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Adventures in Fiction: Lord Dunsany
Appendix N Birthday: Lord Dunsany (also known as Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany) by Michael Curtis Our Adventures in Fiction series is meant to take a look at the writers and creators behind the genre(s) that helped to forge not only our favorite hobby but our lives. We invite you to explore the entirety of the series on our Adventures In Fiction home page. Today is the birthday of Lord Dunsany, whose Appendix N work also directly inspired our release, DCC #97: The Queen of Elfland’s Son. Here is more information on why you should pay attention to the writing of Lord Dunsany. Some Appendix N authors directly influenced the creation of fantasy role-playing. We see concrete inspiration in the trolls borrowed from Poul Anderson or the “Vancian” magic system of D&D. Other Appendix N writers exerted a less obvious influence, providing more a sense of tone and wonder than any specific element. It can be argued, however, that one Appendix N author wielded the greatest influence on fantasy role-playing not because his works were borrowed wholesale or served to color Gygax and Arneson’s campaigns, but because he inspired numerous other Appendix N writers, impelling them to create the stories from which RPGs derive their origins. A Sidney Sime illustration from the interior of The Gods of Pegana. Few would recognize the name Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett, but many more know him by his title, Lord Dunsany (pronounced Dun-SAY-ny), whose birthday we honor today. Dunsany created an impressive literary body of work over a period of fifty years, penning dozens of novels and plays and hundreds of short stories. He seems to spring from nowhere, publishing The Gods of Pegana in 1905, a print he subsidized due to his lack of literary reputation. This would be the only time he ever paid to publish his own book. The Gods of Pegana was a beautiful work of imaginative mythology, presenting the reader with a pantheon of gods hitherto unseen in the western world. With a style as archaic as the King James Bible, but with all the wonder of pastoral myths spoken in the hills overlooking the Mediterranean, The Gods of Pegana is a transformative work, one that left an indelible mark on the landscape of fantasy fiction. Much like Clark Ashton Smith, who followed in Plunkett’s wake, Lord Dunsany’s tales are more prose poetry than pulp. He evokes a sense of otherworldliness in his stories, whether he’s writing about the “sign of Mung” or the constant drumming that keeps the creator god Mana-Yood-Sushai asleep and dreaming so that the universe may continue. To read Dunsany is to fall willingly into that vague realm which lies somewhere between imagination and sleep, a place where even truly outlandish notions possess a gravity and beauty that keeps them intact in the face of logical scrutiny. The original cover for King of Elfland’s Daughter. (Illustration by Sidney Sime.) Dunsany would revisit the strange gods of Pegana in a sequel, Time and the Gods, but he had other tales to tell beyond those mythological entities. Many of his short stories straddle the line between prose poetry and sword & sorcery. “The Sword of Welleran” or “The Fortress Unvanquishable, Save for Sacnoth,” feature heroes grimly facing off against seemingly insurmountable odds. His novel,...
read moreVintage paperbacks return to Gen Con!
We’re back with a fresh collection of paperbacks! Gen Con attendees, it’s time to tally up your collection! We have a fresh batch of paperback books for you to spin through this year! Come see us at booth #109 in the dealer’s hall for all your pulp fiction and vintage paperback needs! We’ve got plenty of stock, so keep those racks a-spinning all weekend! For more information on all things Gen Con 2024, check out our...
read moreMeet The Goodman Gang at Gen Con!
Almost all of us will be there – find us to say hi! We’ll be at the booth or running games at LOS or maybe between there! We’re so excited to meet you at Gen Con this year! If you were at Origins, Gen Con, or certain other cons over the last year, you probably saw some of our faces, but now we’re all going to be hanging out with you in one place! Who all is going to be there, you ask? Well Molan was nice enough to get us a list from atop his ziggurat! Joseph Goodman — the Founder of the Feast Michael Curtis — Director of Product Development (DCC RPG) Brendan LaSalle — Writer and Road Crew Leader Jen Brinkman — Operations Manager Jon Wilson — Wholesale and Customer Service Extraordinaire Marc Bruner — Tournament Specialist Dieter Zimmerman — Customer Service and Print Mines Expert Doug Kovacs — Artist Stefan Poag — Artist Harley Stroh — Writer and Arghatan Ziggurat Master Alana “Vitani Maru” Thompson — Twitch Mistress (and wild manbat on the loose with a camera) Come see us at booth #109 in the dealer’s hall or at the Lucas Oil Stadium — or somewhere in between! We can hardly wait to see you all and say...
read moreSave on Our PDFs with Christmas in July at DriveThruRPG!
