be on your shelf, probably. And I hope we get a volume two.

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The Broken Sword

Stu Horvath — Mon, 03 Jan 2022 05:00:00 +0000

Happy New Year! This week on the Vintage RPG Podcast, we return to Appendix N and check out The Broken Sword, a novel by Poul Anderson. Unlike Three Hearts and Three Lions, it’s a fantastic, violent and often unparalleled work of influential fantasy.

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Appendix N: Peter Bebergal Interview

Stu Horvath — Mon, 22 Feb 2021 05:00:00 +0000

This week on the Vintage RPG Podcast, we are joined by Peter Bebergal (Season of the Witch, Strange Frequencies), editor of Appendix N, a brand new anthology from Strange Attractor Press that explores the fantasy fiction that influenced the creation of Dungeons & Dragons. We have a far ranging, philosophical discussion about the stories Gygax overlooked, the ways literature does (and doesn’t) influence RPGs, other recommended reading lists and more!

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Grab Appendix N direct from Strange Attractor!

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Hang out with us on the Vintage RPG Discord!If you dig what we do, join us on the Vintage RPG Patreon for more roleplaying fun and surprises! Patrons keep us going!Like, Rate, Subscribe and Review the Vintage RPG Podcast!Available on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, iHeartRadio, SoundCloud, Spotify, YouTube and your favorite podcast clients.Send questions, comments or corrections to info@vintagerpg.com.Follow Vintage RPG on Instagram, Tumblr and Facebook. Learn more at the Vintage RPG FAQ.Follow Stu Horvath, John McGuire, VintageRPG and Unwinnable on Twitter.Intro music by George Collazo.The Vintage RPG illustration is by Shafer Brown. Follow him on Twitter.Tune in next week for the next episode. Until then, may the dice always roll in your favor!

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Three Hearts and Three Lions

Stu Horvath — Mon, 17 Aug 2020 04:00:55 +0000

This week on the Vintage RPG Podcast, we return to Appendix N and check out Poul Anderson’s Three Hearts and Three Lions. Even though it starts off in World War II and features lots of scientific theories to explain magical effects, this 1961 novel is a formative text for Dungeons & Dragons. It establishes many of the feels of a D&D adventure, with its travel and towns and non player characters and random encounters. Perhaps most importantly, it introduces a terrifying take on the troll that Gygax would essentially Xerox for the game. Interesting stuff!

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Through September 7, use the code ROLLDICE to get $6 off any purchase $25 or more at Noble Knight!Hang out with us on the Vintage RPG Discord!If you dig what we do, join us on the Vintage RPG Patreon for more roleplaying fun and surprises! Patrons keep us going!Like, Rate, Subscribe and Review the Vintage RPG Podcast!Available on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, iHeartRadio, SoundCloud, Spotify, YouTube and your favorite podcast clients.Send questions, comments or corrections to info@vintagerpg.com.Follow Vintage RPG on Instagram, Tumblr and Facebook. Learn more at the Vintage RPG FAQ.Follow Stu Horvath, John McGuire, VintageRPG and Unwinnable on Twitter.Intro music by George Collazo.The Vintage RPG illustration is by Shafer Brown. Follow him on Twitter.Tune in next week for the next episode. Until then, may the dice always roll in your favor!

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The Shadow People

Stu Horvath — Mon, 23 Mar 2020 04:00:47 +0000

This week on the Vintage RPG Podcast, we journey deep under the earth to read the novel The Shadow People, by Margaret St. Clair. The bonkers 1969 sci-fi/fantasy novel was included in Appendix N of the Dungeon Masters Guide, a list of literature Gary Gygax cited as being particularly inspirational to the creation of Dungeons & Dragons. It is a clear source for the drow, the duergar and the game’s preoccupation with vast underground labyrinths, but that’s just scratching the surface…

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A Personal Appendix N

Stu Horvath — Wed, 15 May 2019 00:00:26 +0000

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