Return to Appendix N Revisited!
Back in 2017, I undertook a project I called "Appendix N Revisited". My intention had been to slowly read through much of Appendix N and then write commentary on the history of tabletop roleplaying games and especially D&D. Appendix N was the appendix in the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Dungeon Masters Guide in which Gary Gygax listed authors and books he considered foundational to the creation of D&D (and thus, by extension, roleplaying games in general). The list was probably never intended to be exhaustive, and there are some curious omissions (famously, Clark Ashton Smith is absent from the list, but known to have been hugely influential, leading to decades of speculation as to why Gygax omitted the name of such an obvious and profound influence). And Gygax certainly changed the emphasis on certain authors over time (e.g., by the 80s and 90s, he strongly preferred to downplay the importance of J.R.R. Tolkien, which seemed rather absurd to most observers - not only were some of the first classes "elf," "dwarf," and "hobbit" (yes! hobbit! not "halfling"!), but the monster list included "ents" and "balrogs" in place of the now-familiar "treants" and "balors". Legal issues with the Tolkien estate and its licenses had changed the terms, but Gygax was steadfastly determined to keep the concepts under different and sufficiently legally distinct names. Early problems with estates and licenses hit Gygax hard, and perhaps in turn explain why TSR was so litigious as well.
The point is not that these books necessarily represent the only authentic influences and DNA of D&D. And many stories, books, and movies published since the 1970s have influenced the development of D&D since then just as profoundly as the original "Appendix N" list. But these authors, books, and stories are an important part of our history, and the flavor that was the goal of some of the earliest D&D is well represented in these entries. Pulp fiction, weird fiction, and what would today be labelled science fiction are just as big a part of the list as traditional fantasy. Gygax liked pulp fiction; he was clearly not snobbish in this regard. White male European and American authors are overrepresented, and given the time period in which much of the fiction originated, it is perhaps not surprising that many of the stories are problematic in a number of ways (sexism, racism, ableism, colonialism, and so forth), but they can be no less interesting and useful to re-read, as long as one is aware of and does not inappropriately value the problematic aspects).
I find it worthwhile to periodically return ad fontes, to drink from the springs of our Hobby and revisit the Muses of their Hippocrene Spring. I intend to embark on a re-read of as much of Appendix N as I am able (and to which I have access), and I invite you to join me in this. I hope you will enjoy my notes and find them interesting and useful. I am not going to try to follow a strict schedule, but would hope to read at least one book each month.
