RPGaDay 2019: 6 Ancient

Webster’s defines “gothic” in several ways:  the Teutonic Barbarians, which are certainly cool if you're into that whole history thing; the style of architecture that dominated France and Western Europe from the 12th to the 16th century; and the one that I want to talk about, which is "...relating to a style of fiction characterized by the use of desolate or remote settings and macabre, mysterious, or violent incidents."  

Characteristics of gothic art and literature can include, but are not limited to decay, haunted locations, curses, madness, powerful emotions, and the presence of the supernatural. 

Sounds like a hell of a campaign setting, right?

I think the best parts of classic D&D are gothic in nature. It’s one of the over-arching principles that drives the game even now. Consider that of the mere handful of skills allowed the player characters, there are three knowledge skills that relate directly to gothic elements: arcane, religion, and history.

I’ve always preferred the Howardian ideal of dim antiquity and fell sorcery, lying fallow beneath the ruins, weighted down by the crashing eons, waiting in blind indolence for the lone and unsuspecting fool to life the stone, trace the carvings or dig up the skull of the long-forgotten sorcerer so that evil will one day stalk the land again.

Buscema and Alcala. Click to enlarge.

And why not? That’s one third of the game’s primary adventure milieus, isn’t it? The crypts, the ruins, the dungeon! Of course, they are unfailingly gothic and ancient—no one raids the newly-constructed underground lair (though I suppose they could), or visits the brand-spanking-new temple of elemental evil. Those are nowhere near as fun to traipse through. And why? New places can’t have ghosts, supernatural and macabre things, or curses or madness.

Again, I’m sure if you worked at it, you could probably come up with some new evil warlord who JUST put the finishing touches on his labyrinth of madness and he’s now killing all of the workers so they won’t divulge his secrets and the widow of the town’s stonecutter wants you to go pull his carcass out of the abattoir so it can be interred in the family crypt. There’s most of the elements that go into a gothic setting, only fresh and new, but how many times can you go back to that well? And yet, every kingdom, every duchy, every principality has its own mouldering crypt, abandoned keep, ancient ruins, etc. It's part of the creative DNA of Dungeons & Dragons.

I think gothic elements work best when you file the serial numbers off; or to put it another way, I think Ravenloft is overkill. It’s too “on the nose,” and moreover, in danger of sliding out of the low fantasy setting I prefer. I get why it’s popular and why they chose to freshen it up for 5th edition, but I’d rather be more subtle, if not judicious, about my gothic trappings.

The Appendix N author who got this the most right was Robert E. Howard. His successors, Fritz Lieber, Michael Moorcock, and Karl Edward Wagner, got this idea, as well. More of that stuff in your game is never a bad thing.

RPGaDay 2019: 2 Unique

Weird Tales Magazine called itself “The Unique Magazine” and it wasn’t an idle boast, either. Widely considered one of the greatest pulp magazines of all time, it premiered in 1922 as a ghost and supernatural pulp and quickly went into debt, as it was unable to find its audience. When a Shakespearean scholar named Farnsworth Wright took the editorial reins in late 1924 (himself installed by the magazine’s new owners), he heralded the Golden Age of Weird Tales by introducing the small but dedicated readers to some of the most important fantasy writers of the twentieth century.

REH's Conan was one of the most
popular series in the magazine.

Of singular note are the Three Musketeers of Weird Tales: H. P. Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith, and Robert E. Howard; Other less distinguished but no less important authors included: C.L. Moore, Ray Bradbury, Robert Bloch, Seabury Quinn, Frank Belknap Long, August Derleth, A. Merritt, Fritz Lieber, Manly Wade Wellman, and so many others, just to name a few.

Why should you care? Well, if you are an Appendix N Junkie (or Appendix E for you fifth edition folks), or maybe you’re merely interested in the history and development of the game, then Weird Tales Magazine is the Dead Sea Scrolls of D&D. You probably already recognized those names above as a significant who’s who for the original Appendix N.

