I just finished this...
![Image](http://www.goodman-games.com/images/AppendixN/ThreeHeartsThreeLions72dpi.jpg)
Interspersed with short stories from these...
![Image](http://www.goodman-games.com/images/AppendixN/CAS-72dpi.jpg)
![Image](http://www.goodman-games.com/images/AppendixN/HPL-72dpi.jpg)
![Image](http://www.goodman-games.com/images/AppendixN/Kull-72dpi.jpg)
*(Of course, CAS isn't specifically in Appendix N but he fits right in.)
And am about to start on this...
![Image](http://www.goodman-games.com/images/AppendixN/DreadCompanion-72dpi.jpg)
Moderators: DJ LaBoss, finarvyn, michaelcurtis, Harley Stroh
I can't remember where Appendix N is.goodmangames wrote:Has anyone else made a concerted effort to read the entirety of Appendix N?
Harley Stroh wrote:Yep. Gygax's "Inspiration and Educational Reading" list in the AD&D DMG. Set between Appendix M: Summoned Monsters, and Appendix O: Encumbrance of Standard Items, for reasons only Gygax could fathom.![]()
//H
Yes, I really enjoyed the Harold Shea books, as well as Fallible Fiend by De Camp. You can directly see the roots of D&D's magic system in the Harold Shea books -- it's interesting to read that and Vance at the same time.ThreeDieSix wrote:As far as the duds go, I know you mentioned Blue Star by Fletcher Pratt. I haven't read that one, but I did read Well of the Unicorn. Unlike a lot of the books in appendix N, it's not at all pulpy. It's actually a pretty serious piece of fantasy literature. Although it's a heavy read, it's take on morality and philosophy is quite complex for a fantasy story. It seems at first like a simple good-vs-evil scenario like Lord of the Rings, but then things start to get pretty messy and complicated - just like in real life.
There's also the Harold Shea series that Pratt co-wrote with L. Sprague De Camp. It's a fun, pulpy series that's more in line with the rest of appendix N. I think at the end of appendix N Gary specifically mentions it as one of the key influences on D&D.
That's one I've been meaning to pick up again. Read them years ago and really enjoyed them (the Corwin series at least, Merlin didn't do it for me). Had a lot of fun playing in an Amber RPG game a while back, but found I didn't remember the books very well.goodmangames wrote:![]()
Cool, I'll look for those.finarvyn wrote:Zelazny's Amber series is one of my all-time favorites. If you liked Amber you might try Jack of Shadows or the two Dilvish books (Dlivish, The Damned and The Changing Land) because they have a similar feel to them.
In the end, I decided it wasn't really my cup of tea, but it was definitely an innovative and iconic system. Even more than most games, though, it really depended on the quality of the other people you were playing with.I've been a huge Amber diceless fan for a long time, but it seems that fewer and fewer gamers have heard of it. Even fewer have played it. Kind of sad.![]()
He's still alive and well at the store I work at, but we're pretty much all used books.Actually, it's really sad that Zelazny is fading from bookstores. I think you can sometimes finda copy of The Big Book of Amber, and I think there were recent reprints of Lord of Light and Creatures of LIght and Darkness, but overall people just don't seem to have heard of Zelazny any more and book stores just don't stock his books.