Queensport – A City Map
As mentioned in prior posts, I am a big fan of the Inkarnate site/web app that allows you to create a variety of fantasy maps including continents, regional maps, towns, dungeons, etc. One nice feature is that creators can share what they created, these maps show up under the Explore tab. In addition, if a creator so chooses, they can allow other users to ‘Clone and Edit’ their creation. This allows other users to use and modify the map they created. I did this with the map below. I took someone’s city map and made it my own. While this should have been a time saver, I am anal, so I wound up modifying the hell out of it. I still think I saved some time though…
So, here’s is the map of Queensport in the Kingdom of Darmeria. It is the principal ‘base of operations’ for the characters in my Pegana Campaign.
Pegana – Larger Map
Here’s the updated map of Pegana with both the Eastern and Western sections mapped out. As mentioned in my previous Pegana post, I am currently running a VTT campaign on Roll20 and wanted an expanded map as the campaign progressed. As I also mentioned, I am using the Inkarnate mapping site to create this map. The map and game world are heavily influenced by Lovecraft’s Dreamlands with a heavy dose of Clark Ashton Smith’s Hyperborea and Zothique, as well as Lord Dunsany’s various works (I named the world after Dunsany’s Pegana). Where appropriate I’ve also added my own elements and place names. Click on the map to see details.
Moldvay D&D – INSPIRATIONAL SOURCE MATERIAL (Reading List)
Back in 1981, TSR released the ‘Basic’ Dungeons and Dragons game. It came in a red box and featured an evocative cover by Erol Otus. Written by Thomas Moldvay, this version of the game is often referred to as Moldvay D&D or, when including the follow-on ‘Expert’ ruleset, B/X D&D. By 1981 I was already well into the hobby and owned the D&D boxed set written by J. Eric Holmes and all the Advanced D&D books, so I never picked this up. For this reason, I missed out on Moldvay’s version of ‘Appendix N’ which was titled ‘Inspirational Source Material’.
Moldvay’s reading list is much more complete than Gary Gygax’s Appendix N. Gygax’s list is missing several well-regarded fantasy authors, including Clark Ashton Smith, CS Lewis, Katherine Kurtz, and Lloyd Alexander. I read somewhere that when asked why he had not included Clark Ashton Smith Gygax stated that he had simply never heard of him and was not familiar with his work. That’s as good a reason as any. Back when I first got into Dungeons and Dragons, I simply assumed that since Gary Gygax was the creator of D&D (Arneson was nowhere mentioned) he was some sort of scholar concerning all things fantasy. Of course, that was not true. When Gygax wrote the original DMs Guide, he was a 40-year-old man with five kids and bills to pay. Frankly, I’m surprised he was as well read as he evidently was.
The Moldvay D&D boxed set was geared towards introducing and explaining the game to new players, both young adult and adult. For this reason, evidently, there is a young adult section for both fantasy fiction and non-fiction.
Below is the list that was presented on page 63 of the Moldvay Dungeons and Dragons Basic Rulebook.
INSPIRATIONAL SOURCE MATERIAL
A good D&D campaign is imaginative and creative. Sometimes a little research is useful to improve a dungeon, flesh out a scenario, and provide inspiration for a campaign. Books on folklore, mythology, fairy tales, bestiaries, and knightly legends can often help the DM fill in important details of a campaign, but fictional tales and fantasy novels usually provide the best sources of inspiration. The following list includes some books which might prove useful. A title list followed by “et al.” means that the author has written more fantasy titles than those which can be listed in the limited space available. Note that some books listed as “non-fiction” are about myths or legends, but are labeled as non-fiction because they are not on the fiction shelves of the library or bookstore.
Fiction: Young Adult Fantasy
Alexander, Lloyd – The Book of Three, The Black Cauldron, The Castle of Llyr, et al.
Baum, L. Frank – The Wizard of Oz, The Emerald City of Oz, The Land of Oz, et al.
Bellairs, John – The Face in the Frost, The House Without a Clock on its Walls, The Figure in the Shadows, et al.
Burroughs, Edgar Rice – A Princess of Mars, At the Earth’s Core, Tarzan of the Apes, et al.
Carroll, Lewis – Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Through the Looking Glass
Garner, Alan – Elidor, the Weirdstone of Brisingamen, The Moon of Gomrath, et al.
LeGuin, Ursula – A Wizard of Earthsea, The Tombs of Atuan, The Farthest Shore, et al.
Lewis, CS – The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Prince Caspian, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, et al.