Save up to 40% on hundreds of Goodman Games titles! Over at DriveThruRPG right now you can save big on our PDFs! Dozens upon dozens of adventures, campaigns, supplements, and guides to incorporate into your games! Now is a great chance to grab Dark Tower, DCC Dying Earth, DCC Lankhmar, or that classic 3E or 4E adventure you were always curious about in PDF form! There’s tons to choose from and for as little as...
read moreMeet the Wizard Van at Gen Con!
We’re with the . . . Van! It isn’t Van-ity that has us showing off the old school lines of our classic Wizard Van, or its retro plush interior (yes, that is a carpeted ceiling!) custom designed for intense, yet comfortable gaming. And we will be bringing the Wizard Van back to Gen Con this year! It’s only a week away, but we want everyone who plans to attend Gen Con 2024 to know that the Van, in all its van-tastic glory, will be at the Lucas Oil Stadium during the show. Maybe you are one of the lucky ones already booked for a game session in the back of the Wizard Van! But even if you aren’t, you’re more than welcome to come check it out and get a selfie with –or in– the van! Be sure to look for our DCC Ziggurat looming over the action in the Exhibit Hall and stop by our booth (#109) for a chat! We’re looking forward to seeing you at Gen Con in a next...
read moreXcrawl Classics Now Available for Pre-Order!
Goodman Games is proud to present Xcrawl Classics RPG core rulebook, the exciting game of live-streamed Xtreme Dungeon Crawling! Available for pre-order today is everything you need to start running Xcrawl Classics! We’re talking the core rulebook (regular and special DJ edition), dice, modules and even mojo tokens! Grab your pals and pit them against foes to win fabulous prizes and fame in Xcrawl! Let’s have a look! PRE-ORDER the XCC Core Rulebook —> PRE-ORDER the DJ Skull Edition XCC Core Rulebook —> PRE-ORDER XCC #0: Murder Mountain Smackdown —> PRE-ORDER XCC #1: The Crawl Formerly Known as Terror on the Tundra —> PRE-ORDER XCC #2: Tropicrawl Cataclysm —> PRE-ORDER XCC #3: Please Xcrawl, Don’t Hurt ‘Em —> PRE-ORDER XCC #4: Death in the Dungeon of Tomorrow —> PRE-ORDER XCC #5: Bay City Firestorm —> PRE-ORDER XCC #6: Dooms 2 Go —> PRE-ORDER Xcrawl Insider Issue #1 —> PRE-ORDER XCC RPG Dice —> PRE-ORDER Xcrawl Classics Mojo Tokens —> PRE-ORDER XCC RPG Reference Booklet —> PRE-ORDER Xcrawl Classics Dungeon Judge’s Screen...
read moreGen Con “Save Xcrawl!” Tournament Player Packs Now Available!
A dark political alliance wants to permanently cancel the World’s Funnest Death Sport (TM), but you can save it if your heroics please the Gods of Olympus! Our Gen Con 2024 team tournament this year is Save Xcrawl!, and we’ve released the complete and updated player pack for all participants — it contains all the info you’ll need to play in the tournament, including the schedule, scoring system, rules tweaks, and pre-gen characters. There will be a total of 10 teams competing against each other in 3 waves (or ‘flights’) taking place on Thursday August 1st at 2:00 pm, and Friday August 2nd at 9:00 am and 2:00 pm. The final round to determine the winners will be on Saturday August 3rd at 2:00 pm. We hope you’ll join us for our first Xcrawl Classics Team Tournament — you and your team might just be able to call yourself the first ever XCC Team Tournament Champions! FREE PLAYER PACK DOWNLOAD FOR GEN CON 2024 TOURNAMENT FREE SPELLBOOK FOR SAVE XCRAWL GOODMAN GAMES TOURNAMENT...
read moreFinal Day for Caverns of Thracia! Countdown Show Tonight!
