What should we call an "Appendix N" that's sourced from Dr. Holmes? A list that at least hypothetically could have appeared in the Basic Rules... "Appendix N-H"? Or "...Nh"? "Appendix H"? "...H-N"? "Appendix JEH"?
Here's a "D&D" reading list, based on page 46 of Fantasy Role Playing Games:
J.R.R. Tolkien
Fritz Leiber
Robert E. Howard
L. Sprague de Camp
Jack Vance
A. Merritt
Andre Norton
Clark Ashton Smith
Lord Dunsany
Edgar Rice Burroughs
H. Rider Haggard
Appendix N - Holmes Edition.
ReplyDeleteChris Holmes' list of books @ holmeswest.com - HolmesWest should be a big help here.
ReplyDeleteHarder to parse which books were "influences" from that, whereas the paragraph in the book actually makes specific references to what inspired what and the telling comment:
ReplyDelete"This field of literature is dominated by the work of one many in this century: J.R.R. Tolkien. Without the popularity of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, fantasy role playing would not have found the wide public it now enjoys. Despite this, most fantasy games are closer to the wild, blood-thirsty worlds of Fritz Leiber, Robert E. Howard, and L. Sprague de Camp."
Clearly a gaming related comment!
Appendix N (Holmes Basic).
ReplyDeleteHeh--Appendix JEH is awesome... Really though, there's not anything on there that isn't in Appendix N already, right?
ReplyDeleteClark Ashton Smith and H Rider Haggard aren't in Appendix N.
ReplyDeleteIt's certainly a variant of Appendix N. I mean, I wouldn't really consider it official official, but it is a list JEH put together of influential authors.
ReplyDeleteAppendix N - Holmes
ReplyDeleteIt's a great list. I would add Poul Anderson, who was also one of Gygax's favorites and Michael Moorcock.
ReplyDeletePoul Anderson was on the "sci-fi" list in the book, linking it to sci-fi games. Moorcock wasn't mention in that section, but may have been mentioned elsewhere.
ReplyDeleteI have a page on Holmes' Appendix N in my draft materials for Holmes Ref. Now that I think about it I'm surprised I've never posted in on my blog.
ReplyDeleteThe Basic rulebook has a brief Appendix N of sorts: "The imaginary universe of Dungeons & Dragons obviously lies not too far from the Middle Earth of J.R.R. Tolkien's great Lord of the Rings trilogy. The D&D universe also impinges on the fantasy worlds of Fritz Leiber, Robert E. Howard, Gardner F. Fox, classical mythology and any other source of inspiration the Dungeon Master wants to use."
ReplyDeleteIn Holmes' draft of this paragraph, Leiber and Fox were missing, and Moorcock was included instead. Note that Fox may have been added to this short list by TSR because they were selling his boardgame Warlocks & Warriors & he was contributing stories to Dragon. Or maybe Gary just liked his stuff.
ReplyDeleteGrognardia did a post on Holmes' Appendix N back in 2010, citing that page (46) of FRPG
ReplyDeletehttp://grognardia.blogspot.com/2010/10/holmess-appendix-n.html
I thought the passage that downplays Tolkien and emphasizes Leiber and others was interesting to me, since it echoes more of what I've seen happen at gaming tables...
ReplyDeleteWhy the letter N?
ReplyDeleteThe 1st ed. DMG's list is labeled "N" because there's appendixes A through M that precede it.
ReplyDeleteWhy are we fixated on "N"? And if it's a nostalgia lark then appendix H is just as valid. (And is the only logical choice to my mind.) If you want nostalgia and cute homage, well there you have it.
If I'm missing something I apologize in advance, but the term "Appendix N" really has no meaning or pertinence unless specifically referring to the 1E DMG correct?
ReplyDeleteI'm with Robert Fairbanks. Appendix H (after all it predates Appendix N!).
ReplyDeleteWe talk about "Appendix N" because the DMG appendix has become shorthand for D&D inspirational literature. There are all kinds of variants on that.
ReplyDeleteIt was also Appendix N in Runequest!
ReplyDeletegrognardia.blogspot.com - RuneQuest's Appendix N
Yeah, it's basically become a term of it's own for "this game was inspired by".
ReplyDeleteIt was arbitrarily "appendix N' and could have been in the forward, the afterward, or anywhere in the body of the DMG. But as a thing that people have increasingly "looked to" for understanding where D&D "came from" and what inspired the game, it's become a thing.
Appendix N is becoming "literary inspirations for a game" in the same way the word jumbo means large. "Jumbo" was originally the name of a popular elephant in the London zoo*. Appendix N is the title of a section in an iconic game.
ReplyDelete* The name originally came from an African term for elephant, just as "N" was chosen because it was the next letter in a series of appendixes. However, both entered the English language as a term because of the iconic and well known example. Note that while it is still technical language (i.e., field specific to roleplaying), it has already evolved to become a proper noun at this point: it is typically written as Appendix N, not appendix N.