Non-fiction: Young Adult
Barber, Richard – A Companion to World Mythology
Buehr, Walter – Chivalry and the Mailed Knight
Coolidge, Olivia – Greek Myths, The Trojan War, Legends of the North
d’Aulaire, Ingri and Edgar Parin – Norse Gods and Giants, Trolls
Hazeltine, Alice – Hero Tales from Many Lands
Hillyer, Virgil – Young Peoples’ Story of the Ancient World: Prehistory-500 BC
Jacobs, Joseph – English Folk and Fairy Tales
Macauley, David – Castles
McHargue, Georgess – The Beasts of Never: A History Natural and Unnatural of Monsters, Mythical and Magical, The Impossible People
Renault, Mary – The Lion in the Gateway
Sellow, Catherine F. – Adventures with the Giants
Sutcliff, Rosemary – Tristram and Iseult
Williams, Jay – Life in the Middle Ages
Winer, Bart – Life in the Ancient World
Fiction: Adult Fantasy
Anderson, Poul – Three Hearts and Three Lions, The Broken Sword, The Merman’s Children, et al.
Anthony, Piers – A Spell for Chameleon, The Source of Magic, Castle Roogna
Asprin, Robert – Another Fine Myth
Brackett, Leigh – The Coming of the Terrans, The Secret on Sinharat, People of the Talisman, et al.
Campbell, J. Ramsey – Demons by Daylight
Davidson, Avram – The Island Under the Earth, Ursus of Ultima Thule, The Phoenix in the Mirror, et al.
de Camp, L. Sprague – The Fallible Fiend, The Goblin Tower, et al.
de Camp, L. Sprague and Pratt, Fletcher – The Incomplete Enchanter, Land of Unreason, et al.
Dunsany, Lord – Over the Hills and Far Away, The Book of Wonder, The King of Elfland’s Daughter, et al.
Eddison, E. R. – The Worm Ouroborous
Eisenstein, Phyllis – Born to Exile, Sorcerer’s Son
Farmer, Phillip Jose – The Gates of Creation, The Maker of Universes, A Private Cosmos, et al.
Finney, Charles G. – The Unholy City, The Circus of Dr. Lao
Heinlein, Robert A. – Glory Road
Howard, Robert E. – Conan, Red Nails, Pigeons from Hell
Lee, Tanith – Night’s Master, The Storm Lord, The Birthgrave, et al.
Lieber, Fritz – The Swords of Lankhmar, Swords Against Wizardry, Swords Against Death, et al.
Lovecraft, H.P. – The Doom that Came to Sarnath, The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath, The Dunwich Horror
Merritt, A. E. – The Moon Pool, Dwellers in the Mirage, The Ship of Ishtar, et al.
Moorcock, Michael – The Stealer of Souls, The Knight of the Swords, Gloriana, et al.
Mundy, Talbot – Tros of Samothrace
Niven, Larry – The Flight of the Horse, The Magic Goes Away
Norton, Andre – Witch World, The Year of the Unicorn, The Crystal Gryphon, et al.
Offutt, Andrew – The Iron Lords, Shadows out of Hell
Pratt, Fletcher – The Blue Star, The Well of the Unicorn
Smith, Clark Ashton – Xiccarph, Lost Worlds, Genius Loci
Stewart, Mary – The Crystal Cave, The Hollow Hills, The Last Enchantment
Stoker, Bram – Dracula
Swann, Thomas Burnett – Cry Silver Bells, The Tournament of the Thorns, Moondust, et al.
Tolkien, J.R.R. – The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings (Trilogy)
Vance, Jack – The Eyes of the Overworld, Dying Earth, The Dragon Masters, et al.
Wagner, Karl Edward – Bloodstone, Death Angel’s Shadow, Dark Crusade, et al.
White, Theodore H. – The Once and Future King
Zelazny, Roger – Jack of Shadows, Lord of Light, Nine Princes in Amber, et al.
Some additional authors of fantasy fiction are:
Beagle, Peter S.
Bok, Hannes
Cabell, James Branch
Carter, Lin
Cherryh, C.J.
Delany, Samuel R.
Fox, Gardner
Gaskell, Jane
Green, Roland
Haggard, H. Rider
Jakes, John
Kurtz, Katherine
Lanier, Sterling
McCaffery, Anne
McKillip, Patricia A.
Moore, C.L.
Myers, John
Peake, Mervyn
Saberhagen, Fred
Walton, Evangeline
Wellman, Manly Wade
Williamson, Jack
Short Story Collections
Carter, Lin (ed) – The Year’s Best Fantasy Stories (in several volumes), Flashing Swords (also in several volumes)
Offutt, Andrew (ed) – Swords Against Darkness (in several volumes)
Non-Fiction
Borges, Jorge Luis – The Book of Imaginary Beings
Bullfinch, Thomas – Bullfinch’s Mythology: The Age of Fable, The Age of Chivalry
Funk and Wagnalls Standard Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology, and Legend
In the Jungles of Kesh
Below is the map I’ve shared with the players that shows the Ranavenga and the surrounding jungle. The skulls indicate interesting encounter and adventure sites that the players have already experienced. It was created with Inkarnate.
In my Pegana Campaign, the characters are currently in the Jungles of Kesh, a wilderness that has grown over what was once the fallen Rankan Empire. Their primary destination was an abandoned temple-tomb complex known as Rana Mor. Their mode of transport was a riverboat that took them down the Ranavenga River. They have had a number of adventures and are currently exploring another abandoned temple that was spotted by Wylie’s (the twilight cleric) familiar.
