In Gary Gygax's The Dungeon Master's Guide, one of the core rule books of the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons game (now generally referred to as 1st edition D&D), there was an appendix, Appendix N to be precise, which listed inspirational authors and books - that is, authors and books that were cited as direct inspirations to the Dungeons and Dragons game.
Appendix N was a fascinating list, in many ways. It was reflective of the zeigeist of the 1970s and was far more reflective of so-called "weird fiction" than pure fantasy. I mean, yes, Tolkien is on the list, but so was H.P. Lovecraft. When people think of D&D today, they think, "Oh, like that Tolkien stuff!" They do not necessarily think of Lovecraft. Or Margaret St.Clair. For that reason (among many others), a lot of "old school" players of D&D (and related games) feel that the game has lost its way.
Another interesting phenomenon is what is being called the "Old School Renaissance" - a rebirth of interest in the origins of the hobby. A lot of people are going "back to basics," and in many cases, that means an exploration of the Appendix N materials. Probably the single best outgrowth of this movement, in my view, is the Dungeon Crawl Classics Role-Playing Game (DCC RPG). The creators of the DCC RPG really do have the sensibilities of the Appendix N literature deeply ingrained in them, and let those sensibilities drip from every page of their materials. It is good stuff, entertaining stuff, weird stuff . . . and I highly recommend it!
I have been trying to get back to reading the Appendix N texts (and other texts with the same kind of flavor or resonance). This is not an easy hobby to undertake; many of the materials are now out of print or difficult to find. But I want to explore these kinds of books and write a bit about them in a project I am calling "Appendix N and Beyond" (because although my goal was inspired by Appendix N, I intend to go beyond the original list to look at books that did not exist at the time, but that I believe would be on the list if it were made today - like the "Black Company" books by Glen Cook).
I started with Margaret St.Clair's 1969 novel The Shadow People. It is an odd work of weird fiction - part science fiction, part fantasy, an odd blend of ideas. It seems to be out of print, but I was able to find an old used copy that was in decent shape on Amazon. The Shadow People features a world not so different from the world in which it was written (the United States of America of 1969), though a bit darker and dystopian, and features extensive adventures in a secret underground world (referred to by the term "Underearth"), apparently a forerunner of the concept of the "Underdark" in Dungeons and Dragons lore.
At this point I should mention that I have already found my project causes a bit of mental recursion. I am reading the books that inspired the oldest iterations of the game, and see the ideas reflected in the game concepts they inspired, which therefore become the ideas that most attract my notice, which causes me to focus on the game concepts they inspired, and so on . . .
So here are some of the ideas I find in The Shadow People that I find relevant to the RPG hobby:
* The Underdark (the "Underearth" in the novel)
* The Dark Elves (Drow) - there are people living in the "Underearth" - they are referred to as "elves," and behave much like drow in some respects. They once interbred with humans, and raid the surface for humans to consume as food (much like D&D drow raid for slaves). They have creatures referred to as 'orcs" and "ettins," though these are not directly seen in the novel
* An underground race of people living a life of constant hallucination (at least in part from consuming corn meal tainted with hallucinogenic fungus, called "atter-corn" in the novel) - this is essentially the plot of the module B4 - The Lost City, with its population of Cynideceans living underground in a constant dreamlike state of hallucinations.
* A long journey into the Underdark/"Underearth" which seems like it must have at least partially inspired modules D1-2 - Descent into the Depths of the Earth
* There is the idea of other planes of existence - called the "Macrocosmos" or "Overworld" in the novel - that seems to prefigure certain concepts of the planes in D&D
* There is an intelligent sword - referred to as the "Sword of Merlin" in the book - that seems to prefigure some of the rules for intelligent weapons in D&D
There was probably more that I am not remembering or considering right now, but to me those were the salient influences. Anyway, if you're a fan of old-school D&D, and are looking for some enjoyable Appendix N reading, I definitely recommend it, especially if you don't insist on pure medieval fantasy. It has a very readable (and, I think, enjoyable) prose style, and is both a quick and easy read . . . if you can find it. Why is this no longer in print? Anyway, good luck, and happy gaming!
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