Poul Anderson Archives - Vintage RPG

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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Did Santa forget something? Use this promo code from Noble Knight to make it all better. Use RINGOFWARMTH in store or on the site to get 10% off whatever you’re buying. That lasts from now all the way to February 28 – a surefire way to take the chill out of the winter!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 (1961)

Stu Horvath — Mon, 16 Nov 2020 10:00:00 +0000

Three Hearts and Three Lions (1961), by Poul Anderson, sees a Danish resistance fighter during World War II transported to a world of medieval fantasy after being wounded in combat. There, Holger becomes embroiled in a conflict between the cosmic forces of Law and Chaos. He makes some friends, goes on a quest and eventually learns he’s a King Arthur-like figure, destined to turn the tide, in this reality or any other, whenever Denmark is threatened.

The man out of time premise is preposterous and mostly used as an excuse for Holger to ponder the scientific underpinnings of the magic he encounters (when the sun turns a giant to stone, it creates a deadly radioactive isotope!). The biggest flaw of the book, though, is the fact that in matters of romance, Holger is an entitled creep and there is an undercurrent of horniness and sexual frustration throughout. Meh.

That said, it is clearly an important building block for Dungeons & Dragons. The original alignment system springs directly from the novel, with humanity embodying Law and the supernatural races of Faerie championing Chaos. (Coupled with Holger’s traveling through alternate realities as a mythic warrior, the book is also an obvious inspiration for Michael Moorcock’s Eternal Champion stories). The structure of the quest, the way secondary characters pop in and out of the narrative and the interplay between the companions feels like it informs the basic tenants of how a D&D campaign flows (though no dungeons here – the action is primarily wilderness and towns).

Anderson also provides the blueprints for a couple classic D&D creatures. One of Holger’s traveling companions is a Swanmay and the dwarf’s Scottish brogue seems like another, albeit small, contribution. The biggest, though, is Anderson’s troll, which Gygax lifted directly for D&D. The troll encounter is easily the best scene in the book and holy crap does Anderson make it terrifying. I wish Patrick “Sad Wings of Destiny” Woodroffe had chosen it for the cover.

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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!

The post Three Hearts and Three Lions appeared first on Vintage RPG.