Real Life Adventures: Howard Days 2023
Jun02

Real Life Adventures: Howard Days 2023

Our Real Life Adventures series takes a look at unique sights, interesting places, and curious landmarks in that most fabulous of realms . . . the real world! Whether they be tours of spots directly related to gaming’s rich history, or places that are just flat out amazing or weird, our Real Life Adventures can serve as inspiration for your own tabletop gaming — be sure to check out the other articles in this...

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Congratulations to the 2023 Robert E. Howard Foundation Award Winners!
May30

Congratulations to the 2023 Robert E. Howard Foundation Award Winners!

Last month’s Howard Days, the annual celebration of the life and work of the father of sword-and-sorcery, Robert E. Howard, in Howard’s hometown of Cross Plains, Texas, drew fans from around the world to honor one of the greatest mythmakers of the modern age. Part of the yearly celebration are the awards given by the Robert E. Howard Foundation for excellence in Howard Scholarship of all kinds. Everything from printed...

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Adventures in Fiction: Robert E. Howard
Jan22

Adventures in Fiction: Robert E. Howard

Our Appendix N Archeology and Adventures in Fiction series are 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. There may not be a more iconic character in fantasy—and particularly sword and sorcery—fiction than Conan the Barbarian. From...

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Archetypes of Adventure: Conan and Elric
Jan17

Archetypes of Adventure: Conan and Elric

Archetypes of Adventure: Conan and Elric by Bill Ward Few characters in fantasy are as iconic as Conan the Cimmerian: black-haired barbarian warrior with the deadly grace of a panther and the impressive physique of a prize fighter, a wanderer, a reaver, and a king by his own hand. Michael Moorcock’s Elric of Melnibone perhaps rivals Conan in terms of iconic status (if not exactly in market saturation), perhaps in part due to his...

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Classic Covers: The Savage Sword of Conan
Jan10

Classic Covers: The Savage Sword of Conan

How do you skirt a restrictive comics code and make visual Conan stories with the requisite blood-pumping grittiness that is integral to Howard’s adventures? You make a magazine of course! Already popular in his initial comic book incarnation of Conan the Barbarian, Marvel introduced the more adult-oriented The Savage Sword of Conan in 1974, quickly achieving a wide circulation and, thanks to writer and editor Roy Thomas’...

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A Black Wind Blowing: Robert E. Howard and The Weird Menace Horror Pulps
Jan06

A Black Wind Blowing: Robert E. Howard and The Weird Menace Horror Pulps

A Black Wind Blowing: Robert E. Howard and The Weird Menace Horror Pulps by Ryan Harvey Robert E. Howard was a pulp professional, always searching for new markets to sell his fiction. Unlike his friends in the Weird Tales bullpen, H. P. Lovecraft and Clark Ashton Smith, both of whom kept to a narrow fictional style and a handful of magazines, Howard experimented to target different markets. Sometimes the experiments were a bust. He...

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