Reading is not only fundamental, it’s required to play Dungeons & Dragons, and the experience of play was always intended to be akin to, if not adjacent to, a literary experience. Modern movies and television and increasingly-sophisticated video games tend to blur and conflate the chain of custody between gaming and literature, to our detriment, I think. Case in point; my current players relate all of their commentary in meta-game to playing Skyrim.

Sahuagin! No, Kuo Toa! Wait a minute...

This has an advantage in that you can play off of those expectations; my thieves’ guild is so much more vast, intricate, and interesting than the little gang of ne’er-do-wells in Skyrim that it blew the players’ minds when they discovered it, and just how vast and sprawling it really was. But that’s not hard to do. I mean, as cool as Skyrim is (I guess), nothing beats me at the table, doing my thing, and creating worlds that these guys live in.

Now, I told you that to tell you this: at least half, if not more, of my long-running campaign world is admiringly appropriated from much better writers than me. That was one of the dirty little secrets of the Old School Renaissance; players and DMs would gleefully steal any idea not nailed down, and even then, some of them brought a crowbar, just in case. I mentioned this previously when talking about the movie Beastmaster.

But the real stuff, the books and stories from Weird Tales magazine? Those decorated authors? That’s uncut, high end, mainline good shit, right there. What makes this so ironic is that, over time, Dungeons and Dragons had drifted—some would say by necessity, and others would say by design—away from being derivative of Conan, Elric, Lord of the Rings, etc. and into its own world that is ultimately unique unto itself…but also, and this is strictly my opinion here, very vanilla. D&D has, over forty years, become a kind of default setting catch-all fantasy world that is not bad, not at all, but it’s lacking some of the bumps and scrapes and dents and dings that first edition D&D had. Scars are sexy, and the early D&D was a Frankenstein’s monster that wore all of its influences on its sleeves…and its arms…and its face…and its body…

The most immediate influences upon AD&D were probably de Camp & Pratt, R. E. Howard, Fritz Leiber, Jack Vance, H. P. Lovecraft, and A. Merritt; but all of the above authors, as well as many not listed, certainly helped to shape the form of the game. For this reason, and for the hours of  reading enjoyment, I heartily recommend the works of these fine authors to you.
 - E. Gary Gygax, from the AD&D Dungeon Masters Guide

Appendix N: Happy Birthday, Robert E. Howard!

Hey, look! A book! I wrote this!
If you have a first edition, please
buy this one, too. It's better.

I think we're going to just skip all the usual bloggery about how it's a new year, and with it comes a renewed interest in blogging, and a solemn  promise to post more regularly and yadda yadda yadda* and start with something useful and interesting: today is Robert E. Howard's one hundred and thirteenth birthday.

For those of you who grew up on Appendix N, or maybe you came later to the party, Robert E. Howard (o "REH") is widely credited as the father of Sword and Sorcery (and, I argue, also the Weird Western as it is practiced today), or "heroic fantasy" if you prefer that distinction. I don't think it matters much what you call it, but when you add to that, "You know, Conan?" everyone knows what you mean.

I have been associated with the Texas author professionally since 2001, having penned a number of articles and essays, book introductions and afterwords, comic book stories, role-playing games, old time radio plays, and of course, an award-winning biography of the Texas author and his career, and his influence on popular culture in general.

If you are interested in checking any of that out, go for it. But I thought since it's an auspicious day that I'd drop some recent recommendations for anyone playing catch-up. Howard's stories should be required reading for any serious D&D player or Dungeon Master.

Del Rey's Robert E. Howard trade paperback series
Fourteen volumes, meticulously edited, all of the fragments, thoughtful introductory essays and afterwards, copious illustrations, and authoritative texts that make use of printed stories and rough drafts...what's not to love about these books? You may be glancing over at your shelves right now, eyeing those tattered paperbacks you bought in the 1970s, and thinking, "Pfft. I've got all of those books. I've read Robert E. Howard, Jack." Trust me...you haven't. At least, not like this.

