A new podcast all about Appendix N is here! And I’m really glad for it, too.
See… I’ve gotten so much feedback from irate fantasy fans over the past few years insisting that it’s just plain obvious that D&D is warmed over Tolkien pastiche, that it was always like that from the beginning, and that anything that Gary Gygax to the contrary was just an attempt by him to downplay the truth out of a fear of the vast legal powers of the Tolkien estate.
The topic is so hotly contested, it sure would be nice to have a second opinion on this. And now we do! Check this out:
“It is so clear that this was an incredibly influential book on D&D. In addition to just the Steading of the Hill Giants, I feel like half of the monster manual is in this book! I was making a list while I was going through it and in this book we have dwarves, frost giants, hill giants, fire giants, dragons, trolls, water fey, cockatrices, unicorns, wyverns, imps, hobgoblins, hippogriffs, werewolfs, centaurs, efreet, and djinn.”
This is a great show you won’t want to miss. Listen to the whole thing!
You’d think Gary Gygax would’ve been even more afraid of the vast legal powers of the Edgar Rice Burroughs estate. :^)
THAT was a good show. Many astute observations about de Camp. I’ve always (more-or-less) liked the Shea stories, but they are certainly “light” entertainment and often have kind of a condescending attitude.
I do think the guys might’ve stretched a bit — at times — looking for inspirations/influences on D&D. Such was there, but I think some of the things they point out likely came from other sources.