Appendix N
Gary Gygax published the Dungeon Master's Guide in 1979 to help people run games of Dungeons and Dragons. This book contained a series of appendices, including one titled Appendix N: Inspirational and Educational Reading. The list specified twenty-eight authors and twenty-two specific books that formed the core source material for early game mechanics. Gygax identified these works as the source of many concepts, tropes, spells, and monsters used during development. He intended the document to serve as both an inspiration and an educational tool for dungeon masters. A revised version appeared later in the fifth edition Player's Handbook released in 2014.
The original list included names like Leigh Brackett, Fredric Brown, and H.P. Lovecraft among others. It also featured series such as Edgar Rice Burroughs' Pellucidar and Barsoom collections. Authors like Robert E. Howard contributed the Conan series while Fritz Leiber provided the Fafhrd and Gray Mouser tales. Some entries listed multiple books under an et al notation indicating further works were partially included. Clark Ashton Smith was notably absent from the initial compilation but Gygax addressed this omission later. Margaret St. Clair's Sign of the Labrys offered inspiration for dungeons with secret doors connecting multiple levels.
Dungeons and Dragons adopted a memorized spell system known as Vancian magic after Jack Vance's work. Vance freely gave permission to use his Ioun Stones as magical items on the condition that his books received mention. The alignment chart of Law versus Chaos derived directly from Michael Moorcock's Elric stories. Poul Anderson's Three Hearts and Three Lions inspired both the Paladin character class and the alignment system itself. The Barbarian player class serves as a direct nod to Robert E. Howard's Conan stories though fans debate its classification. Secret doors within multi-level dungeons came from Margaret St. Clair's writing rather than traditional fantasy tropes.
The first edition Deities & Demigods reference book included statistics for nonhuman characters from H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos. It also featured data regarding the Melnibonéan mythos created by Michael Moorcock. Both entries became subjects of legal threats and were removed from subsequent editions due to copyright disputes. TSR faced papers threatening damages totaling half a million dollars from Elan Merchandising acting on behalf of the Tolkien Estate. They were ordered to remove Balrog, Dragon, Dwarf, Elf, Ent, Goblin, Hobbit, Orc, and Warg from the game. Eventually all but Hobbit, Ent, and Balrog were ruled public domain after years of litigation.
Appendix N reflects the canon of fantasy literature at the end of the 1970s. Michael Moorcock identified this period as marking the creation of a fresh genre of fantasy literature. Works before this era often fell into now-obsolete categories like planetary romance or weird fiction. The amalgamation of fantasy tropes into original D&D helped transition readers toward roleplaying games. This shift occurred during the late twentieth century when global mass media popularity had not yet taken hold. The list remains one of the foundations upon which modern fantasy roleplaying was built.
Joseph Goodman read every book in Appendix N to create the Gygax-inspired OSR RPG Dungeon Crawl Classics. Many published modules for that game directly reference texts such as Peril on the Purple Planet inspired by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Campaign settings exist for adventures set within worlds created by Fritz Leiber and Jack Vance. Jeffro Johnson's book about his journey through the list received a Hugo Award nomination in 2016. Ernie Gygax Jr. nominated Shagduk by J.B. Jackson as an honorary title in 2022. Multiple podcasts including Sanctum Secorum explore these books while Martin Ralya maintains a blog detailing his quest to read them all.
Common questions
What is Appendix N in Dungeons and Dragons?
Appendix N is a list of inspirational and educational reading found in Gary Gygax's 1979 Dungeon Master's Guide. It specifies twenty-eight authors and twenty-two specific books that formed the core source material for early game mechanics.
Which authors are included in the original Appendix N list?
The original list includes names like Leigh Brackett, Fredric Brown, H.P. Lovecraft, Robert E. Howard, Fritz Leiber, and Clark Ashton Smith. It also features series such as Edgar Rice Burroughs' Pellucidar and Barsoom collections.
How did Jack Vance influence Dungeons and Dragons magic systems?
Dungeons and Dragons adopted a memorized spell system known as Vancian magic after Jack Vance's work. Vance freely gave permission to use his Ioun Stones as magical items on the condition that his books received mention.
Why were certain characters removed from Deities & Demigods?
TSR faced papers threatening damages totaling half a million dollars from Elan Merchandising acting on behalf of the Tolkien Estate. They were ordered to remove Balrog, Dragon, Dwarf, Elf, Ent, Goblin, Hobbit, Orc, and Warg from the game due to copyright disputes.
What is Dungeon Crawl Classics based on?
Joseph Goodman read every book in Appendix N to create the Gygax-inspired OSR RPG Dungeon Crawl Classics. Many published modules for that game directly reference texts such as Peril on the Purple Planet inspired by Edgar Rice Burroughs.