IT’S THE FINAL DAY TO BACK THE CAMPAIGN! GET IN ON CAVERNS OF THRACIA WHILE YOU STILL CAN! Caverns of Thracia is our biggest crowdfunding campaign ever, and it is still growing! We’ve grown past 18 stretch goals so far, with others still very much in sight. And who knows what might happen during our Countdown Show? What Countdown Show? Why the one that start at 6:00 pm EST tonight on Twitch! You can join Mike Curtis, Chris Doyle, Joseph Goodman, and who knows how many other surprise guests as they guide us towards the end of the campaign. And with BackerKit’s special Overtime Mode, who knows exactly when it will end? We’ll see you tonight on Twitch! 6:00 p.m. EST, Thursday, July 25th Caverns of Thracia Countdown Show Host: Joseph Goodman, Mike Curtis, Chris Doyle, and more! Hold onto your helmets! This countdown show is about to be wild! Caverns of Thracia has become our most backed project to date, and we’re pulling out all of the stops to thank you for all your support! Tune in on Thursday on the Goodman Games Official Twitch Channel. Caverns of Thracia is a legendary adventure written by Jennell Jaquays. In the Goodman Games’ updated version for both DCC and 5E, characters will rise from 1st level to 10th (5E) or 1st through 5th (DCC), a complete campaign experience in one amazing adventure! A complete setting that supports a full-year campaign and takes your characters from levels 1 to 10 in 5E or levels 1-5 in DCC. Includes an extensive dungeon, the ruins, and an overland archipelago. A thousand-year-old dungeon mystery waiting to be solved. Interact with factions to reveal level-by-level backstory. Featuring combat, exploration, and social interaction across 6 vast dungeon levels, including: 300+ encounter areas 125+ new monsters 40+ new magic items, spells, and curses Follow Caverns of Thracia on BackerKit now, and be ready when it, Hellpits of Nightfang, DCC #109: Beneath the Isle of Serpents, and FEF #27 launch in a few weeks! PLEDGE NOW FOR CAVERNS OF THRACIA ON...
read more18 Stretch Goals Cleared!
There’s only one day left to back this massive project! We’ve reached over $550k thanks to your amazing support and unlocked a total of 18 stretch goals during the project! These special bits and baubles that have been unlocked are only available through the BackerKit project, so back now before you miss out! Check out the latest stretch goals we’ve unlocked for Caverns of Thracia! 4 pages of content on the ecology of Thracia, just like the classic Dragon magazine articles. Lizardfolk, beastmen, maybe even minotaurs! A 17″x22″ player map of the Island of Thracia, with enticing hexes just waiting to be explored! You only have one day left to back this legendary mega-dungeon! The project ends tomorrow during our Caverns of Thracia Countdown show! Caverns of Thracia is a legendary adventure written by Jennell Jaquays. In the Goodman Games’ updated version for both DCC and 5E, characters will rise from 1st level to 10th (5E) or 1st through 5th (DCC), a complete campaign experience in one amazing adventure! A complete setting that supports a full-year campaign and takes your characters from levels 1 to 10 in 5E or levels 1-5 in DCC. Includes an extensive dungeon, the ruins, and an overland archipelago. A thousand-year-old dungeon mystery waiting to be solved. Interact with factions to reveal level-by-level backstory. Featuring combat, exploration, and social interaction across 6 vast dungeon levels, including: 300+ encounter areas 125+ new monsters 40+ new magic items, spells, and curses Follow Caverns of Thracia on BackerKit now, and be ready when it, Hellpits of Nightfang, DCC #109: Beneath the Isle of Serpents, and FEF #27 launch in a few weeks! PLEDGE NOW FOR CAVERNS OF THRACIA ON...
read moreDCC Day Will Return in 2025!
Mark your calendars superfans! We had an awesome time Saturday with all of you celebrating all things DCC RPG! But it’s time to look to the future — DCC Day 2025 is going to land July 19th, 2025! Stay tuned next year for what you can find in our awesome kits! And keep an eye out, you might just get lucky and find some leftovers from this year’s DCC...
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