Gaming Dice Christmas Ornaments
A couple of years ago, I posted a picture of a Gen Con purchase; specifically, a Christmas ornament in the shape of a D4 (here). The company selling the ornaments was ‘O Christmas Geek’ or OCG. They talked about doing other die type ornaments, but that never happened. Until now…
Looks like they are going the Kickstarter route:
I’m definitely purchasing a D20. I’m thinking about picking up a whole set, but that might be a bit ‘much’ for my wife. Not worried about the price, but that’s a lot of dice hanging from the Christmas tree! We’ll see. Also noticed that OCG has a Gen Con ornament and that they will be at Gen Con this year. Yeah, that’s on my purchase list.
Hired Crew of the Inheritor
As I mentioned in my last blog post, the characters in my Pegana Campaign are heading out to sea on a sailing ship they had acquired on a previous adventure. The ship is called the Inheritor. There are six player characters in total, a nice size for a party of adventurers but too small to properly crew a sailing ship. So they need to hire a crew…
Below is pictured most of the hired crew of the Inheritor. I’ve taken character illustrations from various sources out on the Internet and created the picture below using Adobe Photoshop.
Pegana – A New Map
Back in 2014, I posted a map of Pegana, a world based on the works of various authors, specifically Lord Dunsany, HP Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith, and others. The map was to be used for an eventual setting for a fantasy campaign based on the works of these authors, with new player races, primitive airships, firearms, different beasts and enemies, etc.
It’s now 2022 and I am currently running a VTT campaign on Roll20 set in Pegana. The party has obtained a merchant vessel and will now be sailing to exotic ports and distant shores. For this reason, the map needed an update. Below is the western portion of the map. I developed this on the wonderful Inkarnate mapping site, currently one of my favorite sites on the Web.
Here’s a link to the map from 2014: Old Pegana
Here is the new map:
The Ultimate Gaming Christmas Ornament
Little late for this, but better late than never. Picked this ornament up at Gen Con 2017. The lady at the booth said they would have other die type ornaments at the next Gen Con. Unfortunately, while her booth was at Gen Con 2018, she had no new dice ornaments. Hopefully this year…?
Anyway, love this. Nothing says Christmas like a D4 Christmas tree ornament!
Movie Review – First Man
I saw this movie a couple of weeks ago and am just now getting around to blogging about it. For those not in the know, First Man is basically the story of Neil Armstrong and the circumstances leading up to his historic landing on the Moon.
The Good
It’s about the Gemini and Apollo programs, what’s not to like!? As a history buff and a fan of NASA I tend to love this stuff. Ryan Gosling portrays Armstrong and does a really good job, imo.
The Bad
Not really a knock on the movie but more of a personal preference, I would have liked more space program, less focus on his family/civilian life. Others might feel differently.
The Ugly
So, about half way through the movie I start feeling nauseous. I’m thinking I’m coming down with something then realize that the movie is actually making me motion sick! The director Damien Chazelle made some interesting choices. He shows Armstrong’s Gemini launch from the perspective of the guys in the capsule, you never actually see the rocket – I actually thought it was pretty cool. But part of experiencing the launch was mimicking the shaking of the rocket. That’s when I think I started getting motion sick. Later, the capsule Armstrong is in starts rolling out of control – an actual incident that almost kills him and his crew mate – this is also shown from the astronauts’ perspective. Yeah, that didn’t help either. There’s a lot of ‘shaky jerky’ camera movement in the movie, including times when I didn’t think it was necessary. I do have issues with motion sickness, but damn!
Political BS
First Man is about American History and the Apollo space program so; of course, it becomes another flash point in the ongoing-never ending Culture War. Because why not?
From the Right, the complaint is that the movie does not show Armstrong planting the American flag, because of that it is somehow anti-American. I find the complaint absurd. The American flag is all over the movie including a scene where Armstrong’s son unfurls the flag on his front porch while his dad is on his Gemini flight. They do show the American flag on the moon at one point. The movie is in no way anti-American. It drives me crazy that people complained about this without actually seeing the movie.
From the Left, we’ve got the usual complaint that the movie is too focused on a bunch of white guys and that there are no faces of color. I find the complaint absurd. The movie is a historical look at the US space program in the 1960s through the eyes of the astronauts. They were all white, all male – their colleagues at NASA overwhelmingly the same. It wasn’t right, but that’s the way it was. What was Chazelle supposed to do, make Buzz Aldrin African-American?
When I left the theater, I’d have given the movie a 6 or 7 out of 10, mostly because I was expecting the Right Stuff and that’s not what I got. The movie has stuck with me though. I wasn’t sure about some of Chazelle’s directing decisions but I’ve decided I like his style. I’d give it an 8 out of 10. Even with the ‘shaky jerky’ camera movement, I liked it a lot.
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