Appendix N Revisited: A New Project!

Hello everyone,

     I am embarking on a new project which will see its first results in 2017, though of necessity the work begins now. I intend to begin revisiting the literature of Appendix N, reading and writing about what I've read once a month (probably aiming for the Ides of each month). If you're not familiar with the term. "Appendix N" refers to an appendix in the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Dungeon Master's Guide, a list compiled by Gary Gygax of the fantasy, science fiction, and weird fiction that was inspirational and fundamental to the original conception of Dungeons & Dragons. The list has come to be revered by many in the "OSR" movement ("Old School Renaissance" or "Old School Revival"), including the creators of the Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG at Goodman Games. Anyway, Appendix N has always held a deep fascination for me, as one of the origins of my hobby (what I often refer to as the Hobby) and as literature that I enjoyed reading and influenced my own writing. These days, fantasy literature is a much more securely established genre than it was in the early 1970s when Gygax and Areneson were first formulating the basics of what became fantasy RPGs. Back then, it tended more strongly to the weird, and indeed the related genre of "weird fiction" features prominently in Appendix N.

     So what is the point of all this? Well, in part, it is "getting in touch with my roots" - returning ad fontes to the sources of inspiration for my fantasy RPG Hobby and my own writing. In part, it is an attempt to give some structure to my rather haphazard re-reading of the Appendix N corpus, and to organize my thoughts on what I'm reading. And in part, it's just for fun. So I'm going to start reading now, and you can look for blog posts on the subject starting around the Ides of January. My intent is to work through as much of the actual Gygaxian Appendix N as possible before moving on to alternate "inspirational reading" lists, such as that of Moldvay or the creators of the Pathfinder RPG.

     I hope that reading about revisiting Appendix N may inspire some of my readers to do the same!

Happy Reading! Skál!
~ Colin Anders Brodd