If you've never read REH before, I would start with the two-volume "Best of" books, Crimson Shadows and Grim Lands. They will give you and overview of the depth and breadth of Howard's writing, from bawdy slapstick to terrifying weird horror, and all points in between.  If you liked what you read--Conan, Kull, Bran MaK Morn, the Crusades stories, the horror tales, Desert Adventure, whatever stuck with you--there's a Del Rey edition or two for you, full of all the extant Howard writing on that character or subject. Handy, and oh-so-inspirational.

Black Gate Magazine
Editor Bob Byrne is spearheading a series of articles called "Hither Came Conan" wherein noted authors and experts weigh-in on the various Conan stories to make the case for it being the BEST Conan Story of ALL. It's an interesting idea, and I will certainly be participating later, but for now, there's some good reading to be had on this great site.

Rogue Blades Entertainment
This plucky indy publisher  spearheaded by Jason M. Waltz was a vanguard of the new pulp movement, and now Jason is bringing it back with renewed focus and more cool stuff in the sword and sorcery vein. I know, it's not strictly speaking Robert E. Howard, but Jason now lives in Texas and came to the Robert E. Howard house for the first time last year...and now we're getting new books...coincidence? I think not!

Robert E. Howard: A Literary Biography by David C. Smith
This is the newest biographical work about Our Favorite Author to appear and it's written by David Smith, who co-wrote the Red Sonja book series with Richard Tierney, and has made several pilgrimages to the Howard House (see below). In fact, he's the Guest of Honor this year! Read his book and bring it with you to get signed (you can do that). It's a fantastic read with lots to unpack.

Marvel's Conan the Barbarian
The company that helped make Conan a household name has re-acquired the rights to the eponymous barbarian, and their launch of the new series written by Jason Aaron has been pretty impressive. Remember, this is pop-culture Conan, not REH Conan, but it's still quite entertaining.

If you're fortunate enough to have a good comic shop in your area, head that way and buy a copy of the first issue. If you do not have a good comic shop in your area, well, Marvel has an app for digital comics. And if you're one of those greate grey-neckbeard grognards who only reads on paper, and hates anything made after 1979, but can't quite remember where all of your back issues of the Savage Sword of Conan are stashed, Marvel is diligently reprinting their classic Conan comics and magazines, too.

Conan Role-Playing Games
For those of you who like it a little more 21st century, Modiphius' Conan RPG launch continues apace with a brand-new book, Conan the Brigand. I am proud to have worked on this line, along with fellow Conanists Jeff Shanks and Patrice Louinet.  The system is quick and easy, and creates really detailed characters with intricate back stories before you ever start your first session.

For all of you first edition D&D and other OSR-type folks, I would recommend Jason Vey's website, which has a lot of OSR Conan and Hyborian Age gaming. It's the bee's knees.


The Robert E. Howard House and Museum

Maybe you have all of that stuff above, and other stuff, too. Maybe you've got a whole shelf full of Robert E. Howard books and boxes of comics, stacked up and sitting pretty. You're that guy, amongst all of your friends. Well, have you been to the Howard House?

If you have not, then you have missed out on a singular fan experience. Every year in June, the town of Cross Plains hosts REH fans from literally around the world for Robert E. Howard Days, a two-day celebration of Howard's life and enduring legacy. There will be panel discussions, lots of activities, tours of the house and Cross Plains, and lots of rare and unique artifacts on display. The house made national news a couple of years ago with an archaeological dig that uncovered the root cellar, seen here.

It's a pilgrimage, and one you won't forget. I go every year, because I can, but you can certainly make the trip once. You won't regret it.


There's more stuff coming this year. I've got a couple of secret projects in the hopper, as well. But this will do as a kick-off for now. Happy Birthday, Bob! I'll bet you had no idea this stuff would all be around over eighty years after your death, did you?

______
Notes:
* I have been indolent lately, and there are real-life reasons why this is so. If you're interested, you can pop over to the personal blog and read for yourself. Or don't.