Goodman Games

The more Vance I read, the more I think he was Gygax's #1 influence.

Totally agree. If you look at the little vignettes he wrote in the dmg like the spell-for-hire part where he is demonstrating how characters and npcs might interact it comes off as very Vancian indeed, at least in my opinion.

As good as Vance was for D&D, you have to think Gygax paid him back in spades. I wonder how many got turned onto Vance through D&D and Gary Gygax. Gygax talked up Vance any chance he had. And Vance actually used a "Lord Gygax" in the Alastor series.

The Dying Earth stories were a total revelation for me. Cugel The Clever changed the way I play rogues.

cthulhudarren wrote:The more Vance I read, the more I think he was Gygax's #1 influence.

Vance reminds me a lot of Clark Ashton Smith.

I hope it was an oversight that Appendix N doesn't contain any CAS. His stories scream DCC to me, more so than any other strange fiction I've read.

I am seriously contemplating setting a DCC game in Zothique!

CAS is my favorite Weird Tales author. I choose to think that Gygax left him out because he was better than all!

Karaptis wrote:CAS is my favorite Weird Tales author. I choose to think that Gygax left him out because he was better than all!

Could be...

finarvyn wrote:There is also the three-volume trade paperback series by Del Ray books:

• The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian
• The Conquering Sword of Conan
• The Bloody Crown of Conan

I like those books quite a bit and you can buy 'em used on Amazon for pretty cheap.

I bought there recently have they have been my subway reading since then. They are a delight and also a portable format. Warning though; they reflect 1930s norms about race.

Don't forget the "other" Appendix N... by Moldvay.

"Whereas Gygax's list was a list of the specific books and authors who influenced him in creating the game -- and are thus a window into how he saw the game -- Moldvay's list is a generalized quasi-academic survey of fiction and non-fiction that might hold some interest to players of D&D."

http://www.advanceddungeonsandparenting ... ldvay.html

http://3d6trapsandthieves.blogspot.com/ ... erial.html

http://grognardia.blogspot.com/2008/10/ ... lists.html

Dang Judge Perky, thanks for posting that! I had completely forgotten that list... seeing it now it answers the question of where I first heard of some of those authors! I remembered the AD&D Appendix N, and the Runequest Appendix N, but I completely forgot that list existed!

For those of you looking to read some Jack Vance you can pick up the 4 book omnibus edition for kindle for 10.99 on Amazon right now:

https://www.amazon.com/Tales-Dying-Eart ... jack+vance

MOLDVAY!!!