29 September 2009
Today’s Tabbloid
PERSONAL NEWS FOR riorio2@rogue-games.net
ROGUE FEED
Yet More Gygaxiana
SEP 28, 2009 11:09P.M.
Randall over at RetroRoleplaying has links to even more early articles by
Gary Gygax about D&D, this time from Len “Leomund” Lakofka’s old
Diplomacy fanzine, Liaisons Dangereuses.
Awesome stuff.
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Gygax in Europa
SEP 28, 2009 10:57A.M.
This is old news to some, but I thought I ought to make mention of it
here nonetheless. An old article by Gary Gygax, entitled “How to Set Up
Your Dungeons & Dragons Campaign — And Be Stuck Refereeing It
Seven Days Per Week Until the Wee Hours of the Morning!”, was
recently unearthed. It appeared in a European wargaming fanzine called
Europa in the April 1975 issue. Gary’s article appears on pages 18-20 and
is quite fascinating from a historical perspective, both in terms of his
discussion of how he designed his own campaign and because it’s from a
very early period, before D&D‘s popularity reached its eventual heights.
Gygax also describes, albeit sketchily, the 13 levels of the original Castle
Greyhawk and their inhabitants.
The other thing of interest here is that the article is clearly written by
“Gamer Gary,” as opposed to “TSR Gary.” That is, it’s written from the
perspective of one gamer to another rather than being full of pontifical
pronouncements by someone looking to sell you new products. Gamers
who entered the hobby after 1979 or so probably have little to no
experience of “Gamer Gary” and even I sometimes forget about his
existence. It’s nice to be reminded of him from time to time and this
short article does that very well, in addition to its other more obvious
uses.
1
ROGUE FEED
Pulp Fantasy Library: Nine
Princes in Amber
SEP 28, 2009 08:58A.M.
I’ll admit upfront that I’ve never been a big fan of Roger Zelazny’s
“Chronicles of Amber.” I’ve read the series — at least the part of it
published in the 1970s — and found it intellectually interesting, but
something about its characters and plots just didn’t click with me. That’s
certainly no crime; lots of very good books aren’t to my taste. The only
reason it bugs me in this particular case is because Gary Gygax included
the series in Appendix N as an influence on AD&D. Likewise, I enjoyed
Jack of Shadows, also by Zelazny, which shares similar themes with the
“Amber” books, thus making my own lack of enthusiasm all the more
peculiar.
The series kicks off with 1970’s Nine Princes in Amber, which is the one
book of the original five I enjoyed without qualification. The book begins
with a man named Carl Corey who finds himself in a secluded medical
clinic, unable to remember who he is or how he got there. In time, he
learns that he was the victim of an automobile accident and that he was
sent to the clinic at the expense of his sister. This information convinces
Carl to escape the clinic and seek out his sister, hoping it might shed
further light on his situation.
When he finds his sister, she addresses him by another name — Corwin
— and his reluctant to let him stay with her. She does, however, which
enables Carl/Corwin to come across a strange set of Tarot-like cards,
through which he sees people and images associated with his life, a life
he still cannot remember. In addition, he’s contacted by a brother,
Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR riorio2@rogue-games.net 29 September 2009

Random, who asks Carl/Corwin for his protection and in turn offers to
take him back to a place called Amber. Since Carl/Corwin has no idea
what is going on or why, he agrees and soon finds himself in a strange
reality, where he and his family (including eight brothers, of which
Random is only one) wield remarkable powers and are forever plotting
against one another for control.

Nine Princes in Amber has a lot going for it, chiefly the mystery of Carl
Corey’s identity and its connection to what he perceives to be happening
to him. It also includes some fascinating speculations regarding alternate
realities and Chaos, themes that recur not just in Zelazny’s other works,
like the aforementioned Jack of Shadows, but in a lot of late 60s/early
70s fantasy. In retrospect, it’s this that I think appealed to me most way
back when and it’s this that still appeals to me even now. The style of
fantasy the “Amber” series represents is one that seems largely to have
fallen into disfavor as the 1970s wore on and the influence Tolkien — and
his pastichists like Terry Brooks — became ever greater. Although
Gygax’s published writings betray comparatively little influence by
authors like Zelazny, he continued to express admiration for their
writings and several of his unpublished projects, such as Shadowland,
might have taken D&D in a more Zelaznian direction.

I personally see the influence of Zelazny over Tom Moldvay’s classic

Castle Amber, perhaps unsurprisingly. As a younger person, I was
confused by the title of this module, which recalled Nine Princes in
Amber, despite having nothing to do with the novel overtly. Yet, its
contents, while explicitly tied to the Averoigne stories of Clark Ashton
Smith, nevertheless seemed very “Amber”-like to me. The Amber family
is filled with a variety of ambitious, Machiavellian personalities and their
rightful head, Stephen, has been “murdered” by his family and whose
salvation depends on items obtained in an alternate reality. Certainly the
connection between Moldvay’s work and Zelazny’s is not strong, but it’s
there, I think, and I’m surprised more people don’t seem to comment on
it.

Regardless, the “Chronicles of Amber” (the first five books anyway; I

can’t comment on the later ones) are worth the read, if only to mine for
ideas. They’re definitely quirky in their sensibilities, but that’s a positive
thing in my estimation. D&D — and fantasy gaming in general — could
use more quirkiness these days.