Should every aspiring GM read Appendix N?
If the GM wants to understand what AD&D 1e is trying to emulate, then yes.For other systems? Not needed, but it can be a fun experience.
>>96461612I've only read Anderson, Burroughs, Howard, Lovecraft, Morcock, Tolkien, Vance and Zelazny. Half the rest of those I don't even recognize.But sure, anon. Read books. It's good for your brain. And none of this "audiobooks count" bullshit.
I would encourage anyone to read fantasy that isn't Tolkien or Sandersonslop
>>96461612Sure. Reading is always good.
>>96461612No, most of the books on that list are dogshit.
Every aspiring GM should read, and those are reasonable fantasy suggestions.
>>96461612As someone who can read I ask, why are you asking about appendix N but posting that list which isn't appendix N?The answer to your question is no. Some of those are good but as noted below, that list was just some stories Gygax liked. Inspiration for campaigns can come from anywhere. Some of those were good stories but there have been a lot more good stories written in the last 50 years.>>96461655>If the GM wants to understand what AD&D 1e is trying to emulateNeither that list nor appendix N are a list of things AD&D is trying to emulate. Gygax may credit Howard's Conan work as influential upon the game but AD&D doesn't try to emulate sword-and-sandal. Weinbaum and Williamson are science fiction authors nothing like the AD&D fantasy game.The list,as Gygax says in appendix N, were inspirations for him. They may provide inspiration for others to make for interesting campaigns, but they are not a list of things D&D was intended to emulate.>From such sources, as well as just about any other imaginative writing or screenplay you will be able to pluck kernels from which grow the fruits of exciting campaigns.
>>96462268>those are reasonable fantasy suggestionsExcept that they're not.Lanier, Weinbaum, and Brackett are all SF authors, and some non-fantasy genres too. Blackwood wrote ghost stories and while ghosts are make believe, Blackwood's stories weren't fantasy genre. Several others on that list wrote fantasy and SF but are best renowned as SF authors in addition to their work in westerns, non-fiction, detective, horror, weird fiction. Gygax at least specifies Conan, sparing you the westerns and boxing stories her wrote (a lot of which are better than all but the best Conan stories).
>>96461612>Should every aspiring GM read Appendix N?"Should" is tricky here but I'd say that while a good chunk of that list is worth reading it could stand some significant improvement.I've actually been spending some time here and there cobbling together a big infographic about what I think is worth reading and/or stealing from for GMs, but organized by genre/relevance and with a focus on foundational elements and tertiary and/or older works. Death in the Silent Places, for example is not only not fantasy but non-fiction and is still a fantastic book for GMs to read.
>>96461612>>96461655The one from the AD&D DMG is slightly different.
Why would I? I don't run d&dogshit.
>>96461684>audiobooks countCount for what? If you're reading for some imaginary stats, you're missing the point. For me the ideal form of book is paper > ebook > audiobook, but each type has its uses. I'm not gonna take more than 1 book when traveling, and audiobooks are great when I'm painting minis, hiking or doing some other physical activity that leaves the other part of my brain to get bored.
>>96465092Probably referring to the fact that reading with your physical books with your eyeballs increases retention of information in a similar way to writing notes with a pen and paper versus typing on a keyboard.Analog materials are good. Nothing wrong with audiobooks if you need to fill silence but they will never be the same. Though listening to an audiobook while hiking in nature is some real fucked up behavior.
>>96461612>No discworldNgmi
>>96461612Most of the faggots caught singing the praises of Appendix N have a nasty habit of revealing they've never read anything on it either when they start talking about what "real" fantasy adventure is supposed to be like, which contradicts the scattershot of wildly different pulp fantasy novels.
>>96461612You should read them because it's a good collection of fantasy & pulp, and reading is fun. I can't vouch for everything on there but I've read LOTR/Hobbit/Silm, most of the Conan stories, 3H3L, Dying Earth, and I've started reading the Lankhmar series. All hits so far
>>96461684What this anon says. Reading is good for your brain. I think I've improved my writing just by reading old fantasy books. You will be faaaaaaar ahead of corporate stuff like WoTC DnD.
>>96461684Having read both Blackwood, Leiber and Merritt?Give them a go. The Ship of Ishtar is a real undiscovered gem, even by me until this week, and part of that pre Lord of the Rings era when fantasy was wild.
>>96462059I read tg. I beg to differ.
>>96470439Based
>>964701103H3L is literally isekai slop. Protagonist randomly shows up in a fantasy world, almost immediately meets a cute girl who has magic and inexplicably decides to join his party, beats up a trained (fairy) knight with his cheat abilities despite never holding a sword before, etc. Terrible.
>>96461612Yeah.But mythology (from actual ancient sources rather than modern YA trash) and history are useful too, a lot of these appendix N works are based on mythology and history anyway
